Semi-Live from PMA 2007

[LeeOtsubo]

Finally got the wifi connection working. Spent the day (7am-7pm) at PMA 2007. Sat through an excellent Photoshop CS2 workshop by a fellow from Lynda.com. Sat through a dreadful session on dSLR marketing and another on photography education. Got a chance to meet a number of people from companies I deal with.

First, a bit of Canon news. There ain't no 40D! All you people who have been waiting with bated breath for the 40D can now exhale. You look silly with your faces turning blue. :D It was wall-to-wall in front of the Canon 1DMkIII. I never even got a chance to handle it.

Nikon's D40X is a nice little camera but doesn't seem worth an extra $200 unless you're a pixel peeper and want 10MP. I think Nikon is strictly playing up to consumers who don't know or understand the value/importance of megapixels in the overall scheme of things. Otherwise, Nikon is still King of the Interface. All the Nikons I handled felt good and had excellent ergonomics. Maybe I'm just getting jaded by the low noise ability of Canon CMOS sensors. Can't all dSLRs take clean photos in near-dark conditions?

Oly had their new E510 and, as always, their menus looked like something designed and implemented for a 9th grade science project. I really try to like Oly but they keep doing weird things.

I was pleasantly surprised by the feel of the Pentax K10D. Since a Pentax Spotmatic was my first "real" camera, I have a warm spot in my heart for Pentax but I felt my eyes glaze over when the rep started telling me about all the different modes. It seems like Pentax went overboard trying to out-do the "big boys". In theory, ISO Priority mode sounds nice but a little thought begs the question, "who cares?" However, Pentax gets the award for the most interesting display. They had a sensor wired to a K10D and as the camera moved, the sensor moved to simulate adjustment for shake. It was pretty cool but I guess you had to be there.

Sony, as usual, had everything in their booth including a new washer/dryer combo that took photos of your clothes as they agitated and spun (just kidding). I'm very jaded about Sony since the root kit fiasco and I didn't want to hang around in their booth too long for fear they were tracking me and phoning home.

Epson had some beautiful printers including the 3800 and 4800. The new 1400 was printing some gorgeous wide format prints. However, I learned some good news/bad news about the R260 (and possibly other printers). The new Epson ink carts have 1/3 the ink as the old R200/300 carts and cost more. I got this from my friends at Mediastreet (http://www.mediastreet.com) who have introduced a 3rd party inks for the R260.

The new HP 9180 is, in true HP fashion, a clunky looking machine and the HP reps, in true HP fashion, pretended that they've never heard of the litany of complaints on various forums regarding problems with the 9180.

I didn't spend too much time looking a P&S cameras because they all pretty much seem to be "me too" products at this time. Really, how much differentiation can you have in cameras that cost $200-$400?

I plan to take my camera with me tomorrow and take some photos but to summarize today's findings, the industry is pretty much gearing up for a shift toward dSLRs. There's still a huge P&S market but it will probably be price driven and profits will be in dSLRs.

Finally, for people looking for good PS CS books, check out O'Reilly (http://www.oreilly.com). They had the only thing I felt compelled to buy today.

[Chuck S.]

Lee, thanks for the update!

Chuck

[Byron Gale]

I appreciate your report, Lee... thanks.

[Bob_Benner]

Great report Lee thanks. Have you seen or heard anything about Nikon possibly coming out with the rumored D3?

[LeeOtsubo]

Almost forgot, Adobe isn't on the exhibit floor at all. They have a booth in an area called Technology Suites which is Invitation Only. I guess my invititation was lost in the mail! :D The only thing Adobe has announced is a pre-announcement announcement. They announced that PS CS3 will be formally announced on March 27. Did everyone get that? Weird!

By the way, the PS CS class I took yesterday was "hands-on" with about US$250,000 worth of Macs. I sat in front of a Mac for the first time in 15 years. Of course, once you're in PS CS, it's just about the same as a Wintel PC except for that odd "Apple" key. I also missed the "Blue Screen of Death" (just kidding). What really confused me was the 2-button mouse that looks like a 1-button mouse. All-in-all, I was very impressed with how far Macs have come since I last worked with one. I might even go out and buy one so I can expand my classes to the "Dark Side". :D

Bob - I haven't heard any rumors. PMA is all about here and now! None of the vendors will talk about any futures (eg Canon 40D) because they're here to sell what they have now.

Today, I'm going back to take photos of interesting things I found. I'll let you know when I have the photos up tonight.

[Wags374]

Appreciate you taking the time to give us updates Lee!

[Debbie Z]

Lee, glad to see you keeping an open mind about the Macs! Thanks for the reports back!

[G. OReilly]

Lee...Thank you for your excellent report.

I know how these conventions can get saturated with lots of goodies...and of course "lots of people"

Again
Thanks

George:cool:

[jazzfisher]

Lee,
Appreciate the report!!!
Glad you liked the feel of the Pentax K10D--my new baby! Yes, I'm still trying to figure out all those programs---I usually shoot with my "custom program" anyway!:)

[n692bc]

Thanks Lee for your reporting. It's interesting to get the other side of the convention, none of the hype, more of where's the beef!

Again thanks for your work on our part.

Ross

[LeeOtsubo]

We got into more details today and I took photos of interesting products I found yesterday. These aren't meant to show you products but to try to give you a feel for PMA. If you want product specs, check out the various web sites like DPReview, Imaging Resource and about a gazillion others. My photos are meant to show you what PMA looks like with the "makeup" (hype).

I had 2 sessions scheduled today. The Photoshop session had good info but the instructor couldn't present to save his life. He basically read from the PPT slides. I nearly fell asleep in the last 30 minutes. I did have an interesting experience in this session. The Mac crashed and lost the Task Bar. The "helpers" couldn't get it to work again so they had to move me to another Mac. I noticed Macs don't have a pretty blue screen when they crash.

The 2nd session was supposed to be Monte Zucker demonstrating portraiture techniques but Monte couldn't make it so they substituted someone else. I chose to swap that session for a Wacom tablet session tomorrow. I wanted to see and hear a master, not the second string.

I asked my wife to check out the the best high, mid-range cameras and write a report for the advanced P&S group. She spent several hours reviewing Canon, Olympus, Samsung and Fujifilm. Tomorrow, she'll visit Nikon and Panasonic to give us a woman's perspective on the new cameras while I provide a counterpoint from a technical point of view. A little teaser: she says a highly touted new camera has a "cheesy" feel to it while a camera that I "pooh-poohed" finished high in her ratings. I'm curious to see what she finds tomorrow.

Bought a book titled, Adobe Photoshop CS2, One-on-One, by Deke McClelland (www.oreilly.com (http://www.oreilly.com)). Like most photographers, I learned PS by "trial & error". I've now been asked to develop a PS and PSE class so I decided I needed something to give the the fundamentals in a structured way. This book sounds like it will do just that. It's a bit pricey at US$40 (CA$56) but it's worth it if it will help flatten the learning curve.

I negotiated a deal with Vincent Bockaert, the author and publisher of 123 Digital Imaging (http://www.123di.com). This means I can offer a substantial discount to students who sign up for an on-line webcast class from our company. If you haven't heard of Vincent and 123DI, visit the web site and try the demo. It's an amazing learning tool. Past students retroactively qualify for the discount.

Several weeks ago, I was standing in a muddy lake bed, waiting for an osprey to do something interesting. He and I stared at each other for about 2 hours before he got tired of the game and flew off. The wait would have been much easier if I had something like a Walkstool (http://www.bkaphoto.com). As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted one. There are 3 different sizes and they all weigh less than 2 lbs.

The most entertaining booth was Olympus (http://www.olympusamerica.com/) where a rep demonstrated the new Stylus 770SW consumer P&S that is waterproof, drop-proof, crush-proof and freeze-proof. He actually dropped it from several feet for me to take photos of it bouncing off the counter.

My friends from Mediastreet (http://www.mediastreet.com) were showing their new ink sets for the Epson R260 and 1400 with Claria inks. Claria is supposed to be the near-archival dye inks. Unfortunately, the Epson inks cost about US$85 per set. Mediastreet has compatible inks for about 1/4 the price and the prints looked as good as the Epson prints.

Speaking of Epson (http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/ProductCategory.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=-8165), the new 1400 was on display and it outputs beautiful 13" X 19" prints for only US$399 (list price, available next month). Too bad the ink carts now have just 5ml instead of 15ml like the R1800 and cost nearly twice as much. Still, it's a great printer if you want 13x19.

HP (http://www.hp.com) had their new 9180 on display but the reps were either lying or clueless when I asked them about all the reported problems on sites like DPReview (http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1003&message=22060470). I've pretty much given up on HP and Sony.

Finally, if you've read this far, you're probably hard-core so I have a question for people with dSLRs. How many of you have considered a battery grip for your dSLR? A battery grip allows you to have 2 batteries in the camera for longer shooting time, better balances the camera with long lenses and, most importantly, adds controls on the side of the camers for easier vertical shooting. This is particularly useful for sports, nature and travel photography. Many Nikon bodies don't even have vertical grips available and Canon grips are expensive. If you could buy a grip in the US$125 range, how many would be interested?

I'll try to post some PMA photos in my gallery (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/gallery/gallery.php) this evening.

[Byron Gale]

...considered a battery grip for your dSLR? ...If you could buy a grip in the US$125 range, how many would be interested?...Lee,

Thanks for another edge-of-my-seat account!! :p

WRT the battery grip. $125 is not significantly different from the $132 I would currently have to pay to have one delivered to my door, so I'm not biting, yet. Get back to me when you're wondering who's interested at $100...

Byron

[LeeOtsubo]

Byron,
I'm still negotiating with the mfg.:D

[Ward Grant]

Lee, just adding my thanks for posting your impressions and tidbits. I've never been to a show like this, but I'm sure you could easily go into information overload as you look at all the new models and stuff.

Just curious-is this a closed convention for professionals only or can average photo hound walk the convention floor? (I've been to both kind of conventions in my work life.)

[Chuck S.]

Lee, re battery grips, I recently bought one for my Canon 30D (Canon branded grip). I haven't used it yet; have reverted/regressed to P&S for the moment. I believe it was about $140-150. $125 sounds like a good price point.

Chuck

Correction to price: $170.

[LeeOtsubo]

Lee, just adding my thanks for posting your impressions and tidbits. I've never been to a show like this, but I'm sure you could easily go into information overload as you look at all the new models and stuff.

Just curious-is this a closed convention for professionals only or can average photo hound walk the convention floor? (I've been to both kind of conventions in my work life.)

Ward,
The exhibits are open to the public but the sessions, workshops and classes are limited to PMA members who are usually working pros, retailers, academics, etc. You should check it out if you're in the area. It's a kick to play with all the toys.

[LeeOtsubo]

Lee, re battery grips, I recently bought one for my Canon 30D (Canon branded grip). I haven't used it yet; have reverted/regressed to P&S for the moment. I believe it was about $140-150. $125 sounds like a good price point.

Chuck

Chuck,
Thanks for the feedback. I thought the Canon BG-ED3 for the 30D was closer to US$180? That's what it was for the 20D.

[Chuck S.]

Lee, I'll try to figure out where I got it and check the invoice. Thought it was B&H but may have been Adorama or even amazon.com.

Chuck

[Chuck S.]

Lee, you're right - $169.95 at B&H. Makes $125 look even better!

Chuck

[jazzfisher]

Lee,
FYI:extra battery grip: no interest at most any price-don' t need to make camera heavier or harder to hold & can install new battery in no time

[TonyW]

Lee: Great comments from PMA thanks. I have an old version of 123DI (3.0)and that was really got me started on learning how to actually use Elements rather than treat it like a point and shoot :) . So good choice offering it. And I do have a the Nikon battery holder for the D80 (cost around $140) and do like it for portrait and general use around the house. The extra shooting buttons and command dial as well as the grip are very conveniently placed for portrait. Extra bulk doesn't bother me at all and I even add weight by using 8 rechargeable AA's in it which seem to last forever. And being to slip in regular AA's is very handy when you run out of power in places where there's nowhere to recharge (and that's happened to me enough times in the past with previous cameras to always like to have the AA option).

Tony

[LeeOtsubo]

Hi Sherry, Tony & Chuck,
I had a suspicion that women would hesitate to add bulk to their (camera) bodies just as they try to shed bulk from their (human) bodies.:D Men, OTOH, like to add bulk & endurance to both bodies. :D I'm still in discussions with the mfg and, depending on what sort of response I get, I may be able to negotiate a better price.

Tony - Glad to hear others have had experience w/ 123DI. Version 4 has 3 levels of each lesson so you can pick the amount of detail you want. I think this will add huge value to my workshops.

Chuck - Thanks for checking. I was pretty sure I paid about $170-$180 for my 10D and 20D grips. As a sports photog, the battery grips are a necessity.

I probably won't be able to post my final update until tomorrow since we'll lose the wifi connection today at noon when we check out.

[lowbone]

Lee, I have battery grips on my 20D and 30D. I paid $160 for each at B&H. Not only does the grip give controls for verical but it also allows me to keep my elbows in towards my body. The weight doesn't bother me and I feel it makes the camera less front heavy when I use a long lens. The longer battery life is also a plus. When I look at my Canon grips it seems that someone could make something similar for less money. There are a few aftermarket grips on the market now but People in various forums have given them some pretty bad reviews

[Wags374]

Thanks for the update Lee! I'm looking forward to your wifes report!! I'm especially interested in what she (and you too) think of the Kodak z712is. So I'm hoping that is in her report. :)

[Chuck S.]

My only gripe about the Canon grip is that it's a bit of a pain to install and uninstall; it's not something I'm likely to do on the fly. The scariest part of the process is the removal of the door from the battery compartment on the camera; it's not at all difficult, but then I'm afraid I'm going to lose it somewhere.... I don't know; maybe once I install it, I won't want to remove it.

Chuck

[chas3stix]

Hi Lee,
Thanks for the great on scene reports from PMA. A battery grip for $125.00?
You bet I'm interested! Now if it would only work with My Nikon D70. I've got a Nikon battery grip for my Coolpix 5700 and it works just fine.
Chas

[lowbone]

Chuck, Look in the instruction book that comes with your grip. There is a little slot built right into the grip for storing the battery door. No worries about losing it.

[jazzfisher]

I had a suspicion that women would hesitate to add bulk to their (camera) bodies just as they try to shed bulk from their (human) bodies.:D Men, OTOH, like to add bulk & endurance to both bodies. :D

Lee,
Weighing in at a mighty 100 lbs I don't want to heft more than I have to !:D
Although the Pentax 10KD does have a reasonally price grip (that holds the extra battery) available. I have thought about it.

[Chuck S.]

Look in the instruction book that comes with your grip

lowbone, thanks - I really ought to do that more often.....

:o

Chuck

[TonyW]

That was my first embarrassing experience with the Nikon grip (which has the same little slot). First time I took the grip off I looked all over the place for the battery compartment door. Even got close to ordering another one. Guess where I finally found it :o

Tony

[Inspeqtor]

lowbone, thanks - I really ought to do that more often.....

:o

Chuck


That seems to be something us men do not do enough. Oh well...

[Byron Gale]

...I really ought to do that more oftenYou could do it while you're bulking up your endurance!!

[LeeOtsubo]

Well, another PMA has come and gone. Just in case you were wondering, STILL no Canon 40D. OTOH, the good news is that existing Canon x0D dSLRs have not imploded as rumored, Nikon has NOT taken over the known dSLR world and pixel peepers have not gone blind as feared. Oh well, there's always the August round of rumors to be whipped up between now and then.

Onward to fun stuff. Sat in on one good session and one great session on Saturday. Effective Use of Wacom Tablets with Wes Maggio was good except for the Mac that flaked out on me, again. Who says Macs don't have problems like PCs? I took the class to see if there were tips I could incorporate into a PSE class I'm developing and learned quite a bit about the capabilities of the newer Wacom tablets. I've now got a new Intuos 6x8 on order.

The GREAT session was Working Smart with PS CS2 by Julieanne Kost. Those of you who have seen Julieanne's videos know she's very sharp but, in person, she's also got a great personality. You'd never know she is a Geek Goddess. She's much better in person. She said she could tell us the actual FCS for PS CS3 but then, she'd have to kill us. She also started to explain why Adobe made such a bonehead mistake as not having a booth in the exhibit hall but hesitated and said the "powers that be" would have her knocked off. She did let on that PS CS3 will be much quicker than CS2 which those who have d/l'd the beta already know.

She gave 3 URLs that should make any PS CS2 user ecstatic:
www.software-cinema.com/jk (http://www.software-cinema.com/jk) 3 free videos on PS CS2 Smart Objects
www.adobeevangelists.com (http://www.adobeevangelists.com) oodles of pdfs on many versions of PS
www.projectphotoshoplightroom.com (http://www.projectphotoshoplightroom.com) think it might have Lightroom tutorials?

While I was sitting in sessions, my wife was finishing her review of the state of consumer P&S (high-midrange) cameras. Here's her write-up and observations:

PMA 2007 - A Woman’s Perspective

The Hype
The “buzz” at PMA this year was around “personalization” of photos, particularly in the area of photo albums. Creating photo albums on-line, then printing them in book form as a keepsake or gift, is the “band wagon” retailers are hopping on this year. Many of the big names in on-line photo services, Shutterfly, Snapfish, and Kodak, have licensed content from companies such as Sesame Street, children’s book publishers (e.g. “Thomas the Train” series), and even Martha Stewart for people to use when creating their personalized albums, photo books, t-shirts, and coffee mugs. Camera manufacturers have responded by offering their consumer point & shoot (P&S) models in colors to match your other personal, digital accessories.

The Camera Hunt
The Specs: A move-up camera from my Nikon Coolpix 4200 P&S with 3x optical zoom to a 6X-12X zoom and “beginner” manual controls. I’m not a dSLR candidate, but I have shot enough with my 4200 to know that I’m ready to move beyond a 3X optical zoom and 8 scene modes. The most decisive specs for me are “how does it feel in my hand?” and “Are the controls and menus intuitive (without reading the manual!)”.

The Candidates:
Canon, Nikon, Kodak, Olympus, Panasonic, and Samsung

General Specs for all: 6-10MP, manual controls, some form of image stabilization (IS) either software or hardware-enabled, greater ISO range, particularly for low-light conditions (800+), viewfinder (except Samsung model) and larger, brighter LCD.

The Results (* star thru ***** stars):
* - Kodak Z712IS 12X zoom, manual controls; Li-ion battery. The housing looked and felt “cheesy” - no better way to explain it. Perhaps Kodak got too many complaints about the weight of earlier models in this series. My perception was that the hardware and software were designed for Auto Mode and driving consumers to either print with Kodak’s printers or upload to Kodak’s on-line gallery. There was nothing intuitive about the placement of the external controls or navigating through the menus. The lens control action seemed slow and jerky. I was disappointed as I had heard favorable comments from owners of the Z710.

* - Panasonic DMC-FZ8 12X zoom, manual controls, Li-ion battery. The form and fit of the housing was good. Lens controls had smooth action. Shutter lag still noticeable, but acceptable. Non-intuitive external controls and internal menus. As I struggled to figure out how to enter, then exit the menu functions (forget navigating with the joystick), the battery died. I decided to move on. I had already tested the Canon and Olympus units and had no problem entering, navigating and exiting their menus systems.

*** - Samsung NV7 7X optical zoom, manual controls, Li-ion battery. Very sophisticated, trendy, slim-line housing. Except for the on/off button, lens control switch, and a limited settings dial, all of the controls are touch sensitive and aligned horizontally and vertically along the LCD. A little too small to be comfortable in my hands, plus I’m ham-handed, so the touch controls are out for me. Smooth lens control action. Feature-packed software. It’s worth a look for a space-efficient, travel camera with greater range and capability than a standard P&S.

***1/2 - Nikon Coolpix P5000 3.5X optical zoom, manual controls, Li-ion battery. Hands down (no pun intended,) my favorite for fitting comfortably in my hand. I asked why the limited zoom? No real answer, just “it’s coming in the next generation” and “it’s set up to accommodate a telephoto converter and a wide angle adapter.” Along with full manual controls, the P5000 has Aperture and Shutter Priority modes; e.g., Select the Aperture setting; the camera automatically selects the Shutter speed -- a definite plus for a newbie such as myself. The P5000 external controls and menu navigation remain true to their predecessors; straightforward and intuitive. Hmm, I’ll have to think about this.

**** - Olympus SP-550UZ 18X optical zoom, manual controls, AA batteries. I was excited when I picked up this camera! It fit and felt good in my hand; the external controls and menu navigations were intuitive; the lens control action was smooth with more zoom capability than I could imagine...but, after all, it is an Olympus. Olympus includes tips in its menus that provide clear and concise instructions for using features, controls, and modes. I’ll do some more research on this model. Right now, this is looking like my “move up” camera.

****1/2 - Canon Powershot G7 6X optical zoom, manual controls, Li-ion battery. The booth person told me that this is Canon’s “hybrid” model - the best of the P&S and dSLR worlds. I can see why. It reeks with Canon features and quality. The G7 felt a little heavier and more awkward in my hands than the Nikon or Olympus. The latter two have a more substantial handgrip, but I know I can adapt to Canon’s design. The external and menu controls were intuitive, straight forward, and easy-to-use. I found the thumbwheel control for Aperture and Shutter an interesting and accessible feature. If I get over my infatuation with the Olympus 550UZ, then this will be my camera of choice.

Note: I also tested Canon’s Powershot S3IS and TX1. The S3IS was more camera than I need or want. The TX1 is Canon’s sleek, trendy, “concept” camera. When it’s available in stores, try it. If you can adapt to the hand position (similar to holding a video camera,) the controls are very easy to manipulate and highly intuitive.

The Digital Photo Gal
**********

So, there you have it. High-midrange, consumer P&S from the perspective of a woman who was there and saw it with her own eyes. Hope you've enjoyed our PMA report.

[jazzfisher]

Thank you digital photo gal---just today I was researching P&S for friends going on trip to Argentina in a couple of weeks.
Thank you!:)

[Chuck S.]

Lee and "DPG":

Thanks again for sharing your experiences at PMA; it was almost like being there! Special thanks to DPG for the candid and well thought out "Woman's Perspective" -excellent analysis and conclusions!

Chuck

[jo]

Thanks for the info Lee and wife -- I think -- but you are going to cost me money again! {sigh}

I definitely can't afford the new lens for my XT, but the 18x zoom Olympus may be my next buy. I used an Olympus with a 10x zoom until I bought the XT and I loved it with a couple of reservations. This new Olympus may replace the old one as my carry-around camera when I don't want to lug the XT around with me.

[BonzoDog]

Good informative report. Thank you.

[Wags374]

Thanks for the reviews DPG! Guess I won't bother waiting around for the Z712is to hit the shelves. Have to see I can find a G7 to look at.

[Byron Gale]

Thanks to both the DPGuy and DPGal for bringing the show to us!!

[Lorri]

Thanks for the camera review from a woman's angle! I've been watching the Olympus for a few weeks and I think your hands on review was the last bit of confirmation I needed to make the purchase.

[jo]

PMA 2007 - A Woman’s Perspective[/FONT]...

The Camera Hunt
The Specs: A move-up camera from my Nikon Coolpix 4200 P&S with 3x optical zoom to a 6X-12X zoom and “beginner” manual controls. I’m not a dSLR candidate, but I have shot enough with my 4200 to know that I’m ready to move beyond a 3X optical zoom and 8 scene modes. The most decisive specs for me are “how does it feel in my hand?” and “Are the controls and menus intuitive (without reading the manual!)”.

The Candidates:
Canon, Nikon, Kodak, Olympus, Panasonic, and Samsung

General Specs for all: 6-10MP, manual controls, some form of image stabilization (IS) either software or hardware-enabled, greater ISO range, particularly for low-light conditions (800+), viewfinder (except Samsung model) and larger, brighter LCD.

The Results (* star thru ***** stars):
* - Kodak Z712IS 12X zoom, manual controls; Li-ion battery. The housing looked and felt “cheesy” - no better way to explain it. Perhaps Kodak got too many complaints about the weight of earlier models in this series. My perception was that the hardware and software were designed for Auto Mode and driving consumers to either print with Kodak’s printers or upload to Kodak’s on-line gallery. There was nothing intuitive about the placement of the external controls or navigating through the menus. The lens control action seemed slow and jerky. I was disappointed as I had heard favorable comments from owners of the Z710.

* - Panasonic DMC-FZ8 12X zoom, manual controls, Li-ion battery. The form and fit of the housing was good. Lens controls had smooth action. Shutter lag still noticeable, but acceptable. Non-intuitive external controls and internal menus. As I struggled to figure out how to enter, then exit the menu functions (forget navigating with the joystick), the battery died. I decided to move on. I had already tested the Canon and Olympus units and had no problem entering, navigating and exiting their menus systems.

*** - Samsung NV7 7X optical zoom, manual controls, Li-ion battery. Very sophisticated, trendy, slim-line housing. Except for the on/off button, lens control switch, and a limited settings dial, all of the controls are touch sensitive and aligned horizontally and vertically along the LCD. A little too small to be comfortable in my hands, plus I’m ham-handed, so the touch controls are out for me. Smooth lens control action. Feature-packed software. It’s worth a look for a space-efficient, travel camera with greater range and capability than a standard P&S.

***1/2 - Nikon Coolpix P5000 3.5X optical zoom, manual controls, Li-ion battery. Hands down (no pun intended,) my favorite for fitting comfortably in my hand. I asked why the limited zoom? No real answer, just “it’s coming in the next generation” and “it’s set up to accommodate a telephoto converter and a wide angle adapter.” Along with full manual controls, the P5000 has Aperture and Shutter Priority modes; e.g., Select the Aperture setting; the camera automatically selects the Shutter speed -- a definite plus for a newbie such as myself. The P5000 external controls and menu navigation remain true to their predecessors; straightforward and intuitive. Hmm, I’ll have to think about this.

**** - Olympus SP-550UZ 18X optical zoom, manual controls, AA batteries. I was excited when I picked up this camera! It fit and felt good in my hand; the external controls and menu navigations were intuitive; the lens control action was smooth with more zoom capability than I could imagine...but, after all, it is an Olympus. Olympus includes tips in its menus that provide clear and concise instructions for using features, controls, and modes. I’ll do some more research on this model. Right now, this is looking like my “move up” camera.

****1/2 - Canon Powershot G7 6X optical zoom, manual controls, Li-ion battery. The booth person told me that this is Canon’s “hybrid” model - the best of the P&S and dSLR worlds. I can see why. It reeks with Canon features and quality. The G7 felt a little heavier and more awkward in my hands than the Nikon or Olympus. The latter two have a more substantial handgrip, but I know I can adapt to Canon’s design. The external and menu controls were intuitive, straight forward, and easy-to-use. I found the thumbwheel control for Aperture and Shutter an interesting and accessible feature. If I get over my infatuation with the Olympus 550UZ, then this will be my camera of choice.

Note: I also tested Canon’s Powershot S3IS and TX1. The S3IS was more camera than I need or want. The TX1 is Canon’s sleek, trendy, “concept” camera. When it’s available in stores, try it. If you can adapt to the hand position (similar to holding a video camera,) the controls are very easy to manipulate and highly intuitive.

The Digital Photo Gal
**********

So, there you have it. High-midrange, consumer P&S from the perspective of a woman who was there and saw it with her own eyes. Hope you've enjoyed our PMA report.
So...
Did the Digital Photo Gal buy one of those cameras? And how happy is she with it if she did?

[LeeOtsubo]

So...
Did the Digital Photo Gal buy one of those cameras? And how happy is she with it if she did?

We're in the midst of negotiations. I thought she should just use my old Canon 10D but she didn't like that for all the usual reasons (it's too big, too heavy, too complex and, the BIG ONE: it's not mine!) So, I said we could get her a new camera if I could get a new lens but DW can be SO-O-O suspicious. She immediately wanted to know how much my lens would cost. She threw a hissy fit when I said I would buy it used and it would only cost $5000. So, we're at a stalemate at the moment. :D I'll let you know how this plays out after I get out of the hospital. The doc says I'll live but will always walk with a limp! :D

[Wags374]

Lets see - $5000 lens vs. a $500 camera.... hmmm surprised you only walk with a limp! :D

[Bob_Benner]

We're in the midst of negotiations. I thought she should just use my old Canon 10D but she didn't like that for all the usual reasons (it's too big, too heavy, too complex and, the BIG ONE: it's not mine!) So, I said we could get her a new camera if I could get a new lens but DW can be SO-O-O suspicious. She immediately wanted to know how much my lens would cost. She threw a hissy fit when I said I would buy it used and it would only cost $5000. So, we're at a stalemate at the moment. :D I'll let you know how this plays out after I get out of the hospital. The doc says I'll live but will always walk with a limp! :D

Lee, always tell them a higher price and then when you do get it tell them you got a great deal (the orice you knew it was) and it cost less than exspected. Just kidding, that might be worse in the long run.

[jo]

I'll let you know how this plays out after I get out of the hospital. The doc says I'll live but will always walk with a limp! :D
You'd better give up before the hospital lets you go home to her. She sounds like a dangerous woman!