Second Camera Advice

[wightbutterflies]

Hi there, I could really do with a little advice. I have a digital SLR (Olympus E20) that I love. What I am looking to do is purchase a second camera, a small compact camera that will fit in my pocket.

I'm looking at spending no more than £130 and have been looking at the FujiFilm A700. This is nice and compact with 7 million pixels (this is more than my SLR). The problem is I'm not sure if the macro facility will be adequate for taking photos of butterflies. I like a lot of detail and currently use my SLR with a macro lens attached.

If anyone knows of a really good very small compact digital camera I would love to hear about it. I've done the various trawls on the web but as of yet I've only found the Fujifilm one. Has anyone used this camera or know of a better one. Size being important too...

Thanks

[eccles]

The difficulty with compact cameras' macro facility is that they operate at the wide angle end of the zoom range. This means that you have to get seriously close to the subject in order to fill the frame. I had a Fuji S602 for several years and that one was better than most for close ups as the zoom still operated over a reduced range in macro mode. I still had to get within about 4" though.
I currently use a Canon S3 with adapter and 500D close up lens and this suits me well. Without the c/u lens it'll focus down to about a meter at full telephoto and I can snap dragonflies and large butterflies at this distance. With the lens, focussing is from 20" down to 12", giving nearly 1:1 macro at closest distance.
I appreciate that this camera is not pocket sized, and you wish for something smaller, but what I'm saying is that a compact camera that will take an adapter and close up attachment may suit you better than using the macro facility. Canon, Nikon and Raynox make good, well corrected, close-up lenses, but avoid the single element cheap ones.
As for the 7 mp and greater in ultra compact cameras, this is largely superfluous given the tiny sensors that they have. With very little improvement in resolution, the extra pixels just add noise.
My S3 is pretty good but its 6mp sensor isn't noticeably better than the 5mp in its predecessor, the S2. A sensor with 4 or 5 mp is ample for a pocketable camera provided the optics are good. But be aware, your Olympus will blow them all away for sheer image quality.
Take a look here for reviews:
http://www.dcresource.com/
http://www.dpreview.com/

[eccles]

Further, I think the Canon A530 is worth a look. It has a 4x optical zoom, 5mp sensor, uses AA batteries, (NiMh rechargeables are cheap and readily available), and SD memory cards (also cheap and readily available). It has a macro mode, but also supports an adaptor collar for the Canon 250D matched close-up lens that you can add later if the built in macro mode is too restricting. Amazon price is around £100, leaving you £30 to get the SD card and rechargeable batteries.

[wightbutterflies]

Thanks Eccles, I'm off to go and view the A530 camera reviews now. I'll have a look at the adapter whilst I'm at it.

It's so difficult with such a huge choice these days.

Thanks once again.

Zoe

[wightbutterflies]

I've purchased this little gem at £100 ish. I have to say I'm pleased with the results so far although i have not taken any butterfly shots yet as I've not seen any.

Thanks for the advice eccles. I'm one happy customer!