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Hi...thanks for reading. I am considering a new digital camera
purchase...this will be my first digital camera (or real camera for
that matter). My budget is sub $500 with a 64-256 mb memory upgrade
included. I am looking primarily at:

Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Canon G5
Panasonic FZ10

I am primarily interested for family use; i.e., lots of shots of my
kids both inside and outside. And, my kids are normally in motion. I
also want room to grow and robustness. I like the idea of the G5 with
the low ambient illumination aid but the zoom seems weak. Is the 5
megapixels enough where I could zoom up digitally (or in the PC) and
still have good shots from say a distance of 200 feet? I can't see
myself using a tripod so IS is a must for any high zooms (at least
based on my reading). I like alot about the FZ10 but the proprietary
battery and SD memory seems to be begging for issues in the future. I
like the S1 except the 1.5 " LCD and only 3.2 megapixels. Any insight
would be much appreciated. I'm leaning to the S1 based on it's more
standard interface and AA batteries but that LCD has me concerned.
I've also read some reviews that the AF in the S1 is a bit slow.

Thanks,
Rich

R. Bair <> wrote:
> Hi...thanks for reading. I am considering a new digital camera
> purchase...this will be my first digital camera (or real camera for
> that matter). My budget is sub $500 with a 64-256 mb memory upgrade
> included. I am looking primarily at:
<snip>
> megapixels enough where I could zoom up digitally (or in the PC) and
> still have good shots from say a distance of 200 feet? I can't see

Digital zoom is basically just cropping the picture.
It'll also be much more likely to show things like camera shake.
If you want high resolution pictures, zoomed, you really want
decent optical zoom.

"R. Bair" <> wrote in message
news: om...
> Hi...thanks for reading. I am considering a new digital camera
> purchase...this will be my first digital camera (or real camera for
> that matter). My budget is sub $500 with a 64-256 mb memory upgrade
> included. I am looking primarily at:
>
> Canon PowerShot S1 IS
> Canon G5
> Panasonic FZ10

I bought the S1 for several reasons:

10X optical zoom (forget digital)
IS (I'll never go back)
Fully auto or fully manual - your choice

Having the 10X lens is a hoot, whether for scenic shots or football training
camps. The IS means that I can take shots with longer shutter, even in dim
lighting without flash. And being able to play with all of the various
settings (without paying to process film that turns out badly) means that I
can experiment all I want.

It's a fine camera, and it all depends upon what you really want.

dwight