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  • Any Opinions on this camera?



    I have to pick and buy a Camera this week.
    I'm After a very compact model. I got decent recommendations for the Canon SD850 (AKA IXUS 950, what's going on with cannon's product codes???)

    If I'm way off with this model, please feel free to set me straight.
    maybe there are other compact cameras in this budget range I should look at?
    as long as
    - It has to be very compact.
    - It has to have Image stabilizing.

    I *MUST* order this week.

    Any thoughts are appreciated.
    Thanks.
    Originally posted by Gurm
    .. some very fair skinned women just have a nasty brown crack no matter what...

  • #2
    There is really only one line of good compact digital cameras:

    Fuji F30/F31fd/F20/F40fd.

    The F30 and F31fd are virtually the same, the F31fd looking a bit nicer and adding face detection. The F20 is a tad lighter and offers less manual control, but the same lens and sensor and great low-light/high ISO capability.

    The F40fd (which I have) is a bit smaller and nicer looking still, has higher resolution, thus slightly more noise (still heaps less than all the competition!), and is actually a successor to the F20, offering little manual control and poor continous shooting (I don't need that). The automatics work very well, though.

    There is a successor out (or due out?), having much higher resolution. This isn't really necessary and probably adds noise. I haven't seen any reviews yet.

    What's important to you in a camera, besides small size, and why? What are you going to use it for?
    There's an Opera in my macbook.

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    • #3
      Don't know this camera but anyway:

      Comparison shop for in . See store ratings and reviews and find the best prices on with PriceGrabber's shopping search engine.


      .
      Diplomacy, it's a way of saying “nice doggie”, until you find a rock!

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      • #4
        Depends on which market you are buying in . In Asia i saw it as the 950, in the US as the 850. go figure.

        i have both the 850 IS and the 710 IS. If you want a mostly automatic camera the the 850 will do well. It is also faster that the 710 on getting to the next shot. ( digic 3 versus digic 2) . If you need full manual operation - set aperature, exposure time, and focus, then you want the 710 or equal ( maybe the 570 IS ?)

        The 850 is good for small hands - both my wife and kids prefered it over the 710. Just make sure you use the bracelet - it can be slippery and we had more than one drop saved.

        i prefer to use manual at least half the time to avoid exposure screw ups and take shots in low light, but if you are doing daylight or within the range of the flash and just need snaps the 850 IS is a very good little camera - my wife likes the smallness, speed, and convenience. THe IS works very very well on both cameras. i set the camera into "camera Manual" mode on the dial and restrict the ISO to 200 to avoid image noise and minimize flash. Worked well during a recent trip to DC , both indoors in museums and outside - about 3000 frames !. Get at least a 2 gb Sandisk or Lexmark SD card ( it takes up to 4 gb if i remember correctly) .

        MAKE SURE YOU GET A SPARE CANON BATTERY WITH THE 850 IS - IT GIVES LITTLE OR NO WARNING WHEN IT IS LOW AND YOU CAN CORRUPT THE IMAGE FILES PERMANENTLY. Two batteries would get us through the day ( 4-600 frames) easily. IF you are going to shoot 200 or less and can recharge at night then no problem with one.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by az View Post
          What's important to you in a camera, besides small size, and why? What are you going to use it for?
          I'd like a compact one, because knowing myself that's a good way of making sure I'd Carry it around. the wife is also going to use it (even more then I) because its primarily meant to shoot the new baby we are having. I need to pick one up, as her belly is getting bigger and she wants to document her pregnancy.

          I need a good image stabilizer as I might be chasing my objects (we also have two gods)

          as u can see my objects are going to be shot from fairly close, so optical zoom is not that important.

          I also want some decent video capabilities. (I always regret not having a camera on me, when I catch my dog trying to mount the neighbor's cat.)
          I want face recognition.
          and of course good image quality.
          Originally posted by Gurm
          .. some very fair skinned women just have a nasty brown crack no matter what...

          Comment


          • #6
            Get the F31fd: You will shoot indoors a lot, which means poor lighting (even with the lights on!). You don't want the flash to ruin the picture's mood, to scare or wake the baby. The F31fd has no image stabilizer, instead it has high ISO, which means shorter exposure times. Long exposure times are what creates shake - and also motion blur for fast moving objects, which can only be avoided with shorter exposures, not with any kind of stabilization. Of course, other compacts can crank up the ISO as well, but there will be a lot of noise when they do. Amazingly, not so with these Fujis.

            The AF is quick, image quality is good (not excellent, but you won't get all around excellent in any such small cam), it's easy to use, has face detection, manual controls if you want them, good battery life, you can even get an underwater case for it I don't know about its movie mode, my F40fd's is good (the F31fd makes better pics in lower light, though, and offers manual control. The F40fd was just cheaper, and I am always low on cash.). White Balance is spot-on most of the time. The only downside is it uses xD cards, but that only means spending ten bucks more on a storage card than you'd pay for SD, so that's no big deal, IMO. 6 MP is really good enough for anybody - you can make poster-sized prints off that.
            There's an Opera in my macbook.

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            • #7
              Well, if you can wait until later Sept. the F50fd ( replacement of the 31) will be out and will have IS.

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              • #8
                This F50fd looks like a winner. I froogled it, and it looks like its starting to go into stock.
                Thanks for all your help.

                FB.
                Originally posted by Gurm
                .. some very fair skinned women just have a nasty brown crack no matter what...

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                • #9
                  Got my new F50FD today.
                  along with a SD ultra III memory card.
                  My impression so far is quite positive. It was well worth the wait, over the the model I was initially interested in (the Canon).
                  The thing which concerned me the most, was the IS capabilities, as they were missing in the F31FD model, and thus newly introduced for this camera. After trying out some long exposure time shots, and some videos (while I'm walking around) I feel confident that this camera's IS is well implemented.

                  The Image quality is surprisingly good for a camera this size. I was expecting (according to the reviews and recommendations) good quality, but its still nice to see it all come together on my computer.

                  One thing that really blew my mind, is just how well thought through the GUI is. you can really feel the breeding with this one. Kudos to FujiFilm, and of course a special thanks to all the murcers that helped me out.
                  Last edited by FatBastard; 14 October 2007, 07:40.
                  Originally posted by Gurm
                  .. some very fair skinned women just have a nasty brown crack no matter what...

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    My camera just died on me, so I'm looking for a replacement. Which is okay cause it was a 4M camera that has gone through hell and lasted 4 very good years.

                    I basically use my camera for two situations -- backpacking and parties.

                    I'd be interested on your guys' thoughts on the F50FD in those situations.

                    Thanks
                    Gigabyte GA-K8N Ultra 9, Opteron 170 Denmark 2x2Ghz, 2 GB Corsair XMS, Gigabyte 6600, Gentoo Linux
                    Motion Computing M1400 -- Tablet PC, Ubuntu Linux

                    "if I said you had a beautiful body would you take your pants off and dance around a bit?" --Zapp Brannigan

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                    • #11
                      People seem to like the F50 and the other one people tend to like is the Ricoh Capilio r7 very good but noisy zoom.

                      ______________________________
                      Nothing is impossible, some things are just unlikely.

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                      • #12
                        The F50D is a great little camera.
                        It is perfect for a party, as it is very fast and does very well indoors.
                        I am not sure what are the desired properties of a camera for backpacking, but if you refer
                        to battery life, and solid build, I think you're covered. it's landscape and macro capabilities
                        are excellent.
                        However it is not without any flows.
                        1. The high ISO rating (1600) is impressive on paper, but in reality, over 400 its quite noisy so I wouldn't base my decision on that alone. or in other words, when you are camping, and you have a fire going, you WILL need to use the flash.
                        2. Face detecting leaves a lot to be desired. it is no way near as impressive as the Canon Ixus 950, which I was considering.
                        3. Long exposure photographing yields some improved results, but again, it's far from being a killer feature.
                        4. Video quality is outstanding, but you can't use the zoom while shooting. The sound on video is also very good.
                        Originally posted by Gurm
                        .. some very fair skinned women just have a nasty brown crack no matter what...

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                        • #13
                          You can't go wrong with any of the latest Canon Powershot models. Every time I need a new camera, I do the same research, comparison shopping, review reading etc and I always come back to Canon.

                          If you want a camera with 28mm wide angle and Image Stabilization = SD870 IS

                          If you want a very small compact camera but no IS or wide angle = SD1000
                          Paul's Travel Pictures

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                          • #14
                            I've read that above ISO400 the F50 is very noisey. I would probably use the camera on auto which defaults to ISO400 and one review claims that the camera should be used at ISO100 if possible to reduce noise

                            *edit*
                            It's a shame the black version is £30 more!
                            Last edited by Paddy; 5 December 2007, 14:32.
                            The Welsh support two teams when it comes to rugby. Wales of course, and anyone else playing England

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                            • #15
                              There's a new and very detailed review out over at dpreview. The conclusion is the longest I've read there to date, because the F31fd was such a remarkable camera.
                              There's an Opera in my macbook.

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