Fujifilm finePix S5000 Digital Camera

[The Mad Monk]

I'm probably picking up one tomorrow, $399.

One plus for me is that it includes an adapter for 55mm filters, which meas it will take a ring adapter for astrophotography.

One concern is that it uses a propietary xD picture card, which is (of course) about 20% more expensive than the standard cards.

Can anyone tell me if this looks like a good deal?

$399 is the limit, and it's not my money.

This is the website of the store I'm going too -- it's the same deal in the store:

http://www.ritzcamera.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&productId=13096352&cmCat=SEARCH

[Urban Ranger]

Ouch, only f3.2 with tele and f2.8 with wide angle? 370mm isn't bad, but the aperture size is the killer.

[The Mad Monk]

What's better for the price -- understanding that the lack of a filter adapter will be a deal breaker? The 10x zoom dosen't mean much to me, but the $399 is a hard limit.

Thanks!

[Urban Ranger]

After looking through the website, your choice looks the the only deal the fits your requirements.

Just don't forget your tripod

[Dinner]

It depends upon what you want to use the camera for. I already had a Nikon N65 SLR camera with an assortment of lenses so I wasn't looking for a super high end digital. Instead I wanted a small portable camera which I could use for snapping pictures, making short videos, and posting pictures on the net.

To do this I bought a Cannon Elph S400 (they've now come out with the S500) and I bought a 1GB flash card to hold all of my pictures and movies. Kaak works at Dell so he was able to get me one at a very reasonable price.

[The Mad Monk]

I want casual picture taking, but I also need to be able to mount it on a telescope, which is why the filter adapter is important. I find myself looking at the Cannon EOS 300D (Digital Rebel), but it costs $600 over my limit -- just a little more I'm willing to pay...

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0308/03082005canoneos300d.asp

[Hurricane]

At Dpreview the S5000 only gets an average score. So have a look at the review before you buy it: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilms5000/

Especially worrying is the "Limited night exposure capability" conclusion.

[The Mad Monk]

Yep, I did see that, but if I could get better for the price, I would.

Of course, I may yet lose my mind and buy that damn 300d anyway.

[Urban Ranger]

What's that thing that looks like an auto film roller?

[The Mad Monk]

It's a Christmas gift from my folks -- they won't consent to merely contributing $400 to a $1000 camera if they think the price is too high, and I'm not about to swing $1000 just for a camera.

[Dinner]

MY suggestion would be to skip digital and instead buy a higher quality used SLR from either Nikon or Cannon. You can always get the free CD with digital versons of your pictures when ever you develop the film.

Either that or save up your money and be prepared to buy a top of the line digital SLR. For your price range and needs though I don't think you can get a high enough resolution digital.

Remember though that on SLRs quality lens cost WAY more then the camera body. I have three Nokor lens which I easily spent a total of $1500 on and I just have the bare minimium. My N65 was bought three years ago for around $600 but the prices have gone down since then.

[The Mad Monk]

Battery pack, in both cases.

[Urban Ranger]

Battery pack? Wow, this thing is a monster!

[The Mad Monk]

Oerdin, you have to understand my history with film -- to spare the tragic details, let's just say that over 50% of the film rolls I have ever shot never even make it to the developers, and about 50% of those that do never make it back.

[The Mad Monk]

I lost my mind.

Parents decided to combine Christmas and birthday (which is in January), and add that to whatever amount I needed to spend to get whichever camera I chose.

So I now own a Digital Rebel.