Recently we needed another digital camera for the office, we settled on a Nikon 4600 which is a 4megapixel cheap consumer camera. Cost 216 euro. it is plastic and feels pretty crap but works nice and is easy to use.
Personally when i saw they were going for another Nikon (the previous one was Nikon 3100) and they wanted a 4600 i was pushing for a 5900 (with metal body, lithium battery, low-light focussing light)
but in the end price determined the choice of the 4600. whatever. It is interesting to see that the 900 series has all low-light focussing lights which was omitted on all the previous series. something which i thought necessary. Anyway the 4600 is remarkably similar to the 3100 and probably the same camera really. It was interesting to see that the charger included a conditioning feature not like the 3100. Again the camera uses 2xAA batteries. Personally i am quite fond of the AA rechargeables, you can pick up 4 from Sanyo or Panasonic for 13 euro and a cheap 1 hour charger if the one you have breaks or you also use alkalines from the shop when you are desperate. But the Nikon charger again charges only 2 batteries when you really want it to charge 4 but in two circuits. Anyway the 4600 includes a on button at the top of the camera which you have to press for a few seconds to start the camera. This is much better than the on switch on the 3100 which is similar to the zoom toggle on canon and olympus cameras and often disturbed when removing/inserting from the bag. The image quality was great and also great in macro mode when you select it. I have been always suprised at Nikon which achieve in my experience a lot more usable photos on the consumer cameras compared to the canon A-70 which we have also from the same price range. the macro photos are also good. the camera is basic plastic and cheap feeling but the menus are much easier to understand than olympus. the camera is easy to teach and that makes my job easier.
i also checked out the competition. we have a few sony cams with the lens doors sticking problem. they are also taking great pics but sony is going downhill in my opinion recently.
personally in my search for camerasi was only interested in olympus. their menus are somewhat annoying and sometimes the shots are incorrectly exposed etc but the shots which come out are incredible. i use a c5050z and a very expensive FL-40 flash which is great for general use and also exceptional shots in macro and in the total darkness.
Olympus is offering some consumer cams lately which are very well priced. Also a new and interesting camera is the pocket sized FE-5500 which i recommend to check out. i want to see if this camera is taking good pictures cos i need a carry all the time cam.
it does a cool twisting thing with the lens when opening but the lens is small. the size is perfect and 2in lcd monitor yeh!!
i also looked at the pentax optio 50 which is a new very compact cheap camera for europe. 200euro
looks very small and takes 2xAAs which is nice to avoid too much additional expense with the lithiums. 200 euro is the price and that is something very fair in europe for a small cam but it does have no pro features. i was very suprised at the price for such a small cam.
i was also looking at the olympus c-70 which is a 7megapixel camera with more pro features but with no flash hotshoe. although if you dont need that i think this cam is taking very good pics and looks the business also. i am not a fan of popup flash though although the grip looks good to hold the camera. nice but expensive, i think it was only 100euro more for the 7070
onto the high end and if you want a very nice camera i would recommend the C7070z which at 599 euro is a great price for a good prosumer camera.
if i was buying a camera now i would buy the c7070z but since i already have a great camera i will be looking at the new small FE-5500 but if too expensive i will get the pentax optio 50.
we bought kingmax 256md sd card at 34euro which is kinda good compared to the 60euro the 256mb sandisk cf cost me a few years ago. everything is getting quite cheap but crap heh.
no comments pls from the states on how we europeans pay too much for electronics.
Personally when i saw they were going for another Nikon (the previous one was Nikon 3100) and they wanted a 4600 i was pushing for a 5900 (with metal body, lithium battery, low-light focussing light)
but in the end price determined the choice of the 4600. whatever. It is interesting to see that the 900 series has all low-light focussing lights which was omitted on all the previous series. something which i thought necessary. Anyway the 4600 is remarkably similar to the 3100 and probably the same camera really. It was interesting to see that the charger included a conditioning feature not like the 3100. Again the camera uses 2xAA batteries. Personally i am quite fond of the AA rechargeables, you can pick up 4 from Sanyo or Panasonic for 13 euro and a cheap 1 hour charger if the one you have breaks or you also use alkalines from the shop when you are desperate. But the Nikon charger again charges only 2 batteries when you really want it to charge 4 but in two circuits. Anyway the 4600 includes a on button at the top of the camera which you have to press for a few seconds to start the camera. This is much better than the on switch on the 3100 which is similar to the zoom toggle on canon and olympus cameras and often disturbed when removing/inserting from the bag. The image quality was great and also great in macro mode when you select it. I have been always suprised at Nikon which achieve in my experience a lot more usable photos on the consumer cameras compared to the canon A-70 which we have also from the same price range. the macro photos are also good. the camera is basic plastic and cheap feeling but the menus are much easier to understand than olympus. the camera is easy to teach and that makes my job easier.
i also checked out the competition. we have a few sony cams with the lens doors sticking problem. they are also taking great pics but sony is going downhill in my opinion recently.
personally in my search for camerasi was only interested in olympus. their menus are somewhat annoying and sometimes the shots are incorrectly exposed etc but the shots which come out are incredible. i use a c5050z and a very expensive FL-40 flash which is great for general use and also exceptional shots in macro and in the total darkness.
Olympus is offering some consumer cams lately which are very well priced. Also a new and interesting camera is the pocket sized FE-5500 which i recommend to check out. i want to see if this camera is taking good pictures cos i need a carry all the time cam.
it does a cool twisting thing with the lens when opening but the lens is small. the size is perfect and 2in lcd monitor yeh!!
i also looked at the pentax optio 50 which is a new very compact cheap camera for europe. 200euro
looks very small and takes 2xAAs which is nice to avoid too much additional expense with the lithiums. 200 euro is the price and that is something very fair in europe for a small cam but it does have no pro features. i was very suprised at the price for such a small cam.
i was also looking at the olympus c-70 which is a 7megapixel camera with more pro features but with no flash hotshoe. although if you dont need that i think this cam is taking very good pics and looks the business also. i am not a fan of popup flash though although the grip looks good to hold the camera. nice but expensive, i think it was only 100euro more for the 7070
onto the high end and if you want a very nice camera i would recommend the C7070z which at 599 euro is a great price for a good prosumer camera.
if i was buying a camera now i would buy the c7070z but since i already have a great camera i will be looking at the new small FE-5500 but if too expensive i will get the pentax optio 50.
we bought kingmax 256md sd card at 34euro which is kinda good compared to the 60euro the 256mb sandisk cf cost me a few years ago. everything is getting quite cheap but crap heh.
no comments pls from the states on how we europeans pay too much for electronics.
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