emraphoto
Veteran
ok folks, need your input
a little background. my wifes father used to be a amateur photographer and a pretty capable one as well... he has been very ill for a long time and is on the heart transplant list currently. as of late he seems to have stabilized and regained a portion of his faulty's. he has expressed a renewed interest in photography and has been pouring over my past issues of blackandwhitephotography magazines (uk). we want to buy him a camera. what we need is a compact of the g7, canon s5 kind of genre that has a very easy user interface and comes with exceptionally stable and easy to navigate software to manage photo's. we have set him up on a brand new g5 imac (dual 2 gig) running os x 10.2.4.
he needs a reasonably beefy body to actually hold in his hands yet a very clever point and shoot that will produce images a "photographer" will be happy with. i don't reckon he will do more than download and email etc. although i do want it to produce files that i can run off on the old epson 2200 (with reasonable rersults) should he ask. i will set him p to shoot jpegs as managing and converting raw files will be a bit of a stretch for him. he is in a long term care facility so reasonably high iso performance will be essential (he will be indoors 90% of the time).
so, to recap... a compact, reasonable size and easy to hold on to, easy user interface (with an emphasis on the old school control layout), good high iso performance, good photo software ( i don't want him to have to go from iphoto into another application to resize or send a photo), and great jpeg files.
we are looking to spend about $500 cnd (which is pretty close to $500 US these days)
thanx for your input in advance
john
a little background. my wifes father used to be a amateur photographer and a pretty capable one as well... he has been very ill for a long time and is on the heart transplant list currently. as of late he seems to have stabilized and regained a portion of his faulty's. he has expressed a renewed interest in photography and has been pouring over my past issues of blackandwhitephotography magazines (uk). we want to buy him a camera. what we need is a compact of the g7, canon s5 kind of genre that has a very easy user interface and comes with exceptionally stable and easy to navigate software to manage photo's. we have set him up on a brand new g5 imac (dual 2 gig) running os x 10.2.4.
he needs a reasonably beefy body to actually hold in his hands yet a very clever point and shoot that will produce images a "photographer" will be happy with. i don't reckon he will do more than download and email etc. although i do want it to produce files that i can run off on the old epson 2200 (with reasonable rersults) should he ask. i will set him p to shoot jpegs as managing and converting raw files will be a bit of a stretch for him. he is in a long term care facility so reasonably high iso performance will be essential (he will be indoors 90% of the time).
so, to recap... a compact, reasonable size and easy to hold on to, easy user interface (with an emphasis on the old school control layout), good high iso performance, good photo software ( i don't want him to have to go from iphoto into another application to resize or send a photo), and great jpeg files.
we are looking to spend about $500 cnd (which is pretty close to $500 US these days)
thanx for your input in advance
john
FrankS
Registered User
You can't go wrong with a Canon digi P+S ?
SteveM(PA)
Poser
So John, you think he'd be unhappy with a film camera? What comes to mind most, for me, would be a Hexar AF, some high-speed film, and maybe you could just make scan cd's for him to pop right into iphoto and be done?
mfunnell
Shaken, so blurred
The Canon G7 seems just the ticket - right size, controls etc. with IS and allegedly decent high_ISO performance and it pretty much hits your price-point exactly.
At lower cost, some of the Canon A-series cameras look pretty good as well. Note that I don't use any of these, but have recommended them to others who have been very happy with their results. I do use one of Canon's little pocket digicams (SD series in North America, "digital IXUS" elsewhere) and am very happy with it, for what it is.
...Mike
[EDIT and P.S. What Steve says above makes sense to me as well. The Hexar is a great camera and I think you can probably get one around your price-point.]
At lower cost, some of the Canon A-series cameras look pretty good as well. Note that I don't use any of these, but have recommended them to others who have been very happy with their results. I do use one of Canon's little pocket digicams (SD series in North America, "digital IXUS" elsewhere) and am very happy with it, for what it is.
...Mike
[EDIT and P.S. What Steve says above makes sense to me as well. The Hexar is a great camera and I think you can probably get one around your price-point.]
FrankS
Registered User
I too think that a film camera would be best, in terms of traditional controls and ergonomics. I'm thinking Leica MiniLux.
mfunnell
Shaken, so blurred
For that type of camera I'd probably think Contax T2 (but I don't really know the MiniLux). However, I'm still thinking Steve's Hexar suggestion is better for the size of the camera (larger), which is one of the OP's requirements, and the f2 maximum aperture. Oh, and because I plain like the HexarFrankS said:
...Mike
charjohncarter
Veteran
John, you are a very good Son-in-Law!
Carter
Carter
Charlie
Established
The Nikon Coolpix P5000 fits the bill for everything but the the beefy part. It's in your price range and it's a nice performer at the higher ISOs. And I agree with Carter; you're a good son-in-law.
Regards,
Charlie
Regards,
Charlie
emraphoto
Veteran
film is out as i am in quebec and travel outside of the country quite a bit and he is in ontario (i actually fly into toronto the 23rd so i'll try and make the meet-up). getting the film dealt with would be completely up to me and that would be biting off more than i can chew... i already have quite a backlog of film myself to develop (amixin the d-76 i go).
i really wish the fuji f-30 and later models were a little more meaty... i reckon the g7 will fit the bill pretty good.
i really wish the fuji f-30 and later models were a little more meaty... i reckon the g7 will fit the bill pretty good.
emraphoto
Veteran
i'm not such a great son in law cause if i got my hands on a hexar it wouldn't be going to dear old dad in law...
R
rpsawin
Guest
Locally the Canon G6 has dropped to $399....an excellent price for this camera. A new G6 might just be the ticket for Dad.
Bob
Bob
IGMeanwell
Well-known
Canon G9
Held one and used it the other day
If I didn't have a Fuji F30 ... I would make the G9 my new camera
but go for the G9 not the G7, as the new image engine has made great improvements in preserving highlights
Held one and used it the other day
If I didn't have a Fuji F30 ... I would make the G9 my new camera
but go for the G9 not the G7, as the new image engine has made great improvements in preserving highlights
BillBingham2
Registered User
Take a look at www.dpreview.com, perhaps one of the best sites out there for digital reviews. Recently purchased by Amazon, but have yet to see much of a change.
B2 (;->
B2 (;->