<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by willyroo:
My Nikon 801 finally died, and after using my father's A40, realised how good digital can be.
Being used to an SLR, with the image quality and TTL flash options, I'm looking for a really good digital camera, but can't afford a D-SLR.
My search has narrowed to the Nikon CP5000 and the Canon G3. I'm swinging to the G3 because:
1. 4 MP seems sufficient for good 8x10s - any suggestions?
2. 4x Optical Zoom
3. Hot shoe which has TTL, and will power zoom the flash
4. Easy for my wife to pick and use immediately
5. Huge battery life
6. Uses the same battery as our MV-10i camcorder
The CP5000 is very attractive, as I already have a Speedlight SB25, but it won't zoom the flash.
A new Speedlite 420EX, nice and compact, will give me change after the sale of the SB25, and the G3 will zoom it.
Any other thoughts, advice or suggestions? Much appreciated!</font>
I just purchased an Olympus 730 and love it. It's only 3.3 MP, but my smaller one had less and handled 8 x 10's easily. It has a 10x zoom, and that was the main reason I purchased it. No hot shoe, but a socket for their FL 40 external flash. Uses either Smart or XD media.
The ten time zoom to me was well worth it (By the way, that's OPTICAL, it has another 3x digital zoom), and it's priced considerably ess then the Canon is, but again, it's only 3.3 MP, though I don't see that as an issue, at least for me. Used it on a recent trip, and wouldn't give it up for the world.