point and shoot

rmolson · Feb 27, 2010

Point and Shoot

I have an Olympus Stylus 80, fine little camera that I can carry with me in my pocket. when not using my regular cameras.. However lithium batteries leave something to be desired, One they are not cheap even from Radio Shack. And rated life of 10 rolls of film (on average) doesnt take into consideration the lag time increases as the batteries age. Nothing more frustrating than seeing a shot and waiting for the camera to finally decide to fire! .Anybody have suggestion on a good sharp zoom 35mm that uses regular batteries or even rechargeables.

Jon Shiu · Feb 27, 2010

Hi, check out ebay for much cheaper battery prices.

Jon

mgb74 · Feb 27, 2010

I had the same question a long while back. I was preparing for an extended camping trip and I wanted to standardize on AA batteries. But every zoom P&S I could find used lithiums.

There are a number of online sources for inexpensive lithium batteries if you buy in quantities. With or without eBay.

elekm · Feb 27, 2010

The early P&S cameras from the 1980s tended to use either AA or AAA batteries. At some point, the industry switched over to the lithium batteries. You should check out a thrift shop for some older P&S cameras that use the AA/AAA batteries. The tend not be zooms, however. Win some / lose some, I think.

Chan Tran · Feb 27, 2010

I don't know if it qualifies as a P&S but the Olympus XA is a fine pocket 35mm camera. No shutter lag, use 2 LR44's but last a long time as it's not used for motorized or flash.

Pumal · Feb 27, 2010

The Olympus XA IS THE ALL TIME P&S

Rick A · Feb 27, 2010

Pumalite said:
The Olympus XA IS THE ALL TIME P&S

AMEN
Except ya still gotta focus it.

Rick

wblynch · Feb 27, 2010

Anyone tried the rechargeable CR123's?

I've got 2 Stylus Epics, a Stylus Infinity and 2 Leica C1's that use those little buggers and at $10 a pop I'm just wondering if the rechargeables are a realistic replacement for the lithium cells.

Thanks, Bill L.

BobD · Feb 27, 2010

Cheap lithium batteries can be found on eBay. Much better prices than Radio
Shack.

michaelbsc · Feb 27, 2010

Pumalite said:
The Olympus XA IS THE ALL TIME P&S

Olympus XA; I've bid on a few, but never won. However my point and shoot camera is a FED2 with an Orion-15 and the collapsible Industar in the bag. Keep it loaded with Tri-X (or Freestyle's Arista Premium 400) and use Fred Parker's Ultimate Exposure Meter. It's a little big, but it works for me.

No built in flash, so you have to get over that hump. But the Olympus XA has no built in flash either.

Chan Tran · Feb 27, 2010

The Olympus XA has no built in flash but the A11 flash is small enough. With the XA you still have to focus, advance the film and set your aperture and ISO. I am not sure if it's a P&S as the operation steps for the XA is about the same as for the Leica M7 in auto mode.

BetterSense · Feb 28, 2010

XAs are indeed awesome unless, as mentioned, you need flash. The XA4 has DX coding and programmed exposure so it's quite P&S style. My wife has a Stylus Epic which is one very sweet little P&S. It uses CR123s which are abundant at my household since I buy them bulk for flashlights. They cost only about $1 each if you buy them from batterystation.com, and only $3 each if you buy the SureFire brand batteries from Cabelas. I would hate to pay full retail. I have no idea why CR123 batteries cost so much from retail stores, but if you plan ahead they are not that bad.

rosey · Feb 28, 2010

I have used the very nice Ricoh FF-90 AF P&S with remarkably nice results. Slightly bigger than a Stylus. Uses AA batteries. I have two in mint shape. Let me know if interested in one. One nice point is its 35mm 2.8 lens.

point and shoot

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