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Two choices for a new sub $200 camera
- Thread starter Mister X
- Start date
I've used the A75 and I think it's a great camera with decent flexibility for the price. The Fuji Finepix seems like a nice cam as well, but I'm not a fan of the xD memory cards - but I've never used the 340.
The A75 is one of the toughest cameras I've used. I used it in an undergrad research project to take pictures of pulse power switches and while we killed several computers and monitors in the vicinity of the switch, the camera itself worked without fail, even though it was directly over the switch.
The A75 also has good performance in macro mode, long exposure and at a range of aperture settings. The pics we took were almost all open shutter (5 seconds) with us adjusting ISO and aperture.
We also used the camera to take conventional pictures around the lab and it was very good - just a bit big. Barrel/pincushion distortion were acceptable at full telephoto and full wideangle. Colors were vivid, focussing fast and shutter lag pretty minimal. Bear in mind this is compared to other sub $300 cameras I've used, but I don't think you can go wrong for the price though, excellent camera.
EDIT: Took out useless pic
The A75 is one of the toughest cameras I've used. I used it in an undergrad research project to take pictures of pulse power switches and while we killed several computers and monitors in the vicinity of the switch, the camera itself worked without fail, even though it was directly over the switch.
The A75 also has good performance in macro mode, long exposure and at a range of aperture settings. The pics we took were almost all open shutter (5 seconds) with us adjusting ISO and aperture.
We also used the camera to take conventional pictures around the lab and it was very good - just a bit big. Barrel/pincushion distortion were acceptable at full telephoto and full wideangle. Colors were vivid, focussing fast and shutter lag pretty minimal. Bear in mind this is compared to other sub $300 cameras I've used, but I don't think you can go wrong for the price though, excellent camera.
EDIT: Took out useless pic
Funny, I sell both cameras and know them very well, for the price your paying the A75 is going to give you most for your money.
I will allow you to setup all your standard manual modes, and you can put lens filters and optical zoom extensions on it, you can even get an underwater casing for the camera. The A75 is awesome, but it is only 3.2mp and that should be fine for 4x6 and decent 8x10 photos. ramuman did a good job of explaining so I'll stop here.
My dad actually bought my mom the Finepix A340 for xmas today, and I got a great chance to play with thit and thoroughly go through the camera and all of its settings. It is a 4.0mp camera and you can change the rating if you wish, 1mp, 2mp, and 4mp normal and 4mp fine which is the highest quality.
I don't have a webhost or I would show you some images I took today. I am VERY impressed with the camera as I got to really play with it whereas I can't do alot where I sell the things. It's got manual exposure and white balance settings as well as all types of flash modes and the macro mode is very very good.
I've taken about 130 pictures today with it, and the Ni-MH batteries that came with the docking station package are still not dead so that is good.
If someone wants to host me, I'll put up some sample pictures for you, show you what the macro mode can do and all that.
If it was me, I'd probably get the A95 just because I like the ability to really mess with my images, but that might not be the story with you.
Overall I'm very impressed with the camera, the only thing is the write speed is a little slow to the xD card, which I may also add is very expensive, up there with the Sony proprietary stuff.
I will allow you to setup all your standard manual modes, and you can put lens filters and optical zoom extensions on it, you can even get an underwater casing for the camera. The A75 is awesome, but it is only 3.2mp and that should be fine for 4x6 and decent 8x10 photos. ramuman did a good job of explaining so I'll stop here.
My dad actually bought my mom the Finepix A340 for xmas today, and I got a great chance to play with thit and thoroughly go through the camera and all of its settings. It is a 4.0mp camera and you can change the rating if you wish, 1mp, 2mp, and 4mp normal and 4mp fine which is the highest quality.
I don't have a webhost or I would show you some images I took today. I am VERY impressed with the camera as I got to really play with it whereas I can't do alot where I sell the things. It's got manual exposure and white balance settings as well as all types of flash modes and the macro mode is very very good.
I've taken about 130 pictures today with it, and the Ni-MH batteries that came with the docking station package are still not dead so that is good.
If someone wants to host me, I'll put up some sample pictures for you, show you what the macro mode can do and all that.
If it was me, I'd probably get the A95 just because I like the ability to really mess with my images, but that might not be the story with you.
Overall I'm very impressed with the camera, the only thing is the write speed is a little slow to the xD card, which I may also add is very expensive, up there with the Sony proprietary stuff.
I wish www.dpreview.com had reviewed either of cameras... www.steves-digicams.com really doesn't point out the negatives. www.imaging-resource.com has reviewed both cameras however, and you can just look at the conclusion and see where they felt each camera was targeted.
I won't bias your opinion further by trying to summarize their reviews, just check it out for yourself. They've also reviewed the A95 which you mentioned you were considering.
I won't bias your opinion further by trying to summarize their reviews, just check it out for yourself. They've also reviewed the A95 which you mentioned you were considering.
bobsaget said:
Probably the best bang for the buck, thats my opinion. It's durable, nice handle on it, option to add to the lens, and feature rich controls.
2 cameras I think you should NOT overlook for under 200 dollars is the Olympus Stylus 300 and the Nikon Coolpix 3200.
The Stylus 300 is the cheapest camera you will find with Li-ION batteries with a charger included, and it will take the same memory as the Fujifilm A340 if the xD memory interests you. It has great 8x10 picture potential in just 3.2mp. It's also all metal so it will be durable, and its all-weather too, just don't jump in a pool with it, lol
The Coolpix 3200 is a nice little camera, and I do mean little, which has a decent amound of features. It has the Nikkor lens, just not the ED version which is a specially coates glass lens. It's got an easy to use jog dial and has scene assist modes and some other decent features. The picture quality is very good. If your shaky at the hand, it will let you know with a blur detection feature. It also focuses very good in low light.
zyntax: how many picts in a row can you shoot with the Fuji before it makes you wait?
That is one of the things I hate about my current HPos camera.
I shoot 5 Picts and have to wait four minutes to shoot another one.
ramuman:
Not only did HP handle the support inquiry on christmas day but they shipped me a replacement Today (Sunday).
I almost fell over because that just blew me away.
So plan B goes into effect, as soon as the replacement arrives it gets sold and X buys a Canon A95.
That is one of the things I hate about my current HPos camera.
I shoot 5 Picts and have to wait four minutes to shoot another one.
ramuman:
Not only did HP handle the support inquiry on christmas day but they shipped me a replacement Today (Sunday).
I almost fell over because that just blew me away.
So plan B goes into effect, as soon as the replacement arrives it gets sold and X buys a Canon A95.
Mister X said:zyntax: how many picts in a row can you shoot with the Fuji before it makes you wait?
That is one of the things I hate about my current HPos camera.
I shoot 5 Picts and have to wait four minutes to shoot another one.
well, it's pretty much a 1 second wait per picture in the 4mp Fine setting, if I shoot in the 1 or 2mp mode I can probably do 2 fps which is pretty good for a $199 camera.
So if your getting the A95, good luck, it's a great camera for the price, and once you learn it well, you can add to it, so it's money well spent.
So much for the XD card thing huh?zyntax said:
Seriously I used to own a A310 and I did not have any qualms with the XD cards it used..... the Picts just sucked.
What is funny is my Brothers four year old was running around with that A310 yesterday and when we dumped the Picts they all looked pretty decent considering he could not stand still for two seconds.
zyntax said:
Yup....After owning four different sub $200 cameras I am thinking it is time to move up to the next class.
The downside is I won't be able to blame the crappy picts on the camera anymore.
HorsePunchKid
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I believe he meant this in the sense of being able to add optical filters and lens attachments like wide-angle, telephoto, and whatnot:lorcani said:
Not the same thing as a fancy SLR, but such accessories can really be quite useful and are generally fairly cheap (especially compared to their SLR equivalents!).zyntax said:
Mister X said:zyntax: how many picts in a row can you shoot with the Fuji before it makes you wait?
That is one of the things I hate about my current HPos camera.
I shoot 5 Picts and have to wait four minutes to shoot another one.
ramuman:
Not only did HP handle the support inquiry on christmas day but they shipped me a replacement Today (Sunday).
I almost fell over because that just blew me away.
So plan B goes into effect, as soon as the replacement arrives it gets sold and X buys a Canon A95.
You'll love it I'm sure...I've never used a bad Canon camera, and I've owned several and used a lot more of them from basic point and shoot APS Elphs to the EOS20D. That's nice to hear about HP's customer service...you don't hear about that for non business customers too often
.