[moving mountain]

I about to make the big $jump to buy a digital camera. I have narrowed it down to the Canon G3 or the Nikon 5700, but I am having trouble deciding. I plan on getting the tele extender if I get the G3. The price is getting closer to each other with Nikon's rebate. I have read most of the cemera web sites.I have used Nikon SLR's and Leica rangefinders exclusively over the years. I do have a bit of prefrence to Nikons, but I also like Canons' boxy sturdy feel like my Leicas.The 4 or 5 mega pix is probably not as important I donot think I would blow up more than 8x10.I do like the G3 LCD better. Anybody have any experience or negative or positive comments. I am also wondering about Lexar cards do you guys think it is better to get two 32x 256 cards or one 32x 512 card. I was thinking of getting two cards, so if something goes wrong with one I still have the other.Thanks.

[Tom]

Here's a breakdown of current street prices (shipped). If you see lower prices they're probably not legit (read this). G3 - $567 F717 - $673 5700 - $759 (after $100 rebate) After rebate that's still a $200 gap between the G3 and 5700. I don't know much about the 5700 but my advice would be to save the extra $200. If the extra zoom is important to you, I'd pick the Sony F717 over the 5700. As far as memory cards, I would definitely get one large card instead of two small ones. I also think Lexar cards are overpriced. As long as you go with a name brand and stay away from the really slow cards (sandisk) you will be fine.

[Damsel Adams]

Man, I wish I could afford a Leica rangefinder! Selling it?

[El Puma]

I think the closer comparison to the G3 would be the Nikon 5000. I'm very happy with mine; the only clear disadvantage is the short optical zoom. If you're somewhere because you're taking pictures, I'd go for the most technology $ will buy. If, on the other hand, you're like me and take pictures because you are somewhere, I'd go for portability (given your choices). I picked the 5000 over the 5700 because it fits in my pocket. The G3 was my next contender; I am used to Nikons and got a good deal on it at Kenmore Camera. It's not directly intuitive to work but most cameras these days are not. Then again, familiarity comes through use and already I find myself making all necessary adjustments without having to look for them twice. As far as cards go, I learned recently firsthand about the speed ratings...Took Zoo-pictures at 5MP and High resolution (16MB shots!) - it takes a good 30sec to write them on a non-name 256MB card! Used my friends' PRETEC 24x card and I was ready to shoot again in 10sec...for whatever that's worth. In the end none of the units you mention are "bad" cameras - unless you're a true hardcore photographer and work in varying light and optical conditions a lot, it comes down to brand preference and what feels best in your hand. Hope this helps a little; let us know what you end up with (with samples, of course )!

[moving mountain]

Tom, the problem in making my decision is that I going to buy the tele converter for the G3 at the same time. The price I have found with the adapter is $169.99. It is now about $30 to $150 ( the price I have found)difference from the Nikon 5700.I have played with changing the lens with a G 3, it's pretty easy. Also if not Lexar CF which do you prefer or have had good succes with?. Where are you getting your (relieable source)prices from? Damsel,I bought two used Leica M4s about twenty years ago. I recently sold one for more than twice that I paid for it. I will probably never sell the other one.

[Tom]

MM, if you're planning on getting a teleconverter to cover the difference then yes, it becomes a much more difficult decision. In that case I might lean towards the 5700 since you would have decent macro and a long zoom all in one (albeit giving up a slight amount of picture quality with the wide zoom range). I've shot with a G2 for almost 2 years and it has served me well. I bought a Oly B300 teleconverter but have never used it (too much of a hassle). If you're willing to deal with carrying and changing lenses I would also consider a DSLR. For $300 more than the 5700 you could get a used Canon D60 (without lenses ) that would offer soooo much more bang for your buck. As far as compact flash cards & speed, it hasn't been an issue for me. My G2 creates RAW files that average 3-4 MB, nowhere near the 8MB RAW or 15MB TIFF files that Nikon produces (double your memory costs if you go with Nikon and plan to shoot in RAW ). As far as the performance advantage of Lexar cards, check out this page from the review of the 5700 and you'll see that a Viking card costing half as much works just as well. You can currently get a 512MB Viking card from zones.com for $70 after rebate. As far as the camera prices, those were based on a quick search of low price online merchants I know to be legitemate. When you decide on a camera shoot me a pm and I'll give you more specifics.

[moving mountain]

Tom, yesterday I went to LA on business and checked out the G3 and 5700 extensively in a large Pro-Am store. The sales guy was very helpful and also loaded CF in each so I could play with the screens, functions, images and shoot some images. Pretty much left me lone except to answer any questions. After using them in the store I felt more comfortable with the G3. I really like the larger clearer LCD and feel. Somethings I felt about the 5700 were a little funky in general for the amount of $. He also showed me the new Olympus C 740 zoom with a 38 to 380 zoom and loaded it up to play with. It has some nice features, like shooting 10 images in a row rapidly. The camera has some sort of buffer that let you do that and then write it. The ten shots you can then preview as thumnails on the screen. He told me that C750($599?) was coming out maybe next week, 4mpx, a hot shoe and other upgrades form the C740. The storage media was Olympus xd, which I do not know anything about, except it's a lot smaller, and that Fuji and Olympus developed it to replace their current media. They had a 256 for it for about $120, and up to 6-8 gigs are on the way. I was originally thinking of getting a Nikon digital SLR, with all the Nikon lense I have already. The manual Nikon Al lenses I have will work, but I can not meter through my lenses. I think I am going to get the G3 this week. Thanks for all your input and to this web-site. MM