plonq | Digital camera recommendations. (Reply)

atara and I have decided to spend some of our tax return on a digital camera this year. I don't expect to see the return for a few more weeks, but that hasn't stopped me from researching the purchase.

I don't want to blow the entire tax return on a camera, so I've tried to limit myself to a 3-digit price tag (not counting cents). Pending suggestions and further reading, I've pared the field down to a shortlist of three candidates:

Canon Powershot G5

(For the most part I like what I've seen in the sample pics from this camera. It has a bit more purple fringing than I would like, and I'm underwhelmed by its zoom and macro capabilities, but it's the most affordable of the three cameras here. I've found it priced at $899.99 up here.)

Nikon Coolpix 5700

(This one looks nice on just about every front, but it's the most expensive of the cameras here. This one definitely violates my price limit - though not by much - at $1049.00.)

Olympus C-5050

(I really like this one too, and it's the one that I'm really leaning toward just now. Nice zoom and macro, good colour, sharp in low-light - even at ISO400 setting. I've found this one priced at $999.99 - which puts it just inside my price range - if you want to ignore sales tax and the like.)

If anyone out there has experience with these (or other cameras) and could offer this lad some advice, I'm all ears. Well, maybe not ALL ears because that would be kinda weird, but I'm listening... er, reading.

I'm too young to remember the Vietnam war in any detail, but I wonder if this is just an aberration, or the start of a trend? It's scary when you start getting draft dodgers... and there isn't even a draft.