If you could design the perfect camera what would it be like?

[New Guy]

Here's my perfect digicam,
Start with a 35mm fixed focal length f1.8 lens (no zoom please) with no barrel distortion.
Give it a good sized 4megapixel CCD.
Power it with 4 rechargable AA batteries.
Give it a swivel LCD
Make it fit in the pocket of my coat.
Price it under $500

What's yours?

[dass]

I would start with the SD500. Put the S70 lens on it. Use CF format and NB-1LH power (already have flash cards and batteries). The RAW stainless steel finish of my S200 and S230....This would be a camera right out of a DREAM ! But then I wake up, alas, it ain't gonna happen !

[Raj]

- starts at 8 mm (= eqivalent to fish eye) with 180 degree coverage
- goes to atleast 125 mm.
- does not have noise issue
- should have min. focussing distance 4 cm atleast for macro shots
- should have custom white balance, Av, Tv, manual & P mode
- should have panaroma assist
- should have a fast lens (starts at f2.0 atleast)
- should take RAW + jpeg
- should use CF cards (invested enough in these ...)
- inbuilt flash should be strong enough for most situations .

will finish tomorrow, have to go to bed now :-)

[Jethro790]

Mine is the SD200. There is nothing I need to change about the camera. With a 512 SD card I can take over 400 pics at high resolution, or almost an hour of video at a low resolution. It powers on instantly, can take over 3 frames per second until the whole card is full and has all the features I would ever want in a compact camera. It's about the size of a deck of cards and has a nice big screen. I rarely ever have a bad exposure and I've never run out of battery. I was a little upset at first that the camera didn't have a battery level indicator, but it does when the level is low and that's all I care about. The battery takes less than 30 minutes to charge. It's the perfect point and shoot. For me at least.

[katana]

Probably smaller than the Ixus, but retaining the square styling and 28-70 equivalent lens. Built of the lightest alloy possible. 5MP with RAW and JPEG support using CF card memory. Good ISO range say 50-800 or even 1600. Full manual operation wih a few good auto modes. Powerful flash. Wireless remote control... actually if we're doing that lets have 802.11b wireless capability using open protocols to communicate... actually the whole firmware would be open, allowing modification by anyone.

[cactusclay]

I would make it a removeable digital back that had everything the 20D has in a small package that would mount to an all mechanical 35 mm slr or rangefinder and work perfectly.

[cactusclay]

Is it done yet?

[kb244]

My ideal camera would be my eye, of which I can control what it see's and saves the picture to the remote storage device :D. BioMods anyone?