Looking for a great point and shoot that also offers full manual.

enricco_palazzo · Feb 13, 2003

I'm looking for a 4mp (or so) camera that is excellent in Auto mode (as a point and shoot) but also has lots of features. I just got rid of a Coolpix 885 which did not live up to my expectations. It had a tough time focusing, over saturated reds and terrible in low light situations. I thank you in advance for any input...

vk · Feb 13, 2003

What features are important to you? Once you can answer that question use buying guide here to narrow it down then ask more specific questions.
vk

enricco_palazzo said:
I'm looking for a 4mp (or so) camera that is excellent in Auto mode
(as a point and shoot) but also has lots of features. I just got
rid of a Coolpix 885 which did not live up to my expectations. It
had a tough time focusing, over saturated reds and terrible in low
light situations. I thank you in advance for any input...

EJN · Feb 13, 2003

enricco_palazzo said:
I'm looking for a 4mp (or so) camera that is excellent in Auto mode
(as a point and shoot) but also has lots of features. I just got
rid of a Coolpix 885 which did not live up to my expectations. It
had a tough time focusing, over saturated reds and terrible in low
light situations. I thank you in advance for any input...

At least have a look at the Canon S45 - a lovely camera, compact, simple to operate yet with some control if you want it. Only drawback speaking personally is that it uses proprietory battery , not AAs, but if you care to buy a spare battery (about the only extra anyway) that probably covers it. Nice camera though. Oly do one or two very nice along similar lines but they are either SM cards or going to xD...still prefer the CF type ...most latest take M/drive too, so you have a wide open mem choice.

EJN

Scott G Spellman · Feb 13, 2003

Enricco-

I like the Olympus 5050-great pictures and excellent manual controls. It has a solid Auto mode, and 8 quick access memories for settings. Alternately, the Oly 4040 has a better Auto mode, but more complicated manual controls. They are both excellent in low light.

-Scott

enricco_palazzo said:
I'm looking for a 4mp (or so) camera that is excellent in Auto mode
(as a point and shoot) but also has lots of features. I just got
rid of a Coolpix 885 which did not live up to my expectations. It
had a tough time focusing, over saturated reds and terrible in low
light situations. I thank you in advance for any input...

enricco_palazzo · Feb 13, 2003

Hey Scott

The 4040 is better in auto then the 5050? Any idea why? Are there any notable downsides to either? THanks for your help!!

Scott G Spellman said:
I like the Olympus 5050-great pictures and excellent manual
controls. It has a solid Auto mode, and 8 quick access memories
for settings. Alternately, the Oly 4040 has a better Auto mode,
but more complicated manual controls. They are both excellent in
low light.

-Scott

enricco_palazzo said:

I'm looking for a 4mp (or so) camera that is excellent in Auto mode
(as a point and shoot) but also has lots of features. I just got
rid of a Coolpix 885 which did not live up to my expectations. It
had a tough time focusing, over saturated reds and terrible in low
light situations. I thank you in advance for any input...

Click to expand...

Jack Michaud · Feb 13, 2003

"o'er the home of the land..."

Look no further than the Canon S45. Point-n-shoot sized, fits in a front pants pocket, fully featured. Modes: aperture priority, shutter priority, full manual, Program AE w/shift, full auto, portrait, landscape, night, motion blurr, fast action, stitch assist, 15fps 320x240 movie, 2.5fps continuous drive, and custom preset. Check out Phil's review here.
-Jack

enricco_palazzo said:
I'm looking for a 4mp (or so) camera that is excellent in Auto mode
(as a point and shoot) but also has lots of features. I just got
rid of a Coolpix 885 which did not live up to my expectations. It
had a tough time focusing, over saturated reds and terrible in low
light situations. I thank you in advance for any input...

enricco_palazzo · Feb 13, 2003

Jack

Yeah that looks like a real good one. I did see a few people complain about problems in low light situations (focus issues). I love all the features but i need an excellent Auto mode as well (or my wife will complain). If it has problems in low light you probably need to set it manually which is no good for my wife. Have you noticed problems like this? (if you own one)

Thanks again Jack

Jack Michaud said:
Look no further than the Canon S45. Point-n-shoot sized, fits in a
front pants pocket, fully featured. Modes: aperture priority,
shutter priority, full manual, Program AE w/shift, full auto,
portrait, landscape, night, motion blurr, fast action, stitch
assist, 15fps 320x240 movie, 2.5fps continuous drive, and custom
preset. Check out Phil's review here.
-Jack

enricco_palazzo said:

I'm looking for a 4mp (or so) camera that is excellent in Auto mode
(as a point and shoot) but also has lots of features. I just got
rid of a Coolpix 885 which did not live up to my expectations. It
had a tough time focusing, over saturated reds and terrible in low
light situations. I thank you in advance for any input...

Click to expand...

Jack Michaud · Feb 13, 2003

Senior,

It will focus in zero light with the AF assist lamp on, within reasonable range. I think this is a major advantage over other cameras. However, the camera does seem to have trouble autofocusing on low_contrast subjects, like the side of my baby's bald head. If I can get his eyes or mouth or collar in the AF square, it's fine.

My only complaint is that in the auto modes, the AiAF defaults to on. This selects from 9 possible AF squares in the frame and choses the one(s) to focus on. You can switch to the old familiar center square AF mode with a couple button pushes quite easily, but your wife will probably complain about that the first few times. Once you learn to disable the AiAF, it's a non-issue. Also, the AiAF seems to take nice shots anyway, but I like center point AF.

enricco_palazzo said:
Yeah that looks like a real good one. I did see a few people
complain about problems in low light situations (focus issues). I
love all the features but i need an excellent Auto mode as well (or
my wife will complain). If it has problems in low light you
probably need to set it manually which is no good for my wife. Have
you noticed problems like this? (if you own one)

Thanks again Jack

Jack Michaud said:

Look no further than the Canon S45. Point-n-shoot sized, fits in a
front pants pocket, fully featured. Modes: aperture priority,
shutter priority, full manual, Program AE w/shift, full auto,
portrait, landscape, night, motion blurr, fast action, stitch
assist, 15fps 320x240 movie, 2.5fps continuous drive, and custom
preset. Check out Phil's review here.
-Jack

enricco_palazzo said:

I'm looking for a 4mp (or so) camera that is excellent in Auto mode
(as a point and shoot) but also has lots of features. I just got
rid of a Coolpix 885 which did not live up to my expectations. It
had a tough time focusing, over saturated reds and terrible in low
light situations. I thank you in advance for any input...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Alf B. · Feb 13, 2003

Hi enricco

I used to have a Nikon coolpix 700, with NO optical zoom, which was ok until it got stolen. when looking for a replacent, with at least 3 megapixels, I went through reveiw after review of cameras that were all pretty much the same, ......3x optical zoom, blah, blah, blah! Then I discovered what has got to be the best camera in the world for £400, the Olympus C-730 ultrazoom. The thing that first attracted me to it was its fantastic 10x optical zoom, Its officially 'the smallest camera in the world with a 10x optical zoom' ( a Sony 10x is nearly £1000!), it takes AA rechargable batteries, it takes fast I/O Smartmedia cards and the new XD card which has the potential of being the biggest in size, 8 gigabytes, and yet is the smallest card on the market, it takes Quick time movies with sound (with no time limit, memory allowing), it has lots of excellent pre-programmed modes, fully automatic shooting, IR remote control, fully manual controls, should you need them , I could go on all night, suffice to say this is probably exactly what your lookin for.

http://www.angelfire.com/film/digital_pics/index.html

Alf B.

Scott G Spellman · Feb 13, 2003

I think the 4040 auto is just better "tuned" and generally creates more warm, pleasant images. However, I have my c5050 dialed in for my concert/club stuff and it is awesome. Both are excellent cameras, their weakest point is probably a max 3x Zoom and the flash shoe only on the c5050.

Scott

enricco_palazzo said:
The 4040 is better in auto then the 5050? Any idea why? Are there
any notable downsides to either? THanks for your help!!

Scott G Spellman said:

I like the Olympus 5050-great pictures and excellent manual
controls. It has a solid Auto mode, and 8 quick access memories
for settings. Alternately, the Oly 4040 has a better Auto mode,
but more complicated manual controls. They are both excellent in
low light.

-Scott

enricco_palazzo said:

I'm looking for a 4mp (or so) camera that is excellent in Auto mode
(as a point and shoot) but also has lots of features. I just got
rid of a Coolpix 885 which did not live up to my expectations. It
had a tough time focusing, over saturated reds and terrible in low
light situations. I thank you in advance for any input...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

enricco_palazzo · Feb 15, 2003

Thanks Alf i'll look into this one, however, I really want at least 4mp because I feel I need at least that much to prduce really high quality prints.
Thanks for your input.

Alf B. said:
Hi enricco
I used to have a Nikon coolpix 700, with NO optical zoom, which was
ok until it got stolen. when looking for a replacent, with at
least 3 megapixels, I went through reveiw after review of cameras
that were all pretty much the same, ......3x optical zoom, blah,
blah, blah! Then I discovered what has got to be the best camera
in the world for £400, the Olympus C-730 ultrazoom. The thing that
first attracted me to it was its fantastic 10x optical zoom, Its
officially 'the smallest camera in the world with a 10x optical
zoom' ( a Sony 10x is nearly £1000!), it takes AA rechargable
batteries, it takes fast I/O Smartmedia cards and the new XD card
which has the potential of being the biggest in size, 8 gigabytes,
and yet is the smallest card on the market, it takes Quick time
movies with sound (with no time limit, memory allowing), it has
lots of excellent pre-programmed modes, fully automatic shooting,
IR remote control, fully manual controls, should you need them , I
could go on all night, suffice to say this is probably exactly what
your lookin for.

http://www.angelfire.com/film/digital_pics/index.html

Alf B.

Peter Marina · Feb 15, 2003

You will love the brighter lens, better battery life, stronger flash, optional external flash, 4megapixel and fantastic colors. Dont know how it compares to the CP885 in terms of focus in low light but it does generally well. I used my friend's C-4000 a few weeks ago and it seamed very usable in low light. The manual features are ALL there and can be left alone if you dont want to bother with them. It also happens to be really inexpensive for all the features you get. Hope this helps...

Peter Marina

enricco_palazzo said:
I'm looking for a 4mp (or so) camera that is excellent in Auto mode
(as a point and shoot) but also has lots of features. I just got
rid of a Coolpix 885 which did not live up to my expectations. It
had a tough time focusing, over saturated reds and terrible in low
light situations. I thank you in advance for any input...

--
Peter Marina

'...I sometimes try to help the humans...' Cosmo Kramer.

Peter Marina · Feb 15, 2003

But the flash is so week for indoor use. The zoom lens also not very bright. It collects only 1/4 of the light when fully zoomed in. I think it's a great camera but just not for indoor use.

Peter Marina

Jack Michaud said:
Look no further than the Canon S45. Point-n-shoot sized, fits in a
front pants pocket, fully featured. Modes: aperture priority,
shutter priority, full manual, Program AE w/shift, full auto,
portrait, landscape, night, motion blurr, fast action, stitch
assist, 15fps 320x240 movie, 2.5fps continuous drive, and custom
preset. Check out Phil's review here.
-Jack

enricco_palazzo said:

I'm looking for a 4mp (or so) camera that is excellent in Auto mode
(as a point and shoot) but also has lots of features. I just got
rid of a Coolpix 885 which did not live up to my expectations. It
had a tough time focusing, over saturated reds and terrible in low
light situations. I thank you in advance for any input...

Click to expand...

--
Peter Marina

'...I sometimes try to help the humans...' Cosmo Kramer.

enricco_palazzo · Feb 16, 2003

Thanks Peter

Peter Marina said:
Peter Marina

enricco_palazzo said:

I'm looking for a 4mp (or so) camera that is excellent in Auto mode
(as a point and shoot) but also has lots of features. I just got
rid of a Coolpix 885 which did not live up to my expectations. It
had a tough time focusing, over saturated reds and terrible in low
light situations. I thank you in advance for any input...

Click to expand...

--
Peter Marina

'...I sometimes try to help the humans...' Cosmo Kramer.

David Gore · Feb 17, 2003

enricco_palazzo said:
I'm looking for a 4mp (or so) camera that is excellent in Auto mode
(as a point and shoot) but also has lots of features. I just got
rid of a Coolpix 885 which did not live up to my expectations. It
had a tough time focusing, over saturated reds and terrible in low
light situations. I thank you in advance for any input...

--
Dave,
Sony DSC P9 can't be beat.....how is this for quality

http://www3.photosig.com/viewphoto.php?id=219129

Alf B. · Feb 17, 2003

Hi Enricco

The C-730 ultrazoom. It is the same size and ergonamic style as the C-4000 but it also has a fantastic 10x optical zoom, allowing easy wildlife shots but its also has a super macro setting, down to 100mm. It has 3.2 megapixels but the zoom can make this equivalent to a 15 megapixels, on some shots.

Its also robust, unlike the huge, bulky Fuji S602, because the power switches have a tendancy to fall off. Best of all is the price £399.

http://www.angelfire.com/film/digital_pics/index.html

Alf B.

Jack Michaud · Feb 17, 2003

How is the C4000's lens brighter? It is 6.5mm, f/2.8 at wide, while the S45 is 7.1mm, f/2.8 at wide. I see that the lens itself looks physically bigger in diameter, but I would think this would be negated by the smaller aperture?

Also, the C4000 doesn't look very pocketable - jacket pocket maybe, but the S45 goes in my jeans front pocket quite nicely.
-Jack

Peter Marina said:
You will love the brighter lens, better battery life, stronger
flash, optional external flash, 4megapixel and fantastic colors.
Dont know how it compares to the CP885 in terms of focus in low
light but it does generally well. I used my friend's C-4000 a few
weeks ago and it seamed very usable in low light. The manual
features are ALL there and can be left alone if you dont want to
bother with them. It also happens to be really inexpensive for all
the features you get. Hope this helps...

sigpop · Feb 17, 2003

from what i read, the canon G2 and G3 has a similar relationship as the C4040 and C5050. some have suggested that the latter version of both mfg allows more play for professionals. i would hope that there would be settings, such as sharpness adjustments in the more recent models would simiulate ouput attainable by their predecessors.

Scott G Spellman said:
Scott

enricco_palazzo said:

The 4040 is better in auto then the 5050? Any idea why? Are there
any notable downsides to either? THanks for your help!!

Scott G Spellman said:

I like the Olympus 5050-great pictures and excellent manual
controls. It has a solid Auto mode, and 8 quick access memories
for settings. Alternately, the Oly 4040 has a better Auto mode,
but more complicated manual controls. They are both excellent in
low light.

-Scott

enricco_palazzo said:

I'm looking for a 4mp (or so) camera that is excellent in Auto mode
(as a point and shoot) but also has lots of features. I just got
rid of a Coolpix 885 which did not live up to my expectations. It
had a tough time focusing, over saturated reds and terrible in low
light situations. I thank you in advance for any input...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Peter Marina · Feb 17, 2003

Hi Jack,

yes it is deffinately larger in size and less pocketable but still a better camera for indoor shots. The C-4000 lens is brighter when you zoom in. The S45 shrinks to f/4.9 while the C-4000 stays constant at f/2.8 even a maximum zoom. That mean the S45 CCD get hit by 1/4 of the light that the C-4000's CCD receives when at maximum zoom. I dont think this is a negligable difference, specialy for indoor use. An other bonus of the C-4000 is the minimum aperture of f/11 ( S45 is limited to f/8) witch enables longer exposure for more creative photography.

Hope this clears things up...
Peter Marina

Jack Michaud said:
Also, the C4000 doesn't look very pocketable - jacket pocket maybe,
but the S45 goes in my jeans front pocket quite nicely.
-Jack

Peter Marina said:

You will love the brighter lens, better battery life, stronger
flash, optional external flash, 4megapixel and fantastic colors.
Dont know how it compares to the CP885 in terms of focus in low
light but it does generally well. I used my friend's C-4000 a few
weeks ago and it seamed very usable in low light. The manual
features are ALL there and can be left alone if you dont want to
bother with them. It also happens to be really inexpensive for all
the features you get. Hope this helps...

Click to expand...

--
Peter Marina

'...I sometimes try to help the humans...' Cosmo Kramer.

Jack Michaud · Feb 17, 2003

Interesting. Would you say that the two cameras would be equally bright at full wide?

Peter Marina said:
Hi Jack,
yes it is deffinately larger in size and less pocketable but still
a better camera for indoor shots. The C-4000 lens is brighter when
you zoom in. The S45 shrinks to f/4.9 while the C-4000 stays
constant at f/2.8 even a maximum zoom. That mean the S45 CCD get
hit by 1/4 of the light that the C-4000's CCD receives when at
maximum zoom. I dont think this is a negligable difference,
specialy for indoor use. An other bonus of the C-4000 is the
minimum aperture of f/11 ( S45 is limited to f/8) witch enables
longer exposure for more creative photography.

Looking for a great point and shoot that also offers full manual.

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