Cameras | Imamother

Marion

Mon, Sep 05 2011, 10:31 am

(cross post from the Israel section)

I moved into the digital camera age about 5.5 years ago. Got a Kodak EasyShare 3-something (3MP, 3x digital zoom) when I was expecting DS#1 so I would be able to easily share pictures with my parents and sisters abroad. Almost 4 years ago (just before DS#2 arrived) I came into a Kodak EasyShare Z710 (7.1MP, 10x optical zoom). IIRC I paid around 900NIS for the Z710. I have been very happy with it.

I think the Z710 has died. It got wet, very briefly, on a tiyul this summer and despite all sorts of "tricks" (rice, leaving it in the sun, what have you) I have not been able to get it to turn back on. (This after finally getting all the sufganiya jelly out of the rotating program dial sometime around Purim, finally...) Luckily all my photos were on a memory card...

I'm going to take it into my local photo shop and see if they can save it, but if not, I'm in the market for a camera. I saw TzamTzam has a Fuji S1800 (12MP, 18x optical zoom) for under 750NIS. I am as happy to purchase here as to get someone to bring me something from abroad. I do NOT want to downgrade from the Z710. I need something that does video (with sound) as well as stills, and I prefer it to be a little sophisticated (meaning it needs a proper viewfinder and adjustable scene/situation lighting options...like night, sports, children, nature, panorama...). I don't need a real digital SLR (nor can I afford one), but I want more than a basic point-and-shoot.

Weight is not an issue, but functionality definitely is. Before I went digital I was using my grandfather's very old (1964) and heavy, but really, really good Minolta 7 manual focus camera with multiple lenses...

Any recommendations? Is Fuji a decent camera? Anyone know anything about local pricing? (I went to Amazon just to see; for the same one they're asking $170, so 750NIS doesn't seem so outrageous...)