Pro1 vs Nikon Coolpix 8700

[ReeferBen]

I already went with the Coolpix 8700 but which would have you choosen? Its not to late for my to sell it and grab a canon!

Which uses better optics nikons or canons?

Thanks

[wxwax]

Reefer, I think the reason no-one's answering is that it's too early to answer your question. No-one's had a chance to use the Pro1. Canon makes a big to-do about the L lens on it... but who knows if it will make a significant difference? :dunno Nikon makes fine cameras and lenses. I don't see how you've made a bad choice.

[pathfinder]

I already went with the Coolpix 8700 but which would have you choosen? Its not to late for my to sell it and grab a canon!

Which uses better optics nikons or canons?

Thanks

There is an excellent review of the Powershot Pro 1 here ... http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_pro1-review/index.shtml and another one here

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/pro1.html


He has many nice things to say about the Powershot Pro 1 - focuses and shoot faster than the G5, but it still seems to suffer at times from purple fringing and some vingetting at times too. Overall they rated it higher thatn the Sony 828 which I thought was impressive. They did not compare it to the Nikon 8700.

If I may ask, how much is the 8700 selling for these days? My wife has a Nikon 5000 and has been pleased with it - menus are not real intuitive, but it takes very nice pictures. Show us some f your pictures with your new camera too.

[ReeferBen]

I got it new off ebay for $820.00, including a 256 m CF card tripod and case. Now I can't wait for the ikelite housing to come out so I can take it diving. I just lost my Olympus C-4000 due to the housing flooding on a dive so that is why I upgraded.

This picture was taken in my 150 reef tank. Not a great shot a bit blurred around the mouth. Maybe a higher ISO?

[pathfinder]

I got it new off ebay for $820.00, including a 256 m CF card tripod and case. Now I can't wait for the ikelite housing to come out so I can take it diving. I just lost my Olympus C-4000 due to the housing flooding on a dive so that is why I upgraded.

This picture was taken in my 150 reef tank. Not a great shot a bit blurred around the mouth. Maybe a higher ISO?
Not real sharp Try USM maybe? But the colors look great!

[ReeferBen]

The menus on this camera are throwing me off. Much different then on the olympus. It takes me forever to cycle through the modes and I keep ending up with a ot of fuzzy shots. I'll try again and post some more.

[ReeferBen]

What do you think?

[pathfinder]

What do you think?Fantastic picture - sharp and great color! Years ago I used to shoot with an Ikelite case with a Canon F1 inside it. I'll see if I can find any of those slides.

I love fish shots! Ya get that FISH? http://www.dgrin.com/images/icons/Laughing.gif

[wxwax]

What do you think?

Sweet! Good color and sharp. D'ypou think the menus are not user friendly, or is it just taking some getting used to?

I ask because user interface is one of the reasons I ended up buying the Canon G3 a year ago, instead of the Nikon 5700.

[ReeferBen]

Thanks!

AS far as the menus they arn't as user friendly as I would have hoped. It takes me some time to get the right mode selected then configure the mode the way I want it. They made lots of "scenes" but all of these are only used if you don;t know how you want the camera to be set.

[wxwax]

Yeah, on my camera those 'scene' functions make horrible pictures.

What functions are you having to dive into the menus for?

[gubbs]

I too am about upgrade my camera, and would be interested to hear any comments you may have about the Olympus 8080.
Thinking of using 17th Street Photo or Buydig.com any comments or other recommends would be appreciated.
Many Thanks

[pathfinder]

I too am about upgrade my camera, and would be interested to hear any comments you may have about the Olympus 8080.
Thinking of using 17th Street Photo or Buydig.com any comments or other recommends would be appreciated.
Many Thanks
Welcome Gubbs


Michael Reichman has an excellent review of the Oly 8080 at http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/olympus-c8080.shtml

He tends to review cameras from aspect of usability for a photographer who wishes to take excellent pictures - He does not dwell at length on the hardware side too much as the Oly 8080 and several other 8Mpxl digicams all use the same image sensor. Got to dpreview.com for that.

Michael does not worship cameras, he is a working pro, and is interested in using them as working tools. Listen to what he has to say carefully - it is very worthwhile. I find he makes few recommendations I disagree with, and many that I wholeheartedly agree.

Again I say welocme Gubbs

[Seamaiden]

Wow, Ben! That Sailfin and the Rusty angel.. those are fantastic shots! That's actually one of THE prettiest Rusty angels I have ever seen. The tang looks like a juvie, but in fantastic condition. Of the two shots, the Rusty is, by far (in my opinion) the best. Bookworthy!

Huge bummer about the Oly.. damn. Where were you diving that you lost it? Btw, I visited your scuba photog site you have linked on RDO, it looks pretty nice. My problem is that I can't get my certs because I cannot find my logbook. Even though I'm one dive short of OWII, no dice, gotta start all over again. This time no beach dives for me (the back), but Aragorn's hot to get back to Bali for more diving, just don't know if I'll do the Sport's Chalet thing here first, or go ahead with the dive center out there.

Again, great shots.

[gubbs]

Thanks for the welcome & the link, he's certainly made me rethink!!

[patch29]

dpreview.com (http://www.dpreview.com/) just posted four 8mp camera reviews. For those who were shopping for an 8mp this should give you some detail info on these cameras.


Olympus C-8080 WZ
Canon PowerShot Pro 1
Nikon 8700
Konica Minolta A2

[wxwax]

This should make Humongoose happy - the Olympus comes out on top. In the real world it might get hurt by only have a 5X zoom. But other than that, it sounds outstanding. I really like that it takes both CF and xD cards - nice to be able to hold onto old memory cards.

[gubbs]

dpreview.com (http://www.dpreview.com/) just posted four 8mp camera reviews. For those who were shopping for an 8mp this should give you some detail info on these cameras.

Olympus C-8080 WZ
Canon PowerShot Pro 1
Nikon 8700
Konica Minolta A2

Very different perspectives between dpreview and http://www.luminous-landscape.com/r...pus-c8080.shtml. I think I need to go and have a look the C8080!

[gus]

Mate...im out on a limb here (god i am an Olypus fan)..........bbuuuuuuuuuuuuuuttt

When the camera is getting to be that size & that cost then i would have to look at the lower end DSLR's. They are better no matter what you throw at them.

[cletus]

Mate...im out on a limb here (god i am an Olypus fan)..........bbuuuuuuuuuuuuuuttt

When the camera is getting to be that size & that cost then i would have to look at the lower end DSLR's. They are better no matter what you throw at them.
:nod

I'm with tRotWL on this one!

[ReeferBen]

Thanks Sea maiden! I lost the oly 4000 due to a flood at ginnie springs. Had to be the clearest water I've ever seen! I didn't do the proper pre dive checks on it before diving in and the housing flooded enough to destroy the camera.

I am going diving for a week in the BVI in three weeks and wish I had a camera to take Uw with me but I guess I am stuck doing all my photo work on land this time. At least my dive buddy will be happy no more wiating around for me to get the shot, and Ill be able to get better air consumption. Wetpixel has some great UW shots and was recommended to me by James Wiseman also a mod on RDO but spends most of his time on wetpixel.

[Johnny Luck]

Very different perspectives between dpreview and http://www.luminous-landscape.com/r...pus-c8080.shtml. I think I need to go and have a look the C8080!You definitely should! I really wanted to buy the Pro1 (I mostly had Canons before) but the shutter lag and the LCD freeze was too much of an issue for my motorcycle action shots (see galleries (http://jean-luc.smugmug.com/Motorcycles)). Then, I redirected my search towards the A2 but was not really convinced. Finally, the 8080 that I had originally "ruled out" because of its shorter zoom appeared like the best choice for my use. I especially like its sturdiness (Magnesium body), very usefull when carying it on a motorcycle off-road. I recieved it a couple of days ago and so I don't have action shots yet, but so far I like it VERY MUCH :thumb.

Here is a macro example in "P" mode with no adjustment, post processing or tripod:

http://jean-luc.smugmug.com/photos/3808800-L.jpg

You can access the other pics in original size (to check the definition)there (http://jean-luc.smugmug.com/gallery/107535/1)

[gubbs]

You definitely should! I really wanted to buy the Pro1 (I mostly had Canons before) but the shutter lag and the LCD freeze was too much of an issue for my motorcycle action shots (see galleries (http://jean-luc.smugmug.com/Motorcycles)). Then, I redirected my search towards the A2 but was not really convinced. Finally, the 8080 that I had originally "ruled out" because of its shorter zoom appeared like the best choice for my use. I especially like its sturdiness (Magnesium body), very usefull when carying it on a motorcycle off-road. I recieved it a couple of days ago and so I don't have action shots yet, but so far I like it VERY MUCH :thumb.

Here is a macro example in "P" mode with no adjustment, post processing or tripod:
You can access the other pics in original size (to check the definition)there (http://jean-luc.smugmug.com/gallery/107535/1)
Thanks, after a lot of deliberation I have now ordered an 8080 for much the same reasons as you. I considered the A2 and the Pro 1 and after the replies on here I was tempted by the DSLR's. Forgetting the price difference of the SLR's for the moment, I like the convenience of the "Point and Shoot's". I try to take my camera pretty much everywhere nowadays and remember how inconvenient my old film SLR was!

Its good to hear how pleased you are with it and the picture look great, Thanks again.

Jon

[pathfinder]

Fantastic picture - sharp and great color! Years ago I used to shoot with an Ikelite case with a Canon F1 inside it. I'll see if I can find any of those slides.

I love fish shots! Ya get that FISH? http://www.dgrin.com/images/icons/Laughing.gif
I found my fish shots..... some from aquariums.... some not.......


If I hide right here, maybe they won't notice me thinks this squirrel fish
http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/3858878-L.jpg


Some of my ancient history....

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/3858870-L.jpg

[pathfinder]

I found my fish shots..... some from aquariums.... some not.......

A couple more

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/3858880-L.jpg



http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/3858877-L.jpg

[ReeferBen]

Good shots Path! I can't wait to get back under to some new shots. Let me dig up some old UW shots for ya and post them tonight.

[photobug]

I too am about upgrade my camera ...
Thinking of using 17th Street Photo or Buydig.com any comments or other recommends would be appreciated.
Many Thanks

I bought my Canon Powershot G2 from Buydig.com a couple of years ago -- a very positive experience. Bought on the web, it was delivered about 3-4 days later, everything exactly as promised, no pressure to buy *anything* else, etc, etc. So that was a "5-star" experience for me.

I bought a Canon Speedlite 420EX from 17th Street Photo a couple of months later and again, that worked out to be a no-hassle, everything-as-promised experience.

I've bought a lens and a bunch of accessories for my 10D from Adorama, which is certainly a very long-time, reputable business. Its prices are good, although not rock-bottom -- probably a "you get what you pay for" deal, since they can probably back up what they sell better than some others. B&H is supposedly in the same category. After I bought the lens from Adorama, it offered me free shipping on the next couple of follow-up orders for accessories, which made it very price-competitive on those orders.

Web stores to AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE: A&M Photo, Digital Liquidators, Broadway Photo, Royal Camera (and others!). Horrible, "nightmare" buyer comments/ratings for those at http://www.resellerratings.com (the first three on the above list suspiciously even share the same street address!). Most of these folks advertise too-good-to-be-true prices, which of course are too good to be true. They're usually selling gray-market goods (without saying so, unless you "corner" them) and push you to buy tons of overpriced, high-margin accessories. When you don't agree to buy the accessories they suddenly shift to "oops, your camera just dropped out of stock and won't be available for 6 weeks". In other words, even if you want the gray-market camera, they'll never actually sell one to you without buying a ton of accessories so they end up with a fat enough profit on the sale. But none of this is probably news to anyone reading this forum ;-).

[wxwax]

:nod Agree with everything you say, Photobug.

[ReeferBen]

Not my best UW shots but heres a couple all taken two years ago in the BVI. With a olympus 4000 z and PT-010 housing no external strobe.

[ReeferBen]

one more for now.