Best pocket sized camera with AA or AAA batteries and SD?

In your opinion, what is the best pocket sized camera that uses AA
or AAA batteries and stores the pictures on SD cards?

(I do not want lithium ion batteries because they only last two to
three years regardless of how much they are used. I want SD because
they cost the least per gig and I already have some for my super
zoom camera and my mp3 player.)

Thank you in advance for all replies.

 

I would look at the Canon SD series. The second best is the Panasonic
Lumix but a little more on the noisy and over processed side.

 

What is the best car that burns gasoline and has a trunk? There are plenty
to choose from - suggest you look for what pleases you - I don't think
there is a 'best' - if so, then why so many?

 

I like the Canon Powershot A720.

 

Dudley Hanks wrote:

I like the Canon Powershot A720.

It is very good and I have recommended it to many people.  But in this case the poster wanted a pocket sized camera, therefore; a member of the SD series is more impr


"Daniel Prince" <> wrote in message news:...



In your opinion, what is the best pocket sized camera that uses AA or AAA batteries and stores the pictures on SD cards? (I do not want lithium ion batteries because they only last two to three years regardless of how much they are used. I want SD because they cost the least per gig and I already have some for my super zoom camera and my mp3 player.) Thank you in advance for all replies. -- Whenever I hear or think of the song "Great green gobs of greasy grimey gopher guts" I imagine my cat saying; "That sounds REALLY, REALLY good. I'll have some of that!"

 

Much depends on just what your needs are, and how much you are willing
to pay. Without that information, we can't even tell you which ballpark
to look in, let alone where in that ballpark to get the 'best' seat.

 

As far as I'm aware, most of the recent small Fuji cameras use SD
cards. They'll also accept xD cards, but their use is completely
optional and it's been a while since I've used anything but SD cards
in mine. I've seen a few cameras that use AAA batteries, but their
quality has been much lower than their battery capacity.

 

My three-ish month old Fuji A820 takes both xD and SD. My buddy picked up
an A920 this week; it, too, goes both ways, so that slighty newer one
hasn't been stripped of that versatility.

 

How is it inferior? I know its backers include Fuji, but I don't see that
as a problem.

 

Blinky the Shark wrote:

Neil Harrington wrote:



Blinky the Shark wrote:



ASAAR wrote:



On Fri, 4 Apr 2008 13:36:14 -0400, Neil Harrington wrote:



Almost all pocket-sized cameras nowadays except Olympus and Fujifilm use SD cards, so that part's pretty easy -- just avoid Olympus and Fuji. I don't think any cameras use AAA batteries since they have much lower capacity than AA cells.



As far as I'm aware, most of the recent small Fuji cameras use SD cards. They'll also accept xD cards, but their use is completely optional and it's been a while since I've used anything but SD cards in mine. I've seen a few cameras that use AAA batteries, but their quality has been much lower than their battery capacity.



My three-ish month old Fuji A820 takes both xD and SD. My buddy picked up an A920 this week; it, too, goes both ways, so that slighty newer one hasn't been stripped of that versatility.



I suspect the fact that they are doing that shows the handwriting is on the wall for the xD card, which will go the way of the SmartMedia card in the not too distant future.



How is it inferior? I know its backers include Fuji, but I don't see that as a problem.

It is slower

 

And Palm PDAs; mine, at least.

I didn't realize that they were limited (or at least pretty much so) to
Fuji and Olympus, even though I knew that they were behind its
development.

Good point!

If price and performance don't favor them, which they don't seem to, I
can't see any reason.

Thanks, Neil.

 

You might look at the Nikon P50, and see if that is small enough for
you, it's 3.8" x 2.6" x 1.8". It's not really "pocket-sized," but you're
not going to find any true-pocket-sized AA cameras other than the one I
mention below. Compare the P50 to something like the Canon SD850 at 3.5"
x 2.3" x 1.0". The P50 has two key features that set it apart from most
other sub-compacts. It has a wide angle (for a non-SLR) lens, and it
still has an optical viewfinder. But it won't really fit into a pocket.
Also, it lacks image-stabilization. The P60 dropped the wide angle lens,
but added image-stabilization, and it's a bit smaller (3.8" x 2.5" x
1.4"), so you might look at it if you don't care about the better lens.

The only pocket sized digital camera using AA or AAA batteries is
probably the 2 megapixel Oregon Scientific DS6200 which uses two AAA
batteries, see:
"http://www.amazon.com/Oregon-Scientific-DS6200-ThinCam-Digital/dp/B000BK54YQ".
They changed to Li-Po batteries on newer models.

Unfortunately for you, nearly all pocket-sized cameras use Li-Ion
because of the size advantages of Li-Ion, as well as because of all the
other advantages of Li-Ion.

You're making some serious compromises in quality, features, and
usability to save $10 or so on a Li-Ion battery every three years (in
reality they usually last longer than 3 years). A pair of Sanyo Eneloop
rechargeable batteries will be about $5, and will also probably last
about 3-4 years, so you're really only saving about $5 every three
years, per battery or set of batteries.

See "http://batterydata.com" for the facts on Li-Ion versus AA batteries.

 

Aftermarket. The only reason to buy OEM batteries is if the battery is
so new that after-market isn't available yet.

I've had good experiences with batteries from SterlingTek
("http://sterlingtek.com/").

While it's apparently recently discontinued but still available, let me
plug the Canon SD800IS. It's the _only_ pocket camera with an optical
viewfinder, image-stabilization, and a wide angle (for a non-SLR) lens.

Never buy a camera without an optical viewfinder (or at least an
electronic viewfinder).

 

It's pretty obvious that Steve's fanaticism isn't limited to
Li-Ion batteries.

And if one needs to use a camera where the temperatures are colder
than "extreme low", then AAs are what the doctor ordered. Lithium
AA (and AAA) cells are rated for operation at temperatures much
lower than Li-Ion batteries can handle, down to 40 below zero. The
operating temperature range is printed on all of Energizer's Lithium
AA/AAA packages. Yet another fact that SMS studiously avoids . . .

 

You're confusing "pocket-sized" with "compact," either intentionally or
unintentionally. There's a big difference. There are a lot of good AA
powered compact cameras. Usually "pocket-sized" is used to describe
cameras that will fit in a shirt pocket, which is smaller than the Canon
A series. While it's possible to make a pocket-size AAA powered camera,
no one has been able to achieve a pocket size AA camera as of yet.

I only post the facts. Sometimes the truth hurts, but that's something
you'll have to deal with.

 

(SMS) wrote:

" I only post the facts. "

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Just the 'facts' that support your bias.

==================================




(SMS) wrote:

" Sometimes the truth hurts, but that's
something you'll have to deal with. "

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The 'truth' is you're biased towards Li-ion
batteries.

Unfortunately, everyone else has to 'deal'
with it.

 

Thanks for your heads up and non-vitriolic disagreement .
As a pro in this newsgroup, this is helpful to a newbie.

 

Well "wildly" is an exaggeration. They're not as accurate as an LCD or
EVF of course, but since you usually crop digital photos anyway,
absolute accuracy isn't necessary.

Besides enabling the use of the camera in bright sunlight, it also
allows the camera to be held properly, though image-stabilization may
have been become so popular simply because so many people now hold the
camera at arms length in order to frame the picture.

For a pocket camera, I look for:

1. Pocket size (obviously).
2. 28mm at the wide end of the lens
3. Optical viewfinder
4. Image stabilization
5. SD memory card
6. Widely available Li-Ion Battery

Unfortunately, number 2 and 3 narrows the choices down to a total of one.

I probably wouldn't buy an AA powered pocket camera even if some company
were actually able to design one, since several of the other advantages
of Li-Ion batteries are significant enough for me to avoid AA powered
cameras when possible.

We do have a couple of A series Canon's in the house (A60 and A570is),
but of course these are not really pocket cameras. The A60 was the
"kid's camera" when my kids were small, since at $100 I wasn't concerned
about it getting broken. The A570is is the wife's camera, because she
didn't want a really small camera.

 

Perhaps the original poster could say what he meant by "pocket sized,"
since all the camera review sites and all the camera manufacturers use
it interchangeably with "ultra-compact," and never try to claim that
compact cameras are "pocket-sized."

You can't go around changing the definition of a pocket to fit your own
agenda (well I guess you just did!).

 

Be careful not to confuse non-vitriolic with the facts.