My friend, colleague, and co-conspirator Brad S. ambushed me the other
day with a question, for which I was entirely unprepared. "My parents
want to get me something nice for my graduation. I think I want a digital
camera. Which one should I ask for?"
I feel I gave him poor advice, since I'm not up to speed on digitals. Of
course, I recommended he look at Olympus' offerings, which must be good.
I also recommended he look at the Nikon CoolPix. He saw a friend's Kodak,
and liked it. Brad is not a professional photographer, but an avid
amateur like me. Here's my best guess at Brad's want-list:
1) a camera with an LCD screen preview (preferably one he could see from
any angle, but not necessary)
2) an OPTICAL zoom (none of this "digital zoom" buh-low-nee), but no need
for interchangeable lenses
3) minimum one megapixel resolution (or thereabouts)
4) use of PCMCIA memory cards that he can plug into his portable to
simplify download
5) some kind of "matrix" metering and at least some ability to compensate
exposures.
6) optionally, the ability to add additional flash (besides built-in),
but this isn't a must, just a wish.
7) Price range of $300-$700 (Hey, no carping about the price -- he's
getting his doctorate!)
What advice do you have? And are there important considerations that Brad
and I didn't include, but should be thinking about? Please don't limit
your recommendations to ONLY Olympus digitals, but I WOULD like to know
what the list thinks of Oly's offerings in the digital lineup.
Hating my Epson-Photo-PC-500 and wishing I were Brad,
Kelton
PS: Ooh, ooh, wait . . . if anybody knows of a website that compares
digital cameras, I'd like to know about it.
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