Digital camera purchase

[Paddy]

I played with both the F300 and the S50 today.
The S50 was heavier and the controls were not as nice as the minolta. However, it does have a slightly wider angle, and come with a battery charger.

The minolta uses SD cards which are compatible with my iPAQ, whereas the S50 is CF.... The S50 also has a propriatary (sp?) bat, rather than the standard 2xAA....

This is a tough one.....

[GNEP]

How much does a half decent battery charger cost? Sounds like you're swinging in favour of the F300

[Paddy]

Enough to make the price difference not a consideration.

The s50 seems a better model, although it is a brick in comparison. The question is:

Is the s50 THAT much better than the F300?
I have my impression from playing with them, but I only have the salesmens word for the quality...

[Paddy]

Actually the prices i was using were high street ones.
online, i can get the F300 for £315 and the S50 for £385

[az]

I don't think the quality difference will be that big (yes, I'm a minolta fan since I have a Dimage 7i, but if a cam can make me a fan of them, they can't be that bad?) - the absolutely MOST important thing is that you LIKE the cam, that it FEELS GOOD to you, you find it beautiful, are at home with its controls, etc.

An excellent AA charger costs up to 50 EUR, but a proprietary battery won't be cheap either (and I'd advice you to get at least one spare set of accus, regardless of whether they are AAs or proprietary ones).

The S50 is an excellent cam from what I hear, but the F300 definately has more style and IMHO geek factor

SD compatibility is another (small?) plus for you, of course.

If the F300 is cheaper, and you like it more, there should be nothing holding you back. Of course, the S50 may have better image quality, and if you directly compare the images 1:1 on a computer screen, you may see a difference. But in reality, no one will notice

AZ

AZ

[GNEP]

Just out of interest, whereabouts are you looking online Paddy?

[Paddy]

kellkoo.co.uk

[Paddy]

Sorry GNEP, then F300 is £314 inc. VAT and P&P from amazon.co.uk

[GNEP]

not bad...

[VJ]

Originally posted by az
the absolutely MOST important thing is that you LIKE the cam, that it FEELS GOOD to you, you find it beautiful, are at home with its controls, etc.

Yep, this is the one of the most important things in a camera. Looking at the F300, I'm just wondering if the lens is not too far of to one side for holding the camera in a stable position (bear in mind my camera is big and bulky, so I might have this feeling with most compact cameras )

An excellent AA charger costs up to 50 EUR, but a proprietary battery won't be cheap either (and I'd advice you to get at least one spare set of accus, regardless of whether they are AAs or proprietary ones).

Of course, the AA system is cheaper if you want to purchase more spare sets (a couple of regargable high capacity NiMH AA batteries is most likely to be cheaper than a lithium battery). I don't entirely agree on *needing* a second set; this depends on the battery-life you can get out of you camera and how good it indicates this, but also on how you intend to use it (travelling, ...).

Of course, the S50 may have better image quality, and if you directly compare the images 1:1 on a computer screen, you may see a difference. But in reality, no one will notice

There is an interesting thread on dpreview, comparing the Canon 10D with the Nikon D100. It is obvious that the "straight out of the camera pictures with same settings" look quite different, due to some choices the manufacturers make. E.g. the 10D provides nicer mid-range colours, but blown out highlights; whereas the D100 has slightly less vivid colours, but no blown out highlights.
Chances are that similar differences exist between the S50 and the F300; but most of these things can be compensated by different camera-setttings and/or in post processing.


Jörg

[Paddy]

The only thing putting me off the F300 is this >1sec autofocus delay.... erm... what does this mean???

[az]

That if you press the shutter, the cam will take >1sec to focus, and then releases the shutter. Unfortunately, this is normal for compact and even prosumer digicams. However, if you half-press the shutter first, the camera focuses, and then you can fully press the shutter at the right moment, all modern digicams exhibit only a very small shutter delay when prefocused. You get accustomed to it after a few missed shots - it's just a little bit different from shooting with an analog cam. The S50 is a tad faster than the F300 in this regard, but IMHO nothing earth shattering.

AZ

[Paddy]

Thanks.... I was just making sure that you could pre-focus... in that case... i think the F300 has it... It may have a few less features, but nothing to shout home about.... the ability to use AA batteries and SD cards outweighs the heavier S50 IMHO... I think .... I think i shall go for the F300...

[GNEP]

Let us know how it goes Paddy when you have it - I have just been paid for some website work and this pays for gadgets/computer bits so I might follow you on this one

[VJ]

When pre-focussing, the F300 is actually faster than average:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/F300/F30A7.HTM

Most of the time you'll prefocus anyway (it allows you to better make the composition of you pictures).

The difference with the S50 is minor (0.208 vs. 0.13); the focussing itself is about the same on both cameras (>1s).

Best of luck with your purchase !


Jörg