Digital Camera

[kat]

SD1000 is an excellent choice....very good reviews from almost everyone... and sexy stylish too!!! I am in the U.S. for the holidays, and was looking at that also, and several retailers were running specials on that here.

But I'm a big guy, and have big hands, so I ended up getting the Powershot A560, which felt better for me to hold. I paid about $70 U.S. less here in L.A. than the best price I had found in Thailand... Heading back home soon!!!!

I think you got one of the best deals available with that camera. I was seriously tempted, especially for the excellent value you get with this camera, but I was just tired of chunky point and shoots. I lusted after the SD 1000 and got it, even though it wasn't the absolute best value like the A560.

I bought a chunky Cannon in LOS (I left it there and forgot the type - long story), and it had a delayed shutter reaction; drove me nuts and I hated it. How does that one work with the shutterspeed?

Have fun with it!

[astral]

They still have stocks of 5D and now at 67,500 Baht. I wonder if you can buy it cheaper anywhere else in the world.

Does that mean the 5D is about to be replaced??

[ChiangMaiAmerican]

The lowest Ebay buy it now price for a new in the box 5D body is about 57,600. These are gray market cameras so add 2000 baht for a Mack Camera 5 year world wide warranty which brings it to about 59,600 depending on the exchange rate.

[Nordlys]

The lowest Ebay buy it now price for a new in the box 5D body is about 57,600. These are gray market cameras so add 2000 baht for a Mack Camera 5 year world wide warranty which brings it to about 59,600 depending on the exchange rate.

Is there any way of telling a camra you're buying is a gray market model (availability of warranty?)? After all isn't US one of the cheapest place you can buy cameras? And is that Mack Camera a legitimate brick and mortar store?

Does that mean the 5D is about to be replaced??

Rumor had it 5D Mk2 was to be released by November, but now Nikon D3 was released I'm sure they will come up with something to address D3 and it might take a little longer than we thought it would. It's been more than two years since 5D was released.

[ChiangMaiAmerican]

Is there any way of telling a camra you're buying is a gray market model (availability of warranty?)? After all isn't US one of the cheapest place you can buy cameras? And is that Mack Camera a legitimate brick and mortar store?

Regarding the gray market question, usually the vendors are up front and mention the lack of warranty in the listing or else they purchase the warranty and include it with the camera. You can always ask before buying or bidding. Mack even offers a used camera warranty.

Mack is a real brick and mortar business. They were around long before the internet or even computers for that matter. I have two gray market video cameras I bought in the US a couple of years ago. Both had Mack warranties. Never had to make a claim though. The link below is to Mack's about page which will give you a little history of the company. You can even see their brick and mortar storefront. It really is brick and mortar.

http://www.mackcam.com/about/index.htm

[jfchandler]

Thanks Kat... I paid $130 U.S. plus tax (on sale down from a list of $150) for the A560 at Circuit City in Los Angeles (plus $20 U.S. for a 2 GB SD card), whereas the SD1000 and the A570IS (the latter pretty much the same as the 560 except for adding Image Stabilization) both were available on sale at different places for around $150 plus tax...

I actually was planning to get the SD1000 based on the price, reviews and specs... But when I went to the store and tried it "hands on", it felt too small for MY hands... (6 ft. 8 ins. guy), whereas the A560/570IS (which have the same Canon L-shape body) felt nice to hold and grip. But if I were a lady with lady hands, hehehehe...I'm sure I would have gone the other way. All three, technically, have pretty similar main specs.

About the A560, I test used it in the store, and it was VERY fast to start (from switch on to ready to shoot) and its reviews says the shutter lag is pretty quick. But of course, everything depends on the details... what resolution you're shooting at and, I suppose, what kind of SD card you're using to store the images. Some types, I gather, are faster, particularly when storing high res images....

All of the above mentioned cameras top out at 7 mp resolutions, I believe. But for me, for casual use, I rarely see the need to shoot anything beyond 3 or 4 mp. Doing more just takes up more space on the memory card and more space on my computer for all the digital files. It also, of course, makes the camera quicker in recording the current image and becoming ready to shoot the next.

Charts below from CNET.com

Shooting speed (seconds)

(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Typical shot-to-shot time Time to first shot Shutter lag (typical) Olympus FE-190

1.9 2 0.7 Canon PowerShot A550

1.7 1.5 0.5 Canon PowerShot A560

1.6 1.5 0.5 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W35

1.4 1.4 0.4 Kodak EasyShare C875

1.4 2 0.2

Shooting speed (in seconds)

(Shorter bars indicate better performance.)

Typical shot-to-shot time Time to first shot Shutter lag (typical) Canon PowerShot SD1000

1.5 1 0.5 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T10

1.6 1.4 0.5 Canon PowerShot SD600

1.5 1.5 0.6 Nikon Coolpix S7c

2.1 2.2 0.7

Best...John.

I think you got one of the best deals available with that camera. I was seriously tempted, especially for the excellent value you get with this camera, but I was just tired of chunky point and shoots. I lusted after the SD 1000 and got it, even though it wasn't the absolute best value like the A560.

I bought a chunky Cannon in LOS (I left it there and forgot the type - long story), and it had a delayed shutter reaction; drove me nuts and I hated it. How does that one work with the shutterspeed?

Have fun with it!

[jfchandler]

Sorry...the graphic charts on Canon A560/SD1000 camera performance got mangled by technology in the prior post...

The two charts can be seen at these links...

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/ca...?tag=prod.txt.1

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/ca...38.html?tag=pop