Options
Advice about Canon A95?
Howdy folks, I'm getting serious about a compact digital camera. My requirements are:easy fit in shirt pocket, durable & reliable, lense protection, AA battery power (not rechargeable pack), minimum of 3 mp, minimum of 3x optical zoom, and fast operation.
I currently have an Olympus C3000 Zoom, plus a smaller Olympus. The 3000 is fine for general images when I want to set up the full system, but when I'm traveling I either have my camera in my shirt pocket, or I'll miss the shot. I prefer expendable batteries (I like Energizer lithiums) because I don't want to pack a charger to foreign countries, and I've always found rechargeables to lose power if not used frequently.
What I find increasingly frustrating with my current digitals is snail-like operation. One or two seconds to get it turned on and the lense out, then one or two seconds to set up the shooting details, and two to four seconds to get the shot focused, taken, and recorded. I'd like something that fires up in a half second, push the button and have it recycled in a max of one second, and turned off in another half second. You know, like an autofocus pocket film camera.
In the past I've been partial to Olympus, but I don't see anything in the Olympus lineup that meets my needs, and I've found the sliding lense covers on the shirtpocket cameras are often fiddly, and operation very slow. Of course Nikon has a good reputation, but the one model I looked at used a special Nikon rechargeable battery.
At the moment, I'm seriously considering the Canon Powershot A95. It uses four AA batteries, which means enough power to use the LCD viewer frequently. I've tried one at the store, and it seems to meet my requirements. Curiously, the A95 has a 1cm shorter focusing range than the 4MP A85, and apparently a slightly different focusing system.
So, any advice about Canon? Other brands that would meet my needs?
pmdave:scratch
I currently have an Olympus C3000 Zoom, plus a smaller Olympus. The 3000 is fine for general images when I want to set up the full system, but when I'm traveling I either have my camera in my shirt pocket, or I'll miss the shot. I prefer expendable batteries (I like Energizer lithiums) because I don't want to pack a charger to foreign countries, and I've always found rechargeables to lose power if not used frequently.
What I find increasingly frustrating with my current digitals is snail-like operation. One or two seconds to get it turned on and the lense out, then one or two seconds to set up the shooting details, and two to four seconds to get the shot focused, taken, and recorded. I'd like something that fires up in a half second, push the button and have it recycled in a max of one second, and turned off in another half second. You know, like an autofocus pocket film camera.
In the past I've been partial to Olympus, but I don't see anything in the Olympus lineup that meets my needs, and I've found the sliding lense covers on the shirtpocket cameras are often fiddly, and operation very slow. Of course Nikon has a good reputation, but the one model I looked at used a special Nikon rechargeable battery.
At the moment, I'm seriously considering the Canon Powershot A95. It uses four AA batteries, which means enough power to use the LCD viewer frequently. I've tried one at the store, and it seems to meet my requirements. Curiously, the A95 has a 1cm shorter focusing range than the 4MP A85, and apparently a slightly different focusing system.
So, any advice about Canon? Other brands that would meet my needs?
pmdave:scratch
0
Comments
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
Buy it.
http://redbull.smugmug.com
"Money can't buy happiness...But it can buy expensive posessions that make other people envious, and that feels just as good.":D
Canon 20D, Canon 50 1.8 II, Canon 70-200 f/4L, Canon 17-40 f/4 L, Canon 100mm 2.8 Macro, Canon 430ex.
I thought I'd throw my two bones in...
I bought an A95 and three days later exchanged it for a Sony W1. Even thought the A95 made the most sense as I could use CF cards I already had. In the end the $99 I spent on a 512MP memory stick pro was worth it-to me.
Why?
I did not like the shutter lag and AF speed of the A95 vs the W1. Side by side the W1 was a much faster camera to use. I literally held them up side by side and gently pushed down the shutters. The W1 was much quicker.
As far as image quality-many people give the Canon a slight edge, but for my needs and after comparing pics from both side by side, any advantage to the A95 was largely unnoticed (by me). The Sony offers a better video mode. I know-if you want to shoot video buy a camcorder. However, I found the ability to take short snippets of high quality video to be pretty fun.
The A95 DOES offer more modes-Tv and Av (shutter and aperture priority) for instance. The Sony offers a manual mode and does allow you to set the shutter and aperture.
I would recommend that you do a side by side comparison between the A95 and other cameras in its class. That is the only way to really tell if the A95 is acceptable to you or not.
The bottom line is that it will produce some of the best images available at it's price point.
pmdave
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au