Should I wait to purchase?

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I guess there are 2 questions. They may be to broad of a question? Any advise would be appreciated :) I am a disabled individual who truly enjoys photography. As a result of progression of my disability I can not lift a camera to my eye. I've just noticed with Digital Cameras that there are some with viewfinders that would allow me to place the camera on my lap and still be able to view the object. I'm learning more every day about features. Prices are high. Is it worth waiting for them to come down? Do you believe they will get lighter and have that many more features to hold of purchasing? The excitement of being able to take my own pictures is making it hard to hold off. Any and all information is appreciated :)

-- John Lee (John.JJL@mci2000.com), June 28, 1998

Answers

You'll be able to use the LCD as a viewfinder on almost any consumer digital camera. The Olympus D-500L and D-600L are notable exceptions. Beware that LCD quality (amount of detail in the LCD) and preview frame rate (how fast the camera updates the LCD as you move the lens) varies widely. Also, not every digital camera has a swiveling lens, so be sure you choose one that swivels in a way useful to you.

The casio line of cameras all (as far as I know) meet your needs, but my experience with the QV-300 was awful. Their high-end cameras (reviewed on this website) may be better. The Nikon Coolpix 900 probably meets your needs but I haven't actually handled one. It is reputed to take excellent pictures.

Re: price, new models are always coming out at the same price points (around $1k, around $700, around $500, and below) and old models are depreciating extremely rapidly (50%/yr or more). If your budget is under $500 then I'd wait a while until you can buy one of the current batch of cameras used at that price (it won't be long!).

Have fun and let us know what you decide!

-- Ben Jackson (ben@ben.com), July 02, 1998.


The Agfa 1280 has high resolution and a tilting lense/LCD arrangment. This sounds like the perfect match for your needs. As a matter of fact it does not even have an optical view finder! A new 1280 sells for around $550 over the internet. The only problem I had with the Agfa was the 17 second wait between hires pictures. The Agfa uses interpolation to get up to 1280 x 960 but the quality looks good. I also uses Smart media which limits you to about a 16 MB card. The Nikon has a higher CCD resolution but it will cost you $200 more. The Nikon can take hires pictures with about a 2-4 second wait between them. The lens/LCD tilts on the Nikon just like the Agfa. The Nikon uses compact flash which comes in sizes up over 30 MB.

Whichever one you decide on buy a bunch of NIMH batteries and a charger. If you are going to use the LCD all the time it will eat batteries.

-- Stan Zdonick (szdonick@baynetworks.com), July 09, 1998.


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