Buying a Sony S85 unless you can talk me out of it...

[Jeff64142]

Here are the following reasons why:

Great reviews at this site and several others
InfoLithium Battery (costly but nice)
Battery and charger included
Can use while battery is charging
Ebay prices are right around $600

I know the batteries and memory are proprietary and costly, but...

Now hit me with why not to get this camera. Note that the Canon G2 and the Olympus 3040Z were tied for second in this race, so you may be able to sway me to either of those with good arguments.

I didn't choose the Olympus because of no battery or charger included and Smart Card type memory in general.

I didn't choose the Canon only because of price ($750+) although I feel it is the best camera of the bunch.

Thanks!!!!!

 

[Brent57125]

I won't try to talk you out of it because if the S85 is anywhere close to the 303 model in image quality, then you have a winner and I figure it is because of the Karl Zeiss lense.

I've used the Canon G1 and yes, it was a good camera too but didn't quite leave the same impression on me as the F303V did.

My philosophy for Sony is that anything lacking (which hasn't been an issue for me yet) is made up for in image quality, which I put a premium on.

Here are the following reasons why:

Great reviews at this site and several others
InfoLithium Battery (costly but nice)
Battery and charger included
Can use while battery is charging
Ebay prices are right around $600

I know the batteries and memory are proprietary and costly, but...

Now hit me with why not to get this camera. Note that the Canon G2
and the Olympus 3040Z were tied for second in this race, so you may
be able to sway me to either of those with good arguments.

I didn't choose the Olympus because of no battery or charger
included and Smart Card type memory in general.

I didn't choose the Canon only because of price ($750+) although I
feel it is the best camera of the bunch.

Thanks!!!!!

 

[Ted B.47613]

Don't let price stop you. Get an American Express Blue card and knock that price down a lot. They will rebate you up to $250 based on the best web price you can find. They just need the printed web page with date (put there by your browser probably) and price. Soon as I get my AMEX card, that's what I'm doing. For that matter, you can do the same with the Sony, if you prefer it.

Here are the following reasons why:

Great reviews at this site and several others
InfoLithium Battery (costly but nice)
Battery and charger included
Can use while battery is charging
Ebay prices are right around $600

I know the batteries and memory are proprietary and costly, but...

Now hit me with why not to get this camera. Note that the Canon G2
and the Olympus 3040Z were tied for second in this race, so you may
be able to sway me to either of those with good arguments.

I didn't choose the Olympus because of no battery or charger
included and Smart Card type memory in general.

I didn't choose the Canon only because of price ($750+) although I
feel it is the best camera of the bunch.

Thanks!!!!!

 

[moonface]

jeff,

I actually bought an S85. Then I bought an E10. From what I can gather, the E10 is not what you are looking for in price or format. I did not hate the S85, but I had some problems with it. I had both the E10 and the S85 until 2 days ago when I sold the Sony. After comparing the color output from both, I was convinced that Sony colors come on a bit strong for my tastes. Some like this as it makes the images 'appear' more lively. I prefer the more neutral, accurate colors. Livelyness is easier to add than to subtract. I say this because Sony tends to peg a color channel such that it misses picking up the original detail all together. You can't put back what was never there.

I also got bad results when trying to use the S85 in low light. It focuses well, but it put out a noisy, grainy, dark image.

The Sony battery is outstanding. No problems there. The camera 'feels' pretty good to. I would have liked a little more than the 3x optical zoom, but the lens quality is great!

Overall, camera choice is very subjective. It always boils down to personal taste. That is why I will qualify everything I have said here by stating that it is my OPINION only.

If it were my decision, I would definitely buy the G2. It all boils down to the fact that I prefer the image quality and colors produced by the G2.

 

[Frank C.]

pleeeeeeeasse......pleeeeeeeeze... don't buy the S85!

how's that?

 

[Cassandra59044]

If you like the saturated colors that Sony produces along with great resolution and a wide dynamic range I'd highly recommend the Fuji 6900z instead of the S85. Colors are less garish but still vibrant and the camera is a dream to use. When I think about how close I came to buying the S85 instead of my beloved Fuji... Check out Ron H's site for a look at what it can do: http://pbase.com/galleries/ronhep

Cassandra

http://www.photoaccess.com/share/guest.jsp?ID=ACF82B12666&cb=PA
http://photos.yahoo.com/clubsi_mom
http://welcome.to/cassandras-gallery

 

[Brent57125]

Oops, where did I get "F303V" from? I meant F505V. I'm going for a coffee...

I won't try to talk you out of it because if the S85 is anywhere
close to the 303 model in image quality, then you have a winner and
I figure it is because of the Karl Zeiss lense.
I've used the Canon G1 and yes, it was a good camera too but didn't
quite leave the same impression on me as the F303V did.
My philosophy for Sony is that anything lacking (which hasn't been
an issue for me yet) is made up for in image quality, which I put a
premium on.