Among compact digital models, the Fuji F10 has the lowest noise at ISO speeds between 200-1600. I'm strongly attracted to it for that reason. But its manual settings are limited, and scrolling through its menu of settings for scene modes, white balance, file size, etc., is maddeningly counter-intuitive. Handle one before you buy. Another digital models I use is the Canon s70, recommended for a mix of compact size, useful 28-100mm equiv. range and wide range of easily accessed manual settings. Its a bit chunkier than the Elph models, but easy to grip, easy to carry in a pocket. The s70 is a 7 megapixel model selling for aroung $400. The s60 packs a similar body design, lens and feature set with a 5 megapixel sensor for about $50-75 less. Low light noise is apparent at and above ISO 200. Cheers, Matthew Phillips Henning Wulff <henningw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent by: rollei_list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 06/16/05 04:45 PM Please respond to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To Leica Users Group <lug@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <rolleiusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> cc Subject [rollei_list] Re: [Leica] Digital P&S advice sought At 2:39 PM -0400 6/16/05, A. Lal wrote: >Hello Everyone, > >I'd like to buy a general purpose digital point and shoot camera. >Will a model in the 4-5 Mega-pixel range be adequate for making >prints to 5 x 7 inches? If so, can list members recommend any >particular models? I'd like to keep it under $ 300, if at all >possible. > >I'd prefer a camera that will store RAW or TIFF files. > >Thanks in advance. > >Regards, >Akhil > >P. S:- I don't want to buy a digital system SLR just yet. Many decent P&S exist, but good ones are scarce. 4-5 Mp is sufficient for good 5x7's, but 5-7 are needed for reasonable 8x10's. You have to check them out. Some are ergonomically terrible, but YMMV. The little Canon SD300 to 500 are samll, fast, and produce excellent quality for their size, but are fully automatic with some overrides. The Panasonic FM-7 has image stabilization, a huge screen but no optical viewfinder so shooting in bright sunlight can be difficult. Some Sonys are excellent except they use the silly MemorySticks, which is a definite downside. One that has caught my eye, and would be my preferred choice at the moment is the Fuji F-10, about $325 for a 6 Mp camera, but the thing that stands out about it is the availibility of useable 1600ISO. Almost all others top out at 400, and 200 is actually the highest useable for many. See: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilmf10zoom/ It's fast, great image quality, good battery life, and can be used in low light. It also means that the flash has a reasonable range, which many P&S' don't. Downsides are: uninspired styling, no optical viewfinder, some clunky menus and clumsy charger. It still gets my vote. -- * Henning J. Wulff /|\ Wulff Photography & Design /###\ mailto:henningw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx |[ ]| http://www.archiphoto.com --- Rollei List - Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx - Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'subscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org - Unsubscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org - Online, searchable archives are available at //www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list --- Rollei List - Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx - Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'subscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org - Unsubscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org - Online, searchable archives are available at //www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list