Mom's day camera vs. crusty Nikon 995

Recently purchased a Canon A580 for the missus who wanted a camera that could run on regular batteries as well as rechargeable. This is to be delivered mother's day. Too late to cancel purchase. This is an 8 mp camera.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the build quality and capabilities of this 8 mp camera will be significantly inferior to the Coolpix 995 I bought off ebay for $200 for my own use. A bit of a clunker by today's standards (pretty big). My wife didn't want something that big. I don't really know much about these cameras. The coolpix 995 was my first digital.

But I don't really know enough about it. I'm wondering whether the cheap consumer camera will have more hot pixels or break faster or what. Or maybe these things have just gotten better and my clunker 995 is obsolete? Hard to believe. Works very well....

I ordered an extra set of batteries and a decent charger as well as some 2 GB flash memory cards for the new camera. When I traveled in Ireland with the coolpix, I changed the memory card every two days, on the theory that if the card went bad or something happened only one card, not the whole trip, would be lost. Figured I'd do the same for this new camera.

thanks for any wisdom y'all may share.
Greg N

I bought a $100 point and shoot digital camera for my wife last year so she had something to take on a vacation trip. She loves it. It is a perfect match for her skill level and she has a ball with it. I tried some 15 second star shots with it and found that it was useless for that. There were far more hot pixels than stars recorded. But in good light it takes a great shot and has a nice macro feature as well. Nice thing is, I don't get worried when I see it lying around or tossed into her bag without its case. So far it has more than paid for itself in the price of film not purchased. I wouldn't sweat it over the cost of the Canon. She'll enjoy it more than you know.

have fun,
dan

Greg Nowell said:

Recently purchased a Canon A580 for the missus who wanted a camera that could run on regular batteries as well as rechargeable. This is to be delivered mother's day. Too late to cancel purchase. This is an 8 mp camera.

thanks for any wisdom y'all may share.
Greg N

Depends on your expectations. Consumer cameras are actually robust and reliable these days. My little several year old 3 megapixel Canon point 'n shoot has been all over the UK and to countless star parties from the Atlantic to the Pacific and never missed a beat.

I don't have much experience with Nikon digicams, btw. I've used/tried em, but when the film age ended, I made the decision to switch to Canon both for point 'n shoot and DSLRs (for both terrestrial and astronomical use). I prefer 'em, but, again, that's just me (except, perhaps when it comes to DSLRs for prime focus imaging; I don't think there's much question but that Canons are better in that role).

;-)

Greg, I purchased a Canon A640 (I think) last year, and it is a fantastic point-and-shoot camera. It's a 10 megapixel, which is probably overkill for such a camera, but I am extremely pleased with the build, picture quality, and ease of use the camera offers. I especially like the program mode.

I think your wife will like the camera you got for her just fine.

Greg,

The Canon A-series P&S cameras are quite good for what they are. They produce very good images in the full auto mode, plus allow a reasonable amount of flexibility in aperture priority and shutter priority modes for those that like to have a little more control over their exposures. I have an A520 and that little pocket cam gets far more use than either my Nikon DSLR or my CP990 -- mainly because it fits in my pocket and goes a lot more places than either of the others. I carry an extra set of rechargeable NiMH batteries and a spare 1 gig SD card with it.

Your 995 is very similar to my 990, and that series of cameras has some unique features that make them worth hanging on to despite the fact that they are "clunkers" by today's standards. The twisting body is one feature, but I really appreciate the fact that you can buy an eyepiece that screws directly to the camera lens for digiscoping -- no clunky adapters required. I have a WO 28mm EP that's made just for this purpose with 28mm threads behind the eyecup that screw right on to the camera.

Also, for comparing cameras, the best site I've found is DP Reviews http://dpreview.com/ Spend a little time poking around the myriad of features that site has (reviews, side-by-side comparisons, numerous forums, etc.) It's become my primary resource for information on digital cameras.

Jim

I went the same route as you. After studying a lot
of reviews, etc., I got mom a Canon A-series.
It seems easy to use, and takes great shots.
My CP4500 is good for technical stuff, but
I feel it is too fussy for quick family shots.