Do any of you have digital cameras that don't have viewfinders? If so--do you find that it's really annoying, or that you don't miss your viewfinder at all?
My camera has a viewfinder but I never, ever, use it.
Correction, I've used it MAYBE once or twice when I was out at night in total darkness and couldn't tell if the tiny star in the sky was showing up in the frame or not. So I looked through the viewfinder to get it centered before taking my shot, but that's been it! I avoid the viewfinder like the plague otherwise, because I've found that using it to compose the subjects in a picture isn't a really effective way of getting exactly what you want. The LCD screen shows you almost exactly what you're going to get when you look at that picture on your computer.
The camera in question is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2 5MP Digital Camera with 6x Image Stabilized Optical Zoom. The Image Stabilizing feature is REALLY attractive to me, as is the 6x optical zoom. And check out the user pictures--they're amazing! The two big downsides are lack of a viewfinder and no manual controls (but according to reviews the no-viewfinder thing doesn't bother most people and the pre-set controls are quite sufficient). There's also a 4MP version (DMC-LZ1) that's basically the same but cheaper, which I may opt for since I don't really plan on printing out too many pictures.
The other main one I'm eyeing is the Canon Powershot A520 4MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom (or the A510, its 3.2MP predecessor). Canon's one of the best in the biz, and this has basically everything I want, except no image stabilizing feature and only the standard 3x optical zoom. The upsides this has over the Panasonic are a viewfinder, pre-set setting plus manual control, and the ability to add lenses and stuff (which I doubt I
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6x optical zoom and Image Stabilization is very cool! I've never had a camera with those features, but I'm not sure how much I'd use them...tough call.
I think what struck me first with both cameras was that they use 2 AA batteries, and I wonder how long you can go on that before needing to recharge them. The two cameras I've had experience with used 4 AAs, and with the right rechargeables, I could go out taking pictures and looking at them repeatedly on the LCD screen all day long. I'm just wondering what kind of results half the battery power would give.
I'm such a fan of my Canon, but I also believe in buying the product that's right for the user, and not getting the biggest, baddest, most featurey-ist if you're not ever going to use 90% of those features. So, I still can't give you a definite answer, but I think returning to Circuit City to play around with them more will help. I bet one of them is just going to fit you better, and gradually you'll find yourself leaning more towards one than another.
Oh and I would highly recommend investing in rechargeable Nickel metal hydride batteries. They will pay for themselves in the long run if you use your camera with any frequency. I had a total of 8: one set stayed in the camera, and the other stayed in the charger. Well, before my charger toasted one set and blew up, that is. heh. But PLEASE don't take that experience as a warning against these batteries
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I actually already have a bunch of NiMH batteries--I bought them and a charger when I bought Kyle's old Olympus. That's one reason I'm leaning toward a camera that uses AAs. :) Oh, and I think Kyle has a Canon that uses 2 AAs and he said he gets around 400 pictures on one battery and even got around 600 once. I just don't take that many pictures in a time period where I wouldn't be able to get to a charger again
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Wow, that "recommendation" feature was LAME. I had to choose "don't mind" on every single setting to get it to pull any cameras up. If I was specific on even one feature, it told me it couldn't find any cameras. :P
But the side-by-side comparisons are nice. I'm still torn between the two cameras, though...
Well, if you're having trouble with blurriness, the image stabilization should probably help with that. I don't how much, but I would hope it would make some difference.
I had another thought about all of this sometime in the last 12 hours but it has completely escaped me! If it comes back, I'll comment again.
The Canon is a bit cheaper, has a viewfinder, and has manual shooting controls. It also has audio playback on videos, and I can't determine whether the Panasonic does. I am not sure if manual controls would be that big of a deal, as I'm a pretty lazy picture-taker, and I don't know if the audio playback is that big of a deal either. I'm still hanging on to the viewfinder idea, although I honestly don't know how big of a deal it would be not to have one. I do use mine occasionally, but is it something I can live without?
I have a Canon, it's a PowerShot A400. I wouldn't be able to give you any specifics because I'm basically useless when it comes to that, but I like it. It's a good little camera. Batteries are pretty decent in it, too. I always use the screen for pics, and I like to play around, and the batteries seem to last for a decent amount of time. Plus, I have rechargables.
But like it was said in other comments, it's about finding which one is right for you. I'm sure if you talked to the people at Circuit City and told them what you wanted/needed, they could elp you better than I could.
And the viewfinder vs. LCD view discrepancy actually has a name, but I can't remember what it is. My co-worker was telling me all about it on Friday...
Correction, I've used it MAYBE once or twice when I was out at night in total darkness and couldn't tell if the tiny star in the sky was showing up in the frame or not. So I looked through the viewfinder to get it centered before taking my shot, but that's been it! I avoid the viewfinder like the plague otherwise, because I've found that using it to compose the subjects in a picture isn't a really effective way of getting exactly what you want. The LCD screen shows you almost exactly what you're going to get when you look at that picture on your computer.
What cameras are you considering now?
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The other main one I'm eyeing is the Canon Powershot A520 4MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom (or the A510, its 3.2MP predecessor). Canon's one of the best in the biz, and this has basically everything I want, except no image stabilizing feature and only the standard 3x optical zoom. The upsides this has over the Panasonic are a viewfinder, pre-set setting plus manual control, and the ability to add lenses and stuff (which I doubt I ( ... )
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I think what struck me first with both cameras was that they use 2 AA batteries, and I wonder how long you can go on that before needing to recharge them. The two cameras I've had experience with used 4 AAs, and with the right rechargeables, I could go out taking pictures and looking at them repeatedly on the LCD screen all day long. I'm just wondering what kind of results half the battery power would give.
I'm such a fan of my Canon, but I also believe in buying the product that's right for the user, and not getting the biggest, baddest, most featurey-ist if you're not ever going to use 90% of those features. So, I still can't give you a definite answer, but I think returning to Circuit City to play around with them more will help. I bet one of them is just going to fit you better, and gradually you'll find yourself leaning more towards one than another.
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But the side-by-side comparisons are nice. I'm still torn between the two cameras, though...
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Well, if you're having trouble with blurriness, the image stabilization should probably help with that. I don't how much, but I would hope it would make some difference.
I had another thought about all of this sometime in the last 12 hours but it has completely escaped me! If it comes back, I'll comment again.
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But like it was said in other comments, it's about finding which one is right for you. I'm sure if you talked to the people at Circuit City and told them what you wanted/needed, they could elp you better than I could.
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And the viewfinder vs. LCD view discrepancy actually has a name, but I can't remember what it is. My co-worker was telling me all about it on Friday...
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