Olympus 460 vs Fuji 1400

[Bluto]

Was hoping some experienced digital camera people can help me out here.... It looks like I can save about $100 by going with the Fuji with their $50 rebate. Looking at the 2 cameras it appears they are similar in quality and I'm having a hard time deciding. I like the serial ability of the Olympus for when I visit my parents with their old computer, no usb, but I like usb of the Fuji for the speed, neither camera offers both. I don't see why I would ever use the video out on the Olympus - does anyone really use that? My wife and I first thought we wanted Olympus because we had heard a lot of good things about Olympus cameras in general, but I also saw on this board a lot of people liked their Fuji. I figure I'll be buying a big memory card anyway, so the Olympus coming with an 8, and the Fuji a 4 didn't seem to be too big of a deal...

Anyway, I was hoping someone with a little more knowledge then myself might help me figure why or why not the Olympus is worth the extra 100....

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-Bluto, the drunk with a 7 Iron

[Bluto]

Thanx for the info :-)

I have looked a little, not too much mind you, and haven't been able to find a USB SM reader. It really is a pain in the butt looking through the accessories. Any recomendations on the cheapest place to get one?

Also, on the NiMH batteries, it is confusing looking at them... are all of them rechargeable? Do I need to get a special size. Looking at the different ones offered, they say Kodak, and Fuji, but I wouldn't think that would matter... I'm used to good ol' Alkaline ratings - AA, AAA, Cheapest place to get the batteries and rechargers anyone?

I used to think that I was technically competent till I started reading about all the different options on these cameras, it makes my EE books look like 5 year old reading... hehe

Thanks again chosenfool...

Originally posted by chosenfool
Hi!
If you are thinking of getting the olympus, you NEED either the flashpath or a USB SM reader. SERIAL IS SO DAMN SLOW. One reason why i upgraded to the finepix. On my part, i may still get a USB SM reader (even with the USB on it already), for battery consumption reasons.

And a MUST-BUY for all digital cameras are rechargeable NiMH batteries. From the start, INVEST in two sets of rechargeable batteries at once, with a recharger. While the first set is in the camera, the other will be charging in the outlet. You'll waste too much money in buying alkaline batteries every 40 shots (believe me, youll be taking thousands). The flash and the LCD drain too much power.

[Bluto]

Walmart for the batteries it is <G>

I don't think I like the Canon S10... Even though it is a higher resolution camera then the 460 and 1400, the reviews I'm reading aren't as good for it, and it doesn't appear to be able to take SM, only CF, and you can't use standard AA NiMH batteries.. :-(
Its not that great of a price anyway from what I've seen for it on other web sites...

Thanks for all the help :-) I'm just gonna keep watching for a $50 or a $100 coupon and hopefully one will come along... that or Mercata will put one of them on powerbuy... I hate rebates...

Originally posted by chosenfool
ha! i know what you mean! Im just starting out into digital imaging myself...feel like a 1st grade kid!

click on this link for all smartmedia readers on buy.com:

http://www.us.buy.com/retail/searchr...search_store=1

if that link works, it should take you to the SM readers from lowest price to the highest price.

The cheapest on there is the ZIO! SM reader, but its on order. The RATOC (i havent heard of this brand yet) is next. It should be ok to use, unless you want a brand name, then go with the simple tech. reader. Its only a buck more. If youre a new customer, you can apply a $10 coupon on a $30 purchase:

http://www.us.buy.com/retail/coupon.asp?prid=80256145

and i think its free shipping for new customers (maybe not...)

as far as NiMH batteries, i just got 8 AA NiMH Rayovacs from walmart with a handy charger (it may set you back around 20-25 bucks, but well worth it. You dont have to keep switching to a fresh set of batteries after a few shots only with flash and LCD on.) Dont believe the hype about alkaline and lithium batteries lasting long. These cameras are notorious for being power-hungry mongrels.

Its actually dangerous for the card if you keep trying to snap shots on a low powered battery - it may not write the data on to it, and you may end up botching up the image, making it corrupt and unreadable.

If you hurry, buy.com may have a good deal on a canon powershot s10 (deal of the day on the main page).

[helius]

I'm looking (still in the window-shopping phase) for an inexpensive digital camera ($300-$400). Besides the Fuji 1400, can anyone recommend anything else that's in that price bracket?

One more thing (and I'm sure I'm going to look stupid for asking this) - can someone please briefly explain the pros/cons of compact flash vs smart media? Thank you kindly.

[Jeffbx]

CF - A bit more expensive, but much more versatile. CF cards have the controller built into the card, so you don't have to rely on the camera's firmware to recognize the size of the card. So, if your camera accepts CF type II cards, you could go hog wild & buy yourself a 1GB (yes, 1GB) IBM Microdrive. However, there are actually differences in the cards depending on the manufacturer - Lexar and other high end (i.e., $$$$) cards are actually faster than cheaper cards from Simple Technology, etc. This is due to the differences in firmware on the card itself.

SmartMedia are smaller, slightly cheaper, and you can write to them faster than CF. Drawback? The camera itself has to store the chipset to read the memory. This means that the current maximum sized SM card (64MB) is the biggest card your camera can read, unless the camera mfr offers a firmware upgrade. There are actually 128MB SM cards coming out (or may actually be on the market already), but most devices in circulation today can't read them.

The solution? Do what I did - get yourself an Olympus C-2500L SLR digital camera. This baby has 2 card slots - one for SM, one for CF. It's pricy (retails at about a grand), but it can be had on eBay for about $700 - that's how I got mine. It's also fast as hell - I can snap pictures with almost no lag time in between shots. It has a built-in 8MB buffer that instantly grabs the shot so you don't have to wait for it to write to the card before your next shot. I've been extremely happy with it for the month that I've had it.

[helius]

Too bad the Olympus C2500L is a little outta my price range...

Oh well, one day I will graduate... really!

[Bluto]

Originally posted by helius
I'm looking (still in the window-shopping phase) for an inexpensive digital camera ($300-$400). Besides the Fuji 1400, can anyone recommend anything else that's in that price bracket?

One more thing (and I'm sure I'm going to look stupid for asking this) - can someone please briefly explain the pros/cons of compact flash vs smart media? Thank you kindly.

One of my best friends from college has the Olympus 460 (the other one I mentioned in here). He loves it. I think it rates a little higher then the Fuji, but it doesn't have the usb out. Since I'm gonna get a usb smartmedia reader so that I don't drain the batteries I don't think that really matters anyway. Cheapest reputable places I've seen it at so far:
buy.com (use the $30 off coupon)
mercata (20% off for new customers up to $100)

I'm just holding out for something a little better.... :-)

[helius]

This is what I've gotten for the two cameras:

Mercata:
FinePix 1400 = $335 * 0.8 = $268 (+ shipping)
Olympux D460 = $400 * 0.8 = $320 (+ shipping)

Buy.com:
FinePix 1400 = $322.82 - $30 = $292 (+ shipping)
Olympus D460 = $348.88 - $30 = $318 (+ shipping)

BuyDig: (from PriceWatch)
Olympus D460Z = $294 + 19.95 = $313.95

And I've just realized that they're both 1.3MegaPixel cameras. I'm probably going to look for a $400 2MegaPixel camera similar to the Canon S10... The Canon S100 looks mighty sexy.

I really really hate how fast electronics/computers become obsolete...

[Jeffbx]

Hoo boy,

If you have room on your credit card, go for the Nikon 950 deal that's on the deals page! That's a $900 camera right in your price range - $358. The Nikon is a damn nice camera - I very nearly bought it instead of the Olympus. Check out the deals page for today (Wed Nov 8th) for the scoop.

[helius]

Ordered it an hour ago and tried price matching it at Staples, but it seems that Compusaver's phone lines are busy (gee, I wonder why ). Oh well, hopefully this is one Staples deal that'll come through.

[helius]

Seems that Compusavers.net has raised the price to $698. Oh well.

[Bluto]

teach me to forget to check out apex before I go to work in the morning... :-(

[rlburg]

They dropped the to $545!!!