considering graduating from the "consumer"-grade camera league

StvShoop

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i'm looking for any suggestions on a new camera.

i should start off by saying that i'm digital now and plan on staying that way :p
maybe i'll go film when i have enough $$ to keep my own darkroom.

what i've got now is a Minolta Dimage Z1, which i'm quite happy with, but i think i'm growing out of it.

I chose this camera mostly because it had all the manual settings right up front, not under a pile of stupid GUI menus like all the others at electronic stores at the time.

does anyone know of a good digital with specs resembling these:
...>3Mp
...macro <4cm
...zoom >10x
...twisty-mechanical thing to focus, instead of buttons (sry for lack of vocab)
...shutterspeed, f-stop, etc. as external controls - no need for GUI at all
...on the small-ish side (dimage is a bit uncomfortable in cargo pants pocket)
...perhaps <$400
??

the most crucial need i have for it is photography of architectural models, but I like to go out a lot and photo interesting lighting conditions, or whatever else i find also.

any ideas?
thanks!
 
I would consider just about every non-SLR digital camera to be "consumer grade". There are some that are much better than others but I think that even an entry level DSLR is much better than the upper end digital point & shoot cameras.

Of course, DSLRs are expensive and not very small (with a lens).
 
yeah he's right. For all the specs you asked for (especially a manual focus ring) you cant find a small digicam. I would suggest either going for something a little less ambitious (smaller isnt always better, and you can always carry a camera bag), or going for something a little more ambitious, like a dSLR.
 

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