Hello - I'm ready to pull the trigger and purchase a ditial camera but I am more confused than ever. I'd like to spend less than $1100 for a very high quality camera. I would like to print some but not all pictures and do some artistic Photoshop work. I've researched the Olympus and was ready, until I saw the Sony, until I saw the Agfa, until I saw the.... You get the picture, pun intended. I will use this camera for family stuff, church projects, and web stuff. I already have a high end computer, scanner, Photoshop 4.0, etc. Any light you could shed on my delima would be greatly appreciated. Thanks - Zoro

-- Zoro Zing (zoro@oz.net), April 04, 1998

Answers

Yes, tough to decide what to do. There's a LOT of activity right now in the "megapixel" arena. Normally, I tend to advise people to figure out what meets their needs and just go out and buy it: If it meets your needs now, it will still meet those same needs a year from now, even if better things are on the market.

That said, right now is a bit of a special case, given the exceptional amount of new-product activity in digital cameras. If you can keep the money from burning a hole in your pocket that long, you may want to wait until after PC Expo in New York, the middle of June. For obvious reasons, I can't share what I know, but suffice to say there will be some announcements in that time frame that might interest you...

On the other hand, if the money *is* burning a hole in your pocket, the newly-reduced price of the Oly D-500L (now down to $799) makes it an excellent buy. If you don't feel like you need zoom, you can save yourself a lot of money: The DC200 from Kodak is the same guts as the DC210, just a fixed-focal-length lens, and is a great buy. We're just testing the new Oly D-340L, which has *super* resolution, at a very nice price. (That review should be up in about a week.)

-- Dave Etchells (web@imaging-resource.com), April 04, 1998.

Zoro, We're pretty busy with reviews & such now, but will be posting mfr announcements on our news pages at least weekly - for now, just look on our "home" page at www.imaging-resource.com. We're expecting to be participating in the product rollouts for several new megapixel cameras between June 1 and June 16 (PC Expo timeframe), so check back around then! (Two products, vendor unspecified for obvious reasons, will announce June 1, others due June 16th, the start of PC expo.) Canon has also committed to presentations on their A5 and PowerShot Pro 70. We expect to get the review sample of the A5 in late April, so stay tuned... (Pro 70 isn't due until later in the summer, also will retail for $1,500. Looks like a *killer* camera though.)

Finally, don't know for certain, but I *think* we're going to be hosting the Nikon 600 & 900 within the next month also. The 900 in particular looks very cool, from what we've seen of the specs...

BTW - sorry for the out-of-sequence messages: The system always puts the "administrator" messages on top - Maybe I can use a different name to have my messages appear in-sequence...

-- Dave Etchells (web@imaging-resource.com), April 07, 1998.

Dave - thanks. In my research, it looks like the D-500L is what I'm looking for. Today I went to Future Shop and the Kodak 210 looks pretty good too. Lucky for me, the money is not buring a hole in my pocket so I'd rather wait a bit so see what happens. Do you have a good web-site address that keeps tabs on these kind of issues and "latest announcements"? Thanks. ZZ

-- Zoro Zing (zoro@oz.net), April 04, 1998.

I've owned a Digital Camera for about 5 years (an Apple QuickTake 100). I'm replacing it with an Olympus 320. My reasons for choosing the 320 are based on my experience with the QuickTake and my regular 35mm (Pentax SF1). I need a camera that is small enough to fit in my pocket with good enough resolution for both Web and Print use. For family pictures we use my wife's Canon Sure Shot 70 Zoom whose design is similar (at least in size and lens cover aspects) to the Olympus 320; because of size, my Pentax simply doesn't get used! I've had a similar experience with the QuickTake, because of its size it simply wasn't convenient to use it for everyday use (in addition, its resolution wasn't good enough for print use).

With the previous comments in mind, my main reasons for selecting an Olympus 320 are: good mechanical design (case and optics); camera size; use and size of SmartMedia cards (I also like ease of use that will be afforded by the new floppy disk adapter); image resolution and quality; Olympus' obvious commitment to digital cameras; future upgradability without having to replace accessories (additional cards, power supply, printer, etc).

I would have liked even greater resolution and wide angle/telephoto capability. I was tempted to wait for the Olympus 340 but I don't think its higher resolution would add much in my intended uses (Web and snap shot size prints). In addition, I don't think a 2x zoom is worth it (I'd like something the equivalent of a 35mm 28 to 100 lens). Cost was also a consideration, I think the Olympus 320 offers great features for a great price.

-- Malcolm Graham (malcolm@writedoc.com), April 18, 1998.

If you have a scanner, stick to scanning cheap 1hr photo lab prints. Even considering the nonzero per-picture cost and possible startup investment (if you don't have a camera) you'll get a lot of photos before you've spent as much money as you would to get a digital camera capable of similar quality.

All digital cameras have to offer right now is instant gratification. That's why I have one. :-)

-- Ben Jackson (ben@ben.com), April 28, 1998.

I too am confused. I am about to buy my first digital camera. I was originally all set to buy the Coolpix 900, but then I heard about the Kodak DC260, and I decided to wait. After reading some of the critical comments on the rec.photo.digital newsgroup, I was beginning to have some doubts about the Coolpix. After reading your review and John Cowley's review, I am again excited about the Coolpix. So please hurry, hurry with your review and sample pix from the DC260. I'm too old to wait much longer, and I just want to have fun!

-- Sam Rotenberg (samro@earthlink.neet), May 30, 1998.

Hello everyone - I'm following up to my original post. I think that was at the beginning of April. Has anything been announced yet? BTW, when is PC Expo? I feel a little more educated about the D/C market but I still don't know what to purchase. What's the latest? Is the Oly the way to go? Thanks all. Z2

-- Zoro Zing (zoro@oz.net), June 13, 1998.

Zoro (and others)

(I'm trying the "hotnews" email to keep my post in-line, instead of floating to the top as the "moderator.")

Toshiba is announcing a new unit with 1280x1024 resolution from a 1.5 megapixel sensor - we have one of only 3 in the country for testing (very proud of that fact), and the images look really nice. No zoom, but only $699! You should be able to get a good look at the Canon PowerShot A5, which is also fairly cheap, at about 800K pixels. Canon should also have a prototype of the PowerShot Pro70 there, but it will be a bit above your price point, at an estimated $1,500. Also likely not available until late summer. Agfa will be showing *their* 1.5 megapixel unit, the 1680, and Panasonic should have theirs as well. PC Expo is next week in NYC, I think 6/16 through 6/18.

Good Luck!

(PS: We'll be posting the images from the new Toshiba early next week. Agfa has previously promised us a crack at the 1680, but no recent word.)

-- Dave Etchells (hotnews@imaging-resource.com), June 13, 1998.