which of these are good cameras?
 

i think its time to replace my sony 2.0 digi cam. saw the first 2 advertised in the FS flyer. im a newbie at photography...but i wanna learn more...not ready to step put to a slr yet...so i thought these would start me off.

any input guyz?


Canon PowerShot S2 IS

Canon PowerShot S1 IS

Sony CyberShot DSCH1

Sony DSC-F717

The S1/S2 cameras are really nice; but just like with the S60 or similar models, I found that they crammed quite a lot of features into the camera without enough buttons to control them. This meant a LOT of button presses just to get to certain features and sometimes resulted in unintuitive control.

I haven't used the DSC-H1 yet, but seems like an interesting entry from Sony in the IS field. I wouldn't go with Sony....yet....in this area; afterall, it *is* their first product with IS.

F717? I love it :D If I had the money, I'd even keep it. Great lens, great camera overall. Has Nightshot too, so in the case of you wanting to ever get more serious with photography, you can also try your hand at infrared photography as well. Zoom is "by wire", so you never actually have a lens that protrudes when you zoom. Only downside to this camera (as with any other camera that you've listed), is higher noise levels with higher ISO's.

I wouldn't get the Sony H1

lots of people complained about CA from this camera over the net... thought it does looks cool and it has a nice IS feature..


I like Canon cameras :p I'm biased toward them.. so either S1 or S2 are all pretty good IMO ;)

but I have to say, the F717 is a nice camera too. It feels pretty solid and durable compared to the Canon S1/S2, and has nice features too.

just my 2cents :p

hmm for u, i would stick with s1, u dont need a super fancy camera cuz u wont be printing out alot of large format pictures.

dont get sony. i dunno heard a lot of bad stuff with their digicams

F717 is the way to go if you want a nice lens.

A nice lens is much more important than IS, if you know how to take pictures.

S2 IS :).

S2 IS = best overall ultrazoom camera
FZ-20 = Camera with best ultrazoom lens (stablized 12X F2.8 all the way)

Good point.

ok, now im trying to decide between the S1 and S2.

but now that u mention the fz-20...argh..

Anyone got samples from the FZ-20? I know about two years ago I would've stayed far far away from Panasonics, but now that they've been in the market for a few years, they should be better and more experienced.

S2 or FZ-20 I think should be your choices :).

There are plenty reviews of FZ-20 (Steve's Digicam, DP Review, DC Resource, etc) and they rank the FZ-20 very very highly.

S2 IS is relatively new and DC Resource rank it as the best overall and top choice together with FZ-20.

S2 IS is better overall features (flip,rotate LCD, awesome Movie mode, USM motor focusing etc.) But FZ-20 still has the mother of all consumer digicam zoom lens, the Leica stabilized 12X zoom constant F-2.8. :D

Its a tough choice.

looks like futureshop dosen't carry the FZ-20 :(
anyone know where they carry it...

i was gonna go in and compare the 2 in person, but can't do that now. hmmm

I used to see A&B sound carry FZ-10

i'm thinking about the S2 IS... is it worth driving down to the states to buy? hmmmmm

S2 IS is about $580CAD right now in Taipei. FZ-20 is also around that much.

fz-20 at ab sound is like 800 before rebate. eek !

they're all crap crap CRAP!

Go Mamiya, or go home.

i'll go with the S2 for now, if i dont like it. i'll just return in after the weekend.

Or wait for the FZ-30. It should come out in July

dig camera advice.
 

I need a new camera. looking to spend $300-350 or so

I don't need anything super great. right now I have an old 0.8mp (yes that's right! :lol) camera that shoots 1024 pics. the pics are fine for me but the camera is just way to big to carry around.

so my biggest thing is size and weight, not picture quality (but not crap of course). lots of zoom would be nice too.

also be nice to use normal batterys (AA etc). not special ones. so if I'm alway for a week with no power to charge (camping) I can carry spares.

any suggestions for brand / models would be great.

maybe u should give a price range

something simple but worth your money.. you could consider the sony cyber-shot dsc-s90 which has 4mp and 3x optical zoom like most basic point-&-shoot cameras.

not bulky and for $350 you can get it with rechargable NiMH batteries 2100mah (i think they were) with a charger as well.

it's just missing some other features such as aperature or shutter speed priority if you care about that at all.

I've been looking at the Canon Powershot A95.. anyone got input on this? A bit over your price ranger, but it's $449.99 at Futureshop, and $499.99 @ Staples. You can do the price guarantee at Staples which is gonna be less than Futureshop.

Does staples have the "Product Service Plan" or something similar?