Cameras, Point and Shoot |
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The comments below are unedited opinions of the colleagues who submitted them. A date (month and year) indicates that the comments following that date are from the given month and year. The most recent comments appear at the bottom.
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12/99 ***I bought a Yashica Microtec Zoom 70 camera for Corporate Communications use. It's a pretty basic point and shoot camera (with autofocus), it's easy to use, and takes good photos. Don't recall what it cost, but it was competitive with other cameras.
| ***try the yashica brand (i forget the number) but it's an awesome point and shoot camera it's got one of the best lenses on it you can get (ziess) and the neat feature about it is that as well as the regular veiwing glass that you hold up to your eye, there's a viewing glass on top of the camera, for taking candid images without people seeing that you have a camera in your hand. it's available at most camera stores try sbi sales in harvard sq., calumet in cambrige (near the cambride side gallaria) or campus camera in kenmore sq. good luck! ***after killing a couple of other types, we bought what was recommended as a very sturdy autofocus pointandshoot by Pentax. We bought it because it's shock resistant, water resistant (not waterproof) and in general doesn't have as many things that can break at the beach or in a backpack (which is how we killed our previous cameras). There's a webpage called bhphoto.com that shows all the models and gives a phone number to call for info. (i didn't see ours on the current web page last year's model I guess) ***The Kodak Advantix camera series are a good bet. They give you a lot of options even in the base models. If you are willing to pay for the zoom option (about $100) the camera will last you through all the youth sports, etc.! Fuji also sells similar cameras. ***The JamCams are also goodabout $80, solely for use with a computer. You can copy good photos to floppy diskettes, though, once on your computer, and take the disk to many photo shops to be printed. ***Canon's 'Snappy' series is also good, but more in the $100 range. They are durable thoughI have one that is about 10 years old and still going strong. ***I'm assuming you want another 35 mm point and shoot film camera. I bought my brother and his family the Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom recently and they love it. Service Merchandise had the best price, better than any on the internet. I selected the one with the bigger zoom lens for them. It is also weather proof, a necessity for them. ***I did some research in the process and here's what I concluded for my self. If I did not want a zoom, I would buy the Yashica T4 (a great lens) and it has many different models. If I were buying a zoom point and shoot, I would buy either the Yashica Microtech Zoom with the 120 lens, or the Yashica EZS 105mm lens (the EZS has automatic panoramic feature that would be cool I think). Yashica also has a 140 zoom which would be neat as well, but maybe overkill for your needs. Hope this is helpful. ***Get another Canon! We're very happy with our Sure Shot Z135 (zooms up to 135 MM). The pix are noticeably sharper than the Olympus we had before. I don't know if the same unit is on the market (it's 3 years old), but I don't think they've changed much. ***We bought a Kodak camera two years ago that has produced very good results. It is simple with an automatic focus and cost about $50.00 (at any discount store). My daughter uses it, without any particular care, and she gets very good pictures indoors and out. We have a more expensive camera (still autofocus) and I really don't think the pictures are any better (around $130.00), but it allows you to do long range focus (i.e., telescopic). Unless you are photographing sporting events or birds, I can't really see much use for the extra feature. ***I'm trying to snap a squirmy toddler, so fast shutter speed would be nice too, though not worth paying lots more for. Highspeed film (e.g., ISO 400) will make a much larger difference for you in this respect than any difference in top shutter speed among the cameras you'll be considering. Also more important is the lag between the time you press the shutter button and the time the picture is actually taken, once the camera chugs through its routine of moving the lens into focus, setting the exposure, etc. Unfortunately, this lag tends to be pretty long in most of the inexpensive automatic cameras, so it's important to try out the cameras yourself before you buy to make sure you're comfortable with the feel and that it seems responsive enough to capture what you want in a fastmoving situation. I want rich colors & visibility in low light (I realize much of this depends on the film) Actually, the most common cause of drab colors in color snapshots is underexposure, another common vice of automatic cameras. The surest fix for that is to get a camera which, even if it doesn't have full manual controls, at least has an "exposure compensation" feature so that you can set the camera to give more exposure if the outofthebox calibration consistently yields underexposed pictures. Some cameras to consider: (zoom range) [street price in NYC] Pentax IQZoom 928 Date (2890) [$200] Rollei Prego Zoom 90 (2890) [$180] Konica ZUp 120 VP Date (38120) [$170] Fuji DL Super Mini Zoom (2856) [$170, there may also be a $20 rebate still in effect] Konica ZUp 110 Super Date (38110) [$150] Konica ZUp 70 Super Date (3570) [$110] These all feature at least some form of exposure compensation control, in addition to a variety of the usual pointandshoot features. If none of these feels right in your hand, you can find more options in your price range by also considering models which have a multizone exposure metering system and/or a spot metering option, either of which can help to minimize the risk of underexposure, albeit with less control (multizone) or more user knowledge required (spot meter) than an exposure compensation control. ***One product line you might want to check out is the Olympus Stylus Zoom cameras, most of which should be within your price ceiling. All of them are very small and lightweight, and I believe splashresistant as well. ***Also, even if you don't think you want a nonzoom camera, you might look at the Olympus Sylus Epic. It's extremely small, extremely lightweight, very cheap [$90 street price in NYC], and has a fast lens (35mm f/2.8) which can sometimes allow you to get away without flash even indoors. | |||||||||||||||