Pro 90 vs C2100 UZ - Quandry

ok ... i've seen some similar debates ... here's my thing. i like the zoom capabilities that it seems like only these cameras offer in this price range (with stabilization).

but, i have 2 other needs....

one is the ability to use AA's. i find myself traveling in some places where i may not be able to find replacement battery packs too easily. AA's are pretty universal, though, sometime cumbersome.

the other is my desire to use compactflash instead of smart media.

so ...
the Canon has the compactflash, but, not AA's
the Olympus has AA's, but uses smart media

any advice? other cameras to look at, some "fixes" for either of my needs?

thanks

There's a $300+ price difference in these two cameras (with equally impressive picture-taking capabilities), with which you can buy a heckuva lot of Smartmedia cards. ;-) Using inexpensive NiMH AAs is a great feature, indeed.

John said:

ok ... i've seen some similar debates ... here's my thing. i like
the zoom capabilities that it seems like only these cameras offer
in this price range (with stabilization).

but, i have 2 other needs....

one is the ability to use AA's. i find myself traveling in some
places where i may not be able to find replacement battery packs
too easily. AA's are pretty universal, though, sometime cumbersome.

the other is my desire to use compactflash instead of smart media.

so ...
the Canon has the compactflash, but, not AA's
the Olympus has AA's, but uses smart media

any advice? other cameras to look at, some "fixes" for either of my
needs?

thanks

Click to expand...

Sorry if this is a dumb question but why do you desire to use Compact Flash instead of SmartMedia? Is it because you have another device that uses CF? The reason I ask is that I have cameras that use both and if it is an issue of one beiong more robust than another I have found that SmartMedia is just as reliable. In fact, the only memory card I have had die on me was a CF card.

Before I bought my 2100 I looked at the Canon Pro 90. I had a Canon S10 (that I REALLY liked) and I was all ready to think the Canon Pro 90 was the best thing since sliced bread. What I found when I took them out and used them was that the 2100 felt quicker and more responsive (more like a film camera) and felt more comfortable in my hands.

Good Luck

Kevin

John said:

ok ... i've seen some similar debates ... here's my thing. i like
the zoom capabilities that it seems like only these cameras offer
in this price range (with stabilization).

but, i have 2 other needs....

one is the ability to use AA's. i find myself traveling in some
places where i may not be able to find replacement battery packs
too easily. AA's are pretty universal, though, sometime cumbersome.

the other is my desire to use compactflash instead of smart media.

so ...
the Canon has the compactflash, but, not AA's
the Olympus has AA's, but uses smart media

any advice? other cameras to look at, some "fixes" for either of my
needs?

thanks

Click to expand...

first, thank you very much for your input. not a dumb question at all ... i am new to this and kind of figured mine was a dumb question.

my stated preference was based on some input i had from a photographer friend of mine who gave me his opinion ... which was that smartmedia are unreliable and prone to damage.

it looks like your experience shows otherwise.

kdixey said:

Before I bought my 2100 I looked at the Canon Pro 90. I had a Canon
S10 (that I REALLY liked) and I was all ready to think the Canon
Pro 90 was the best thing since sliced bread. What I found when I
took them out and used them was that the 2100 felt quicker and more
responsive (more like a film camera) and felt more comfortable in
my hands.

Good Luck

Kevin

John said:

ok ... i've seen some similar debates ... here's my thing. i like
the zoom capabilities that it seems like only these cameras offer
in this price range (with stabilization).

but, i have 2 other needs....

one is the ability to use AA's. i find myself traveling in some
places where i may not be able to find replacement battery packs
too easily. AA's are pretty universal, though, sometime cumbersome.

the other is my desire to use compactflash instead of smart media.

so ...
the Canon has the compactflash, but, not AA's
the Olympus has AA's, but uses smart media

any advice? other cameras to look at, some "fixes" for either of my
needs?

thanks

Click to expand...

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I've been using digicams in my business for almost 4 years. I have found that neither my CF or SM cards have any advantage over the other. The SM cards certainly look like they would be more fragile (an I assume under really hard treatment the CF card might prove more durable) but under normal treatment they have pretty much been equal.

I have noticed that SM, it appears to be slightly faster than a comparable CF card. Also, I almost always buy name brand memory cards such as SanDisk, Olympus (for my 2100) and Lexar.

Kevin

John said:

my stated preference was based on some input i had from a
photographer friend of mine who gave me his opinion ... which was
that smartmedia are unreliable and prone to damage.

it looks like your experience shows otherwise.

kdixey said:

Before I bought my 2100 I looked at the Canon Pro 90. I had a Canon
S10 (that I REALLY liked) and I was all ready to think the Canon
Pro 90 was the best thing since sliced bread. What I found when I
took them out and used them was that the 2100 felt quicker and more
responsive (more like a film camera) and felt more comfortable in
my hands.

Good Luck

Kevin

John said:

ok ... i've seen some similar debates ... here's my thing. i like
the zoom capabilities that it seems like only these cameras offer
in this price range (with stabilization).

but, i have 2 other needs....

one is the ability to use AA's. i find myself traveling in some
places where i may not be able to find replacement battery packs
too easily. AA's are pretty universal, though, sometime cumbersome.

the other is my desire to use compactflash instead of smart media.

so ...
the Canon has the compactflash, but, not AA's
the Olympus has AA's, but uses smart media

any advice? other cameras to look at, some "fixes" for either of my
needs?

thanks

Click to expand...

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John: I have taken over 8000 photos on an assortment of smart media cards on my 2100 and neved had a problem with them. The Pro 90 has focusing issues, has a slow frame rate and is rated at less image quality than the 2100 in the Dpreview ratings. The zoom is also less user friendly. I think you will be much happier with the 2100. Also you can bur 1600MaHr NiMh batteries at Walmart for less than $10 for a set of four. Good luck.

Kerry

John said:

ok ... i've seen some similar debates ... here's my thing. i like
the zoom capabilities that it seems like only these cameras offer
in this price range (with stabilization).

but, i have 2 other needs....

one is the ability to use AA's. i find myself traveling in some
places where i may not be able to find replacement battery packs
too easily. AA's are pretty universal, though, sometime cumbersome.

the other is my desire to use compactflash instead of smart media.

so ...
the Canon has the compactflash, but, not AA's
the Olympus has AA's, but uses smart media

any advice? other cameras to look at, some "fixes" for either of my
needs?

thanks

Click to expand...

John said:

... photographer friend of mine who gave me his opinion ... which was
that smartmedia are unreliable and prone to damage.

Click to expand...

I know someone who has taken well over 10,000 digital pictures with smartmedia cards and every single one of those pictures was stored and transferred successfully to the PC. He uses Olympus and Kingston 64MB cards. I haven't heard of problems with other name brands either. Of course, you could well run into trouble with either CF or SM if you try to save a few bucks by going with little-known brands.

Within the context of the C2100 vs. the Pro90, one of the advantages with the c2100 is that the money you save with it goes a pretty good distance in saving for a digital wallet, which makes very long photo sessions -- even vacation trips -- with 64MB cards possible.

Pius

The E100RS takes AAs and both Smart Media and Compact Flash according to the Olympus web site I visited this evening. Bear in mind though, that these cameras with their always on EVF will probably drain alkaline AAs in 10 shots.

John said:

ok ... i've seen some similar debates ... here's my thing. i like
the zoom capabilities that it seems like only these cameras offer
in this price range (with stabilization).

but, i have 2 other needs....

one is the ability to use AA's. i find myself traveling in some
places where i may not be able to find replacement battery packs
too easily. AA's are pretty universal, though, sometime cumbersome.

the other is my desire to use compactflash instead of smart media.

so ...
the Canon has the compactflash, but, not AA's
the Olympus has AA's, but uses smart media

any advice? other cameras to look at, some "fixes" for either of my
needs?

thanks

Click to expand...

The pro 90 has nice and nearly the same features as the 2100, but it falls short on performance ITS SLOW read the reviews

John said:

ok ... i've seen some similar debates ... here's my thing. i like
the zoom capabilities that it seems like only these cameras offer
in this price range (with stabilization).

but, i have 2 other needs....

one is the ability to use AA's. i find myself traveling in some
places where i may not be able to find replacement battery packs
too easily. AA's are pretty universal, though, sometime cumbersome.

the other is my desire to use compactflash instead of smart media.

so ...
the Canon has the compactflash, but, not AA's
the Olympus has AA's, but uses smart media

any advice? other cameras to look at, some "fixes" for either of my
needs?

thanks

Click to expand...

I would prefer CF to SM everything else being equal, but it is a matter of taste more than anything else in practice. Having NImH AA's is a MUCH better option. I ALWAYS keep spare AA's (alkaline) on hand and you can buy them virtually anywhere for an emergency to tide you over (you can't show off you pics on the LCD screen as much as you want to to save batts ). Everyready just came out with Lithium AAs that really last about 10x (this is not a joke) that alkalines, but the are expensive and non rechargeable. I used them in a wireless video camera that used to last about 2 hours with alkalines -- the camera shot video for 24 hours!!!

For full disclosure, I own a 2100UZ, but I used to own a nikon 990 and I had a couple of CFs on hand. I sitll bought the Olympus because I remember how many times I ran out of juice at the most inopportune moments and how nice it was to be able to simply buy AAs at a liquor store.

Hope this helps.

E Takasaki

John said:

ok ... i've seen some similar debates ... here's my thing. i like
the zoom capabilities that it seems like only these cameras offer
in this price range (with stabilization).

but, i have 2 other needs....

one is the ability to use AA's. i find myself traveling in some
places where i may not be able to find replacement battery packs
too easily. AA's are pretty universal, though, sometime cumbersome.

the other is my desire to use compactflash instead of smart media.

so ...
the Canon has the compactflash, but, not AA's
the Olympus has AA's, but uses smart media

any advice? other cameras to look at, some "fixes" for either of my
needs?

thanks

Click to expand...