Case for a Prosumer zoom digicam like Pro 90IS

[danielchtong]

I am still trying to figure it out what I should buy if I go for a zoom digicam to complement my G1

Just had a chance to go through this site

http://www.pbase.com/savad/500d__250d_stacked

No wonder Canon has never bothered to lower the price of Pro90. They know what it is worth.

Daniel

[oops]

The Pro90 was my post-G1 choice for several months but I finally opted for the D30.

You are right. The Pro90 in the right hands is a scarry piece of equipment, indeed. You just can't get much better in this price range (or any price range for most amateur shooters).

[wenyao]

The Pro90IS does have a terrific zoom, but unfortunately comes with a price of slow autofocus and slow photo-taking. I don't particularly fancy the electronic zoom ring too, by the time the camera turns on, gets ready with the microdrive/cf card, and zooms up to whichever zoom level i choose, it takes almost 10 seconds. Good for still shots like flowers, but nasty for fast moving objects like birds. :(

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~wenyao/florida/day9/img_0874.htm

i still like my pro90IS though :p

[eland]

There are minor irritations with the Pro90.

I too don't like the zoom ring. I find I often have difficulty stopping the zoom exactly where I want it.

The digital viewfinder takes some getting used to.
And yes the Pro90 takes a few moments to get going.

That said, the quality of the images is outstanding. So good in fact that I no longer yearn for a heavy D30 or D60.
They can wait.

With 10x IS zoom and non-removable lens the camera is saving me thousands of dollars !!!!

I'm not tempted or envious of expensive L lenses at all.
The Pro90 is outstanding.

One other point, the price has come down, by about $300 US.
The camera has possibly been discontinued.
A pity for those who missed out.

eland

[Rudi]

Hal,

be honest! That 70-200 f/4 L that I showed you today was nice, though, wasn't it? :)

We'll have to go shooting together one afternoon, around Lake Illawarra...

[danielchtong]

I really hope that Canon can bring in an updated replacement of Pro90IS while Nikon has something really close as shown at

http://www.nikon-image.com/eng/news_release/2002/e5700.htm

The Nikon 8X optical zoom could easily be enhanced to around 12X with an attached teleconverter.

Canon could have come up with a G2 replacement with 10X optical which could fill a big missing gap of prosumers who do want to fork over $5K or above for a digital SLR.

I would love that to complement my G1.

Daniel
Toronto

[Rustle]

There are a lot of great Prosumer cameras with 7x/8x zooms coming out right now. Sony, Minolta, Nikon, and Olympus (off the top of my head) all have big-zoom, big-megapixel cameras currently available or arriving soon. And it seems funny that Canon, whose Pro90IS was one of the originals, hasn't got anything to compete in that space. Especially since that market is just starting to explode.

Predictions, anyone?

Russ