My Next Camera

2006-09-19

This is my current beloved and trusty Casio ex-z750 and I had it since early 2005. Like many others, I still think it is the best compact camera back in 2005 for both picture and video. It is odd how I miss it everyday when I leave home without it. My wife takes great pictures and videos for our kids at home and many of her work are posted here in this blog. And I will take away her photo and video opportunity if I have it with me leaving home.

So here comes my next camera dilemma: I want another point and shoot while I am also on the prospect of venturing into dSLR and perhaps prosumer type of camera. So far I have boiled down to few choices:

dSLR: Pentax k100D with lens kit 18-55, 50-200, 50 f1.4
2nd p&s: Fuji f30/20, Casio ex-s770
dSLR like: Fuji s6500, Panasonic FZ50, Sony R1

If I get another p&s, I will definitely enjoy the casual shooting everyday with the portability and flexibility in a p&s. But if I go prosumer and dSLR, I will definitely advance in the hobby going into a different level of experience with photography. The caveat is the time split (or shared) between hobby and family. What is stopping me from having fun -- Time and Money.

Update: I have purchased Fuji f30 as my 2nd p&s camera. Test shots of fuji f30 can be seen in Fuji f30 Test Shots. And I have purchased Pentax K100D with kit lens and Pentax DA 50-200.

4 Comments:

At 12:57 AM, King said...: Just like yourself, I'm also in search of another p&s camera.

And Casio is surely my preferred choice.. however... I'm features driven...
At 1:10 PM, Hin Man said...: Thanks for the visit and comment. For my 2nd p&s, I am considering fuji f30 and fuji f20.
At 7:48 AM, MDVD said...: I had the z-750 and got it stolen in 3 months....what a heart breaker. I did not buy a new one right the way.... so here i am with no camera. I am try to get a replacement, Casio is definitely my choice... but now Canon come out 800IS and 900 will u p&s list change? IF not I guess the reason u getting the f30 is because of it super high iso which no one else could do so in the current P&S market; where u still have Z750 for normal situation and video. But what will u suggest if I can only afford to have 1 P&S camera which photo quality and video qulity are both important.
At 10:02 AM, Hin Man said...: mdvd, thanks for dropping by. It depends if you are looking for the camera for best picture quality or you are looking for a camera for both picture plus occasional video. If pictures is of utmost importance to you and you don't mind a spare of 1Gig xD card for the large video, I will recommend fuji f30 over Casio ex-z750 espeically with the current rebate for $50 for fuji f30. If video is relatively important, I will second the casio ex-z750

As for Canon sd800/900, those will be interesting camera to watch but currently they are not out in the market with a review and the price is considerably higher. I am not against canon's latest but given the bargain price and the proven record of fuji f30 with dpreview 'highly recommendated' rating, I will recommend it with little hesitation. The main gripe on fuji will be on the xD card, lack of manual controls and mpeg-4 video that I use quite ofen in my z750.