I would use a camera only occasionally, but this model appears to be
pretty powerful and flexible, and at the price seems to be a good
deal. I would be using CHDK, mostly for long-winded time lapse
projects, which would be a primary need for me.
I guess what gives me pause is a wide-open aperture of 2.6, coupled
with the cramming of 8mp into a 1/2.5 sensor, and the prospect that
taking pictures indoors without flash might be problematical.
An awful lot of these cameras have been sold, so it must be pretty
good. Am I worried over nothing with regard to noise? Or is there
a better choice in a low-cost camera? (Preferably a CHDK camera.)
That's a good price for a damn decent camera. CHDK is pretty recent
for the model.
--
YOP...
> I guess what gives me pause is a wide-open aperture of 2.6,
> coupled
> with the cramming of 8mp into a 1/2.5 sensor, and the prospect
> that
> taking pictures indoors without flash might be problematical.
>
I'm not sure what you mean by being concerned about the f/2.6
figure. That's a pretty fast lens for a compact and personally, I
don't know of any model with a wider max aperture.
> An awful lot of these cameras have been sold, so it must be
> pretty
> good. Am I worried over nothing with regard to noise? Or is
> there
> a better choice in a low-cost camera? (Preferably a CHDK
> camera.)
Noise is always a factor to be considered with small-sensor
cameras *under certain conditions*, but Canon cameras are not the
worst in this respect. Whether it will be a significant degrading
factor depends highly on your shooting and viewing conditions.
For most users, it isn't. Maybe you can find a used A570 IS. I
believe there's a CHDK for it, though I haven't used it myself.
> I guess what gives me pause is a wide-open aperture of 2.6,
> coupled
> with the cramming of 8mp into a 1/2.5 sensor, and the prospect
> that
> taking pictures indoors without flash might be problematical.
>
I'm not sure what you mean by being concerned about the f/2.6
figure. That's a pretty fast lens for a compact and personally, I
don't know of any model with a wider max aperture.
> An awful lot of these cameras have been sold, so it must be
> pretty
> good. Am I worried over nothing with regard to noise? Or is
> there
> a better choice in a low-cost camera? (Preferably a CHDK
> camera.)
Noise is always a factor to be considered with small-sensor
>> I guess what gives me pause is a wide-open aperture of 2.6,
>>
>I'm not sure what you mean by being concerned about the f/2.6
>figure. That's a pretty fast lens for a compact and personally, I
>don't know of any model with a wider max aperture.
There's the Panasonic LX3 which has a max aperture of f/2.0 but it's
not a budget camera -- typical prices are around 400 bucks. It does have
a respectable wide-angle capability at 24mm but the zoom range is poor.
--
To reply, my gmail address is nojay1 Robert Sneddon
IIRC, its also the last Canon P&S that runs on AA's that has full
manual controls.
Grab it while you can.
-hh
I just bought the a590is a couple months ago, and
I love it. It's small and capable, and with CHDK
it's even more so. Surprisingly, it's the camera
I grab when I go out (95% of the time) unless I
have a very specific need for something that requires
more.
AlanL