Hi, I am new in digital photography. Currently thinking about buying first camera. I have a problem to decide between these two models. It seems I like quality and possibilities of Nikon but at the same time a 340MB MicroDrive coming with Casion is very appealing...

Please let me know cons and pros of these two....

Thanks.

-- Boris Sudel (bsudel@lifespan.org), March 20, 2000

Answers

I am sure they are both very good cameras. My opinion about this IBM microdrive is this: It is like a mini hard drive, therefore it can fail. There are moving parts and with a camera constantly moving around, how long will this disk spin. What about weather condition? How will it work in hot and cold climates. Lastly, what happens when you dont use it for a month or two. I know with a regular hard drive if it sits, it sometimes wont start back up. If you want to trust thousands of pictures from your once in a lifetime vacation then the IBM drive is for you. I personally feel much more comfortable buying a 128 or 64mb flash card where I know it wont fail due to mechanics inside. As far as which camera, the Nikon has established itself as one of the best on the market. The support is unbelievable and so is the content on the internet. There are many more vendors making things especially for the Nikon and that to me is a good thing. That means in two years from now when Casio's camera is nothing buy history, the nikon will still have accessories and discussion on it.

-- Joseph (joedawn2001@yahoo.com), March 21, 2000.

Those are two cameras that are quite different in personality and have very divided camps of users, in my opinion. I would not base my decision solely on storage. I would have to ask what type of user of regular cameras you are...do you do a lot of manual adjustments on your SLR? What is your goal in taking pictures? How serious of a hobby is it? Do you need 3.3 MP?

I decided to purchase the 990 after extensive research. It simply has the best feel. Push the buttons, use the zoom and watch how smooth everything functions. Build quality is impeccable. Picture quality is hard to beat. However, I am giving up some ease of use and intuitive features.

Though I have a decent SLR background, I have spent almost the entire past two years behind an Epson 600 PC, which I shelled out $500 for in April 98. As a result, I felt more comfortable with the Casio when I touched it. It seems to me to be a bit more point and shoot friendly. The menus spell everything out...no cryptic symbols, which the Nikon makes generous use of. Casio is the kind of camera you could hand to someone who only occasionally uses a point and shoot and they could take a picture for you. I really liked it, but truthfully, doesn't appeal to the amateur photographer in me.

I opted for the Nikon because I wanted the best image in the 3.3 MP class, I refused to buy a smartmedia camera (i.e. no Olympus), and I wanted a camera that wouldn't leave me wanting any additional features. I also don't want to have to replace it in a few years...it will still be supported and valuable. It also has a unique swivel lens that it growing on me.

Just as a case in point, I had to get the manual out to find out how to change the resolution on the Nikon, which I was used to doing with the little "star" button on top of the Epson. Also, getting the flash to work independently of other options, like macro, I haven't discovered yet. I am still reading the manual. Again, I was used to the Epson where I could the macro and flash modes with dedicated buttons on the top of the camera. The Epson is still more ergonomic, it easier to use, and much better viewfinder acccuracy than the Nikon or even the Casio, but it had no manual control at all and was limited to 1024 x 768...a low resolution by today's standards. And I just cannot bring myself to use a film camera again...so I wanted the resolution that would make prints near 35mm film quality.

The jury is still out on the Nikon for me...I have a 30-day money back gaurantee, but I don't think I will be returning it...and I might just keep my Epson too.

Entering the digital photography world at the $1000 is a bold step unless you have a lot of money or really know what you want from a background of photography experience...my humble opinion.

-- Jarrod Rominske (deepsnow@freewwweb.com), May 23, 2000.