Help with Camera Purchase

[Juice]

Ok I know that I will be opening up a huge can of worms here but, I need some options on a camera to purchase. I did read the tutorial on Basics on Camera Buying [http://www.pixeladdiction.com/bb/articles.php?action=viewarticle&artid=35] which was nice and helped me out on much of the lingo. Ok so here are the criteria for the camera I would like to get:

1) Most important: Has to be quick in taking pictures. (I have 2 young kids and they don't stay still long :) )
2) Around 5 MP
3) Around 10x optical zoom

[Jaygre]

Take a look at the Olympus 750 and newer (I have this one, but it's stoneage now) 5 megapx, 10X opticalzoom, plus an additional digital zoom (which isn't beneficial) It's in the $350. range. It has a large range of shooting options. I find it a great little camera. Excellent adjustment capabilities, and will shoot in TIFF. Maybe now they shoot RAW, which is even better. I have owned two Olympus digitals, and have never had a problem. Battery life is very good. It takes very hi quality pictures, and very good software. Go into the Olympus site.

I highly recommend for what you're looking for :)

[Scott]

I've had an Olympus 7.1 mp and a Canon 5.1 mp (roughly the same cost - $400). I preferred the Olympus. The autofocus was faster and better and the images were less noisy. For that price range I'd get the Olympus again.

[Juice]

Thanks for the information. I will look around to see where I can get those.

Are the Olympus cameras quick when trying to take a picture one right after another?

One of my friends has a camera that takes a while to get ready to take the next picture after just snapping one off. Really annoying. But that could just be the fact that it is an older camera.

Thanks again.

[Newby]

[QUOTE=Juice]Thanks for the information. I will look around to see where I can get those.

Are the Olympus cameras quick when trying to take a picture one right after another?

One of my friends has a camera that takes a while to get ready to take the next picture after just snapping one off. Really annoying. But that could just be the fact that it is an older camera.

Thanks again.[/QUOTE]


That all depends on if you are using burst mode, how fast the cameras writting buffer is and how fast your memory card is.. fast memory cards help with the ability to take rapid fire shots, but you need to have a camera that is able to write fast as well or the spped is negated....

[Juice]

So while looking into the Olympus (or other) cameras I need to make sure that they support the burst mode and to see how quick they write to the memory cards. Thanks Newby.

[Newby]

[QUOTE=Juice]So while looking into the Olympus (or other) cameras I need to make sure that they support the burst mode and to see how quick they write to the memory cards. Thanks Newby.[/QUOTE]

No problem, I would recommend getting an 80x memory card. They are the fastest on the market right now and work great, I buy Lexar's , but SanDisk is nice as well..