Is there a pocket digital...with...

[MarkG]

RAW capability AND which lets you view camera functions through the viewfinder rather than on the LCD screen? The Canon G9 is very appealing, but I want to be able to use a viewfinder, and see exposure information, flash info, etc, the standard stuff one used to see in a viewfinder.

Why? Because I have to wear glasses to see up close, but my distance vision is fine, so every time I want to take a photo I first have to find my glasses.

My digital SLR has all the right stuff, of course, but I find it too bulky for use when hiking, a new passion, and my little Canon SD500, while completely serviceable, doesn't allow RAW capture.

I've looked, without success, but thought maybe....

[Gino]

Dpreview.com (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp) has a pretty good search/comparison feature.

Good luck!

[wacolt]

Try the Kodak P880. Digital SLR with viewfinder and LCD viewing. I picked mine up on ebay last week; $200. There are also available and optional wide angle/telephoto that attach to the zoom.

I'm happy with it. Owners manual available here. http://www.kodak.com/global/en/service/products/ekn030484.jhtml?pq-path=7493

[MarkG]

Try the Kodak P880. Digital SLR with viewfinder and LCD viewing. I picked mine up on ebay last week; $200. There are also available and optional wide angle/telephoto that attach to the zoom.

I'm happy with it. Owners manual available here. http://www.kodak.com/global/en/service/products/ekn030484.jhtml?pq-path=7493


Thanks for the suggestion. I have a digital SLR, a Canon, with a good lens, but I find it too much trouble to take hiking, and am looking for what is apparently unobtainable, a pocket camera with viewfinder info. Appreciate your effort to answer.

[Wolfgang]

Try the Kodak P880. Digital SLR with viewfinder and LCD viewing. I picked mine up on ebay last week; $200. There are also available and optional wide angle/telephoto that attach to the zoom.

I'm happy with it. Owners manual available here. http://www.kodak.com/global/en/service/products/ekn030484.jhtml?pq-path=7493

Is this really an SLR?

[yechave]

While not an SLR, check out the Pentax Optio WP on ebay. You can buy this new, with a warranty and accessories, for $250 I believe. I paid $420 for this two years ago, w/o the warranty. Best camera I have ever owned. Waterproof to 5', very small, great features.

We bought two of the Optio W30's this year. Has some abilities the WP did not have, but I felt the user features on the WP were better, the camera slightly smaller. I took it everywhere. I made some money with it, and used that money to buy the W30.

The only real difference, and the reason I kept the W30, was its ability to take much better pics in less light.

We started our compact camera search after seeing one of the credit card size cameras someone had while we were headed for a hike in VA. I bought two of those, which did not work at all. Bought the WP, and there was no looking back.

Eastern Mountain Sports has a great cell phone bag, which just happens to fit this camera perfectly. I don't leave the house without it.

It has saved me parking tickets, paid for damages to my vehicle I was able to prove were caused by a Walmart parking lot maintenance crew (would have been out $1800 w/o this proof), and have used this more than all the other cameras I have ever owned, combined.

[wacolt]

Is this really an SLR?

Yes, and I'm experiencing the same frustrations as I did when I first bought my Pentax Spotmatic in 1975. I do so enjoy the immediate gratification, too!

[Randy]

Is this really an SLR?No. It has an LCD screen and an electronic (LCD) viewfinder. While billed as an alternative to an entry level DSLR, it has the same 1/1.8" CCD image sensor shared with many other P&S cameras.