Looking for a new camera, but have very specific requirements (1 Viewer)

Hello all,

My CP4500 is getting a little tired, and I'm finding that its 4mp resolution is just not good enough any more.

Can anyone recommend a camera based on my specific requirements? These are:

1. Digi-scoping.

I use a Kowa TSN 824 (? the straight through one), and have the Kowa-own adaptor. Good thing about this is it screws directly onto my CP with its internal focusing. How does this fit in with the modern trend of external zooms? Am I going to have to scrap the adaptor, which cost good money?

Want minimum shutter lag, preferably gif or raw format for editing purposes (or do I? That's what a good photographer friend recommended), and a decent-sized screen.

The Fuji F30 seems popular at the moment, but I'm not particularly fussed about the high ISO potential.

2. Macro work.

I photograph flowers, and the CP4500's 1cm super macro is absolutely unbeatable. If someone can convince me that 5cm is okay because picture quality is so good they can be cropped, then I will listen. But I prefer to be closer of possible.

3. General

I also want ot use it as a general snapping camera; landscapes etc.

I'm no pro photographer, and find full manual settings difficult. I do want an element of control however, so I can take creative shots.

A large Screen, good battery life and effective and cheap memory card type are preferred. My wife's camera uses SD, so if there is something that could use that it would save me money.

I'm also tempted to go for one of those medium-style cameras - the halfway house jobbies with 10x zoom. Based on the requirements above (excluding digiscoping - I can use my camcorder for that), any recommendations on that side?

Thanks in advance - sorry if this is an impossible task!!!

Sean

Ghostly Vision said:

Thanks in advance - sorry if this is an impossible task!!!Sean

Click to expand...

Apology accepted
Not sure the macro performance of the CP4500 has yet been surpassed in a digicam. If it's still working OK guess it can do a job there and for the digiscoping. I guess for landscape photography, a wider angle lens and more megapixels would come in handy. Then again in certain situation stitching software may save the day :
http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~mbrown/autostitch/autostitch.html
The Sony DSC-R1 offers a true wide angle lens capability (24mm equivalent) and lots of good quality megapixels. It's expensive though and bulky. The Kodak P880 offers similar wideangle capability and pixel count of a lesser quality for less expense and bulk. Fuji also offer big zoom models that start at 28mm equivalent.
If you have an interest in zooming to 400mm equivalent or more it might be worth looking at models by Panasonic, Canon, Sony and Konica Minolta which have image stabilisation. I have seen very good macro shots produced with the Panasonic models (which I am most familiar with) where a supplementary achromatic close up lens has been used. These cameras also accept wide angle converters, in addition to the more commonly employed tele converters to give extra reach.
The big zoom models tend to be too bulky to be truly pocketable. However there are now quite slim models, such as Panasonic TZ1 and Casio EX-V7, which offer zoom up to about 300mm equivalent. These could be expected to be rather less versatile and produce results not quite as good as their bigger siblings.
Maybe your tired CP4500 just needs a supplement...