Help! Which camera?

[jonnythan]

OK, so my old Digital Elph got destroyed (don't ask) and I want to replace it.

I was fairly disappointed with the tiny camera's low light performance, so I'm willing to get something a little bit bigger and better. Obviously I want something with an affordable UW housing, so that seems to kinda narrow it to Canon, Olympus, and Nikon.

I'm looking to spend about $200. The Canon A75 seems to be a nice choice, but there are some who complain about how soft the images are. The Nikon 3200 looks nice, but the housing for it doesn't seem to exist in the US.

Does anyone have an opinion on these? Does Olympus make a digicam in this category that's affordable and has a housing?

If you had $200 to spend on a camera, and you needed good low light performance, what would you get?

 

[aussie_shark_bait]

OK, so my old Digital Elph got destroyed (don't ask) and I want to replace it.

I was fairly disappointed with the tiny camera's low light performance, so I'm willing to get something a little bit bigger and better. Obviously I want something with an affordable UW housing, so that seems to kinda narrow it to Canon, Olympus, and Nikon.

I'm looking to spend about $200. The Canon A75 seems to be a nice choice, but there are some who complain about how soft the images are. The Nikon 3200 looks nice, but the housing for it doesn't seem to exist in the US.

Does anyone have an opinion on these? Does Olympus make a digicam in this category that's affordable and has a housing?

If you had $200 to spend on a camera, and you needed good low light performance, what would you get?

Have you had a look at the Olympus C350Z or the C310Z cameras. A friend of mine has the C350Z and took some gorgeous photos both on land and underwater.


18 June 2004

Three Olympus Products receive 2004 Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) Awards


… Best Digital Budget Compact Camera: Olympus CAMEDIA C-310 ZOOM

… Best High-End Lens: Olympus ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 150mm F2.0

… Best 35mm Compact Camera: Olympus µ[mju:]-III 80

Olympus Corporation is pleased to announce that three of its products have received 2004 Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) Awards. The C-310 ZOOM compact digital camera received the 2004 TIPA Best Digital Budget Compact Camera Award, the ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 150mm F2.0 lens received the 2004 TIPA Best High-End Lens Award, and the µ[mju:]-III 80 compact camera received the 2004 TIPA Best 35mm Compact Camera Award.

The Technical Image Press Association is an independent association of writers and editors representing 31 publications in 12 European nations, and annually presents awards honoring products and technologies of special merit in the fields of photography and imaging. The awards will be presented at a ceremony scheduled to be held during Photokina 2004, the world's largest photographic and imaging-related exhibition, in Cologne, Germany, this coming September.

Bill Andreas, Marketing Communications Manager from Olympus Australia said, ³This is an honour for Olympus to win three categories at the prestigious TIPA awards. The three categories representing digital imaging, film and lens is testament that all Olympus products are world class.²

C-310 ZOOM ‹ 2004 TIPA Best Digital Budget Compact Camera
The Olympus C-310 ZOOM is 3.2-megapixel compact digital camera equipped with a 3x optical zoom lens. In presenting the award, the judging panel stated that, "Olympus continues to blur the boundaries between conventional film cameras and the latest digital models both in terms of styling and price. Clearly demonstrating that high quality and sleek styling do not need to be expensive luxuries, the C-310 ZOOM, boasting high resolution and a flexible zoom lens, is a worthy winner from one of the biggest names in photography."

Hope this helps, ASB

 

[alcina]

I'd go Canon A series. Never had a problem with soft pictures. See this link for some other ideas that people have had.

Personally, I think the Canon A series is fab.

 

[jonnythan]

Those pictures are killer, and I think they convinced me. The A75 is only $200 online, and uses the Compact Flash cards I already have, unlike the Olympus.

Thanks!