Wanting the impossible

[callistra]

Yeah next camera time I want to cover the following things as they are important to me:
Quick first photo. (Ie from pressing power to first snap should be short)
Macro mode. (Ie being able to zoom into things REALLY close up, say to photograph bugs on plants)
Physical Zoom Lens. (not a crappy digital)
We don't need to worry about megapixels. We're usually shooting for the screen and the lowest res camera will still have higher res than we'll ever need.
Also, not DSLR

 

Comments

[cricketk.livejournal.com]

Wander into a camera store (or check out dpreview.com) and ask for their 'prosumer' cameras. They generally have macro, about 10x optical zoom and are light and easy to use, and still give you the option to set your own shutter speed, aperture, ISO etc.

Great value for money.

[leahcim.livejournal.com]

What she said. Also note that 'non-SLR' tends to be mutually exclusive to 'doesn't have to wait a couple of seconds for the lens to extend on powerup'. In the Canon family, start with the A590 IS (http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/A590IS/A590ISA.HTM), SX110 IS (http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/SX110IS/SX110ISA.HTM), or for the descendant of my camera (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons3is/), the SX10 IS (http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/SX10IS/SX10ISA.HTM).

dpreview do write excellent reviews, however these days they seem to focus more on the low-end SLR end of the market. They're good for product information (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_a1000is%2Ccanon_a2000is%2Ccanon_a590is%2Ccanon_a720is%2Ccanon_sx10is%2Ccanon_sx110is%2Ccanon_a650is&show=all) though.

You'll probably find good prices at one of the many Camera House franchises (I hear Cannington (http://www.camerahousewa.com.au/) and Leederville (http://www.camera-land.com.au/) are especially competitive).

[fred-mouse.livejournal.com]

You'll probably find good prices at one of the many Camera House franchises (I hear Cannington and Leederville are especially competitive).

I can't be negative enough about the Cannington store. They claim that they will let you know when stuff is in and you never hear from them, they make like they understand what you are asking for and then show you something different, and I found them a tad condescending as well.

[(Anonymous)]

paulmc -

Ditto about cannington. They refused to honour a repair on a camera my wife had, after owning it for 4 weeks.

She didnt do anything wrong, just normal use and still refused to fix or repair, just "Its your fault, we dont care how much you spent". The shutter button just stopped working.

DONT GO TO CANNING CAMERA HOUSE. :)

[babalon-93.livejournal.com]

This is what I would be getting if I needed to buy another camera (http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/prod2676.htm). Either that or one of its older brothers from last season on sale.

[kpbarker.livejournal.com]

I have what babalon suggested and LOVE it. You're welcome to come have a play with it if you would like to have a look.

[strangedave.livejournal.com]

I am no camera guru, and the Fuji suggested by others looks very nice.
But we've both been very happy with the Canon Powershot (we have an S3, the current model is the S5 I think) we've got, which is a fairly physically similar prosumer model. Worth checking out IMO.

The Canon has the special extra bonus of being able to load hacked firmware, which can be used to do many wonderful things, if John is feeling geeky and experimental. I have had quite a bit of fun with this.

[rabbit1080.livejournal.com]

Surprisingly, I'm happy with my Panasonic high-end compact.

Panasonic? Whod've thunk it? The Nikon and Canon ones are nowhere near as good for picture quality - they seem to concentrate on the DSLR market.

Another good camera-review site is http://www.photographyblog.com. They seem more current than dpreview, though both sites are pretty good. Also they have more sample pics.

I've had good experience with Camera House, Leederville. Haven't tried out their returns-under-warranty though as my camera still works *crosses fingers*