On Mon, 20 Oct 2003, Butch Black wrote: > Hi Guys; > > A friend just asked me to recommend a digicam that is shirt pocketable, > uses compact flash cards, AA's NiMH, writes to RAW, 3X or better optical > zoom, and is around $400 US. Any suggestions? I suggested the Optios > 500/550 and S/S4 though neither use AA's, CF, or writes to RAW. My sense > is that there is nothing with all of the above. He is a long time photo > enthusiast so he's not looking for an idiot proof camera.
Nothing I can think of. Nikon 3100, Canon A70 and Pentax 33L are all small (not shirt-pocketable), all use AA batteries, all have 3x zooms, and all use CF cards, but they don't write to RAW. He's asking for something a bit extreme. The basic problem is that CF cards are the largest memory type out there, and AA batteries take up a lot more room than the small Li-ion's that the tiny digitals use. You can't really get a CF/AA-using digital that's truly shirt-pocketable. And it's hard to find a camera in that price range that records in RAW. If he's that good that he needs the control RAW will give him, he should be looking at a better-quality/higher-res model. For the record, while Minolta's Xt/Xi come close, the only true shirt-pocketable camera I've seen is the Pentax Optio S, though Casio has some small ones out, too, from what I hear. It definitely does not use AA batteries and CF cards, though. If you have any questions about specific models or combinations of features, email me off-list and I'll give you what help I can. Cheers, chris
