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The best digicam $800 can buy??
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xospec1alk
Diamond Member
thats exactly how i feel, its waay to bulky to bring anywhere, but it is a GREAT camera. im gonna need to pick up a smaller one so that i can just carry it around...
Koing
Elite Member <br> Super Moderator<br> Health and F
Well to be honest all camera with great lenses are not going to be exactly small. Due to the fact of the lense itself is going to be big and stick out. Like the 10D is not portable, its a pro camera.
Portable cameras you can get with zoom but the image quality isn't the same and they are less versatile at what you can do. But you get portability.
Koing
I'd also like to upgrade to the 10D, I have a Minolta S404 (4MP w/ 4x optical) right now. It does very well in sunlight, but indoors/lowerlighting it's very grainy. I'd say with the noise in those conditions, it's closer to 2MP camera...
The 10D looks REALLY nice in the reviews and samples I've seen. However, I'm reading a lot of this 'focus' problem and that has me concerned about it. Seems like you can workaround it, but, there is some issue with it not locking on focus very well. The S404 that I have is very slow to focus and maybe 90% accurate (9/10 shots come out on focus). I'm not anxious to have to deal with another camera in that way.... fortunately I can't afford the 10D now so it's a non-issue.
The 10D looks REALLY nice in the reviews and samples I've seen. However, I'm reading a lot of this 'focus' problem and that has me concerned about it. Seems like you can workaround it, but, there is some issue with it not locking on focus very well. The S404 that I have is very slow to focus and maybe 90% accurate (9/10 shots come out on focus). I'm not anxious to have to deal with another camera in that way.... fortunately I can't afford the 10D now so it's a non-issue.
imported_Mike
Lifer
people, sony has media up to a gig now...although very expensive, its there. I have the sony s85 & love it. I think your best bet would be the 717 or the G5
Damn, I hope this posts. It's lag city right now.
The 707 is bulky, that's for sure. But it's worth it to me to have the brighter lens. I'm trying hard to get in the habit of taking it wherever I go. I'm doing some renovation type work right now, taking before and after pictures. I left the camera setting on a porch dining table. It started drizzling, but there was an umbrella over it, so it was OK. I was picking up tools just as it started to come down harder. My brother comes running up with my camera and it's wet! He said the rain was splashing off the glass table top onto it!! :Q It's sitting next to me right now. I'll see if it's still working... Whew! Still shooting, too. Hand held at 1/8 second.
I would say, if you're not bothered by the F717's size then get that. It's the best 5mp cam out there. I own the V1 and have no complaints about it at all either. It's a compact 717 with a few more features too. But it doesn't have an EVF and has less zoom. The top end sony's have very fast & pin sharp focus. Not to mention the low light & no light focus capabilities are unmatched.
here's a few pics I took w/ the V1 no photoshop, straight outta the cam, just re-sized;
1
racquetball
catch ball
total darkness focus
macro
face macro
edit: and be sure to buy it at sears, they will pricematch + 10% of the diff. and if you open a sears credit card you will get another 10% off the total price. and get the 2yr no questions asked replacement warranty! find an online dealer in your area and bring in a print out of their prices, or a magazine ad from a store near you.
edit2: here's some good links for memory sticks:
MS Pro 256mb
256mb stick $50
here's a few pics I took w/ the V1 no photoshop, straight outta the cam, just re-sized;
1
racquetball
catch ball
total darkness focus
macro
face macro
edit: and be sure to buy it at sears, they will pricematch + 10% of the diff. and if you open a sears credit card you will get another 10% off the total price. and get the 2yr no questions asked replacement warranty! find an online dealer in your area and bring in a print out of their prices, or a magazine ad from a store near you.
edit2: here's some good links for memory sticks:
MS Pro 256mb
256mb stick $50
Nice shots! Uh, your wife handily wins the cuteness contest there! 😛
Anybody (who shall remain nameless) having trouble shooting with their V1, ought to start frequenting Sony Talk Forum. There's no reason to post ANY new topics, because it's all been covered. Just use the search feature.
Anybody (who shall remain nameless) having trouble shooting with their V1, ought to start frequenting Sony Talk Forum. There's no reason to post ANY new topics, because it's all been covered. Just use the search feature.
Nocturnal
Lifer
Hey guys, enough ripping on Nocturnal. If you noticed I haven't started a thread on digital camera topics for quite some time. I now take my talk to the Sony Talk Forum at dpreview.com.
The V1 is a really good cam. If you really don't mind the size I'd go with a 717. At the time I bought my camera I had no idea how awesome the Canon 10D was. If I could go back, like I said, I would have not boughten the V1 and saved a little more for a 10D. But this is not the case. It seems he is looking to get the best cam within his budget of $800.00. You can get more than enough including accessories and memory sticks with that $800.00 and a nice Sony cam. The 717 has far superior battery life compared to my V1. And also Sony makes up to 1 GIG memory sticks now. They have 128, 256, 512, and 1 GIG Memory Stick Pro.
Hope this helps and let us know which camera you decide to go with!
The V1 is a really good cam. If you really don't mind the size I'd go with a 717. At the time I bought my camera I had no idea how awesome the Canon 10D was. If I could go back, like I said, I would have not boughten the V1 and saved a little more for a 10D. But this is not the case. It seems he is looking to get the best cam within his budget of $800.00. You can get more than enough including accessories and memory sticks with that $800.00 and a nice Sony cam. The 717 has far superior battery life compared to my V1. And also Sony makes up to 1 GIG memory sticks now. They have 128, 256, 512, and 1 GIG Memory Stick Pro.
Hope this helps and let us know which camera you decide to go with!
Sorry Nocturnal. You're taking this pretty well. Throw some shots out there for critiquing. I know that camera is up to the task. When I was going through STF the other day, somebody mentioned going into manual mode to get it right. Holy crap, what an epiphany! Up till now, I've shot about 6,000 images, all in auto. I did some experimenting with manual settings, and OMG! It's like going back to SLR film shooting, only I don't have to focus! From now on, nearly half my shots without flash will be manual...
Nocturnal
Lifer
I have yet to take any major photographs that I would love to share with you all. I've mainly taken pics of my car, things I need to sell on eBay and family portraits at like parties and gatherings. I'm still working on creating an album. Once that's done I'll be sure to inform the wondeful world of AT. I haven't shot much in manual mode yet, only auto. I still plan to pick up the F32x external flash for an upcoming car show that I plan to take a crap load of photos. I'll be sure to post up the pics after I'm done. I'm debating on whether or not the built in flash will be able to handle the load. I'm thinking it will. Hope the creator of this thread finds this info useful and picks up something to suite his needs!
Wow..a bunch of great responses. Thanks for the conversation ya'll. It's threads like these and personal experiences that really educate one on electronics. Way more than what the mfg. could ever convey in their sales info.
Like I said in my original post, I have the TRV900 which at the time when I bought it was the top-of-the-line prosumer video camera with it's 3 CCD's, so it wouldn't take much to convince me to go with a Sony digicam because of my past positive experience with a high-end Sony product.
This is the first I've ever seen the F717, and compared to the V1 (saw it last night in a review), that extended lens/body makes it look like a much bigger camera. That's okay I guess, I was just making an obvious observation.
Okay, so If I've narrowed it down to the V1 or the F717, which would you choose, and why?
Like I said in my original post, I have the TRV900 which at the time when I bought it was the top-of-the-line prosumer video camera with it's 3 CCD's, so it wouldn't take much to convince me to go with a Sony digicam because of my past positive experience with a high-end Sony product.
This is the first I've ever seen the F717, and compared to the V1 (saw it last night in a review), that extended lens/body makes it look like a much bigger camera. That's okay I guess, I was just making an obvious observation.
Okay, so If I've narrowed it down to the V1 or the F717, which would you choose, and why?
I'm getting one next week. Money wasn't an issue, I just didn't want to pay more than I had to. The G3 seems to have the biggest bang for the buck. I've been researching digital cameras for a while now. If you can afford it, get the EOS-10D. But that's a professional camera. If you won't use the professional features, get the G3. $459 at buydig.com and beachcamera.com. Both reputable companies. Whatever you do, stick with Canon.
So Rob9874... if I read you right, you seem to think the Canon G3 takes superior pictures the Sony F717?
Man I'm liking the F717 the more I read about it... and I really dig the Carl Zeiss optics, but the Sony Memory Stick as the only memory device for the camera really kind of turns me off.
I wonder why Sony won't use CF memory cards?
Man I'm liking the F717 the more I read about it... and I really dig the Carl Zeiss optics, but the Sony Memory Stick as the only memory device for the camera really kind of turns me off.
I wonder why Sony won't use CF memory cards?
I wouldn't say G3 takes superior picture compare to F717.
G3 put up a good fight but still lose to F717 superior resolution.
Let's just say G3/G5 is for people who prefer to meddle with their picture more.
Canon camera have way more feature than Sony's, RAW being the most useful (I think).
With RAW and enough time+artistic talent, you can make the picture as perfect as you want it to be.
Sony's camera is more "out-of-the-camera" ready picture. To some extent you can say Disney-ish or colorful.
It is a matter of preference. You can't have both.
Size wise, it does not matter much. Once you get the hang of it, F717 is very natural to hold.
If you want the best res and pix, there is no tradeoff. You can't have a compact camera and expect it to be as good as the full fledge one (some exception applies).
MS is crappy indeed but 2 256MB MS Select or MS Pro are quite affordable and that's all you need.
One battery will outlast both 256MB MS.
I have 1 256MB & 3 128MB and 1 battery. It is that good.
If you know lens, a 5X f2.0 - 2.4 is really worth it. You will still be shooting comfortably while other camera starting to have shake/blur problem.
Canon is pretty good too at 4X f2.0 - 3.0.
Why MS ? Don't you know Sony yet ?
Master of the overprice electronics ? Master of squeezing every last penny of you ?
If Sony use CF, they won't profit from CF sales.
But with MS, it's all theirs 🙂
If you are patient enough, there is a rumour that Sony will announce F717 replacement around 16th of August.
G3 put up a good fight but still lose to F717 superior resolution.
Let's just say G3/G5 is for people who prefer to meddle with their picture more.
Canon camera have way more feature than Sony's, RAW being the most useful (I think).
With RAW and enough time+artistic talent, you can make the picture as perfect as you want it to be.
Sony's camera is more "out-of-the-camera" ready picture. To some extent you can say Disney-ish or colorful.
It is a matter of preference. You can't have both.
Size wise, it does not matter much. Once you get the hang of it, F717 is very natural to hold.
If you want the best res and pix, there is no tradeoff. You can't have a compact camera and expect it to be as good as the full fledge one (some exception applies).
MS is crappy indeed but 2 256MB MS Select or MS Pro are quite affordable and that's all you need.
One battery will outlast both 256MB MS.
I have 1 256MB & 3 128MB and 1 battery. It is that good.
If you know lens, a 5X f2.0 - 2.4 is really worth it. You will still be shooting comfortably while other camera starting to have shake/blur problem.
Canon is pretty good too at 4X f2.0 - 3.0.
Why MS ? Don't you know Sony yet ?
Master of the overprice electronics ? Master of squeezing every last penny of you ?
If Sony use CF, they won't profit from CF sales.
But with MS, it's all theirs 🙂
If you are patient enough, there is a rumour that Sony will announce F717 replacement around 16th of August.
I've decided the F717 is just too bulky. And I hate the way Sony forces the use of it's MS. The V1 is a more manageable size but not only is it MS proprietary, but it sound like it rips through batteries like there's no tomorrow. And like the F717, a proprietary battery as well.
I've had the use of a Olympus 5050C a couple of times (borrowing it from a neighbor) and I think I'm now starting to lean in that direction. It takes incredibly sharp and well saturated pictures, uses regular AA batteries, accepts several different memory types, and is a more managable size than the F717 I was considering. Steves-digicams.com rates it very highly, and Dave's Picks on imaging-resource.com puts it in the top 10 best 5 MP cameras as well.
I don't want to look like I'm being a copy cat to my neighbor, but the couple of times I've borrowed and used it, the 5050C has made my jaw drop with the absolute clarity/quality of the output. And that's just pointing and shooting, not knowing anything previously about the camera or it's tweakable functions.
Can anyone that knows digicams give me some reasons why I would NOT want to buy the Olympus 5050C?
I've had the use of a Olympus 5050C a couple of times (borrowing it from a neighbor) and I think I'm now starting to lean in that direction. It takes incredibly sharp and well saturated pictures, uses regular AA batteries, accepts several different memory types, and is a more managable size than the F717 I was considering. Steves-digicams.com rates it very highly, and Dave's Picks on imaging-resource.com puts it in the top 10 best 5 MP cameras as well.
I don't want to look like I'm being a copy cat to my neighbor, but the couple of times I've borrowed and used it, the 5050C has made my jaw drop with the absolute clarity/quality of the output. And that's just pointing and shooting, not knowing anything previously about the camera or it's tweakable functions.
Can anyone that knows digicams give me some reasons why I would NOT want to buy the Olympus 5050C?
Those aren't really drawbacks IMO. It's just the way it is. The MS aren't more expensive unless you get into the 512mb range (and that will soon change). And the Infolithium's are very accurate in giving you the amount of time left on the charge, down to the minute. The Infolithium in particular, is the battery of choice for me. I don't like going through AA batteries and having to throw them out, or having to charge them in a seperate charger. The NP-FC11 (V1) battery lasts suprisingly long, but I bought a spare one on ebay for $35 new. The compact size and weight is a plus, it's a trade off.
Looks like you've made up your mind....I just wouldn't have used those reasons as deciding factors. JMO
edit: BTW - I paid about $535 out the door for my V1 from Sears incl. the 2yr no questions asked replacement warranty.
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