Pls recommend a digital compact

[Ben1223]

Hi Folks,
I plan to get a digital cam but don't know what to get.

The cam must be good at low-light situations without using flash.
Must have at least 28mm at the widest (24mm would be better).
Uses AA batteries.
Priced at around S$600.

If it can do IR photography the better.

Does such a cam exist?

Thanks

 

[zaren]

minolta 7hi, someone selling in B&S for $600.

 

[Snowcrash]

Hi Folks,
I plan to get a digital cam but don't know what to get.

The cam must be good at low-light situations without using flash.
Must have at least 28mm at the widest (24mm would be better).
Uses AA batteries.
Priced at around S$600.

If it can do IR photography the better.

Does such a cam exist?

Thanks

Uses aa batteries, around $600 and 28mm = Ricoh digicam.

As for low light ricoh have iso800 but personally have not try it out.

Still shoot film at iso800 if I need to do low light situation.

 

[Winston]

Hi Folks,
I plan to get a digital cam but don't know what to get.

The cam must be good at low-light situations without using flash.
Must have at least 28mm at the widest (24mm would be better).
Uses AA batteries.
Priced at around S$600.

If it can do IR photography the better.

Does such a cam exist?

Thanks

You Need
1) Digital camera
2) Widest at 28mm
3) Good in Low light (wide aperature)
4) Uses AA Battery
5) Ard S$600 (which is ard USD300+)
6) Possible IR photography.

I ran a check on DPreview for most of ur features and was surprised to see 2 cameras that can fit this very strict requirement.

Fujifilm Finepix E500/E510 Zoom
1) Yes
2) 28-91mm (3.2x zoom)
3) f/2.9-8 (at 28mm its f/2.9 pretty wide)
4) Uses 2 'AA' batteries
5) Priced at USD 211 and 250 (respectively)
6) I dunno if can do IR


E500
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Fujifilm/fuji_finepixe500z.asp

E510
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Fujifilm/fuji_finepixe510z.asp

 

[theITguy]

Unfortunately, I think it uses xD card.... which is an extra cost somehow. Wide angle compact normally have noticable distortion. But apart from the distortion and xD card, FujiFilm is a good choice overall.

 

[tommon]

Digicam doesn't do well in low light situation. Increasing ths ISO cause noise (or grains in film term). For that low budget, it would lack the hotshoe attachment for external flash guns. It is recommended that digicams do not exceed ISO 400 to keep noise level down.

 

[zaren]

Digicam doesn't do well in low light situation. Increasing ths ISO cause noise (or grains in film term). For that low budget, it would lack the hotshoe attachment for external flash guns. It is recommended that digicams do not exceed ISO 400 to keep noise level down.

make that iso 200. 400 is usually quite horrid.

 

[Ben1223]

Thanks for all the help. I'll check out the Ricoh and Fuji.
Any more suggestions are welcome.

 

[Ben1223]

Hi Guys,
What's the largest capacity xD card around?
And why is an xD card a disadvantage?

Thx

 

[The_Cheat]

Hi Guys,
What's the largest capacity xD card around?
And why is an xD card a disadvantage?

Thx

Largest capacity of xD card? Hmm... well, some claim it to be really high, above 2Gb or so. But right now, the standard for xD is still stopping at 512Mb. The main disadvantage of the xD card is that there's not much of a competition in production of xD. Currently, xD is only liscensed to two company: Olympus and Fuji, while there are other companies like Sandisk and Lexar, producing OEM xD card for them (but the cards still appear as Olympus or Fuji xD card). Thus, in the nutshell, there's not much variation in xD card (no xD that can withstand extreme condition, or ultra speed xD cards yet!) and the pricing are rather controlled by these two powerhouses. That's the main reason why a lot of people shun xD card.

The good news is that Kodak is entering the market, producing cameras using xD card. They might join in the production of xD soon. Furthermore, xD cards prices are dropping quite substantially these days.

 

[The_Cheat]

minolta 7hi, someone selling in B&S for $600.

7hi cannot do IR, and can't really be considered a compact. It's more of a prosumer camera. But heck! It's a hell of a camera! :bsmilie:

 

[zaren]

7hi cannot do IR, and can't really be considered a compact. It's more of a prosumer camera. But heck! It's a hell of a camera! :bsmilie:

yeah...that 28-200mm/f2.8-3.5 lens is yummy!

 

[Winston]

Hi Guys,
What's the largest capacity xD card around?
And why is an xD card a disadvantage?

Thx

Most people think its a -ve point cos They perfer a Memory Media that is Used by a lot of devices, (PDA..etc..) so they can save money by not buying so many memory media.

But if u get a 256Mb xD or 512Mb xD Picture card, its a 1 time investment so I dont see the disadvantage.

If u really want to make "full use" of it, get a compact USB 2.0 xD picture card reader.

Plug the 256Mb xD in it.
And use it as a thumb drive during work to transfer files.

btw largest xD i have seen so far is 1GB, but that is not the limit of its capacity yet.

Dont let the memory media of the camera BE THE DETERMINING factor of your purchase.

Its foolish to turn down a camera just cos its not ur favored memory type or battery type, since these 2 factors dont affect the picture quality.

 

[mpenza]

it does depend on whether you have other existing equipment that could share the memory card. if you already have another digital camera or pda, getting a new digicam that could share the memory card would save money. also, some forms of memory cards like xD are still more expensive than others. If it's gonna be a one time investment, you'll need to take the extra cost into account. but that said, the merits of the camera should be considered more carefully than just the type of memory used.

 

[Ben1223]

Thanks guys for all the advice.