What *pocket' digi-cam do you carry ..?

[T i m]

My (16 yr old) daughter managed to catch the 'crossing pair' (and at quite a zoom / half frame) during a Red Arrows air display with her Fuji S7000 (non SLR). Not bad considering the lag and the closing speed of over 400+ mph! ;-)

I guess like most things there is a bit of 'getting used to it' and I think for 'action' shots an optical viewfinder helps quite a bit.

All the best ..

T i m

[T i m]

Well I've seen some pretty dire results from what looked like it should be a good camera but that wasn't recently.

Agreed.

Understood. I think one of the restrictions to this though might be the ability to get a good / reliable zoom in such a thin package. Make it a few mm thicker and this becomes easier but at the risk of becoming 'chunky'.

Or used a couple of times before they reaslised it wasn't any good?

I'm not so sure. Of all the things I might buy 'cameras' are one of the things I'd like ..

.. to know the history of .. (has it been dropped or got wet or repaired)

.. the ability to return it if it fails ...

.. the ability to get some 'support' on should I need ..

I find eBay (for example) getting more and more expensive, many things often going for a similar price I (or 'one') might be able to get them for brand new, or at least with sufficiently low differential not to make it worth the risk (to me anyway).

Of course there are bargains to be had out there but if you don't have a lot of disposable cash you have to up the odds in yer favour?

I bought a cable router from eBay and found it fails to respond correctly to DHCP requests *sometimes* and am stuck with it. I bought a new router from PCW that dropped the link every so often so took it back for and got a full refund.

I could have afforded to have carried the cost on either but it was nice to have the choice. ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

p.s. I would (and have) bought loads of stuff off mates (after they have upgraded etc) but I often get the 'try before you buy' option.

[Richard]

Excellent.

[Stuart Noble]

Hence my earlier suggestion of the Minolta X series with a x3 zoom that operates internally

[T i m]

I agree, it's a nice compact beasty, and with it's internal zoom less things to get caught up / damaged etc.

There are a couple of new ones on eBay for £87.59 + ~£10 p&p and a clean second hand one already at £23 +£5.

Just for comparison the Minolta XG (3.2Mp) is: (W, H, D)

85.5 x 67 x 20 mm

The Fuji F20 LE (6.3 Mp) is:

93.5 x 56.7 x 26.6 mm

My current camera (Fuji F420 / 3.1Mp) is:

77 x 69 x 26.4 mm (but suffers from poor battery life)

So the XG is thinner by 6+ mm and I agree that is not an insignificant amount.

I might keep an eye on some on eBay but I don't see myself spending

100 quid for an obsolete model (or much above £30 for a second hand one really).

All the best ..

T i m

[Stuart Noble]

The XT is the same design IIRC, but both are so similar to your existing camera that I might try a new battery instead. I guess it's the zoom that takes the power?

[T i m]

It may be Stuart but basically I think it's just trying to do too much on too small a battery. ;-(

The F420 is quite clever in that it can take a NH-20 'special' (700mA) battery which is actually no more than 2 x AAA NiMH cells fixed together with a special moulding which interacts with the camera, telling it it's own rechargeable battery is onboard. Or it can take 2 x AAA std alkaline cells (or other rechargeable's).

When docked it will charge the 'special' pack but not 'loose' rechargeable's (as they could equally be primary cells).

I might try duplicating the NH-20 pack with some 1000mA NiMH cells but there is also the issue of them being discharged between uses (camera clock maybe)?

All the best ..

T i m

[NoSpam]

The XG looks good but it's a shame that it takes a special battery - a pain when travelling. Is there anything with similar size/features that will accept standard batteries?

D

[Stuart Noble]

The Fuji the OP was looking to replace might fit the bill :-)

[T i m]

And that's near where we have gone (after bidding on an XG and it going too high) in a Fuji F31fd.

Although it's for all our use, the immediate role will be for our daughter to take on a short holiday soon. It's not as slim as I was hoping but she seems to be happy to put any p&s camera in her bag or jacket pocket (rather than tight jeans).

Although the battery isn't 'std' it is supposedly good for over 500 shots and married to a 2G xD card and on 6Mp gives it over 500 shots also. This is a 'snapshot' camera so she can fill her boots doing just that! ;-)

It also has a very high ISO equiv (3200 or summat) and the 'face detection' feature which is supposedly not *just* a gimmick.

3x zoom and fairly good Fuji optics should make for a reasonable tool, especially at £135 (bought locally from a real camera shop and highly recommended by them).

No optical viewfinder but she rarely used the one on the F420 (she says and isn't bothered by the loss so far) and she has figured out how most of it works and transferred pictures to her PC without reading the manual (I note it's still sealed in the bag) or any input from me.

She's got a 'family' day today so I dare say she'll give it a good run (pre holiday) and wee will really see how it performs.

Thanks to all who responded ..

T i m

[NoSpam]

Any feedback on it yet?