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Help me choose the right digital camera as per these requirements please?!?
Hi...I've been looking for at least a year and tried a few but am still unhappy! Thought my best tack now is to say what I'm looking for and hope someone can recommend and help me choose.
Firstly, I bought a Fuji Finepix about 3 yrs ago, the A205S Zoom and am more than happy with that except it has no sound on movies AND I'm restricted to only 20 seconds of videoing. So sound is my first priority plus a few other things I've discovered along the way. I do have a Sony mini-dv camcorder which is brilliant but again, probably more than I need! I'm hoping for a digital camera that will meet my videoing requirements too (also pretty basic)! Also, I tend to take pix just to store on the PC and discs. I rarely print them off and if I do, it's for those family occassions, like making them into greetings cards or calendars, or just sending a snapshot to a relative in print or by emailling. I'm not looking for A2 poster size brilliance.
I'm currently trialling a Canon Powershot A640* which has 10 megapixels and is excellent quality pix and video/sound, except it really has too many functions (pre-set and manual) for me to use and I'm therefore too slow with and too confused by it. I'm really a Fuji girl because I like the vivid colours, the ease of use and how quickly I can take successive pix. Also because I'm familiar with the software and have various XD cards. I basically only take snapshots of my 4 yr old (many many many of them)...
so I need to be quick. I mostly use AUTO function. When I take pix for ebay, I turn the flash off or down. I mostly take pix/videos during daytime so lighter, but sometimes in the evening or indoor at functions so would like something that works well (automatically) in low light conditions.
I've so far been tempted by:
- Fuji Finepix E900
- Fuji Finepix F30 & F31 fd (although can't find the latter in the UK yet)
- Kodak Easyshare C875
Basically I'd like:
Must haves:
- quick start up, minimal time between pressing the button and actually getting the picture I thought I was taking (what's that called? is it shutter lapse???) and the picture I get 2 seconds later!
- a reasonable optical zoom - I'm normally within 1-25 feet of my subjects!
- easy to manoeuvre - ie get around the different functions very quickly and obviously
- not restricted on videoing time other than how much space is left on the card
- really good, true to life vivid colours**
- macro function
- can turn flash on or off or have a preset or manual function that puts a flash "fill?" in if I'm taking pix of people standing in front of windows etc (ie when most of the light is behind them)
- something to help with camera shake! is that image stabilisation or some sort of blur deterrent?
- videos can be as long as the space left on the card and are 640x480, 30 fps
- fairly lightweight and either fit in breast pocket size OR at least in a small handbag!
- good sound on videos and not to have the mike somewhere that I'd put my finger over!
- maybe a few pre-settings for portrait, nighttime, sports day...that kind of thing
Nice to haves:
- panorama or "stitch" facility
- in camera red eye reduction (although can do on PC)
- between 2-4 A4 standard/rechargeable batteries or at least a LONG life rechargeable other kind
- colour, black & white or sepia capability
Couldn't care less about:
- whether it's black or silver
- manual settings for higher aperture, ISO, shutter speed etc, colour accenting or swapping,
- RAW stuff (whatever that is)!
As you can see, I'm pretty easy to please but just tooooooo naive to make a decision on my own! If anyone knows of any UK camera retailer that lets you try it out for say 14 days and return it to try a different one etc, on the basis that you finally buy ONE from them, I'd be grateful to hear about them!
* the Canon Powershot A640 (although not for me), is a brilliant camera. Has had great reviews and 10 mp is impressive!
** true to life vivid colours....I've found that in my old Fuji A205S and in my mother in law's Kodak Easyshare S753???? Unfortunately, my son just had his first school photo taken by a professional photographer who is charging a lot of money for the prints, BUT his jade green school sweatshirt is actually sky blue in the pro's pic! I'm disappointed with that! I want REAL colours.
I'm sorry to be so ignorant and I'm sure many will say...well, this camera and that camera will do for that.....but I really don't want to invest and be disappointed so really am only expecting replies from people maybe in the same situation or better that have tried and experienced good results with no confusing extras?!
Hope you can help .......thanks and regards....Celine
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