Okay, It's hard to make a decision as to which camera to buy. I currently have a Sony Cybershot 5.1 megapixel camera, it's about 2 years old and I feel I need to buy another one.

First off, I've narrowed my choices to three cameras an Olympus Stylus 740, Canon SD630, or the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX07K . They each have a 7.1-7.2 megapixel except for the Canon which is 6.1 megapixels.

I'm leaning towards the Olympus since I believe out of my choices it has the IS (Image stabalizer) which is a plus as well as a 5X zoom.

Now, I need your opinions as to which camera you think would be best.




Olympus Stylus 740

7.1-Megapixel Digital Camera

7.1-megapixel CCD captures high-resolution images up to 3072 x 2304 pixels
5x optical/5.6x digital/28x total zoom
2.5" color LCD monitor with histogram display and auto image rotation





Canon SD630.

6.1 -megapixel

The sleek and compact 6-megapixel PowerShot SD630 Digital Elph has just what you need to make every image razor sharp and vibrantly colorful. You can create brilliant 4" x 6" photos or blow images up to poster size.







Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX07K

7.2-Megapixel Digital Camera

.2-megapixel CCD captures high-resolution images up to 3072 x 2304 pixels
3.6x optical/4x digital/14.4x total zoom; Leica DC Vario-Elmarit lens
2.5" polycrystalline TFT-LCD monitor with real-time histogram display

 

Mabee olympus has changed, but the last digicam of theirs I used was a steaming pile of mehhhhh.

I think I would go for the sd 630, but Mabee i'm just a canon fanboy.

I did use a mid range panasonic camera the other day though. I really liked the controlls, but the noise at iso 100 was sub par.

 

I'm kinda skeptical myself. I've never really heard bad stuff about Olympus but I really haven't heard anything from them for that matter.

I'm strongly considering the canon, but it doesn't have imgae stabilizer. The quality of the pictures don't look bad from the Olympus. The 5x zoom and the very sleek and thin style is very promising.

Any other cameras, you all think I should consider?

 

What do the prices of each look like? Have you thought about an SD700 IS or SD800 IS. Both have image stabilizer.

Of course I AM a Canon fanboy.

 

We have an Olympus P&S and it does a decent job. The main downside is the xD memory is slightly more expensive then non-proprietary memory. One plus is that you don't have to be overly cautious about splashing a little water on it. That plus the extra zoom and IS make it sound pretty attractive.

 

I think they cost about $28,000

 

I'm looking at these from Costco.

Canon SD630-$259
Olympus- $299
Panasonic-$279

what are the prices for the SD700IS as well as the SD800? I dont think costco carries these.

The reason why I want to purchase them from costco, is because I currently have a $50 gift card.

 

I don't see it there either. The 700IS is about $290-300 on most sites though.

 

I think the 700IS might be discontinued, but the 800IS is for $399 , that's about $100 premium over any of the cameras I'm considering.

I don't know it's a tough choice. I'll have to check out the Olympus in action when I go to the store.

 

Ya, it is discontinued but still available at most places. Probly not at Costco though.

I'd go over to dpreview and read reviews on each.

 

Dont forget to try and buy some of this stuff online. Might find them cheaper, but you might want to check resellerratings.com before buying anything online. Never hurts.

 

B&H has the Canon A710IS for $314 or the S630 for $239. Just type "PSNOV" into the search box, then select Canon from the list.

 

Dell Home had the 700IS for $287 a few days ago... maybe keep an eye out on www.techbargains.com for similar delas?

 

I must have missed this yesterday.

I don't know what you mean but I know I don't like it.

 

I got this one for my wife last month. I really like it.

 

Okay, I've ended up going with the Canon SD630 from Dell home. I couldn't pass up on the awesome price. Anyway, it's time to buy a memory card. I want to get a 2GB Memory card. Costco has two of them at different prices, but I really don't know which one to pick or which one suits me the best. They offer the following:

ScanDisk 2GB Ultra II Secure Digital memory Card
9MB per second
Price $52.99

or

SanDisk 2GB Extreme III SDMemory Card
20MB/second sequential read and write
Price $84.99

I'm sure one is better than the other, but would it really be worth the $32 price difference?

And also, approximately how many pictures does a 2GB memory card hold?

Thanks in advance.

J

 

I've got the 1GB Ultra II card in my SD500 and it's plenty fast. I'd save the money.

A 2gb card should get you around 600-700 or so at the highest resolution

 

^^Thanks for the fast reply Danny. I'll be going with the Ultra II memory card and will be picking it up during my lunch time. I'm scheduled to recieve my camera tomorrow.... hopefully it'll be just in time before New Years!

 

no problem. Here's a little test that shows there isn't much of a difference between the Ultra II and Extreme III. http://www.valuemedia.co.uk/sd_chart.htm

There's about a 1 MB/s difference between the read and write speeds, but with a P&S camera you shouldn't have a problem.

 

yup no need for an Extreme III with a P&S. no need for one with many DSLR's either. Ultra II or "Extreme" II level is quite sufficient. and, nice choice on the 630.

 

The only time it really makes a difference is when you're downloading to your computer. Assuming you have a fast card reader, it's the difference between waiting 2 minutes for a 2GB Extreme III card to dump versus 3.5 minutes for the Ultra II. Not usually a big deal, but some people hate waiting.