Is there any camera on earth meeting 4 simple requirements (AA,CF,7x)

"Susan (Graphic Artist)" wrote:

Renato wrote:
Fuji Finepix S7000.
Renato

Hmmmn ... what is microdrive?

It's a tiny hard drive.
http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glos...ge_Card_01.htm

--
Cheers,
Bev
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is.

Roger wrote:
I had a similar set of requirements, but I had to relax them ...
I'm hoping not to.

I don't know the root of your [AA battery] requirement ...
Actually it doesn't have to be AA; just standard-size rechargable.
I have tons of CostCo Ni-MH (2 bucks each, Panasonic 2300 mAh AAs).

I find the s60 battery life to be adequate for a day ...
I use fill flash on EVERY shot; I only do portraits; I snap about 25
photos a day on average but when I'm somewhere, I take upwards of 300 a
day, again, all with fill-flash on every single shot (to illuminate or
lessen harsh shadows).

It comes with a very compact charger ...
I'm sick and tired of proprietary chargers, carrying them past snooping
airport screeners, bringing power strips into the hotel room just to
plug them all in, forgetting them and getting only 1 day of shots for a
two-week vacation, etc.

I have three batteries and find that I really need only two ...
Yes. But every year an internal cell goes bad and we have to purchase
another $75 proprietary battery pack (throwing the old one in the
trash). I'm sick and tired of the battery-packs going dead on me within
a year. Of course, AA's go dead too, but, I have dozens of 'em and I
can easily replace it on the fly with alkalines whenever I'm in a
crush.

I trust DPreview http://www.dpreview.com image quality evaluations ...
Very nice site! I did not know about that. If I combine the Consumer
Reports and DP Review reviews with this newsgroup's advice, that should
get us the correct answer (each one correcting for the others'
foibles).

I know the Nikon D70 does not take AA's ...
Then it's out of the picture.
There's a reason I list AA above image quality. It's not negotiable.
Neither is image quality, mind you ... my first four requirements a
- standard batteries
- image quality
- reasonable zoom (stabilization was a factor I unknowingly omitted)
- compact flash (I'm still unsure why CR lists microdrive and not CF
for some cameras as the help on DP Review says they are basically the
same thing in the one direction I want to go).

I'd assume these are pretty common requirements as there is nothing
wierd or out of the ordinary about this. Notice I didn't even mention
megapixels (obviously the more the better the enlargement) or cost
(obviously the lower the better) or other features (which are important
too but it's just too difficult to compare more than 4 requirements
when all the cameras in the world are in the running for the first
cut). I'm still amazed that only three (now maybe four with the 6x Fuji
S7000 with microdrive addition) cameras on earth meet these four very
simple (and very common, I'd guess) needs.

I hope your search comes to a fruitful and timely end.
Thank you (and everyone!). It is sad to say there is only one or two
(maybe s many as four) cameras which even come close to meeting these
four very simple requirements (standard batteries, excellent quality,
7x zoom, & CF media).

Susan Henderson






Roger wrote:
Susan,

I hope you are able to find what you are looking for. Please let us
know how your search comes out. When I was looking for my digital
camera I had a similar set of requirements, but I had to relax them
considerably. After careful consideration of each, I'm very pleased
with my choice. The one major difference in our requirements was that
I was looking for a lens that was at least 28mm (35mm FOV equivalent)
at the wide end of the zoom but the tele extent was not a factor.

I went with a Canon S60 but that comes no where near your zoom
requirements.

I actually like the Canon battery for the S60 much better than AA's,
but I don't know the root of your requirement and I might just be
blowing smoke with the rest of this. I find the s60 battery life to be
entirely adequate for a day of touring (about 200 pictures), much
easier to change and smaller than a set of "replacement AA's. It comes
with a very compact charger that I can carry with me at all times (and
do), fits discretely in the wall socket with no cords and can be used
in hotel room "shaver" outlets throughout the world. I have three
batteries and find that I really need only two. For my needs, these
are really a better answer than AA's.

I trust DPreview http://www.dpreview.com image quality evaluations
much more than Consumer Reports. If you haven't used dpreview as a
resource, it might be able to help you fill in some holes in your
search.

As you know most Canon's and Nikons take CF, however there cameras in
each line that don't.

I know the Nikon D70 does not take AA's, but with the 28-200 it does
meet your other requirements. Battery life is excellent. A spare is a
reasonable cost for the function.

I kept track of my AA and rechargeable AA usage and I'm finding that
the LiIon rechargeable proprietary batteries are generating, by
volume, much less waste than all other batteries that I use. They are
much more efficient and useable (charge wise) than NiMH batteries. My
company provides a battery recycling service for everything so I'm
somewhat assured that the environmental impact is less with the
proprietary ones.


I hope your search comes to a fruitful and timely end.

Regards,
Roger

"Susan (Graphic Artist)" writes:
Can there not be a camera on earth that meets these 4 simple goals?
- AA batteries
- Good photo quality
- 7x to 10x optical zoom
- CF media

I still have an Olympus E-100RS that has all those.

But I'd like a 5 megapixel or larger (for enlargements if needed).

Oh, you mean 5 simple goals.

Also this digital camera doesn't have a macro capability.

Make that six simple goals.

Anthony Matonak wrote:
The limiting factors are AA batteries and Compact Flash.
I was wonderin' why there was only 1 or 3 cameras on earth which
satisfied what I thought was a very simple and universally held set of
4 needs ...

it's easy enough to work around memory and batteries ...
I'm sick and tired of proprietary battery packs going bad or forgetting
them or forgetting the charger or carrying them all around or plugging
them in or bringing european adaptors or buying hugely expensive
75-dollar batteries in a rush without being able to shop for price ...

Same thing with the memory cards (although not as vehement ... I
already have the CF PCMCIA adapters (albeit these are inexpensive) in
all my laptops (I never use wires or software to transfer photos to the
laptop hard drive) and I already have a huge investment in 8Mbyte, 32
Mbyte, 128 Mbyte, 256 Mbyte, 512 Mbyte and now 1 Gbyte compact flash
cards (which have served me well over the years for a variety of
electronic needs). I have no desire to change formats just like I don't
switch from the PC to Linux to the MAC (and all that entails) for ever
piece of software I download to edit photos.

For instance, CF memory isn't any less expensive, or more expensive,
than any other digital camera memory.
I should have made it clear that the only reason for CF is that I chose
CF and it has served me well over the years and I don't want to have to
mix media all over again. Funny ... in a way it's the same as the
battery problem. I wish the manufacturers would just standardize on a
single format and be done with it. Like with PC USB 2.0 compatibility,
if someone wanted a secondary format, they could support BOTH and we'd
all benefit from a little bit of engineering. As stated, CF isn't that
BIG compared to the other formats.

Memory card readers usually read all the popular types of cards
anyhow so compatibility shouldn't be an issue.
I use PCMCIA adapters for the Compact Flash media (all laptops in my
house).
(Yes, I *know* they use proprietary batteries!)
Do they even make a PCMCIA adaptor that handles all card types?

I wouldn't count on disposable AA's for anything except emergency use.
Agreed. I use Ni-MH batteries from CostCo.
I only count on disposable alkaline AAs for emergency use.
That's the fundamental beauty of the AA batteries in the first place!

Susan Henderson

Susan (Graphic Artist) wrote:
MY QUESTION:
Can there not be a camera on earth that meets these 4 simple goals?
- AA batteries
- Good photo quality
- 7x to 10x optical zoom
- CF media

I ask for your help in that I've only found ONE camera which comes
close to meeting these 4 simple (and, I'd bet, pretty univerally held)
requirements:
- AA batteries (never again will I buy electronics with battery packs!)
- Excellent picture quality (I trust in Consumer Reports measurements)
- 7x - 10x optical zoom (equivalent to about 200 mm or more)
- Compact Flash media (I already have many CF cards & PCMCIA readers)

Searching endlessly, I can only find one camera coming close:
- Canon Powershot S1 IS (3.2 MP)
But I'd like a 5 megapixel or larger (for enlargements if needed).

Also this digital camera doesn't have a macro capability.
(Ad copy says it can focus at 4 inches so that seems like a built-in
macro non-macro to me ... what do you think)?

Is there any AA,CF,7x, camera with good photo quality on earth?

Susan Henderson

I understand your frustration but I have 2 comments.
The AA battery thing, yes you can find them everywhere BUT they are
generally alkalines or worse standard carbon cells, both having
terrible battery life with digital cameras . The propritaary batteries
on my Nikon 995 last 300-400 shots, the off brand ones I got at B&H
being better than the Nikon ones.
The second comment is on 7X zooms, there is a good chance to get aa
lens with lens distortion at either end. P&S cameras never have a wide
enough wide either (yes that is my opinion).
What would I do, a low end DSLR with a kit lens (Nikons are better
here) and a 70 to 200 (maybe 300) zoom. Better pics, less noise at high
ISO (even noticable at ISO 200 on most 8mp zooms), RAW or jpg options.
Hope you find something that makes you happy.

Tom

Joseph Meehan wrote:
[Proprietary camera] batteries are not that expensive

I just paid $75 for a camcorder battery (Everready Energizer ER-C620)
for my JVC camcorder and I'm on my fourth or fifth $60 battery for my
Nikon CoolPix 5700 so I just might beg to differ with you on that
point. Multi-cell battery packs are highly unreliable (so are AAs
but you can easily swap a bad cell out), especially due to reverse
polarity issues killing the entire pack within a year or two.

Besides the cost, there's the fact that I'm way more likely to be stuck
without juice with the proprietary batteries than with standard-size
batteries.

And, besides the cost and fact my camera is useless for lack of juice,
there's the wide assortment of chargers, wires, and plugs I have to
deal with (as a camera isn't my only electronic stowaway when I
frequently travel).

I just can't believe there are from 1 to 4 cameras on earth which
satisfy these simple requirements (standard batteries, quality photos,
decent zoom, and standard media).

But, I do appreciate all the advice ... you're helping me ... and
others.
Susan Henderson

BTW,, u can get the fuji s3000 for 150 -200 .. BRAND NEW to
refurbished.. try matching that BANG for your buck

- AA batteries = YES
- excellent photo quality = YES
- 7x optical zoom = NO (6x might be acceptable though)
- Compact Flash media = NO .. xD..( which is superfast in
processing data).

ASAAR wrote:
Does the new Canon S2 IS not meet your requirements?
I didn't even KNOW it existed! Maybe this is the ticket.
Especially since the 3MP S1 IS is kind'a limited on enlargements.

I imagine that it would be due to replacing CF with SD cards.
Oh. Oh. Bummer. It loses. SD is not acceptable for the reasons stated
prior.

How about the Fuji S7000? It's zoom is a bit lower than you
specified, only 6x, but it uses AA batteries, CF cards
Now 'yer talking!
Let me check this out.
For some reason, Consumer Reports lists this camera as xD & microdrive
but not compact flash. I'll need to check up on that as this confuses
me as I see on DPreview that it takes SD and microdrive.

If I use CF, will it fit in something labeled as "microdrive" but not
CF?

Confused,
Susan Henderson

Ron wrote:
The propietary batteries I buy on e-Bay for about seven bucks each
Wow. Can you get me a handful of those seven-dollar proprietary
batteries for my Nikon CoolPix 5700 and my JVC DVL-805U camcorder?

I paid upwards of 50 to 75 dollars for MY proprietary batteries.
And, they always go dead within a year or two; so I'm constantly buying
more, typically in an emergency situation where I drive all day in
Germany to find a battery to fit.

Amazed,
Susan Henderson

Ken Burns wrote:
- AA batteries (never again will I buy electronics with battery packs!)
That means that you will never again buy electronics.

I understand your point.

In fact, I wish my laptops and cell phones would use standard-size
batteries.

In double fact, I'll pay MORE for a laptop or cell phone which used
standard-sized batteries.

If we ALL did this, the price would go down as we'd have MANY suppliers
for batteries, and we'd be able to re-use our batteries for more than
one electronic device and there would be LOWER COST BETTER EQUIPMENT
ALWAYS USABLE in the end, for all of us, for all our electronics.

Am I the ONLY one who sees this enchanting possibility of progress?

Wondering aloud,
Susan Henderson