Digital camera, which is better or should I stay?

Question

I own an Olympus C-740 Ultra Zoom. It's really good except it's kind of bulky, the memory is...okay, the battery life SUCKS, and the zoom is wonderful (10x)...but it's old and I'm wondering if it's time to get a new camera.

Should I go with the Canon PowerShot A720 IS 8-Megapixel Digital Camera (my current favorite out of four candidates) or the Olympus SP-560 UZ 8-Megapixel Digital Camera? Also, should I change the 8-megapixel rule to lower or higher? I heard lower was better for computer and email, but I didn't want anything too high like a 12-pixel or the price would go up. I'm not really looking to make these into prints either, so I don't need anything too high, so I settled with 8-megapixel. (The camera we have now is 3.2 megapixel. Upsides = resolution and zoom are wonderful and so is the flash and the computer disk it comes with. The downsides = it's a little bulky, the shutter delay is kind of long, the memory isn't as good as it could be (it doesn't have internal, it's currently using 16MB xD-picture card) and the battery life is pretty low considering it's using AA and not AAA like most new cameras on the market)...

Any suggestions? I like Olympus a lot but I'm thinking the Canon PowerShot is the way to go (esp. with those lovely commercials)!

Answer 1

hm.. to stay, or not to stay.. that is the question.

Well I don't have a clue what you just said.. mainly because I don't have a hot clue about the olympus cameras. If I were you I would just stick to the one you have. If you really are bothered then just do what you gotta do. The Olympus SP-560 UZ 8-Megapixel is bulky to though by the looks of it, and if the Olympus you have now has a sucky battery life, then maybe the Olympus SP-560 UZ 8-Megapixel has a sucky one too? Hm ..

Answer 2

Get the Canon. I have the previous model (A710 IS) and love it. I use Maha Powerex 2700 Mah AA rechargeables and get fantastic battery life. I get 400+ pics on a charge and do no battery management whatsoever. This camera has 10,000+ pics on it and is still going strong.

Answer 3

You can compare them side by side here--

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_...

If you get the Canon, you will be losing some zoom, but your camera is almost 5 1/2 years old.  You can't go wrong with a Canon.  I've had the Powershot A540 for over 2 years and have never had a problem with it.  It takes great pictures, too.

I have found the Sanyo eneloop rechargeable AA batteries to last longer than others.  They come charged and stay charged out of the camera.  And they seem to last longer in the camera, too.  I bought them at Ritz Camera.  

One thing you can do to save on the batteries, is to use the viewfinder to take more of the pictures, turning off the display.  And not spending a lot of time looking at the pictures you have already taken.  Do you use the camera and a USB cord to transfer your pictures to your computer?  That uses your camera batteries a lot, too  

Buy a card reader to transfer your pics.  You put your memory card into the card reader, and plug it into a USB port on your computer.  Much better way to upload your pics.  The readers can be bought at most any store that sells digital cameras.  

I guess you are the only one who can decide what to do, but if you have the money, I would get the Canon.  You can always save your old one for a backup.

Answer 4

go for canon powershot point&shoot cameras! they're the best.

http://cordon-pride.deviantart.com/art/T...

those are my cameras, all canon. and while you're there you can also check out my gallery and you'll see that most of them are taken with canon powershot cameras (compact & P&S)