My Camera

When my Yashica-MG3 started behaving differently I knew it was time for me to move to another one. I was not a fan of digital camera and preferred the hard-lined manual ones until I actually used one. I decided that digital is the way to go, at least for temporarily (primarily since I was spending a lot after buying films and secondly I had to wait a long to see the results). Digital SLR was out of question. All it summarized to was to buy a near-SLR digital camera which will be able to emulate the manual ones. As it happens to a novice, I had to spend some time finding the right one suitable for my taste and budget. I ultimately zeroed on two models Kodak EasyShare DX7630 and Olympus C-5050 Zoom. I had to list down, side by side, the features that I would like to have. Here is the short comparison. (The features are in no particular order).

Comparison criterion	Kodak DX7630	Olympus C-5050 Zoom
Available Price (Strictly personal constraint) Check at eBay, OverStock, Froogle etc.	~ $300	~ $500
Aperture It should be at max f/2.8 for wide and maybe two stop more for tele. And the minimum aperture be at least 10 (my film camera had 2.8 to 16).	f/2.8-8.0 (W) f/4.8-8.0 (T)	f/1.8-10.0 (W) f/2.8-10.0 (T) quite bright lens
Sensor and Pixels As in all the good cameras, the sensor should be CCD and size 1.8" (13.7 mm) (a 35mm film has a diagonal size 43.2mm). As long as they give more than 3.5 mega-pixels, I am happy. I doubt I will ever make large prints of my digital photos (a 5 MP camera will comfortably make 11x14" print, a 3.3 MP camera will allow 8x10").	CCD Sensor of size 1.8" 6.1 MP	CCD Sensor of size 1.8" ~5 MP
Lens - focal length A zoom lens with at least 3x optical zoom (digital zoom can be achieved using the image editors also, I dont need the camera for it). Once I used a 10x optical zoom camera. It was superb. However, I wont put a lot of money for large zoom-factors. 35 mm equivalent focal length should be reasonably wide (I would like ~28mm). Focal length at tele end would be determined by the zoom-factor, but around 150-200 would be great. BTW, I believe, one can add auxiliary lenses to get more wide or tele zoom.	39 mm (W) 117 mm (T) 3x zoom	35 mm (W) 105 mm (T) 3x zoom
Lens - quality Ahh, the most important while taking photos. I am not the least experienced in lens terms and tidbits. Only think I know is that most of these lenses are made up of several elements though which light can creep in. One can see fringes when the camera is pointed towards some source of light.	Schneider Kreuznach Variogon (good review)	Olympus aspherical glass (good review too and no fringes)
Battery I would like AA batteries over Lithium-ion batteries.	Li-ion rechargable	4 AA Alkaline/NiMH battey
Flash I would prefer provisions for external flash (the internal flash is too close to lens; also they might get obstructed by external adapters). Also, the standard red-eye, fill-in modes should be present.	No external flash. Fill-in and red-eye modes were present.	Hot-shoe for external flash is present. Red-eye, fill modes are present.
Histogram and other information Recently I have started using histograms to adjust the tones of the shots. Histograms should be available beside the images. It would be awesome to have them while composing the shot. All the good cameras generally have a nice arrangement of information (exposure, shutter speed etc) in preview and record mode. They are very helpful and absolutely desired.	No histogram. Other information nicely shown with the image.	Exposure histogram (only luminousity) both during composing and playback. Other information displayed.
LCD Should be large enough (I am not asking for a full-blown LCD monitor) to see the image and other information shown on-screen. Should be easy to use and view.	2.2" LCD display Both indoor/outdoor use.	1.8" LCD display Flip-up style (reviews said that the LCD is a bit hard to view in bright light; the flip-up style is extremely useful.)
Storage Both uncompressed (raw) mode and compressed (jpeg) mode should be present.	JPEG mode (C)	RAW, TIFF (U) JPEG (C)
Viewfinder I like optical viewfinders over electronic ones (personal taste).	Optical	Optical
Lens threading So that I can add polarizers, extra lenses as needed.	Lens threading present	Lens threading present
Menu I like programming. No doubt I would like easy navigation and as much customization allowed as possible.	Easy menu structure	Easy customizable menu additional programmable buttom present
ISO Equivalent Higher ISO speeds (e.g. 800) is always welcome only if it doesnot come with excess noise. Generally all the digital cameras produce large noise after ISO 200. Still, 400 and more is desired. However, I wanted to make sure that noise levels at low speeds (64, 100) should be absolutely minimum.	100-200 (Auto) 100, 200, 400, 800 (Manual)	Automatic 64, 100, 200 or 400 (equivalent) No noise at low speeds. Presence of Noise Reduction mode.
Exposure compensation, Bracketing	Exposure compensation present -2 to +2 EV	Exposure compensation present -2 to +2 EV Bracketing present
Zoom and Manual focus control Best if can be done by rotating the lens ring.	No ring control No manual focus.	No ring control
Shooting modes Aperture priority, Shutter speed priority and macro modes.	Present. 16 preset scenes.	Present. 3 Preset scenes 8 My mode customizable scene.
Shutter speed	1/1000 to 64 sec More than 1 min exposure time will produce some fancy images.	1/1000 to 16 sec

Comparison criterion

Kodak DX7630

Olympus C-5050 Zoom

Available Price (Strictly personal constraint)
Check at eBay, OverStock, Froogle etc.

~ $300

~ $500

Aperture
It should be at max f/2.8 for wide and maybe two stop more for tele. And the minimum aperture be at least 10 (my film camera had 2.8 to 16).

f/2.8-8.0 (W)
f/4.8-8.0 (T)

f/1.8-10.0 (W)
f/2.8-10.0 (T)
quite bright lens

Sensor and Pixels
As in all the good cameras, the sensor should be CCD and size 1.8" (13.7 mm) (a 35mm film has a diagonal size 43.2mm).
As long as they give more than 3.5 mega-pixels, I am happy. I doubt I will ever make large prints of my digital photos (a 5 MP camera will comfortably make 11x14" print, a 3.3 MP camera will allow 8x10").

CCD Sensor of size 1.8"
6.1 MP

CCD Sensor of size 1.8"
~5 MP

Lens - focal length
A zoom lens with at least 3x optical zoom (digital zoom can be achieved using the image editors also, I dont need the camera for it). Once I used a 10x optical zoom camera. It was superb. However, I wont put a lot of money for large zoom-factors.
35 mm equivalent focal length should be reasonably wide (I would like ~28mm). Focal length at tele end would be determined by the zoom-factor, but around 150-200 would be great. BTW, I believe, one can add auxiliary lenses to get more wide or tele zoom.

39 mm (W)
117 mm (T) 3x zoom

35 mm (W)
105 mm (T) 3x zoom

Lens - quality
Ahh, the most important while taking photos. I am not the least experienced in lens terms and tidbits. Only think I know is that most of these lenses are made up of several elements though which light can creep in. One can see fringes when the camera is pointed towards some source of light.

Schneider Kreuznach Variogon
(good review)

Olympus aspherical glass
(good review too and no fringes)

Battery
I would like AA batteries over Lithium-ion batteries.

Li-ion rechargable

4 AA Alkaline/NiMH battey

Flash
I would prefer provisions for external flash (the internal flash is too close to lens; also they might get obstructed by external adapters).
Also, the standard red-eye, fill-in modes should be present.

No external flash.
Fill-in and red-eye modes were present.

Hot-shoe for external flash is present.
Red-eye, fill modes are present.

Histogram and other information
Recently I have started using histograms to adjust the tones of the shots. Histograms should be available beside the images. It would be awesome to have them while composing the shot.
All the good cameras generally have a nice arrangement of information (exposure, shutter speed etc) in preview and record mode. They are very helpful and absolutely desired.

No histogram. Other information nicely shown with the image.

Exposure histogram (only luminousity) both during composing and playback. Other information displayed.

LCD
Should be large enough (I am not asking for a full-blown LCD monitor) to see the image and other information shown on-screen.
Should be easy to use and view.

2.2" LCD display
Both indoor/outdoor use.

1.8" LCD display
Flip-up style
(reviews said that the LCD is a bit hard to view in bright light; the flip-up style is extremely useful.)

Storage
Both uncompressed (raw) mode and compressed (jpeg) mode should be present.

JPEG mode (C)

RAW, TIFF (U)
JPEG (C)

Viewfinder
I like optical viewfinders over electronic ones (personal taste).

Optical

Lens threading
So that I can add polarizers, extra lenses as needed.

Lens threading present

Menu
I like programming. No doubt I would like easy navigation and as much customization allowed as possible.

Easy menu structure

Easy customizable menu
additional programmable buttom present

ISO Equivalent
Higher ISO speeds (e.g. 800) is always welcome only if it doesnot come with excess noise. Generally all the digital cameras produce large noise after ISO 200. Still, 400 and more is desired. However, I wanted to make sure that noise levels at low speeds (64, 100) should be absolutely minimum.

100-200 (Auto)
100, 200, 400, 800 (Manual)

Automatic
64, 100, 200 or 400 (equivalent)
No noise at low speeds.
Presence of Noise Reduction mode.

Exposure compensation, Bracketing

Exposure compensation present -2 to +2 EV

Exposure compensation present -2 to +2 EV
Bracketing present

Zoom and Manual focus control
Best if can be done by rotating the lens ring.

No ring control
No manual focus.

No ring control

Shooting modes
Aperture priority, Shutter speed priority and macro modes.

Present.
16 preset scenes.

Present.
3 Preset scenes
8 My mode customizable scene.

Shutter speed

1/1000 to 64 sec
More than 1 min exposure time will produce some fancy images.

1/1000 to 16 sec