worth the upgrade?

[Bolerus]

At home i am currently using an olympus c-740 ultra zoom


http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/29_C-740_UltraZoom.htm

3.2 mp, 38 - 380 mm equiv, but doesent do raw. it has an aperture of 2.8 upto 8 and shutter speed 15sec - 1/1000

Now I have been thinking about upgrading to a fuji s5600 for the raw mode

but from what i see aperature only goes down to 3.2

although it is 5 mp instead of my 3.

Is that much of an upgrade worth the 150 ish quid they cost?

Alternativly the 6500 has f2.8 - f11 but not as much magnification, (28-300)

and 6.3 mp but at a price of an extra £70 quid is that worth it for those extra bits.

any opinions ? what i am really asking i guess, is the extra mega pixcells and the raw mode really worth the money compared to what i have

 

[Sol]

I think the Fuji will be a better all round camera than the Olympus and only you can decide whether it is worth the upgrade or not. The aperture difference will not be an issue, I don't even think aperture control makes a world of a difference in non-dslr cameras.

Some people say RAW mode is worth having and some don't. Again on a point and shoot I don't think it's particularly great, the size of RAW files is a lot larger than JPEG so unless the camera writes particularly quickly then you could be waiting for it to write files. At least it is an available feature but for me personally I couldn't care less about RAW on a P&S camera.

The resolution increase is worth having but if generally print to small picture sizes then you may not have the need. Helps for cropping photos though.

Get down the shop and try it out and see if you prefer it. Take some shots with both cameras and go from there. There are higher models too!

 

[gt_junkie]

I'd recommend the 5600. I've seen it in action and been very impressed plus it's definately a massive improvement over the olympus you have now. My gf has the very same camera as you and compared to the fuji it is a let down!

I got the camera for her over 2 years ago for £120 which was a great price at the time and it's done well! I have a sony f717 and although that takes better pictures i always liked the olympus' monster 10x zoom!!! The fuji has a 10x zoom too so you won't miss anything - all you'll get is an increase in performance and control!

Infact i had to send my sony in for an image sensor repair over xmas and was forced to use the olympus. The lack of options for controlling focus, zoom, aperture, shutter speed, etc... made it impossible to use easily in moderately awkward situations!

Just go for the fuji - awesome camera for the price! Plus, if you sell your olympus on the mm you won't have to spend as much on the 5600!

gt

 

[Bolerus]

i actually went into pcwor yesterday they had a 9500 felt nice, i liked using the lens to zoom and the rotating dial for manual. then the asistant told me they dont have any 9500s they only have 9600 which is 100 more and all it really has is a better display.

i was not impressed at all, but i woudl never use them anyway, i only went in there to have a look because i was close.



Incidently, gt_junkie the olympus does have full manual control over shutter speed and aperature etc, but the manual focus is horrible menu thing