off topic -- digital camera purchase

[ForeverAutumn]

Hey JM. I know exactly where you were when you took that pic. My Sister-In-Law is on her way to Quebec City tomorrow for a weeks vacation.

I went to the camera store to look around and decided that the S3 IS was way to big for what I wanted. It didn't look that large in the pictures, but it's actually size of a small SLR.

After discussing my needs and wants with a very knowledgable sales guy we narrowed it down to two cameras. The Canon A700 or the Panasonic TZ1. Although I have a huge affinity for Canons, I decided that the 10x optical zoom and the image stabilization warranted trying out the Panasonic. The downsides of the Panasonic (IMO) are a lithium rechargable battery (vs. AAs on the Canon) and no view finder. However, it does have a metal casing (plastic on the Canon) and even though the zoom is stronger, the lens only pops out a 1/3 of the way over the Canon.

I can play with the Panasonic and if I don't like it, I have 14 days to return it or 21 days to exchange it for something else. I'm still interested in feedback if anyone has anything to add.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/comp...mctz1&show=all

[Woochifer]

I've had a Canon Digital ELPH S230 for over three years and I love it. The build quality is great and I was surprised at how well the images taken with that camera print when sent through services such as Shutterfly. When that camera was new, that model was the smallest 3 megapixel camera on the market. The current Digital ELPH models are about half as thick yet have much larger LCD screens.

BTW, my wife and I went to Quebec City and Montreal for our honeymoon a few years ago, and in Quebec we stayed at Le Chateau Frontenac (the building featured in JohnMichael's picture). Quebec City is beautiful and the food there is amazing (at the time we went, it was also ridiculously cheap because of the exchange rates).

[JohnMichael]

I first visited Quebec with my french class in high school. As an adult I visited Quebec City every year since 1999. The first year air fare was $249. round trip and I think the exchange rate was US $1 to CA $1.52 or better. This year we decided not to go. Air fare would have been $543. and the exchange rate is US $1 to CA $1.09. We would live like royalty when the exchange rate was better. I am glad I purchased art by Quebec artists each year and have hundreds of photo's. I do not feel so far away.

[newtrix1]

After discussing my needs and wants with a very knowledgable sales guy we narrowed it down to two cameras. The Canon A700 or the Panasonic TZ1. Although I have a huge affinity for Canons, I decided that the 10x optical zoom and the image stabilization warranted trying out the Panasonic. The downsides of the Panasonic (IMO) are a lithium rechargable battery (vs. AAs on the Canon) and no view finder. However, it does have a metal casing (plastic on the Canon) and even though the zoom is stronger, the lens only pops out a 1/3 of the way over the Canon.

I can play with the Panasonic and if I don't like it, I have 14 days to return it or 21 days to exchange it for something else. I'm still interested in feedback if anyone has anything to add.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/comp...mctz1&show=all

So far I like it a lot. The 10X zoom is great, and the image stabilization is no gimmic (try taking a pic at full zoom with it on & off and see the difference). Downsides are the average flash range, and the rechargeable battery (I'll be buying a second one soon!). I just got back from a week long vacation and took 160 photo's, lot's of + comments from friends & relatives on the picture quality. Enjoy yours.
Btw, I found a nice little case at Ritz camera ($14.99 US), never heard of the brand "Quantaray" . I compared it to TAMRAC & LOWE and liked this one best: http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/441662491.htm

[ForeverAutumn]

So far I like it a lot. The 10X zoom is great, and the image stabilization is no gimmic (try taking a pic at full zoom with it on & off and see the difference). Downsides are the average flash range, and the rechargeable battery (I'll be buying a second one soon!). I just got back from a week long vacation and took 160 photo's, lot's of + comments from friends & relatives on the picture quality. Enjoy yours.
Btw, I found a nice little case at Ritz camera ($14.99 US), never heard of the brand "Quantaray" . I compared it to TAMRAC & LOWE and liked this one best: http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/441662491.htm

It's good to hear that you like this camera. The rechargable battery is definately a downer. I loved that my old Canon (and the A700) used AA's. I never had to worry about the battery running out, or just draining from not being used. It was always ready to go.

I took this camera to the Kim Mitchell show on Saturday night and just had a blast playing with it. The 10x Zoom can actually go as high as 50x with the right setting changes. I took pictures of the moon and you can actually see the details. The picture is pretty grainy, but it was cool just to be able to zoom in that close with such a little camera. I'll post a pic later when I'm on my home PC.

I also tried the movie feature which worked really well. I did a couple of small clips of guitar solos and a full song which ran about 5 minutes long. I still had a ton of room on my card. Only about 6 of the pictures that I took turned out in focus, but considering the dark conditions, the distance from the stage and using the 10x zoom, I was pretty impressed. I used the stabilizer for everything. I just set it to on and left it there, so it's always working. Although there were a few features that I liked better on the Canon...I think that I made the right choice.