# I Fancy A New Camera... Advice Greatly Rec'd!



## JonW (Mar 23, 2005)

Currently I have a Casio Exilim Z3 subcompact. I love its size and its all round ability. We take it everywhere we travel and its been 100% relaible in over 12000 shots. The focusing is now a bit gritty and occasionally its starting to not get it right so rather than get annoyed with it Id rather retire it gracefully and get a new one...

So what I need is another subcompact that takes SD cards and is the same size as what we have, simple to use and of course I need it to take great Macro shots for the forum when its not doing duty as a Point and Shoot for travel.

I did consider the new 750/850 Casios but they have a 10cm min focus for their macro cos of the newer lens, mine is 6cm... I think that this might be ok but having to crop pix all the time would defo become annoying if it isnt...

I also considered the new Cannon 55 and 65 models, they seem to be the same size and finally cannon has given up on CF cards. I dont like their menus and handling as much (ive got quite used to the Z3 I spose) but they seem to have better macro focusing...

I know getting a SLR would solve all my image issues, but Ive had a Cannon EOS in the past, twas a great camera but too big to carry about and so damn obvious i was a toursist! lol. So thats not a goer for me...

Anyone recently also looked thru all these options and feel like sharing their thoughts?


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## Nalu (Nov 28, 2003)

Jon,

I've always used Olys (3030, 5050, now 7070) and they've got great macro capabilities. I started with them because the Light & Motion U/W Oly housings are excellent and stayed because they made a nice compromise between portability and pro-sumer features.

Recently I picked up a Pentax WPi as a pocket/field point and shoot after trashing a 5050 in Iraq/A'stan. It's useless for watch photography. I have also bought a Fuji S-9000, which pushes the bleeding edge of the pro-sumer market. I've been getting some great shots of watches with it and I'm very pleased, but I'm still way to the left of its learning curve (new menus, control layout, etc.).

The Olys and Fuji use xD and CF only, the Pentax uses SD. The 7070 and S-9000 can house two cards at a time - wonderful for U/W work where changing cards/downloading is not an option (esp now that I have a rebreather rig which gives me incredible bottom times). Also good for holidays: with 2-3 Gb in the camera I could shoot for a week!

All not much help if you're sticking with SD, but someone else reading might be able to use the info. I don't care much for xD (too slow), but still like the durability, capacity and price of CF memory.

A few shots made with the S-9000:




























These were minimally cropped and reduced in size considerably - the originals are gigantic! Once I get better at composing watch photos, I'm thinking some framed 10 x 14s might be in order!


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

Nice pictures Colin









I find choosing a digital very difficult









They are evolving so quickly you think you have finally decided .... then realise it is out of date already









What I would like is a digital equivalent of my Olympus OM1n that gave me 20 years of great service all over the world. I suspect I am being naive though.

Half a dozen times I have almost pulled the trigger and bought an Digi-SLR but just haven't had the confidence to do it







Every magazine you read has different views .... and most of the sales people I spoke to are not particularly helpful


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## JonW (Mar 23, 2005)

Blimey Colin... youre a pictire taking god!







er, that or your camera is! lol.









I think the S-9000 is great its just a bit big for lugging about... I still have an old 35mm EOS and never use it cos its too big.... tho im tempted to get one for pix round the home!

I read the reviews and they seem to be overall much better than the other cameras ive looked at... hmmmm....

John, totally agree mate... its a bloomin mine field... at least theyre cheaper than they used to be... sigh...


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## JonW (Mar 23, 2005)

Just been looking at a Lumix fx9... anyone know anything good/bad about these... im reading reviews atm, but looks pretty good....


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## in_denial (Aug 3, 2005)

JonW said:


> Currently I have a Casio Exilim Z3 subcompact. I love its size and its all round ability. We take it everywhere we travel and its been 100% relaible in over 12000 shots. The focusing is now a bit gritty and occasionally its starting to not get it right so rather than get annoyed with it Id rather retire it gracefully and get a new one...
> 
> So what I need is another subcompact that takes SD cards and is the same size as what we have, simple to use and of course I need it to take great Macro shots for the forum when its not doing duty as a Point and Shoot for travel
> 
> ...


Nikon subcompacts have got excellent macro performance and take SD cards. What I would like in a subcompact would be D-SLR performance (sub-second power on, no discernable delay taking a picture after pressing the shutter release) unfortunately no one seems to do it; maybe it just isn't possible in that size yet.

-- Tim


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## JonW (Mar 23, 2005)

in_denial said:


> JonW said:
> 
> 
> > Currently I have a Casio Exilim Z3 subcompact. I love its size and its all round ability. We take it everywhere we travel and its been 100% relaible in over 12000 shots. The focusing is now a bit gritty and occasionally its starting to not get it right so rather than get annoyed with it Id rather retire it gracefully and get a new one...
> ...


The new casios seem to offer fast startup and pics but have other issues... what a minefield... sigh...


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## Nalu (Nov 28, 2003)

The digicam market is stabilising, IMO. The issue is the dimensions of the CCD: around 8Mp you start to get bleedover into adjacent sensors that limits ultimate resolution. For example, Olympus introduced an 8080 (8Mp) shortly after the 7070 (7Mp) appeared, but the 7070 remained the better-received camera: most reviewers felt the picture quality was better (and the newest Olys are faring even worse in the market). In fact, the now-discontinued 7070 commands used prices greater than the original RRP! I believe this is why we're seeing more emphasis on lens quality, focus speed and other features - whereas previously it was all about Mp.

OTOH, the D-SLR market is just getting started: full sized and 3/4 CMOS sensors, 10+Mp resolution, etc. I too have thought about an SLR, but just have to go look at my Nikonos V setup with zoom and wide angle lenses, macro tubes and framers, etc. to realize I don't want to haul a suitcase around just for photo kit. Finally and simplistically, I like being having the ability to take movies with the digicam 

I would agree with Tim about the Nikon digicams: no direct experience, but they are well-reviewed and it's hard to go wrong with Nikon.


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## Boxbrownie (Aug 11, 2005)

I get asked all the time at work for digital camera advice.....all I tell everyone is, decide what you really want it for......for a new toy or really to record times you wnt to remember, if its the latter then I normally tell then to buy the smallest / most compact good quality camera they can afford, usually it comes down to between Casio or Sony, they both make the very thin excellent quality cameras.

The basis is that if its small you will tend to always hopefully have it with you and actually use it! Where as if you buy a big chunky all singing all dancing camera more than likely when you want to go out you'll just not be bothered to actually carry the damn thing around with you!

It all depends on the person and use......isnt human beans great? We are all different and all a right pain!

In all honesty.......I use the excuse that being \ professional I am not really up to speed on the amatuer market and just give them a couple of web site addresses to browse









Hope its ok to list them here as they are not watch related?

http://www.dpreview.com/

http://www.steves-digicams.com/

Best regards David


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## ENY55V (Mar 17, 2006)

I've tried many but I am happy with the Fuji S7000 - perhaps now a bit outdated. In any case this camera takes great photos. The main issue, on many instances is the light (source or lack of it)

THERE IS *A free software from Google called Picasa* - worth getting it !!!!


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## makky (Jul 14, 2004)

Jon, there are so many digicams on sale now that it is hard to recommend one model as they come and go so quickly. From what I've seen of Nikons offerings, I really like their menu systems and close focusing.

I would suggest you first decide how much you want to spend and go from there. If you are looking at the camera review sites, pay foremost attention to image quality.


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## JonW (Mar 23, 2005)

Hi Guys thanks for all your help. Ive been having a good look round and the Digicam review sites are just excellent with far more info than anyone really needs but interesting all the same!

I agree with most of the sentiment here and as has been said its the size and the quality that matter to me - its why I bought the Casio I have now.

So im off to Japan tonight and will see whats what and if I can get something at a good price. my currentl fave is the Lumix fx01 so will see what I can find.

Thanks again!


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## Boxbrownie (Aug 11, 2005)

Blimey on my recent trip to Japan I found the prices to be higher than those here in the UK for the digi cams, well most things really....I was most suprised! And came back with loads of dosh left over









Best regards David


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## JonW (Mar 23, 2005)

Ok, I bought the Lumix FX-01... cheaper than the UK and only slighly cheaper than I could have got it here when travelling (ie tax free). Still the displays of cameras in all colours and all their accessories was amazing and we had a fun buying experience at Yodobashi Camera in Shinjuku.


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## Boxbrownie (Aug 11, 2005)

Excellent camera that FX-01.......about Â£220 here in the UK, most useful having the wider than normal lens and still retian a very compact camera, great choice.

Look forward to seeing what the macro mode is like?

Best regards David


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