At some point before goign to Eurovision in May, I would like to acquire a camera. I am going to Eurovision in about four weeks, so this needs to happen fairly soon in an effort to acquire the camera before I need to go.
I already have an exceedingly good digital SLR camera, but this camera is...
- Five years old -- imaging technology has advanced a lot in this time. Cameras as big as mine take far better images
- Extraordinarily heavy -- how much do I want to haul it for nearly two weeks?
- Very physically large -- if I go somewhere without a bag big enough for it, there is nowhere for it but around my neck.
On the other hand, there are definitely a lot of good things to say about my current camera...
- I am already very familiar with the controls.
- It operates EXTREMELY QUICKLY, autofocus is more or less instantaneous.
- I already have all of the "stuff" for it, including x2 32GB memory cards.
- Extremely long battery life -- I can usually get about 1000 shots from it if I'm using it heavily with a lot of flash. The D300's CIPA rating is 1000.
Listed below is a few of the cameras on the "medium list" -- the specs don't necessarily tell the whole story, each of these would need a new memory card, for example, and some of them are unique anda re on the medium list for a specific reason. The EOS M has a giant sensor, for example, and the N has a unique form factor with an articulating LCD (and is extremely lightweight) that allows for some interesting operation possibilities, such as shots from high or low angles.
| Resolution |
16MP |
12 |
18 |
12 |
|---|
| Lens (35mm Equiv) |
28-140mm |
21-140mm |
35 fixed or 29-88 |
28-224mm |
|---|
| Memory Format |
SDHC |
SDHC |
SDHC
|
SDHC |
|---|
| Viewfinder |
Optical and LCD |
Optical and LCD |
LCD Only |
Articulated LCD |
|---|
| File Format |
JPEG Only
(unless CHDK comes out quickly) |
RAW |
RAW |
JPEG
|
|---|
| Battery |
AAs -- 150 shots CIPA |
350
NB-10L |
LiIon -- 230
LP-E12 |
LiIon -- 200 |
|---|
| Price |
$99 (amzn/bestbuy) |
$430 (amzn) |
$580 (amzn/bb either kit)
22mm lens: $215
18-55mm lens: 250
battery:$75 |
$299 |
|---|
The PowerShot A1400 is mainly on this list because it is $99 and uses AA batteries. It has the lowest CIPA shot count, but AAs cost almost nothing.
The Canon G15 is one of the better all around options, with a good lens, an optical viewfinder, the highest CIPA shot count rating, and the ability to record RAW. Plus, it limits choice in some important ways, such as lenses and has a very fast lens. The G15's NB10L battery is also incidentally fairly common and seems to be available quite inexpensively, which means that I can buy two and be more or less guaranteed a full day of shooting.
The Canon EOS M looked patently awful when it came out, at a price of just about $800 or $900 for the kit with the 22mm lens. However, at $580 for the kit with either lens, the cost of entry has come down a lot and it's a camera that, truth be told, I could probably trust to completely replace the Nikon D300. It has the same sensor size and its lens system is likely to expand (Plus -- adapters to use existing Canon EOS/M/L glass.) However, reviews of it say that autofocus is slow, and extremely fast focusing is one of the features/functions of the D300 I rely on heavily. One of the other sore points about the EOS M is that it is generally not available locally, which means I either need to buy it from the Internet, sight unseen, or travel to Phoenix to
The Canon PowerShot M is an exceedingly interesting camera. It only shoots JPEG but it looks to have a better lens than the A1400, and the articulated LCD means that there are situations where it can be even more useful than my D300 can today, purely because of the interesting composition possibilities.
Information about CIPA battery life ratings is here: http://www.cipa.jp/english/hyoujunka/kikaku/pdf/DC-002_e.pdf The CIPA battery life ratings pretty accurately measure how photos are taken by real life -- essentially, the camera is turned on, and every 30 seconds a photo is taken in specific conditions, half of the photos are taken with flash on and the other with flash off. Every tenth photo, the camera is turned off and then back on again. Zoom is also used heavily. This is part of why cameras like the Nikon D300 can achieve such good battery life -- they have fewer moving parts than, say, the PowerShot A1400 and the N, and viewfinders and the use of the reviewing display can have a significant effect on battery life. Additionally, the D300's lenses are zoomed by hand, rather tan with a motor.