Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests current digital camera favorites?

haven't seen any digital camera threads in a while, and since i'll be heading off to detroit in january for the NAIAS i'm thinking of finally buying a digital camera to take with me. never really had a *need* for one, so i've never gotten around to getting one despite my desire for one. just keep finding other things to spend money on, i guess.

anyway - figured i might post here and see what y'all's current picks are in the digital camera world.

i'm not looking to spend a mint - would like to keep it under $400 but haven't ruled out spending more if the camera is worth it. would like at least 4 MP, 5 MP being better, but wouldn't rule out a 3 MP camera if the lens/features/etc. merited a closer look. small size is important - i'd like to be able to slip it into a pocket rather than having to worry about some big, bulky thing that's going to get in the way while i carry it around. i'd also like a good zoom - 4x or better, at the least. would prefer 6x, 8x, or even 10x optical....primary usage wouldn't require phenomenal image quality (pics from auto shows, road trips, etc. - most of which would just be posted on the web), but i would also like to be able to use it at events like the petit lemans or 12 hours of sebring and still come out with decent action shots, often from a fair distance.

some cameras i've thought about:
-- sony DSC-V1 - 5 mp, zeiss lens, good size....but, it is pricey (best online prices seem to be around $500, local brick-and-mortar stores like best buy or wolf are $600+. our office uses older sony's with zeiss lenses, and for having been abused on jobsites and dozens of trips (and having coke spilled in them, dropped, etc.) they've held up pretty well. haven't been blown away by picture quality, but they usually do pretty well - and of course they *are* a couple years old.
-- nikon coolpix series - the 5400/5700 look to be nice models but are even pricier than the sony, on average. the 4300 was my favorite option several months ago, but i think it's been out long enough that it's probably been surpassed by some of the current offerings.
--canon digital elph (s400?) - like the size, but the optical zoom is a bit short (3x?) and the price ain't cheap...
--canon S50 - not too much bigger than the elph, but 5mp and appears to be highly reviewed. can be found online for under $400....looks like a good buy.
--olympus has a few w/ 6x-10x zooms, but they're a bit bulkier than i'd like....

anybody out there have any suggestions? was hoping for a good deal on something on black friday but didn't see anything that sounded like what i was looking for. i also have a best buy 10% off coupon for this weekend, but i'm not really ready to buy right now...and plus 10% off best buy prices is still more expensive than some of the online e-tailers (from pricegrabber.com, anyway).

thoughts?

i like the sony v1, but thats just my bias. ive had good success with sony digital cameras: i have the dsc p31 (2 mp) and the dsc s85 (4.1 mp w/ zeiss lens). i believe the sony v1 is really the successor to the s85 as well.
here are some shots with my s85, just to give you an idea:
http://www.spymac.com/gallery/data/500/20795DSC00930-med.jpg
http://www.spymac.com/gallery/data/500/20795DSC00979-med.JPG
and if anything, the v1 is a nicer camera...

I've been using a Sony DSC-F717 for almost a year now (getting ready to sell it and upgrade to an F828, actually). It's been a GREAT camera that's stood up just about everything Mother Nature has thrown at it and it's taken some of the best shots I've ever snapped through a camera. The reason I bring this up is that the guts behind the V1 are VERY similar. Zeiss optics are quite nice for a fixed lens and the V1 is very intuitive and easy to use. The night shot feature is rather laughable, but neat to have. I haven't shot with a V1 but I have picked one up and the only complaints I had about it are lens capability (not enough optical zoom for my tastes) and size (too small). Again, since the guts between the F717 and V1 are so similar, I feel pretty confident mentioning my joy with the F717 here.

Oddly enough, at my recommendation and one of my friends, my wife bought her boss a V1 just a few days ago for his birthday (new baby coming soon, so new camera). For a nice "point and shoot" with a fair amount of features, it's a really good camera.

I wish I could comment more on the Canons, as they are the love of my life in SLR format and I swear by their miniDV camcorders, but I've had little experience with their digital stills. Pretty much zilch on the Nikon front as well, except for a brief 1 week stint with a Coolpix 900 a few years back. I hated that thing...

4-5 megapixel is overkill for web stuff, no?

IMHO, (and you're going to hate hearing this) you really need two different cameras.

Since you know it, we'll use my E100-RS as a baseline for an action camera and the S50 as a baseline for a still camera. The S50 will be awesome for still pics like at the auto show and other normal stuff; with 5mp you can blow up stuff big time for printing. The 3x zoom is adequate for those type shots too, especially considering the versatile size of the unit. At 4.5" long and ~1.5" wide that baby will fit darn near anywhere. But a max shutter speed of 1/1500sec and lack of zoom makes action shots pretty tough. The E100 has a shutter speed of 1/10,000sec and a 10x zoom so action shots are it's bread and butter. With only 1.5mp you won't be enlarging many prints however. Oh, and pocket portability isn't happening either.

I know you're pretty specific and picky (who here isn't!) so I'd get a camera that's great for stills and englargements and later on get one for action shots. (What's your film camera again?) You will never regret buying a small, highly portable, and capable digital camera; I very much need one too.

No way! I can reduce the image size through the Sony so it's not a 2MB monster (more like a 100-200k pic), so 5MP cameras can certainly be web-friendly, so long as you don't shoot at full image resolution.

I fully agree that if you are going to be doing any sports or action photography, get something with a FAST shutter. What I have now and what I'm upgrading to aren't the best at action shots AT ALL (still using an SLR for stuff like that).

I know they're web friendly, but if it's primarily for web use why spend the cash on useless megapixels?

Very true, though getting one camera that can "do it all" or most of it, anyways, is much cheaper than getting two, unles you can share media, components, batteries, etc. between the two. That's outside the initial expense of buying an additional camera as well.

To play the Devil's advocate here, there are tradeoffs one has to make when purchasing an "all in one" article.

Me likey the DSC-V1



Though the aux flash is a bit large