which camera?

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I am replacing a lost fuji mx 700 and wish to know if I can or need to do better. My main criteria are: 1. macro facility. most important as the camera is primarily used for taking pictures of small objects. 2. high resolution is important, but do I need higher resolution than that provided by the mx700? 3. compactness. I especially liked the fuji's pocketability. 4. ease of use. I had no trouble with the 700. 5. very friendly price. but could go up for significant improvement 6. what i did not like: short battery life. even turned off, the battery went dead after two days and had to be recharged. thanks for any feedback. jim singer

-- james singer (jamessinger@compuserve.com), July 24, 1999

Answers

I think the Nikon Coolpix 950 has by far the closes macro range of any good quality digital camera. And I have seen blowups from 950 images to HUGE size (well beyond 11X14 -- Made by Color Wheel in NYC) that are truly impressive. The camera is not overly large but it is larger and heavier than you might have expected from seeing it in ads. It fits into a briefcase easily, however, (unlike the small, but fatter, Olympus 2000).

Also, Epson has introduced a very tiny pocket-sized 2.1 million pixel camera with quite good macro capabilities. It is the PhotoPC 800. It doesn't have the features of the Nikon (no zoom lens, for example) but its pictures look very good and they demo it with a large picture of a single flower blossom. Also, it is very inexpensive, selling in NYC for $699. Both cameras (as well as the Olympus) are worth a look but I would choose the Nikon if Macro is your main use and you can live with the price ($899-$999 street price in NYC).

I think all digital camera are power hogs. At this point it is a greater weakness than resolution (now that the 2.1 million pixel cameras are out). The Epson comes with a batter charger and four batteries so you can keep spares in your pocket. Olympus has a promotion right now which currently includes a charger. But you can buy AA rechargeable batters and chargers at Radio Shack. Otherwise you get about an hour shooting time on a new set of AA's. I would run any digital camera off an AC adaptor while transferring images and if in a studio.

- Eric

-- Eric Somers (somers@sandbook.com), July 24, 1999.


For batteries maybe you should check for a power pack. I heard of a new brand from Unity Digital called ProPower Pak http://www.unitydigital.com/ I know someone who got one and he just love it. you can also check this review http://www.steves-digicams.com/propower.html

Ma

-- Martin Cote (martinco@videotron.ca), July 24, 1999.


I personally have an Epson 750z which I have been very happy with, however I would recommend keeping a close eye on the Epson 850 that is said to be coming out soon.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/diginews_jun99.html#epson

It offers many of the features of the Olympus 2000 and Nikon 950, but hopefully they will retain the usability and other good features of the Epson 750Z.

-- Bob G. (rgreg88721@hotmail.com), July 25, 1999.


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