Looking for a good 5-megapixel digicam

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GuruX

Gawd
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Jul 8, 2001
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639
Well I've decided to retire my Olympus C-740UZ camera, since I don't really use the 10x zoom, and it's just too big to carry around all the time.

I've taken a brief look at the Canon Powershot A-series cameras and really like the design, but haven't used the A95 yet. Reviews say it's a good little camera, but I'm curious if anyone here has used it.

Otherwise, what would be another solid 5-mp camera that I should look at? (and please don't say Olympus, because I don't want xD cards anymore -- even though I have one).
 
I recently purchased the DSC-P92 5MP which is a Sony. So you would have to buy Memory Sticks, but they aren't too expensive. About the camera tho, it works wonderfully, great pictures, fast bootup, has video with very good sound. No ISO or exposure control, its all automatic unfortunately. Its a great pick up and shoot camera.


Ahh, trying to get you a link and found out that they don't make the P92 anymore. But they make a P93, which is prolly just as good.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=30-150-044&depa=7


Or if you want to go a bit higher, this is the P100

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=30-150-050&depa=7


These are just Sony cameras tho, others may have better solutions.
 
Shutter & Aperture priority are a must......... I've gotten so used to that with my C-740 that I just can't go back to an automatic.

(Sure, I left my 740 in "P" (Program AE?) mode most of the time, but there have been many cases where I've used manual control to achieve just the right exposure I wanted.)

Any good comparable Nikons in a similar price range to the A95?
 
Well, after spending an evening with my A95 (and a 1GB Sandisk Extreme memory card), I can say three things:

1) This camera is extremely easy to work with, and tends to produce some nice images. I say "tends to" because I'm still learning certain things with focusing on this camera (for example, when I depress the shutter halfway, it seems almost random where the focus indicator appears on the display). :)

2) I miss the exposure bracketing and variable flash intensity level adjustments I had in my Olympus C-740. While the bracketing was a feature I only used for one photo project, adjusting the flash intensity has proven useful many times. This feature alone is making me consider returning the A95 for something better.

3) FINALLY! My first digicam with an AF assist lamp. While it surprised a few people who's pictures were being taken, it helped extremely well in the low-light environment I took most of my pictures. This was FAR FAR easier than achieving good focus on the Olympus.

So overall, I'm quite impressed with this little camera, but I wish there was something I could do about that flash (it's waaayyyy too bright by default).
 
You might be able to just stop-down the apeture to reduce the amount of light hitting the sensor and thus making the image darker with fewer blown-out highlights. It also has the side effect of increasing DOF, which is helpful here even if you already get plenty of it.

When I needed to light stuff up further away with my CoolPix 995, I did the +2 EV to the flash output, and then I would also bump the ISO way up to 400 or 800. Unfortunately my pictures came out poorly, but the subject usually managed to be lit this way.
 
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