Thanks for the responses. I decided to go for really compact, as we
already have a Fujifilm Finepix S7000 and wanted a backup camera which
fits in a pocket. I got a Pentax Optio S5N (no viewfinder) at Plaza
Digital for $449, after reading a few favourable reviews. Very easy to
use. 2.5" screen, 5Mp. 10MB built in memory and I added a 512MB SD card
and a spare battery. The first few pics turned out well last night, all
indoors with flash. Easily imported into iPhoto without camera
software.
Lots of happy snaps with this one.
2 things about my other camera that puzzle me. Recently I have had to
take the AA batteries out of the S7000 between shoots to avoid draining
them (Duracells go flat over 24hrs with camera switched off). I know
digital cameras are heavy on battery power, but this seems excessive
and worse recently. I have been using Duracells due to the second
problem.
I have had 2 chargers and new batteries (2500mAh) which seem to charge
too quickly and not hold much - like 5 pics then dead. Am I not using
them enough? Do they need to be conditioned in some way? If I switch
the charger on and back off, the light goes back to green and they
charge for another 1/2 hr or so each time.
Andrew
