This is embarrassing but in case you could help.... I've been looking on the web and all the reviews are on cameras I can't afford. Maybe this is the wrong place to ask but if anyone would like to venture an opinion, I'd be grateful. Right now I'm choosing from what's available locally although if I find a great recommendation I might (with great trepidition) consider buying online. One of my questions is whether an autofocus is so much better than a fixed-focus compact to warrant the double in price. I'm thinking of getting either a Canon BF Prima 800 which is a fixed-foxus 28/5.6 or a Pentax 550 which is more expensive. I'm also thinking of going over my budget at getting a Nikon Lite Touch Zoom 70 when I find the specifications... I've been reading about the Olympus Stylus which you could allegedly get for below $100 but it's not availble here in the Phils. Wish I could check out the Yashica T4 too. Here's hoping for some replies...thanks in advance.

Shamae

-- Shamae Simon (sounder56@hotmail.com), March 30, 2001

Answers

AF is worth its price, and be it only because the lens is slightly faster, i.e. you don't need flash so often. (You probably know what a built-in flash does to your motive.)

IMHO the Olympus Stylus Epic would be the best choice of the cameras you mentioned. I have to admit I have one myself and like it; getting tack-sharp 8x12 enlargements from a P&S is certainly rewarding!

-- Oliver Schrinner (piraya@hispavista.com), March 30, 2001.

Seconded. The Olympus Stylus Epic (known as the Olympus Mju II in Europe) is a fine little camera.

You're quite right, Shamae, to concentrate on getting a good simple camera rather than a less-well-built model with lots of features. But the important simplification is to go for a fixed-focal-length lens. The prime lenses in the Olympus and in the Yashica T4 Super are better optically than the zoom lenses in cameras costing 3 times as much: zoom lenses are convenient but require too many compromises from the lens designer.

Moreover, prime lenses are much faster so, as Oliver says, you can avoid using flash more often. The problem of red eyes in flash pictures is endemic in small cameras, but an f/2.8 lens with an ISO 800 film (the new Fuji Superia X-tra 800 is quite good enough for 7"x5" prints) means you can often avoid using flash at all. The red-eye reduction on the Olympus works surprisingly well, but your subjects will grumble about it.

Fast lenses like these need to be focused, so you will need autofocus. That's a feature that is worth paying for.

Later,

Dr Owl

-- John Owlett (owl@postmaster.co.uk), March 30, 2001.