Which fixed focus, no-zoom, digital point-and-shoot (oh yeah, and cheap)

[vicmortelmans]

Hi,

for myself, but also in view of my young children starting to take pictures, I'm looking for a digital camera that has fixed focus, no zoom, automatic exposure and that is robust (implying that there's e.g. no protruding lens movement). No high resolution demands... 1 megapixel is sufficient.

One camera that fullfills these requirements completely is the Agfa CL20. I used to have one, but it broke down, so it should be replaced.

Can anyone suggest some other brands or types to look for on the second-hand market?

Groeten,
Vic

PS> here are some specs on the Agfa CL20:
http://www.dcviews.com/_agfa/cl20.htm

PS2> no, I don't want the camera to have a cell-phone incorporated 😉

 

[saxshooter]

How about the Casio EXILIM series that were out a couple of years ago? I think the last one they made was a 3 megapixel camera. Fixed lens, fixed focus. Very slim. No zoom. Robust. Simple on-off button. SD cards. Should be real cheap now on the second hand market.

Here's the LINK

Personally, the quality is not that great. Maybe good for 3R or 4R prints. But...

I've got one in my closet. You just gave me a great idea. I'm going to charge it up and give it to my 3-year-old son!

 

[Kin Lau]

Based on the one requirement "robust" alone, it pretty well rules out almost everything except for the Olympus SW series, the oldest is the 720 SW, 725 SW, 770 SW and the current 790 SW.

It's a zoom, but the lens does not protrude, it's shockproof (designed to survive a drop of 1.5m) and waterproof - it works under water.

See http://www.dpreview.com/news/0601/06012602olympus_720sw.asp

The later models (770 & 790) were even suppose to be crushproof to 100kg.

 

[ywenz]

Nothing matches your list.

 

[saxshooter]

Or this one, by HP, $79, and it's new. LINK

 

[btgc]

some days ago discussing fixed-focus P&S for grandmas on some other forum, I discovered that this days just a few are on market. HP mentioned before is one of them, then one from Vivitar and third I were able to find were some real offbrand with doubtful specs rather close to toy not real camera.

If digital is requirement (and not nice quality film PS from 80ties for a euro/dollar) then I would broaden choice to second hand offers, as kids are kids and we shouldn't blame them for broken camera (especially knowing how suddenly stuff stops working).

 

[vicmortelmans]

Thanks for the feedback so far!

I've also looked at dpreview, which has a huge database of digital camera's. Problem is: the query sucks... you can only enter minimum criteria, and no maximum criteria, and on top, the only criteria which would matter to me, maximum aperture, cannot be queried.

Browsing through the camera database, the early Olympus series (C-2, C21,...) is interesting, offering aperture of f:2.8 and ISO up to 400. So you don't need the flash for *every* shot. I still don't understand why *newer* camera's are typically *downgraded* with slower lenses...

Note that the AGFA cl 20 and CL 18 are even quoted to have an aperture of f:2 !!

Groeten,
Vic

 

[btgc]

Vic, as we know, average digital PS buyer goes for megapixels (early bread), then for optical zoom and current trend - for higher ISOs (don't mind tiny sensors). To get query by aperture, you have to wait until this parameter will be used as selling point.

I forgot Olympus cameras, right, there were such line. Probably you will find them on secondary market (maybe even new), as I haven't seen them in shops for year or more.

 

[saxshooter]

Note that the AGFA cl 20 and CL 18 are even quoted to have an aperture of f:2 !!

It's not difficult for these tiny imaging chip cameras to have a fast, small lens relative to the chip size.

 

[aad]

Go to a Walgreens. They are selling an Argus P&S, 3 MP.