Digital Cameras

[Laurinha]

Hi, this is mainly aimed at buenchico as he seems to be really clued up on digi cams - what do you think of the Olympus C-760 with 3.2 Megapixels, 10x optical zoom/30x digital? Please.

[Laurinha]

I welcome anyones opinion though! Thanks!

[smudge]

Sorry to intervene Laurinha & I'm not sure about the camera you've mentioned, but when my husband & I were looking at digital cameras in Dixons (at a particular airport), the salesman recommended an:

• Olympus 800 MJU @�249 (Duty Free Charge)

I'd also be very interested in what the digi camera experts have to say, as my husband keeps nagging me as to which one I'd like for Christmas! There are so many on the market, it's hard to know which one to choose.

[Laurinha]

Thanks for that smudge - yeah, I know what you mean.

[smudge]

Also, just out of interest - both our daughters have Olympus Camedia C-460 Zoom - 4.0 Megapixels digi cameras, which they bought from Dixons last year @ �150 each (reduced from �300).

They are both really pleased with them, although like most digi cameras the batteries don't last very long - therefore they've both put re-chargeable batteries & a good charger on their Christmas list!

[wideboy]

Have a look here - brilliant site with reviews, 3D views and sample photos at the end of each review.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/

[smudge]

Thank you wideboy - very helpful.

[chucker]

I used to own this camera!!!! Its probably the best camera I have owned for picture quality, even though its only 3mp. It served me well on my graphic design course where i did loads of photography. You can also buy different lenses so you can be creative. I sold mine on ebay a few months ago cos i wanted a compact camera. I have sony t7 which is great but i miss the zoom from the c-760. I would recommend it to everyone :-)

[vehelpfulguy]

DO NOT BUY A CAMERA THAT TAKES AA or AAA BATTERIES, EVEN IF THEY ARE RECHARGABLE

(sorry for shouting but it is important).

Buy a camera with a Lithium Ion battery. They are the same batteries as used in video cameras (but smaller of course).

The charges last for days, even weeks. The power in AA or AAA batteries can run out in hours.

Digital Cameras EAT battery power and AA and AAA batteries just cannot cope.

[vehelpfulguy]

By the way, to answer your question, The C760 looks good.

Steves Digicams, mentioned earlier, has the C765 (similar) in his top nine for super-zoom cameras. See here

http://www.steves-digicams.com/best_cameras.html

It also has Lithion Ion battery which is good, as opposed to the C460 that someone mentioned earlier that has AA..

It also uses the XD Picture Card to hold pictures, which are very small. They are used in the Olympus camera I have.

So overall I would say it is a good choice.

It only comes with a 16Mb memory card which will only hold about 10 pictures at highest resolution, so I wouild by a 128Mb or 256Mb card as an extra.

I saw an advert in Comet for a 256Mb memory card for only �25.00

[wideboy]

If anyone is concerned about batteries, look here:-

http://dpfwiw.com/batteries.htm#lithium2

[Cetti]

Hi Laurinha, my camera is an Olympus C765 Ultra Zoom and is absolutely brilliant. I've had it about a year and am just getting used to all the wonderful extra things it can do, but if you just want the basic stuff keep it on Auto. The 10x makes an amazing difference to photos as you can take great closeups. An LI -10B Lithium battery pack plus charger and a 128 card is a must. Another hint is buy a Fuji card on the internet as they are the same make as Olympus but loads cheaper.

[Buenchico]

(Posted in 2 parts):

Hi Laurinha:

I'm not sure that I'm really that much of an expert on digital cameras but, for what it's worth, here goes anyway:

The C-760 was originally imported as a model sold only by Jessops (although it's possible you might find it elsewhere as a 'grey import'). It's a cheaper version of the C-750, with the only difference being that the C-760 has got fewer megapixels. 3.2 megapixels, however, is as much as you'll ever need unless you want high-quality enlargements bigger than A4.

The main features an 'average' user should be looking for are a decent zoom lens and long battery life. (Only the optical zoom figure is important. Digital zoom degrades image quality and, unless you're working for the security services, it's unlikely you'll ever need that much zoom!).

Up until a few years ago, the best optical zoom you could get without spending a fortune would have been something like 5x. Today, anyone who's not on a really tight budget should be looking at 10x or 12x. (So, once again, no problems there).

[Buenchico]

(2nd Part):

I used to have an Olympus digital camera which consumed AA batteries at an alarming rate but the C-760 uses a Li-Ion battery which will give much longer life so, yet again, no problems. (Just a note for vehelpfulguy: Not every camera which uses AA cells has a high power consumption. My Minolta gives several hundred shots on one set of AAs - I usually swap [rechargeable] batteries after 100 shots but the batteries aren't even showing 'low').

Basically, the C-760 is a quality camera from a quality maker. The only reason that I can't fully recommend it is because you haven't said what price you're thinking of paying for it. It came onto the UK market last year at around �350. At the time that was a good price but the digital camera market is so fast moving that, because it's last year's model, I would require the price to have dropped significantly (certainly to below �300) before I could include it on a list of 'recommended buys'.

Chris

[Cetti]

www.PicStop.co.uk is the place I buy my batteries and cards. Today they are selling the 256 XD card at just over �16!

[wideboy]

Good site, Cetti, even beats my usual 7dayshop (which says they are VAT free!) - thanks.

[Cetti]

Funnily enough wideboy I started with 7dayshop then found PicStop because of the service - and it's so cheap!