Thanks AG
I'll let you know what I eventually end up with. I'm still drawn to the
Fujis. The reasons for this are:
The S9600 has a 9MP Super CCD HR sensor and costs £350 while the S6500fd
Zoom has a 6.3 MP sensor and costs £300.
Both cameras are brand new (not refurbished) from the Jessop's National
chain and would have all the warranties/guarantees and will be sealed up and
unused and I can walk in to my local Jessop's and just buy one - cash.
There's not much difference in specs between the two cameras and I'm pretty
sure that the 6.3 MP of the S6500 will suffice. I don't need face
recognition software (I hope lol) - but both cameras have it. I have £330 to
spend (and at a pinch I could add another £20) - but if I bought the lower
priced S6500 it would give me £30+ to get a couple of s/h lenses for my
Canon A1. The lens of both Fuji cameras is a fixed lens, namely the 28-300mm
(35mm equiv) Fujinon zoom lens. There are some advantages of this - it is a
good range of focal lengths (and ideal for what I want to use the camera
for) and you don't have to fit or change lenses - so a bit less likely to
miss a shot (especially since the lens is always ready - no moving in and
out during powerup of the camera - unlike most compacts with optical zoom).
Being fixed, the lens protects the camera's innards from dust. The camera
'knows' what lens it has and has been fully tweeked and optimised for it I'm
sure.
Both cameras have built-in flashguns but the dearer S9600 also has a
hotshoe. So my decision (if I go for a Fuji) is whether I get the 6.3 MP
S6500 and a couple of lenses for my A1 or spend another £50 more on the 9 MP
S9600 with hotshoe. My main reservations about the Fujis is their compact
size. Both look like mini DSLRs - but would my 'average' customer sat
looking at one stood on top of the tripod think it's a DSLR? That, at the
end of the day, is the biggest worry I have about the Fujis. I know that,
photography wise, the cameras are fine. I assume (and hope) that a couple of
lights and tripod might help the customer's perception - and I'm sure they
will be happy enough with the pictures (standard prints and up to A4 sized)
if reasonably priced.
Think the best thing to do will be to walk in Jessops and have a play with
both Fujis - take a couple of shots and see. I'm definitely not risking
buying on eekBay. If I have to, I'll travel to some nearby towns and check
out the camera exchange type shops for a s/h Nikon D50 or D70, Canon 300D or
350D or Oly E500 or something like that. Must have a lens with it though.
Allan
PS No trees were harmed in the sending of this message and a very large
number of electrons were asked their permission to be terribly
inconvenienced. (And threw a party for them afterwards for being really cool
about it).
Disrupting the unnatural balance that you, as a conscious human being and a
confused mass of energy, have created.
-Disturb the mind -
>From: AG Schnozz <agschnozz@xxxxxxxxx>
>Reply-To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxx
>To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [OM] Re: Eekbay
>Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 03:37:36 -0800 (PST)
>
>
> > > At the moment I'm
> > > not in a mood for doing any more saving up so I'm tempted to
> > > go out and just buy a SLR lookalike such as the Fujifilm
> > > Finepix S6500fd Zoom (Digital...
>
>Almost three years ago I did this by purchasing a Minolta A1. I
>considered it to be a "bridge camera". They key to this is to
>get a camera that truely is designed as a camera and not a piece
>of consumer electronics. The Minolta fit the bill very nicely
>with an outstanding lens and a feature set that screamed
>"professional". It's main drawbacks were:
>
>1. fixed lens, but an outstanding lens with 28-200mm equivelent
>zooming range.
>
>2. smaller sensor, but 2/3" really isn't that bad. When shot at
>lower ISOs, the image quality is just fine.
>
>3. slower autofocus.
>
>But the camera allowed me to delay the purchase of a DSLR by an
>entire year and with the 49mm filter ring was interchangeable
>with my filters and accessories for the OM system. That delay
>saved me as much money (by the availability and dropping in
>prices) on the DSLR as I spent on the camera in the first place.
>
>At this point, if I were you, I'd look seriously at trying to
>snag a used E-300 or 350D. I'm not sure that shutter life is
>that much of a concern unless I was getting a D30, D60, 10D, 20D
>or Nikon D70. Those cameras were typically used by professionals
>and easily were pushed to their design-life limits. For
>example, my A1 has well over 20,000 shutter clicks and my E-1 is
>approaching 20,000. This would be considered "light duty" for
>any full-time pro, and "moderate" for most part-timers like me.
>I'm averaging about 15,000 per year total.
>
>In the Olympus brand, I'd suggest that the E-300 is probably the
>real "sleeper". Get the battery-grip for it and it's actually a
>really nice setup.
>
>AG
>
>
>
>____________________________________________________________________________________
>Sponsored Link
>
>Don't quit your job - take classes online
>www.Classesusa.com
>
>
>==============================================
>List usage info: http://www.zuikoholic.com
>List nannies: olympusadmin@xxxxxxxxxx
>==============================================
_________________________________________________________________
The new Windows Live Toolbar helps you guard against viruses
http://toolbar.live.com/?mkt=en-gb
==============================================
List usage info: http://www.zuikoholic.com
List nannies: olympusadmin@xxxxxxxxxx
==============================================
|