Jensa wrote:.

We've finally decided to take the plunge and buy our first digitalcamera. After doing a bit of research, we had decided on the CanonA710 IS. But now I see that next month Canon will release the A650IS, A720 IS, and SX100 IS, all of which also look interesting, andprobably worth waiting a month for..

I know nobody has first hand experience with any of these models, butwould anyone care to comment on them, or even to suggest othercameras we should consider?.

We would be using the camera mainly for snap-shot type photography.I think we probably wouldn't really need the 12 MP resolution of theA650 for the type of pictures we would be taking. I like the 10Xzoom on the SX100, but I've seen some discussions where people thinkthe lack of a wide-angle lens might make closer shots problematic.Is that likely to be an issue? I think the only other thing we wouldbe giving up going with the SX100 is the optical view finder, butthat's probably not really a problem for us. Is there anything elseI'm missing?.

So, given the type of pictures we want to take, any tips on whichmodel would be better? Any other cameras we should take a look at?Does anyone know if we're likely to see reviews of any of the newCanon models before they are actually released next month?.

The answers to a lot of your questions are unknown at the moment. The A710-IS is a good choice among the existing A-series cameras, but with the new models the balance of power shifts to the A650-IS instead of the A720-IS. The SX100 looks interesting on paper, along with the similar Sony H3, and the existing Panasonic TZ3..

Since it is your first digital camera, (and if you want to get started right away) it may be a good idea to get a camera that has been around for a few months, so most of it's issues have already been discovered and workarounds or fixes have been posted on the net. Plus you will get it at a better price. And once you get you used to that, then perhaps you can add something else (eg a long zoom model, wide-angle model, etc)..

The pros/cons of the specific (existing) models are in various threads in their respective forums and the reviews, - how important they are obviously depends on how much weight you want to give them..

Comprehensive 2007 speculation and predictions: http://1001noisycameras.blogspot.com..

If you've followed the news, you'd see that all point & shoot cameras in the last 2-3 years are going downhills. There's no point looking into the future, because they'll be even worse. Same old tiny sensor with many more pixels squeezed in, which increases noise, which requires noise cleaning, which washes away details. Face detection is only for those people who don't know that the focus point is in the midle of the frame. Large LCD screen is for wasting battery power..

The reall battle for manufacturers are on the DSLR cameras, with advancements that can be considered major leaps..

In my book, there are only a few point & shoot that don't do too badly. They're all one or two generation old though. If you can get a hold of them at any store, by all means do so..

.Superzoom: Canon S3 IS, Fuji S6000fd/S6500fd.Compact: Fuji F20, F30, F31fd.

Other than that, think about DSLR. Many of them are cheaper than $500 now...

Thanks.....

I don't think a DSLR is what we're looking for at this point... I'd basically like a good point & shoot camera with good zoom capability & decent picture quality. Any thoughts on the Canon S5? I'll also check out the Fuji superzoom models you suggested...

I prefer the S3 over S5, because 6MP has less noise than 8MP. If you read the review of both of these cameras on this site, you'll see that the S3 is rated as "Highly Recommened", while the S5 is only "Recommended". Here's the reason, as quoted from the S5 review:.

"So then, Canon took an already great camera and gave it a better screen, better viewfinder and a flash hot shoe, and made it a bit prettier to boot. They then put inside it a sensor that is noisier than it's predecessor, meaning that - for the most part - the resolution increase simply isn't reflected in the output, thanks to the need for stronger noise reduction. It's certainly a better camera in most respects, but the improvements are about 'features' not 'picture quality', and we'd hoped for a little more from Canon this time around.".

Didn't I tell you, things are going downhills in the point & shoot world?..

Hi.

I am currently looking for a replacement for my PowerShot SD10 model... there is so much out there... But I can say this for sure... I will stick with the PowerShot model because I love all the features, useablility, compactness, etc. Price is important as well... I suggest seeing what each model you are interested in buying is going for on Ebay, Amazon, etc.



Good luck!.

Cookie14.

"Here today, gone tomorrow... make each moment count...."Amazon.comFatwallet.comSavecity.net..