bout to buy a camera...suggestions/thoughts?

well, for an upcoming project i'm participating in i need to buy a digital camera so i'll be picking one up in the next few weeks. i'm looking to keep it under $250 and ideally i'd like to have manual features if possible. my thoughts so far include the canon powershot a75/a80 (if i can find the a80 cheap enough), nikon coolpix 3200, and the olympus c-740 ultrazoom. i like the size of the tiny canon elph's but they seem to be a bit lacking in features. anything else i should check out/consider, or any particular recommendations on these models? thanks.

chris

I only know about the canon...
I have the A70, so all the photos I have shown here are taken with it.
The A75 is just like mine but you can print straight from the camera...
Not really sure if I need that function but hey maybe someone does.
The A80 is nice!
Pretty much the same functions as mine but has 4.0 megapixels.
But I think the best thing with it is that you can flip the screen to any angle you want.
I can't do that on mine and isn't possible on the A75...
It's just really really annoying when you are taking a picture of something in the mud or something...so the only way to see anything is actually lying there in the mud...
(have done that too many times.)
But as I said I don't know anything about the other ones.
I know that in Finland you wont get the A70,75 or 80 for $250.
Maybe a used one.
But that's just Finland and our over expensive cameras...

thanks 3jorn, i knew someone around here had one and couldn't remember who how do you like it as far as size?

here i can order the a75 online for around $220-230, the a80 starting at around $275. i think it may come down to looking how big of a camera i want and whether or not i need the manual features or not. part of me likes the idea of just being able to drop a camera in my pocket and take it with me.

thanks for the feedback, any other comments greatly appreciated...

chris

i've got a 3100...it fits great in my pocket. the rechargable battery is pure crap though. i think i may have gotten a defective one...but it definately doesn't stay charged as long as it advertises. the carry pouch (also bought seperate) is so-so, just cloth, doesn't protect against anything but scratches to the camera from keys in the pocket.
the 3200 is smaller and thinner than the 3100. Personally, i thought the controls were not as one-hand-friendly as the 3100. And because it's smaller, thinner, lighter, i would ASSUME it's much harder to keep it all still.
I mean sure, it's got scene modes, but i honestly don't have the control to keep the camera motion free (and the person i'm taking a picture of for that matter) until the camera does its work. That, however, could just be n00bness.

Yeah when you talk about size...
it really depends on what you are going to use it for.
Taking party drunk photos or actual photos :P
Well I can't fit it in my pocket but I have a camera bag....that is just as big as the camera that I put in the back of my belt.

I think the size of mine is pretty good...
It's not too small or too light...
I tried using my mothers tiny Canon Ixus 500 , 5.0 MP...it's really hard to keep it steady because it doesn't have any weight.

thanks guys. found another one that looks interesting, the olympus c-50. its a year or two old but its a 5mp that has full manual controls as well and its tiny, need to find one at a store and do a bit of playing. gonna look at the 3200 in person too and see how small it is, some good points about the possibility of it being too small/light.

chris

olympus c-740

I own the c-700. Its got Aperature Priority/Shutter Priority and just about full manual control (no manual focus). Id def. recommend it if you want features. Also it should (not sure bout the new model) have an electronic viewfinder....which is probably the greatest feature ever invented and a glass lense (which should help with pic quality).

Though size is an issue. Its small as hell.....but being SLR style its kinda bulky (the lense barrel sticks out atleast and inch or 2.....from the already fat base of the camera). Also weight is an issue if your going to carry it for long periods of time (a full afternoon carrying it w/ a neck strap will probably make the back of your neck soar for a few hours)

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coolpix 3200

I also own a coolpix 2100. As for size......wicked small. Though being a midget-SLR style your probably not going to get it into your pants pocket (you could.....but it wouldnt be comfortable) In a jacket pocket it would fit fine though. As to manual features.......i know it has the ability to go manual..........but i dont know how good it is. Most features on the camera are geared towards noobs.....like the 10,000 shooting modes (night/fireworks/beach/sunset/sunrise/indoor/museam/backlight etc) so if your looking for manual.....the coolpix may not be the best. It also lacks an electronic viewfinder....i think the lense may be plastic and it only has about 3x zoom.

Still though....for a basic-intermediate camera it takes awesome pictures! Good quality and great color. It also seems to handle noise well (where as the olympus ones have a bit of trouble with noise).

thanks rodder, i actually went looking at best buy/circuit city/etc. today and the c-740 is nice but as you said a bit bulky. unfortunately when they upgraded the coolpix 3100 to the new 3200 they pulled the manual features, kinda sucks.

couldn't find an olympus c-50 to look at, i'll keep y'all updated...

chris

3100's manual features was only like exposure and lighting presets for day/cloudy/etc. nothing too pro about it, unless those features were what you wanted. You can even manually put the date imprint on.

oh, only problem i had w/ the 3100 is sometimes the autofocussing is really hard to get it to actually focus on what you're looking at, especially the macro feature.

i might be confused, but i'm pretty sure that the 3200 is even smaller than the 3100, so i'd figure it'd fit even more nicely into any pocket. maybe it's just your pants rodder, what brand/cut do u wear? lol...but i guess carrying around the 3100 in certain shorts/pants of mine has been a bit tough. I say it's portable enough!

Go with the Canon S400 or S410 (if you want direct print). I bought one a while back and love it. It beats any of the other cameras you have mentioned quality-wise (with the exception of the A70, A75, & A80). The camera is rather heavy, but is very small. It's unusual to steady at first, but like anything else, comes easy with practice. It has some manual controls but not many. Nonetheless, if you want a "pocketable" camera that takes extremely high quality pictures, I would go with the S400. 8X10's even look pretty decent. I've had people look at some of my prints and think they were taken with a Nikon 8700 or a Canon G5.