Looking for a replacement digital camera. A few things that are important to me are:

1. shutter lag & time between pictures
2. more than 3x optical zoom
3. AA batteries for power
4. price

I've had very good luck with Kodak. My last camera was a DC5000 (waterproof, dustproof, shockproof... unfortunately not idiot-proof).

So, any suggestions?

I've always bought Olympus....have been happy with them. D-400 Zoom for business, etc. C-3000 for personal use. Nope, have no thought of upgrading to newer ones.

Check out the Fuji S7000, very nice camera, My daughter loves the one she just got for Christmas. Much faster than my Sony and it's 6.3 MP.

My last three evidence cameras have been Olympus models...I'm hard on them. The newer one is a 5.0 megapixel...I like the camera...the software bites....so I use the earler version or the computer loaded photoshop.

The USB download is FAST.

I got the wife a sony cyber-shot model DSC-P93A Very nice camera that is small but not to small. 5.1 mega pixels, 3x optical (I know you want better) 6x precision digital zoom, but it is also conversion lense compatible.

Cost $275 at circuit city.

I have 4 of the fuji S7000's. We use them for clinical photography in the office. 10 different people use them. They seem the most idiot proof yet. Bought them at costco for a great price. 6+ million pixel camera, little to no shutter lag, use double AA batteries. $600 a piece. At home we have a Nikon D-70, wow what a camera. $1500 for the body, lenses extra. Both use compact flash memory which is quite easy to aquire. Going for about $100/gig now.

Does the Fuji S7000 have interchangable lenses?

Wow... that would be cool. Mostly bragging rights, since I wouldn't know what to do with them.

I see them on the Bay for around 400. A bit steep, but it's what I paid for the DC5000.

-Lawrence

tit for tat ease of use and price, I strongly suggest the Olympus C725

I would suggest checking out the panasonic lumix fz-20. 12x optical zoom, 5MP, and optical image stabilizer (very nice). I have the compact version of this camera and it is great. I've never seen a camera in this price range get such great user reviews.

Well... I decided on a camera.

This one is a bit strange looking. It's a Fuji S3100. 6x optical zoom, 4 megapixel. Supposedly does short movie clips, too, but I'm still playing with still photography. Even with all that, it was still under 300 dollars.

Here's a picture of my camera... thanks again for all the advice!

Lawrence,

Did you try it before you bought it? When I was looking for a camera for my parents a few months back, I almost bought that one. I liked everything about it, but had one stumbling block I couldn't get over. It had a terrible lag between pressing the button and taking the picture. Also, if I remember correctly, once you press the shutter button half way to focus and set the lighting, the display would freeze. No other cameras did this. The behavior was totally unacceptable to me.

It is very possible that I was doing something wrong, or maybe the floor model was messed up or something. But I couldn't buy it the way it was. I was disappointed because otherwise it was the perfect camera in my opinion.

Most of the Canon cameras are very highly rated, and easy to use. I like the 'A' series. But only a 3X zoom.

Demick

I like my Sony DSC-V1. It has been superceded by the V3 now so the V1 prices are coming down. It uses a lithium battery, which I think is a plus over AAs. Unfortunately it uses expensive memory stick media.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscv1/

The comparible Canon is the G5, it has been around a while. You might be able to find one used. They both have 4x optical zoom and take absolutely top notch pictures (for a prosumer camera anyway).

QUOTE (Demick @ Dec 28 2004, 09:55 PM)

Lawrence, Did you try it before you bought it? When I was looking for a camera for my parents a few months back, I almost bought that one. I liked everything about it, but had one stumbling block I couldn't get over. It had a terrible lag between pressing the button and taking the picture. Also, if I remember correctly, once you press the shutter button half way to focus and set the lighting, the display would freeze. No other cameras did this. The behavior was totally unacceptable to me. It is very possible that I was doing something wrong, or maybe the floor model was messed up or something. But I couldn't buy it the way it was. I was disappointed because otherwise it was the perfect camera in my opinion. Most of the Canon cameras are very highly rated, and easy to use. I like the 'A' series. But only a 3X zoom. Demick

Maybe they've updated the model a bit. The image does freeze for about a quarter second, and then goes back to normal.

The one thing that I need some time getting used to is the eyepiece. The image isn't through the lense like my Kodak was - it's a lower grade digital preview.

I'm probably going to keep the camera. But I have some time to decide if I want to take it back.

-Lawrence

QUOTE (Steve Thacker @ Dec 27 2004, 10:31 AM)

tit for tat ease of use and price, I strongly suggest the Olympus C725

about 3 months ago, I picked up the Olympus Camedia
C-740, which is one step above the 725.

the 740 is powered by 4-AA's
and the Optical Zoom is 10x

Got mine at Target, it was on sale for $269.99
only thing I don't like is that in the Movie Mode, it does Not record Audio.


I have seen that C-725 at OfficeMax for just $199.99, which for a 6x Optical Zoom camera is pretty good, I think.

Lawrence, my brother has that same camera and loves it. I used it a bit and really liked the way it felt in my hand.

FWIW My first digital cam was a Kodak that was a great camera until I left it on the hood of the car and went speeding on down the road. Didn't even realize I left it there til I got down the road a few miles. Went back walk along the road, picked up the rechargable bat. and camera. The thing still worked but the flash was busted. It's now an expensive toy for my 3 yo.

Bought a Canon Powershot S50 and love it.

I have a Fuji s5000 that I am very happy with. It seems to hold up to punishment well. (dropped it twice) I think it was about $390 last year.

The best compact general purpose cameras right now are by Canon. The SD200/SD300 are ultraportable but still have 3x zoom and very nice LCD displays. The S410 or S500 are larger cameras but take dirt cheap CF media and produce GREAT pictures especially for their size. A lot of the other compact cameras with itty bitty lenses are crap, but I have been really impressed by the Canon digicams.

I would say the panasonic line is better than the canon when it comes to ultra compact. with a 2.5" LCD (bigger than most full size cameras), O.I.S. (optical image stabilization), and a Leica lens nothing compares feature wise.