How are other brands of digital camera besides Nikon/Canon/Olympus?

I gave a sibling some money for xmas and they have decided to get a 6 megapixel digital camera (I told them don't bother with 6 mpixel, 2-4 is enough for general use. Since they are a novice, knowing nothing more about digital cameras besides the mpixel spec, they said they will settle for a minimum of 4 megapixel.) The budget for this camera would be in the $500-$600 range.

Anyway, since they are not avid photographers and probably are getting it as neat gadget to have, they will probably use it sparingly. So they said I could probably use it whenever I feel like.

I already have a SLR, Ikelite housing and manual strobe and am not sure if I would be willing to build up a UW digital system, giving the prohibitively high cost of the strobe. But I might still keep that option open. It all depends on how good are the cameras besides Nikon/Olympus/Canon. Does something like the Sony, HP, Kodak, Panasonic or whatever offer something that is better than the usual three brands?

I know Sony offers Carl Zeiss lens and Panasonic has Leica lens (although I don't know if they are up to the quality of their 35mm counterparts) But do any of them offer any other features that makes it truely distinctive and stand out from the crowd?

I would probably bring the digital camera on dive trips, but as a above land camera, since that would lighten up my builk considerably, w/o the need to bring a 2nd SLR body, bulky strobe & battery pack.

If I do bring it underwater, besides it being one of the Nikon/Olympus/Canon, I would most likely use it for closeups since I don't intent on spending >$500 for the strobe. Do people bring 2 cameras down? (It will be like my old days, 3 cameras around my neck, a bunch of lenses, strobe, tripod, monopod, rifle-butt pod in the bag. But this would be underwater. like an UW photojournalist.)

I was checking out my cousin's sony dcs-f707. Very nice camera. Nice 5x lens. I don't care for sony's memory sticks. The dsc-f717 is a newer model. The price is up there, though.

Why don't you like any of the canon/olympus/nikon cameras? Cost? I'd stay away from the cheaper kodaks, hp's,


your price range is right between "levels"... pay a little more, and I feel you get a lot more camera.

Since I am looking for someone else, they keep drifting to the max megapixel per dollar models (its like buying anything else when you don't know much about it, max screen size for TV, max Mhz for PC, fastest 0-60 for cars, etc.)

I have nothing against Canon/Nikon/Olympus, I've had nothing except Canon & Olympus SLRs (Olympus was an abberation.) I just don't know what else is out there besides those three. Maybe something better featured? Plug n Play to printer? Bluetooth? Autobracket? Auto ISO selection? Stabilizer technology so I could take hand held shots that is 1/4 sec long?

What is much better at slightly higher price? Will it still be 4megapixels? And what would make it better? I myself am not too familiar with this technology. I could easily tell the difference between a $200 and $2000 SLR body. But with digital cameras, I just know megapixel, camera brands and whatever technology that could be applied from film cameras.


The reason it is at that price range is because of all the add-ons that usually bump the price much higher (case, flash card, whatever stuff that I don't know about. I would probably have to shell out for the UW housing.) And that is how much they got. They will probbly take some pictures of cats, TV screens, friends and trips. If it was exclusively for their use, I would just tell them to get a 1-2 megapixel POS (still better than the disposable they use,) but since they got that much to spend, want high pixel count and since I will be using it some of the time, we can't go that route.


If it was me, I would get a digital SLR, or at least wait until their price is attainable or resolution is comparable to slides/films.

Check out. It is chock full of good reviews.

http://dpreview.com/

Best of luck,
Peter Doege

you're probably best off with an olympus... 3040 or 4040... not real familiar with their models... especially if you want to house it. If you don't care about housing it, I'd look around for a nikon 5000 (over your price, but maybe used?), a canon G2, sony 707.

I'm not familiar with the slightly cheaper canons... s40, a40, etc., but those would fit the bill with cheap housings also(relatively).

I don't believe you can gain anything with 'other' company's, but you would lose out on housing selection.

Like the previous post... check dpreview.

Then go see the cameras in person. After actually holding the cameras, I easily eliminated some from my consideration. Compusa, staples, ritz camera, etc, are all good places to find the digicams (at least to check 'em out, not necessarily to buy from)

Looks like even in the Canon/Nikon line, the mfg UW housing are only for the low end models. Some cameras that I looked at like the Nikon Coolpix 4500 and Canon G2/G3 does not have housings for it by the mfg.

Does anyone know which Coolpix cameras does Nikon make housings for? For Canon, I think it is basically the A30/A40, S30/S40, which seems to be more of a point and shoot type of camera.

I heard the Olympus 4040 is discontinued. Does that housing also fit the 5050 or 4000?

Is the 5050 a 5 megapixel version of the 4040? And the 4000 is a 4040 with a slower lens?

Take a look at http://www.digideep.com/

The site is down at the moment, but if you select a camera from the list, it gives you (what seems to be) a pretty comprehensive list of the various housings that are made for the camera.

hth,
kkm

Lwang once bubbled...
Looks like even in the Canon/Nikon line, the mfg UW housing are only for the low end models. Some cameras that I looked at like the Nikon Coolpix 4500 and Canon G2/G3 does not have housings for it by the mfg.

Does anyone know which Coolpix cameras does Nikon make housings for? For Canon, I think it is basically the A30/A40, S30/S40, which seems to be more of a point and shoot type of camera.

I heard the Olympus 4040 is discontinued. Does that housing also fit the 5050 or 4000?

Is the 5050 a 5 megapixel version of the 4040? And the 4000 is a 4040 with a slower lens?

Click to expand...

As Matt mentioned, Digideep will give you a list of available housing if available for any digital camera.

Yes, the 4040 had been discontinued although you can still find them on the shelf. And no, the housings are different for the 4040 (PT-010) and the 5050 (PT-015).

There are several differences in the 5050, 4040 and 4000, the slower lens is one of them. Steve's Digi-cams will show you a comparison of different cameras.

there are not any "nikon-made" housings... You'd have to get an ikelite or aquatica.

Yes... the canons tend to be point and shoots (at least the ones that canon itself makes housings for).


If you want the cheaper housings made by the manufacturers, then you are looking at Olympus, Canon, and some sony's (the P-series, I believe). Out of these 3, olympus is probably the furthest from a "point-and-shoot".


Do you want to base your purchase on housing cost? or the camera? or both? The best compromise for both is an olympus.

Lwang once bubbled...
Since they are a novice, knowing nothing more about digital cameras besides the mpixel spec, they said they will settle for a minimum of 4 megapixel.) The budget for this camera would be in the $500-$600 range.

Click to expand...

Try http://www.pricescan.com/digiphoto/08010100.asp for some great prices.
I was searching for some info on the Olympus c-5050 and came across this site. They list 6 US stores that have the 5050 for under $600, a couple as low as $559. I just paid a fair amount more than that on ebay.
Don't I feel stupid! :dunce:
Haven't seen any u/w reviews yet, but the rest of the press sure likes the camera. Also, you can find the PT-015 housing for about $300.