Life is grand

And so, in conclusion, the P5000 is a product that - like so many we look at - has an achilles heel that we feel is important enough to reduce its rating, because it has a serious effect on the overall usability of an otherwise excellent camera.

- DPReview of the Nikon Coolpix P5000.

The Nikon Coolpix P5000 sounds like exactly what I have been looking for. I have a Canon EOS 20D which is fantastic but hardly portable. For a long while now I’ve been wanting a pocketable camera that produces good results, has manual controls and is fast to use. The P5000 ticks every one of those boxes except the fast to use one.

Apparently it can take up to two seconds to focus.

I don’t sit still that long, never mind my future kids.

I cannot justify it. Every situation that involves the words “pocketable”, “chance”, “unplanned” etc. require a reasonable focus speed. Party photos, kid photos, out-the-window-of-a-car photos, birthday and Christmas photos, Sunday walk photos. You don’t want to be yelling to your girlfriend “Don’t move for 2 seconds hun, it’s focusing!” You pay models good money to stand still for photographs, you don’t get your kids or wife to stand still.

DPReview does their best to justify it and say it is usable when doing landscape photography. But folks, you’d have your DSLR when you are doing your landscape photos. Not a pocket camera.

Argh! I am frustrated. Nikon, P5001 please with fast focus. Leave everything else alone.

A co-worker brought a Samsung NV10 over to my desk today and let me have a quick hands-on.

It looks great, the blue ring set against the brushed dark-grey skin works well. It feels even better, probably the best feeling compact camera I have held. The body feels like all metal and the whole camera has a nice weight to it. The mode dial operates smoothly and with a nice snick-snick as you enter each mode. Power-on is fast enough and everything I tried was pretty quick. The innovative interface on the back works. It took me half a minute to get used to it and then I was flying through the menus, setting ISOs between shots and generally changing settings a lot faster than even on my Canon EOS 20D.

I like the feel and operation of this camera. Now I just need to figure out if the picture quality is good enough and I may have found a compact camera I like.

Outback fun

Originally uploaded by beeater.

We are thinking of getting a 4×4 of some sort and have been looking at Subaru Foresters. Check out the Subaru Outback above though. The driver flipped it at 100kph, it rolled 4 times and she then got out, picked up her camera and took a photo of the crash. That is seriously good crash protection from the Subaru and pretty amazing robustness from the Nikon DSLR.

Canon officially announced their Canon EOS 400D (Canon Digital Rebel XTi in the States) today. 10 megapixels, anti-dust system, 9 point AF and a bigger LCD. The dual LCD on the back of the 350D is gone, replaced by one 2.8″ LCD. No spot-metering but it does have a RGB histogram. Frame rate and buffer size is up. Size and weight remain nearly identical to the 350D. Recommend retail price is $100 less at $899 for the body or $999 with the 18-55mm II kit-lens.

All in all a decent upgrade on the 350D, more so than the 30D was to the 20D. Current 350D owners need not rush to upgrade however, your baby is quite adequate. New buyers intent on a Canon camera would do well with the 400D though.

And this brings me to the Nikon D80. I own a Canon EOS 20D but my advice to people looking for entry level DSLRs is to go with Nikon. The D80 seems the better camera to me. You’ve got a better grip, a top LCD and more physical dials for control. Otherwise it is a much of a muchness compared to the 400D, any discussion on CMOS vs. CCD is pixel peeping at this stage.

Then you have the dream lens for any entry level user; the Nikon AF-S DX 18-135mm. 18mm to 135mm, that is one lens that covers the entire range most users will ever need. It is exactly the range that three potential 400D buying people have asked me if Canon have in their line up, and they don’t.

And on from the D80 you have the D200 which is really something wonderful to behold.

If you must get a Canon then wait till the end of September and get the 400D. What about the 30D? I’d go for it because of the extra physical controls and size that fits in my hands better. But really if you have to ask yourself “400D vs. 30D” then 90% of you should get the 400D. Those that a 30D suits know already.

If your requirement is an entry level DSLR though then head for the D80.

The Nikon D80 looks like a decent DSLR camera. A good resolution upgrade on the Nikon D70s, up to 10mp now. What really impresses me though is the kit lens; an 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6. The aperture range is not great but 18mm to 135mm (27mm to 202mm on the DSLR) is fantastic. A couple of lads at work have recently been asking me about DSLRs and getting a lens that they didn’t have to keep swapping when doing wide-angle and telephoto work. I can only assume the quality of the optics will be good as Nikon generally release only good glass.

I am in the market for a digicam to go alongside my DSLR. This Samsung NV7 OPS looks beautiful, has good specs and hopefully overcomes my main sticking point with digicams; manual control.

Sadly I already know it doesn’t have a zoom ring, just the usual rocker switch on the back. But does it make changing aperture and shutter quick and easy?

Responsiveness is also another important bit. I was using Fiona’s Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX7 over the weekend and while I liked it I did miss a few shots due to shutter lag. I also pined for an optical viewfinder as during the day the LCD is not always easy to see.

Any other good digicams out there that are targeted at SLR owners?