By Mike Lane From Centennial, CO Jun 2, 2008
| My overpriced Olympus POS took a shot to the view screen. Any suggestions for a decent replacement under $300.00? TX |  |
By KathyS From Poughkeepsie, NY Jun 2, 2008
| Mike Lane wrote: My overpriced Olympus POS took a shot to the view screen. Any suggestions for a decent replacement under $300.00? TX
For that price, I assume you're talking about a point-and-shoot unit. I've been pretty happy with my 7 Mpixel Sony W80. It had the least shutter lag of any I tried. It also has Zeiss optics, so photos are nice and crisp. It's about the size of a deck of cards, so it fits in a jacket pocket. Even with an extra memory card (it doesn't come with much on-board memory), it was less than $300. I can't speak to longevity, since I got it earlier this year. It usually takes me about 3 years to kill a camera.
Edit: It also has a conventional viewfinder, in case the LCD screen craps out.
Kathy |  |
By Kevin Cahill From Parker, CO Jun 2, 2008
| Check out the Panasonic DMC-TZ1. It has a 10x optical zoom and takes great pictures. It's also fairly light-weight and has a lot of pre-set options for various types of light sources. |  |
By mike mullendore From columbia, md Jun 2, 2008
| like the photo mike. you cannot go wrong with olympus or nikon. |  |
By James Beissel From Boulder, CO Jun 2, 2008
| The Sonys are good cameras but have very fragile LCDs. You need to store them in a hard sided case if they are going to be riding in your pack. |  |
By Jay F. Weekly From Georgetown, KY Jun 2, 2008
| Despite your bad experience with the Olympus, I'd highly recommend the stylus SW series for a mountain camera. They're shockproof, waterproof, crushproof, and very compact. They have excellent optics, and you'd probably be able to use the same memory you already have. Their biggest downsides are a not very wide lens, and dependence on rechargeable batteries, which can make long trips somewhat problematic if you don't have access to power. Take a look, they might fit what you're looking for. |  |
By Marc Horan From Lafayette, CO Jun 2, 2008
| I'm a big fan of Canon Digital Elphs.
--Marc |  |
By Malcolm Daly From Boulder, CO Jun 2, 2008
| The Canon SD 750 is on sale now for $176 at Amazon. I's a terrific camera at a killer price. If I were buying in the category I'd get the SD 870 for its wide-angle lens. You can get that for under $300. Read the reviews and use notes on www.kenrockwell.com for info on how to make great pictures with either one of these PHDs. Mal |  |
By Allen Hill From Glenelk, Colorado Jun 2, 2008
| The Lumix DMC fz8. Its got a 12x Leica lense. I love mine. |  |
By Brian in SLC From Salt Lake City, UT Jun 2, 2008
| Malcolm Daly wrote: The Canon SD 750 is on sale now for $176 at Amazon. I's a terrific camera at a killer price. If I were buying in the category I'd get the SD 870 for its wide-angle lens. You can get that for under $300. Read the reviews and use notes on www.kenrockwell.com for info on how to make great pictures with either one of these PHDs. Mal
SD 800 is the older version, I seem to recall. Last wide angle lens point and shoot with an optical view finder (next generation ditched that view finder). For shooting on snow, or any rock that reflects the sun (white granite, etc), I find I have to use the view finder or I can't see the subject. Also, saves on battery power if you're on a long trip or its cold.
Have had good luck with mine. They're available for pretty cheap, compared to when they came out, right now. |  |
By micahisaac From Boulder, CO Jun 2, 2008
| I rock the Canon Powershot A620. Has 7.1mgpix and has lots of shooting modes. My favorite thing about it is that the screen flips in and out. This allows the screen to be protected at all times, as well as lets you take that self pic on the summit (you can flip screen around to see yourself). It still has a view finder as well. You can add wide angle and additional lenses to it, but I've never tried. Canon also makes an "Elph" version of the same camera, but doesn't have all the features. This camera comes in right at $300 here PowerShot A620 Digital Camera:1992668871 |  |
By Mike Lane From Centennial, CO Jun 2, 2008
| Thanks everybody. |  |
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