Would you spend an extra $50 just to get 200x150 more pixels?

[Deja Q]

THAT is the difference between a 7.2MP camera and a 8MP one.

(The Olympus SP-310 and Stylus 800 respectively; though I might get the SP-350 instead...)

(3050x2300 vs 3250x2450)

[Touchdown]

1. It's about a 4% improvement in quality.

$50 bucks isn't a big difference, but then the improvement is negligible. The Nikon D70 is 6.1mp. The coolpix 8800 is 8mp. translates into 2 lines hrozontal and 2 lines verticle. A 14% improvement in potential detail. The smaller CCD on the Coolpix though severely cuts down on higher ISO light sensitivity, rendering that 14% moot.

I'd go with the one that has a bigger CCD or more features.

[Deja Q]

4. Gotcha.

Pity mobody sells the Minolta SLR. It's got some rather fine features, and a nice large CCD too. But I've opted to save my film SLR for zooms and get a decent P&S for landscape work, which is 80% of my work anyway. :D

[BamaGirl]

5. What do you mean no one sells

the Minolta SLR? The digital? B&H has the 5D and the 7D in stock. My local camera store is carrying them too.

[Deja Q]

6. I'll check out my local camera store... I usually go to computer stores

where they have all the other major DSLR brands.

[F.Gordon]

2. Stop dickin' around and just buy the 350

Seems like an awesome digie. Auto noise reduction. ISO-50. 2cm macros. 500 shots on one set of AA batteries. Full Manual mode. And at less than $400....

Don't be so consumed with the amount of pixie dust that the camera sprinkles.

[Deja Q]

3. They both seemed awesome to me...

I just hope they can perform.

But I was most impressed with the Pentax Optio S60, even if it is lacking in an AF illuminator (and thus takes no-focused pics in dark conditions). For a no-frills point'n'shoot, I can say it was quite good. And even with 6:1 compression for the finest jpg setting, it was not easy finding jpeg artifacts. Still, only RAW (which is on the Olympus models :bounce: ) is what I want.

Yeah, I'll find the SP-350. I've got the 310 now, but if the sole difference is megapixel sice (everything else with the sensor and featureset being the same) I'll splurge.

I hope the noise reduction doesn't kill detail from the images; I've got my own special software that does a great job as it is (NeatImage).