What kind of camera?

[dcopley]

Thanks for all the suggestions, which have been a great help. I went out and bought a Fuji S5200, worked with it for a day and ended up returning it to the store. I could not get the sort of close-up shots I was hoping for, though it seemed to be a really good camera in every other respect. The closest focussing in macro mode is 4 inches. So I ended up with an Olympus FE115 for $150. A much more basic camera in most respects, but it had a "super macro" mode with focussing down to 0.8 inches. I'm still figuring out the best lighting for flute shots, as well as getting some pictures of the local insect life.

Dave Copley
Loveland Ohio

[Mal]

I would recommend you check out the new Panasonic LUMIX TZ1, which just hit the market in April. It is a long zoom digital with a revolutionary LEICA "folded" lens. It has a 10x optical zoom and the camera stabilization that all telephoto lenses need but which some still lack.

Terry McGee sez he uses the macro range to take his flute pix. The new Panny "Tizzie" allows you to take photos as close as 5 cm (.16 feet).
(Terry could use it to photograph the flute that Clancy saw a little frog pull out of his dilly bag in "The Drover's Dream".!)

I bought one of these gems at "Best Buy" a week ago, and I think I could spend the rest of my life learning all the things it can do. Yet, unlike other long zoom digitals, you can put it in you coat pocket ... even a large shirt pocket, as I do on morning walks. Camera dimensions are 4-3/8" W x 2-1/4 H x 1-1/2 D.

Check out a test revue of it <megpixel.net.>

Should you have any trouble finding this site, the full web address is:

<http:/www.megapixel.net/reviews/panasonic-tz1/tz1-results.php>


Mal