Trying to decide which digital camera to get. Looking for the best picture quality.Sony DSC-F55 sounds wonderful but is fully automatic and no view finder. I understand Olympus D-600L has more manual features--perhaps more semi-automatic. Can you put filters on the Olympus? Any opinions would be most appreciated.

-- (ozmoore@yahoo.com), August 16, 1999

Answers

First off, I doen't have any idea of the comparative picture quality. On the one hand I am a big fan of the Sonys using the LCD to frame the picture(also the super long lasting battery) On the otherhand, I love the D600/620L for the TTL(through the lens). It is like an SLR camera(and yes, it does accept filters) I was considering the D620L as my second camera. but I am now waiting to see Sony's new Cybershot.

my 2 cents.

-- David Erskine (davide@netquest.com), August 19, 1999.

The image quality of the 600 is truly awesome, I think I subconsciously compare everything against this standard. The fact that this camera is TTL is a big plus for lots of photographers. The camera is kind of big compared to most. Autofocus is frustrating in low light and battery life sucks. The 620 is better in all of these areas, with a nice buffer to snap lots of pics in a row. Hot shoe/flash makes a big difference in image quality. Basically I think a 600 buyer is willing to sacrifice convenience for image quality. I don't now much about sony DSC 55. Their mavicas are the worst for image quality, but the dsc 700 is great.

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