I have been reviewing all the dig cameras for a month now and seem to be back to square one.I am looking for a small poctable cam to take with me all the time, work shots and when playing, snowmobiling, hiking, climbing, fishing etc. I was ready to buy the olympus d360l, real close, then read about the 460z. A zoom would be nice but the reviews all pretty much say save your money and stick with the 360l, the picture quality of olympus is undisputed from everywhere, that is why i keep coming back to one of the olympus cams.Then I found the canon s100 and it seemed this was it, but all the reviews say great camera but the pictures dont sound as good overall as the olympus's. Do I need the 1600X1200 pix. over a 1280X960 pix. camera, for the once and a while 8x10 i might want to frame? I know there are dozens of cams available but I am having a very hard time deciding. Help, if anyone has a suggestion I would be very greatfull. Thanks Looking for a basic pociteable point and shoot with a little ability. Want good pict quality Is a zoom on these cams nesicary and do they really work 1600x1200 or 1280x960, will it really matter for average picts.? Thanks. PS. Am working on a 200mhz computer for now with no usb ports but some day will be upgrading, should I try for a cam with usb and get by for now with a flash card reader.

-- Blake Slutz (mrx1@earthlink.net), July 16, 2000

Answers

Depending on whether or not you want to see the square pixels, 1280x960 for an 8x10 might be okay. I've seen printed samples of 4x6's, and 5x7's from a 1.2 megapixel camera. They were almost, only almost, similier to a conventional photo paper print. The rule I'm told is 1.2 megapixels is enough for 4x6, and 5x7. But not for 8x10. The current 3.+ megapixel cameras, now going for $1000 and up are probably suitable for 8x10.

When you talk about zoom, never get digital zoom. Only get optical zoom. Optical zoom is a physical zooming in of the lens. Digital zoom is an interpreted, hardware, software based interpolation of data. In plain words a digital zoom means the picture will have empty holes and the camera will guess what the missing holes should contain.

Choose a digital camera that will allow easy, fast, expandable downloading of images. Memory cards will be hooked up to printers without the use of PC, they already are. USB is the fastest, I suppose. Choose one that can allow a choice of which resolution to take the picture at; normal, fine, high. If you have only one setting, you waste memory, you waste space.

Choose one that can take HIGH MB HD cards.

Choose one that feels comfortable, always try it first.

Choose one that has an LCD screen for previews.

-- Jeff Epstein (nospam@noemail.com), July 16, 2000.

When I was researching cameras, I decided that a maximum resolution of 1280x960 would be just fine for my needs - 99% of my prints are 4x6. I ended up with the Canon S10, which has a max resolution of 1600x1200.

I've printed 4x6 and 5x7 pictures and they are beautiful, but I wish I'd have bought a camera with higher resolution. Can anyone guess why?

Cropping. It's so easy to crop digital images in order to get the best result - I find myself doing this for at least half of my prints. This, of course, reduces the resolution of the image, which can lead to unacceptable prints.

Just something to keep in mind.

-- Greg Philmon (gphilmon@yahoo.com), July 18, 2000.

Maaaaaaaate.....I was once in your position, until last week when i made the final commitment and choose one.....i waited for the canon ixus.....and it was worth the wait the pictures are crystal clear, the software is imaginative and did i say the pictures are crystal clear.

It was the first time i bought technoolgy straight from the workshop and it is probably the only time i wont be disappointed in the future as technology gets better.... a bloody good camera.

Cheers from Australia

-- Dundee (adams@cyberone.com.au), July 19, 2000.