After two years of waiting and watching digital cameras evolve, I'm finally ready to buy. The two contenders for me are the DC265 and Coolpix 950. I believe Nikon to be the slightly better camera at the extreme uses, and even for most shooting. However, when I compare the features beyond the cameras (connectivity and firmware mainly) I feel the Kodak has a significant edge to work with my iMac. My question is would I be happy trading off slightly less quality with the Kodak for its ease of use, or should I stay the true and honest by opting for the better quality pictures and performance of the Nikon? I know its a very subjective question, but any advice, especially based on experience would be very helpful.

Thanks in advance, Robert

P.S. It's nice to see the internet serving its real purpose.

-- Robert Wearn (rwearn@lausd.k12.ca.us), August 14, 1999

Answers

Robert, I suggest the CP950. I owned a Kodak DC260 that I sold after the 950 was introduced. To me, the flexibility of the 950 far out weighs the USB connectivity of the DC260 or 265. For well under a hundred bucks you can buy a USB port CF card reader.

The 950 has many more manual controls than the Kodak. Shutter priority, aperture priority, spot, center weight, and matrix metering, fabulous macro capability, etc. That can be a plus, depending on how you want to shoot. If you strictly want a programmed, point-n-shoot camera, either one will do. But if you want control over your photography, Nikon has it.

I rarely find a situation where I need a non-compressed tiff image. But if I need it, the Nikon can deliver. Kodak won't have it until the DC290 hits the streets. Want a wide angle converter, 2X tele- converter, or fish eye? Nikon has all three at very reasonable prices. What does Kodak have?

Since I use a PC, I can't address the issue of the iMac for connectivity, software, etc. I'll leave that topic for someone else.

So far as image quality, I agree that the Nikon has a slight edge. Although it is very slight. But what do you buy a camera for? To take the best quality images possible. I love the Nikon (as you might have guessed). Until Kodak can match it, at a similar price, I'll stick with the Nikon.

-- Steve (tuna-boat-captain@ibm.net), August 14, 1999.

get the brand new kodak dc280 for 659.00 from tristatecomputer.com or 666.79 from onsale.com........I sound like a salesman for kodak or something.....I just ordered the camera after weeks and weeks of research....it's a 2.3 megapixel (2.0/2.1 usable?) the sample pictures i've seen on reviews etc look incredible....

later

-- Paul (web69x@aol.com), August 15, 1999.

Since USB card readers are cheap and easy, I suggest you take connectivity out of the equation when making your digicam purchase. Compare sample pics if you can, decide if you want optical zoom, if small size is important, etc... Speaking of which try hold a 265 in your hand sometime, its a tank compared to some others these days if size matters

-- benoit (foo@bar.com), August 27, 1999.