Topic: Camera ?

[Ex-airbalancer]

Wing need his $1,000,000 camera which is pretty cool
What I need is a thin small point & shoot, to have on the job
Like a large screen as I can take pixs for name plates( like motors and pumps), so I read the stupid things
What I hate is the lag time ( is that the right term?) of the camera I have seen.
I want the picture I snap, to be the picture on the screen , like a film camera
Was looking at the CR , the one with the least lag time was not in their recommand list.
An ideas for a P&S camera?

[wing]

All P&S shoot have lag which sucks, not sure what you mean by the screen picture.  Look at the Canon Elph's they have large screens.

[mdxtasy]

We have a Canon and like it quite a bit.  Brother bought a Pentax Optio touch screen (T10)....the Canon has less delay but the Pentax has a larger screen.

[Ex-airbalancer]

All P&S shoot have lag which sucks, not sure what you mean by the screen picture.  Look at the Canon Elph's they have large screens.

"screen picture".The picture you see the lcd display

[inco]

If I understand what you are looking for you will want a camera with a large screen so that you can actually see what you are shooting. Many cameras nowdays have 2" or 2.5" screens that you can quite clearly see exactly what it is that you are shooting.

Go to a Henrys store or BB or FS and look at the many different brands - and there are lots.

If picture quality is the most important factor so that you can read those name plates, the more meg (megapixels) you have the clearer and cleaner the picture will be.

A couple of great sites for camera reviews is DRpreview or Steve's. I didn't copy the addresses to this computer when I got it but I'm close enough that a Google search should find them.

[tpl]

"If picture quality is the most important factor so that you can read those name plates, the more meg (megapixels) you have the clearer and cleaner the picture will be"
regardless of the resolution of the camera, the lcd screen will have only 75-100dpi if that. If the camera can pan and zoom around the image on its inbuilt screen that that would work...can they do that nowadays? Our 1999 vintage Canon can not.

[wing]

My Camera can, I'm sure most of the canon's can.

[Trainman]

For work I use a Canon PowerShot A540 6 mega pixle.  It has a 2.5" LCD and you can zoom in on your photos right on the camera.

Lag time, not sure if you are talking about when you click the shutter to when the actual picture is taken?

If so, then it is OK for my work but not as nice as my Canon AE1 film camera.  Not sure what you need in the way of lag time for your work.  The less lag time, the more expensive (and less likely a P&S) the camera will be.

Lag time for viewing photos WITHOUT the flash is almost non-existent but can be very long when using the flash.

Overall, as a P&S for my work, I like it very much.  It allows complete control over the camera in that it has several shooting modes, including completely manual.  But the auto setting works well.

These photos were all taken with the camera in auto setting:

(no flash on this one  )

[PJungnitsch]

I've ordered a Pentax W10 for my next work camera. Small and thin, and most importantly, water and dust proof. It's been getting good reviews with motorcyclists as an 'adventure' type camera. Abt $400.00 in Canada.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/optio_w10.html

Not sure on the lag, Steve's review will probably say. In my experience what makes a big difference is the memory card, the more expensive high speed versions make a noticeable difference all cameras.

[Triple Bob]

Wing need his $1,000,000 camera which is pretty cool
What I need is a thin small point & shoot, to have on the job
Like a large screen as I can take pixs for name plates( like motors and pumps), so I read the stupid things
What I hate is the lag time ( is that the right term?) of the camera I have seen.
I want the picture I snap, to be the picture on the screen , like a film camera
Was looking at the CR , the one with the least lag time was not in their recommand list.
An ideas for a P&S camera?

AB I have an olympus mu700, which focuses pretty quick, although there is still some lag.  It does have a large screen though, which you can zoom in on, and is also weatherproof.

http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/29_mju_750.htm

[Ex-airbalancer]

here is a nice list of Cameras
http://steves-digicams.com/holiday2006/compact.html#sd700

Need to get my Xmas list out there

[nocar]

I find my Cannon Elph  great, everything a point and shoot should be - lived in Europe for a year and took tonnes of pics, have blown some up to 8 X 10 and they still look good. Recommend it highly. Got mine at Costco 2 years ago, was  $389

[Benhaze]

I'm a huge fan of Canon cameras. My recommendation would be the SD630 with a 3" LCD screen since it is a priority for you. My personal choice would probably be the SD700 that has a 2.5" LCD but also the Image Stabilizer feature. One of the other most interesting feature of these cameras is they can take widescreen pictures. If you have widescreen TV or computer monitor, it's a very nice bonus. Both are 6.0 MP.

you can find more info here...

SD630: http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=145&modelid=12956

SD700: http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=145&modelid=13019

[dr_spock]

http://www.dpreview.com has many digital camera reviews. 

[Ex-airbalancer]

HERE the CAMERA i got http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1225

Can sit around the pool bar with no worries

[dr_spock]

Nice camera for hot tubbing...  

[mar1990]

I agree with Trainman's assessment of the Canon A540.

Our film camera died and we replaced it with the A540.  Its about 2/3 the width of the Canon Film camera it replaced.  One thing I have learned is that having the display does not mean you wont miss capturing the perfect  moment. "Damn! the kids looked away!".  At least you know right away that you missed the shot!

Nice camera but it goes through alkalines rather quickly.  Switching to lower voltage NiMH batteries means there a lot of lag when using the flash.

I would rather see the camera another 1/2 inch wider if it meant using 4 batteries instead of two.

[Panzer]

Personally, my wife & I love our Sony W1: 5MP, large 2.5" display & Karl-Zeiss lens.  It's over a year old so I'm not sure if it would still be available on the market.

[dr_spock]

I agree with Trainman's assessment of the Canon A540.

Our film camera died and we replaced it with the A540.  Its about 2/3 the width of the Canon File camera it replaced.  One thing I have learned is that having the display does not mean you wont miss capturing the perfect  moment. "Damn! the kids looked away!".  At least you know right away that you missed the shot!

Nice camera but it goes through alkalines rather quickly.  Switching to lower voltage NiMH batteries means there a lot of lag when using the flash.

I would rather see the camera another 1/2 inch wider if it meant using 4 batteries instead of two.

I find young kids are hard to shoot with a digital P&S camera.   They are too fast and won't stay still for you to properly frame the shot.   It is almost like you have to develop a spidey sense to know when to press the shutter button before the action actually happens. 

Have you tried NiMH batteries in the 2500 mAh or higher range? 

[mar1990]

Oh good, its not only me!

As for the batteries, they are the Everready 2500mAh, freshly charged.  They were new, so maybe they have to be cycled a few times. 

They are rated at 1.2V and the camera indicates 3.1V, so I am not optimistic that cycle times with the flash will increase substantially.