Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Digital Camera Requirements

My wife and I have used an old digital camera (generously passed on from a friend when they upgraded) for some years now and the time has finally come to upgrade. So this is what I think we need in a camera:

  1. Neither of us know much about photography so we need to be able to point-and-click and still get reasonably good quality images in different light conditions.

  2. 5x optical zoom or greater.

  3. Low response time between pressing the button and taking the photo.

  4. Wider angle would be handy for those landscape or family photos.

  5. Prefer AA batteries over lithium.

  6. Viewfinder might be nice for outdoor shots when it is difficult to view the LCD.

I would like to spend no more than AUD $400. From reading reviews, I arrived at the following shortlist:
  • Fujifilm FinePix F100fd
    Image quality scored well in reviews: DigitalCameraReview, Digital Camera Resource Page, cnet. Has a 5x optical zoom and and 28mm wide angle lens. No viewfinder and uses a lithium-ion battery. DigitalCameraReview thought this was a great camera for the point-and-click user.

  • Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20
    Image quality scored well in reviews: DigitalCameraReview, cnet, Steve's Digicams. Auto mode got a good rap. 4x optical zoom and 30mm wide angle lens. No viewfinder, although screen did well outside and has a lithium-ion battery. Cnet thought this was a great camera for the point-and-click user, but it would be a bit over budget.

  • Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W150
    Image quality didn't seem to score quite as well as the previous cameras, although still good: DigitalCameraReview, Steve's Digicams. 5x optical zoom and 30mm wide angle lens. Small viewfinder and lithium-ion battery.

No comments: