Advise on DSLR like camera

[Jagdeep]

I've just sold my D40 and want a simpler DSLR like camera.
Can you guys help with advise/suggestions?
Ricoh? Lumix? Sony? Nikon? Canon?

Some of the main wants are
at least 5 megapixels
large sensor (very very important)
good built in flash
good zoom (6x to 10x)
low shutter lag

for a normal (sort of) guy with a wierd family for phamily foto shots
I wont be using ISO800 very much

if it can beat my Nikon F65, I will be quite happy
most viewing done on computer

god preowned cameras which meet the above criterion will be considered

 

[ahguan]

I still have an old Minolta A1 which sort of meet your criteria. it is technically a SLR except that cannot change lense

5 megapixels
NO large sensor (do you mean full frame sort of large or APS-C large? if so then i think no such camera)
good built in flash (how good? able to do swivel and do bounce? the A1 can use the optional flashes HS3600 and HS5400 and even control off camera slaves)
7x zoom
low shutter lag, but AF as with all consumer and prosumer range is slow compared to DSLR

You may also want to check out others such as Minolta A2 etc, sony F828. but i think cameras in these range are slowly being replaced by low end DSLRs

hope this helps

 

[Galdor]

Get the Sony R1 if you can still find one. Otherwise, the Sony F828 is very good too.

 

[night86mare]

large sensor (very very important)

other than sony r1 you will not get a significantly LARGE sensor

that said, fujifilm prosumers tend to have larger sensors though, and pretty good iq and noise control. the only trouble is that all of them (not that i know of, except maybe the 8xxxfd released recently, but i can't really remember specs) do not have image stabilisation.

 

[felixcat8888]

Fujifilm S9600 or S6500FD Sensor is 1/1.6" and 1/1.7"

 

[Yatlapball]

Just curious.. why did you sell the D40? It's almost as easy to use as your prosumer cams. And at the same price too.

Oh btw, the fujis might be a good choice.

 

[nicsnaps]

Pity you did not offer your D40 earlier - I might have bought it as I moved in the opposite direction (Canon Powershot S5IS) to the D40X.

Based on current offerings, its the usual suspects - Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18, Fuji Finepix 6500fd/6000fd (same model different name) and Canon PowerShot S5IS or at least these were the ones that I had looked at.

The Panasonic has the benefit of Leica lens (very good quality) but is let down by noise issues. The Fuji is the most dSLR like of the lot, with zoom and manual focussing rings on the lens body but without any image stabilisation (which both the Panasonic and Canon have). Panasonic and Fuji are wider (28mm) at the zoom end than the Canon (36mm). Build wise, its the Fuji, followed by Canon and Panasonic. The Canon appeared, IMO, the best compromise of the lot with the bonus of up to an hour's video recording though I might have gone for the Fuji if it had image stabilisation. There are many reviews on all 3 so do read them up.

Unfortunately, with the non SLR prosumers, the sensor size tends to be small (definitely smaller than the APS-C found on the D40). While capable of producing good images (there is an S2/S3/S5 photo thread on CS Canon forum), there is more noise in low light shots. However, if you use flash for low light shots, this might not be that critical.

BTW , I still have my mint Canon S5IS for sale so please take my comments with a pinch of salt.

BTBTW, HN is not necessarily the cheapest place to buy, unless you know someone, in which case the price is closer to the non-chain shops.

 

[synapseman]

As far as sensor size and responsiveness is concerned, a DSLR will be faster than any prosumer camera. This is due to the limits of the design.

And to beat the F65? In what way? If you're talking about colours and dynamic range, you might be disappointed.

IMO, one of the best prosumers ever made was the Konica Minolta Dimage A2. You should be able to get one for real cheap now.

 

[Jagdeep]

Thank you, very useful advise.
Yatlaball, , my wife just suddenly took fewer photos when the D40 came.
She was a photo maniac with the smaller nikon compact, which the D40 replaced.

I was also considering the Sony H9 or H3
any comments on this?

 

[glennyong]

Thank you, very useful advise.
Yatlaball, , my wife just suddenly took fewer photos when the D40 came.
She was a photo maniac with the smaller nikon compact, which the D40 replaced.

I was also considering the Sony H9 or H3
any comments on this?

mysony f717 also got all those specs u want... :bsmilie:

 

[Rashkae]

Thank you, very useful advise.
Yatlaball, , my wife just suddenly took fewer photos when the D40 came.
She was a photo maniac with the smaller nikon compact, which the D40 replaced.

I was also considering the Sony H9 or H3
any comments on this?

H9 for more manual, DSLR-like controls. H3 for simple PnS with great zoom.

 

[Yatlapball]

Sounds like what your wife really wants in a camera is Live View Heh.

 

[Snooze]

I think Fuji is a great choice too but again i D40 would have been a better camera.
If you are considering H3 or H9, The difference is not much though. H9 Comes with infrared for night shots and tiltable screen and comes with free photo printer too.. Since its a family Camera i would suggest Sony is a better choice and the sensor size is 1/2,5 which rather decent for a prosumer camera. Furthermore with the New Bionz Engine the noise level for night shooting have surpass Canon S5is for sure.

Cheers and happy shooting

 

[Jagdeep]

The battle field has narrowed down a bit.
The Fuji's and Sony's are up for the battle

Sony would be the DSCH9.
Fuji would be the S6500fd
:dunno:

The Bionz noise reduction is attrative in the Sony has anti shake too
The Fuji's have the sensor size advantage but no anti shake

Help me decide. This is tough.
both use non SD cards in any case

Jag:mad2:

 

[Jagdeep]

And the suggestions are .......:lovegrin:

 

[Galdor]

Depends on yourself. Do you need the Anto Shake function. For me it would be important as I have shaky hands. Tried using a Fuji 9600 last night. Wanted to take a night shot of a building. In the end only 1 shot made it out of the 20 that I took.

 

[Simon_84]

if you seldom get blur shots with your d40, then fuji 6500fd would be a good choice with its bigger 1/1.7 sensor but is going to be difficult to find this model 1st hand nowadays as it has already been phase out.
maybe you can try harvey norman at raffles city shopping centre or you can try best denki at taka but be prepared to pay retail price for it.
a bigger sensor will preserve slightly more detail than a smaller sensor when the noise reduction program kicks in at low light shots.

 

[Jagdeep]

Wow , the Ricoh Caplio GX100 is fantsatic.
But overall, I just saw the Sony and the SonyH9 is the one my wide likes.
For me, if I get the chance, I'll get the Ricoh.

The Sony has a strange function, .. a night shot function., what is this for?

Jag

 

[night86mare]

Wow , the Ricoh Caplio GX100 is fantsatic.
But overall, I just saw the Sony and the SonyH9 is the one my wide likes.
For me, if I get the chance, I'll get the Ricoh.

The Sony has a strange function, .. a night shot function., what is this for?

Jag

for shooting night shots.. i know the answer is silly but if i'm not wrong it removes the filter over the sensor so that exposure times are shortened even at night. trouble is that some setting becomes fixed, i think aperture.. this is because of certain reasons to do with the famous sony x-ray effect

this mode should allow you to shoot infrared photos handheld

 

[Jagdeep]

even more curious ... what X-ray effect?