it is between $119 and $130. is it worth the money.
it has no optical zoom nd no rechargable batteries. No, I do not recommend for the reasons you mentioned. I highly recommend the Digimax S500. It has 5.1 megapixels, 3x zoom , and I love the big 2.4" LCD screen. I bought it at Wal-Mart for just over $150.00 including taxes. I even saw some a little less on ebay today.
I hope this helps. If optical zoom is not necessary to you, that is not a problem
The digital zoom on the camera may work for your purposes. Try it out in the store before you buy, zoom it to the max and take a photo, check out the quality. Ask the sales person if you can put test photos on your own removable media to take home to evaluate.
If the zoom is not good in your opinion, you may be happy to move closer or move away from your subject to get the composition you want. (That is what people did with cameras before a zoom was available!)
The rechargeable battery situation can be solved by buying rechargeable AA batteries. I'd buy 4 at least, so you can change out batteries on location. Just remember to remove the batteries and charge them up when you get home. This option ends up being cheaper than buying regular batteries because they must be replaced very often. It costs less to charge often.
5 MP is a good resolution for photos even if you want to enlarge to 8 by 10's!
You can get better cameras for a little more money, but if you only have $120 in your budget, this camera will work fine. You seem to know about cameras. This is a beginner's camera with limited and easy to use functions. If you are a good photographer, there are better ones out there for you. If you just want an easy to use camera, this is fine. Here are the specs. I have noted important ones...
lens / zoom 35mm (dig: 5x) ====== only digital - as you said.
focus / macro fixed focus / 1m / 20cm
metering mode multi, spot
aperture auto / F5.8 ==== the lens is small.
white balance auto, 5 presets, custom
shutter auto | manual / 8s - 1/1000s ==== a manual shutter, but how do you figure the exposure? You will need a tripod mount.
exposure +/-2EV in 1/2EV steps
flash / mode internal - 5 modes / 0.2m - 2.5m
viewfinder lcd screen
iso ratings 100, 200, 400 ====== wont take very fast pics
image size 2592x1944 / 2272x1704 / 2048x1536 / 1600x1200 / 1024x768 / 640x480 ===== a wide array of sizes
image format jpeg (exif 2.2)
image compression. super fine / fine / normal
lag/cycle times
remote control self timer 2s / 10s
video options avi 640x480 / 320x240 (30fps, 15fps) === avi is convenient but remember that it still uses a small slow lens.
audio options wav
connectivity usb 2.0 (speed?) / video (NTSC / PAL) === USB2 is good
storage 16MB internal, SD, MMC ==== you can get large memory cards for it. that is good
platform Windows 98/98SE/2000/ME/XP, Mac OS 9.0 ~ 10.3 === runs on Win or Mac, that is good.
extra features PictBridge compatible === that is good.
So basically it is a modern small camera that is convenient. If this suits your needs and you like the feel of it when you hold it then go for it! Be happy and don't suffer buyer's remorse. You already know it is a small easy camera and not a pro model.
;-D I love my Finepix S7000! But that is in another league all together! |
