Expert: John Oliverio - 8/5/2004

Question
Hi John,
I am in the process of buying a digital camera and I need some help in selecting the best one to suit my needs. I have some basic knowledge about digital cameras, but with so many different models on the market today I am at a bit of a loss.

The #1 aspect I want in a camera is size. I would like it to be small enough to fit in my pocket fairly easily. I am not sure if you are familiar with the Penntax Optio S4, but that is about the perfect size.
Most of the pictures I plan to take are of people within 5-20 feet from me. However I do plan to take pictures of things in the distance so a good zoom is very important.
I don't think I need any complex features that many of these cameras have but if you know of some that are important or work well let me know what they are.
I would also like to know what size memory stick you would recommend. I was planning on going with a 128 or 256 stick.
I would also like this camera to take movies that have clear visual as well as audio playback.
I am planning on buying a 4.0 megapixel camera. I am not sure if I need one higher than that, if I do let me know
I am trying to stay under the $500 range for the camera and the memory stick if at all possible.

I am sorry for so many questions but this is a big investment for me and it is very important that I buy the right camera to suit my needs. If you could give me a few camera that you feel best fit my criteria that would be great. Thanks in advance for all you help.


Answer
Nicolas,

Well, if size is the main thing and the Pentax is the right size.....  you've pretty much made your decision as there is no other camera in your price range that is that small that has a zoom.  You may do research and mention the Casio as one I should have told you about, but it doesn't count as it is made by Pentax.  The next closest machine (current) would be the Sony T1 but it is $500 before you buy any accessories.

You mention a "good zoom".  I don't know what a good zoom is to you, but to me it is about 10X.  Unfortunately you can't get a 10X zoom in a camera that fits in your pocket.  The Pentax has 3X and I was amazed they squeezed that in there.  

I really can't suggest a memory card for you.  Only you can answer that.  Simply decide how many pictures you want a card to be able to hold at 4mp.

The movie mode on all these little cameras are simply a gimick.  The audio is bad and the video is jumpy.  There really aren't that many digital still cameras that do decent video.  The best are the Sony models with the Video VX mode and the Canon S1-IS.

As for how many pixels you need, you didn't tell me how big you are going to print.  That is the only way for me to answer that question.

If you could deal with cameras that are a little larger that the Pentax, you may want to consider the Minolta XG and Nikon 4200.  I find the Nikon is one of my favorites and it is probably one of the easiest to use and download from.

John