Advice needed on Digital Cameras

[IreneC]

Hello,

I am looking for a compact digital camera. I've spent days pouring our photography magazines and reading reviews and I'm now very confused. I've been eyeing Canon IXUS 430 and also at the Olympus Mju 400/410 but I've been reading some mixed reviews and would appreciate it if anyone has any advice or knowledge to impart or any cameras to recommend.

Use of camera: Mainly during my travels, mountaineering expeditions and diving trips. As such, the camera should have a good focal range. The camera will complement my husband's 35mm SLR as a point-and-shoot. That said, as a budding amature myself, it would be great if I could retain some, if not full, control over the speed and aperture(eg when taking night shots, action shots, macro etc).

The camera specs which I eventually hope to get:

1) Compact in size (the Ixus is ideal in this regard)
2) User-friendly (in relation to the menu's etc)
3) Good focal range (ideally a 35mm-equivalent of 28-135mm)
4) At least 4 mega pixels
5) Decent battery life - in particular, preferably cameras that use batteries more susceptible to the cold (eg Lithium Ion ones?)
6) Suitable for mountaineering and also diving - in particular, I am concerned about the cameras ability to accurately contrast/balance the background. (ie correct exposure on snow, and in the waters)

Also, how different is the S45 compared to Ixus 430? I may sound a little biased towards Canon, but am really open to suggestion and recommendations!

Many thanks.

Regards,
Irene

[Don Schaeffer]

Most digicams have a 3x zoom (although some have as much as 10x), amounting to a 36 mm to 108 mm equivalence. You need an auxillary lens to reach 28 mm or 135 mm equivalence. Manual control on many digicam is excellent giving auto focus and a very useful match needle type read out for manual exposure control.

You might consider the A80. I have an A70 I really like. The A 70 has 35 to 108 mm equivalent. I constructed an SLR style system by using a magnifying hood attached to the LCD.

[eastcoast909]

Here is a link on a discussion on some of the cameras that you are looking at.

http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=36992&highlight=

Personally I would go with the A80 due to the AA batteries and the availability that you will have. Mountaineering/diving might leave you short with the S battery. They have an dreadful charge span and are very expensive (Canon ones).

Try checking with jimtfoto to see what he bought.

[SYS]

I just got back from my summer family vacation in the Yellowstone National Park. I took with me three cameras on this trip: Optura Xi camcorder with 2 MP still photos, A80, and the Digital Rebel. In all I took about 1,100 photos with these three. While DR performed the way I had anticipated, I was very pleased by the way A80 handled itself. Image quality wise, I hardly saw any difference between this camera and DR. It had all the features I needed and which I've used quite a bit during the trip: B&W photos of dead trees and panoramic photos of the Lower Falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and other beautiful sceneries. Of the three cameras, too, A80 lasted as twice as long before having to recharge my Rayovac AA rechargeable batteries. I was delightfully impressed by this little thing throughout the whole trip that I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for a compact digital camera. For its price range, I'm truly impressed by all the manual and special features -- on top of its excellent image quality -- that this little thing can offer.

[Jon]

The A80 will be a fine camera for your needs, except it doesn't go as wide as a 28 mm. equivalent. They're sturdy, handy with the fold-out screen, and have full manual and auto capabilities. There is a wide lens adapter available, as well as an underwater housing. It seems to do very well for battery life on AA NiMH rechargables. It also has very good close-focussing capabilities.