digital camera's and optical viewfinders

[gavuk]

I'm in the market for a new camera ......point and shoot,nothing too clever (its for the mrs)......i would like to have the option of an optical viewfinder as well as lcd screen ,for 2 reasons ,bright sunlight and battery life.Really want aa batteries and sd card storage,but i'm struggling to find many camera's in my budget ,£150,if anyone has recomendations of suitable camera's i would be interested to know or am i worrying unduly about the optical viewfinder?........many thanks

 

[pedrobedro]

Why AA ? Li-ion batteries last a lot longer and spare ones are cheap enough from Hong Kong on ebay. Not many have optical viewfinders now as they go for a larger screen instead. Canon Powershot looks close though. I'm still using an ancient Pentax Optio 330 3.34mp and it still does everything well.

 

[danelectro]

I think you'd be better off going here www.talkphotography.co.uk those guys there know their stuff, you'll get an answer pretty quick I reckon

 

[gavuk]

Thanks for the reply Pedro,canon is where i've been looking ,aa batteries because i have rechargeable batteries ,and at a push (wedding etc)where no charger is available you can use normal batteries or rechargeables,i would consider any camera with sd and optical viewfinder on picture quality first and battery second.......any comments on lcd screens in bright sunlight?

 

[mike os]

yes... they are all crap


optical VF & compact dont go well together.... guess it is cost, body size & what most people want.... many dont even seem to have any VF anymore.

 

[Robotstar5]

Pick up a copy of "what digital camera" it lists pretty much every camera available including what type of viewfinder/screen.

Decide which one you want then have a look at Clifton cameras for competitive prices, then if you're cheeky enough go into local camera shop and ask for price match which I got on a Pentax K-X package recently!

 

[ajf]

hi
i have Fujifilm FinePix F30 Digital camera 6.3 Megapixel 3 x optical zoom which i got in2006 u can take 580 picture on one charge and it lasts for months . at the time i did alot of reseach and found this site http://www.dpreview.com/

ps the f30 has iso 3200 and takes very good pictures at night

 

[graffian]

I bought a Ricoh R6 from jessops, special deal I think, it was £60 this is a few years ago. I bought it based on price really but am well happy with it's Macro shots, will focus down to 10mm and with an 8x[?] zoom it takes pretty good outdoor shots.
The battery is a LiIron thingie, it lasts for ages my only problem is I charge it so
infrequently I can never remember what the charger looks like.
has an Sd card. No optical viewfinder but I can't see any need for it, unless you smash the screen. All in all I am well impressed, will look at another ricoh when I eventually need another camera. It's pocket size. I would have though most cameras were pretty good these days.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Gav, if you can live without an optical VF then my recommendation would be a Panny Lumix, you will just about get one with the Leica lens in your budget.
The photo quality is awesome and the little LiIon battery lasts for ages, even with the lcd on!

 

[gavuk]

quick update ,after reading glowing reviews of the cannon Pedro linked to ,the best camera i had found as well,i purchased an ex display model with 12months warranty......only after signing on the dotted line did i come across posts talking of e18 lens error which jams the lens ,although other models from canon seem to suffer more problems than the one i purchased....i will have to decide if i keep it when it arrives ,shame as i thought canon was a superior make!,,certainly the reviews were positive but as we all know living with anything for a week or 2 is not a reflection on how long it will last .....my old olympus 2mp which takes great photos but suffers from shutter lag and long delays saving to card is still working after 7+years ....

 

[Robotstar5]

No optical viewfinder but I can't see any need for it, unless you smash the screen.

Or you've used SLRs for 30+ years and can't get on with composing shots with an LCD screen I've used Mrs Robos Lumix and can't fault the picture quality, just can't get used to using an LCD screen, also found it difficult to hold steady.