Good Point and Shoot camera suggestions
 

So for my Birthday today my GF game some options on presents since she knows i'm picky. one of the them was a digital camera to replace my 10 yearold cannon brick.

Although I took photography in HS years ago i'm not going to try and pretend to be cool and jump on the camera bandwagon as I dont want to carry that to the track, or camping. Just looking for suggestion a relativley "frugal" digital cameras with a decent optical zoom as I could care less about digital zoom is it is a POS. And something that I might be able to take track shots too.

I was looking around on www.tigerdirect.com and www.newegg.com Any suggestions would be great

I like these canons nice shutter speed and good useability + they run on AA's so you nvr need to worry about finding a place to plug in your charger.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Canon+-+...&skuId=9454994
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerSho...7917713&sr=8-1 <-- i got my sister thisone cause she is a newb and needed a good camera. she has done some nice pics with it. + it was onsale for like 120 bucks

It's funny, camera phones are getting so good that I've basically stopped using my P&S. I'm either using my Nikon D50 when I'm serious, or just taking snapshots with my Droid Incredible.

I dont like smart phones. I like being off the internet.




that first cannon is one of the ones I was looking at.

Maybe I should just take the cash and put it towards a Rollbar lol.

I have a Sony DSC7 for my P&S. Use it regularly for work too.

the second one is a real good camera it just doesnt have the optics of the first. All in al if you dont need the extra zoom i would get the second one.

I bought my wife the exact camera in Magna's first reply...and it's been ABSOLUTELY great. Good photos, good battery life, and they're AAs so easy to carry two extra. I use rechargables and it's been the easiest system to keep going we've got.

So easy my wife can use it, and a few things you can play with yourself.

[img]stupidstilldogpic...will look for trackday pics[/img]

Cannon for the win. We have two in our family that have been dead reliable. I like the AA batteries too. You always seem to run out of battery at inconvenient times and you can get AA's everywhere.

I had a Nikon Coolpix for a while too, I dropped it once when sitting in a chair on our tile floor and it literally exploded. I've dropped the cannons a whole bunch at they have lasted well. One is even surviving after being tapped to an R/C car and jumped.

i'm torn I'd like a longer lense to be able to capture autoX/Track shots but dont want to be encumbered by the lens, even more so if i am out hiking.

The S90 looks interesting, but probably higher than I want spend right now.

This is actually the one that my wife has...previous gen, most of the same features and capabilities, and the price has come down a good bit sense.

The lense is really good. I need to get some pics off of it, but the zoom works much better than the pocket point and shoots.

http://www.google.com/products/catal...d=0CDwQ8wIwAg#

I picked up a Canon Elph SD1110 for $115 delivered and got another battery for $8. The batteries last forever. It shoots excellent video too at 640x480 30fps. It'll put an hour of video at that rate/rez on a 4gb card. It's small enough to fit in your pocket, light enough to mount on the roll bar, and at the price it wouldn't be the end all if it got crunched.

The S90 is pretty much the best pocket camera around for the price.

If you want something cheaper and smaller, just run your finger down the Canon product list for point and shoots until you hit the price/features point you need. I have an SD1100IS that works well for when I dont want to lug around an SLR.

lol i forgot about the ebay

some decent prices.

Another option you might consider is the Panasonic line.

They've partnered with Zeiss for lens technology, and have very solid software and sensors. The Leica point and shoots are really panasonic camera's.

They've got a couple decent camera's in the middle price range.

+1 Canons
They seem to have the best pic quality among P&S's.

I've had great success with our olympus water proof camera. The wife lost and we both liked it enough that we're getting another one.

++++ on the Canon S90

I have a Pana Lumix LX-3 which used to be the standard for competent point and shoots until the S90 came out. I bought my GF one for her birthday and the picture quality betters the Lumix by a good margin.

While it's no DLSR, it's ability to control noise thanks to it's huge (by consumer/commodity camera standards) sensor gives it a decisive advantage over the point and shoot market.

I still have resisted trading up to an S90 from my Lumix though - the Panasonic has a superior IMO interface if you prefer manual shooting.

-Zach

If you are thinking about a bit more than a pocket p&s, look at the Canon SX10 or SX20. The 20 is newer, as it replaced the 10, but they're pretty much the same and the 10 can be picked up used/refurbished for a good bit less. The zoom is VERY useful, but it's not too big. I use the older brother, the S5, and I'm sure you've seen some of the pics I post on here that I've taken with it (including my sig pic).

Whatever you get, make sure it has a viewfinder so you don't look like a cockmaster by holding the camera aaway from your face to take pictures.

I've got this one as well.

It's bombproof and takes decent shots. Panasonic gives up the durability of the Olympus but takes better shots...actually, more consistent shots.

I bought this one a couple months ago and am quite pleased. It's better than a point and click but not quite to the $$ level of a SLR. Takes awesome pics/HD movies.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ef=oss_product

Canon SX20IS is the one that I'm getting. Great lens for a P&S, but might be a bit big and more expensive than you want. I want it for the 20x zoom and the screen swings out so I can set up a tripod and take pics of myself when I go to Europe.

Canon G11 or S90

THE G10/G11 is good, but it lacks zoom. Manual functions are great as is the sensor and lens and processor.

the G11 is a bit beyond a point and shoot ... good camera but hardly pocket-able unless your still rocking Jinco jeans from the mid-90's

-Zach

Nikon P100 is a good one, I just got it... but its not exactly a keep-on-you camera... so I use my wife's cybershot or my phone alot.

How does this compare to the Lumix LX3?

the s90 uses the same sensor and has a faster f/2 lens and still gives you M/Tv/Av controls. and weighs half as much and will fit in your pocket.

for the price, if you want an SLR, get an SLR. otherwise, get this thing.

FWIW, only a few older Lumix cameras share much with the Leica cameras.

Refurb'd SD1200 from newegg for $99/$3 ship. Subscribe to their email newsletter and use coupon EMCYVNX24 on checkout.

sold out already lol

I don't know, I haven't used the LX3. I'm not even a camera guy. I wanted the closest thing to an SLR without having to do all the extra work and that's how I ended up getting the G11. I'd go with the S90 if I did it again because it is smaller.

So I ended up going with a FUJIFILM F72EXR LCD
With a 10X Optical Zoom.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ImageG...gital%20Camera

It is ultra compact, has many modes I could use if I ever want to do more than point and shoot, plus when the lens sinks into the body I can still shove it in a day pack, or a camping backpack. I'll be up in maine next weekend and hopefully i will get a chance to try some nature shots.

I did NOT the complete thread and all its supportive miata details.

Although it may sound cliche, on point and shoot I would put money on Kodak Easyshare line cameras. I am on my 2nd one and that thing is a tank, from Macro/Zoom to taking videos is not bad at all.

Things to consider when buying:

- type of memory card (SD is a plus)
- rechargeable battery, no freakin way AA or AAA batteries.

On P&S I would never ever buy Nikons, its a waste of money.

And never buy just because it has more megapixels, the Kodak easyshare with 4.1 Mb is way better than the Canon with 10 MB. The same way, I got a old school DSLR Nikon D1H and is way better than the Canon.

Why? Processor, a good processor is the key on digital media.

Take some pictures without flash to see how it reads low light.
Macro pictures, with and without flash to see how much goes into the image and how much is shadow.

Use the max zoom, NOT every camera is the same. Many times zoom is way off and pictures are terrible.
Test the self timer, see if it is adjustable, and that one can turn off the beeping sound.
Test the flash on open spaces to see how far it will reach and on the same token wide angle etc.

Like stated above, Kodak are gold on the point and shoot. And in case you are goin to treat them like shyt, the slim design is not the best. Get a compact DSLR.

AND do a search on flickr with that camera name to see the quality.

I guess I am a little late...

I'll throw my hat in the ring for the Canon S90 as well. I'd been searching for a replacement to my 2003-vintage Nikon Coolpix for about a year. Last month while up in LA, a client showed me his, and I bought one for myself the next day.

Incidentally, the manual controls were exactly what sold me on it. With the mode selector in full manual, it behaves just like an SLR. There's a ring at the best of the lens- you turn it, and the aperture changes. There's a dial on the back- you turn it, and shutter speed changes. No menus, no key combinations, actual, dedicated controls for the two most basic functions.

The "deeper" controls are easy to get at also. Push one button, the dial on the back temporarily switcher to controlling ISO. Push a different button, and the dial toggles back and forth between shutter and manual focus (with an automatic center-spot magnification.) Flash power takes a couple of key-presses, but it's still easy to get to.

Overall, really stellar image quality. The flash is a tad bright in the center of frame, but that's what you get with a P&S body. And I wish the lens could go shorter than 28mm, but nowadays even that is considered "wide."

It fits comfortably in my pocket, weighs nothing, the low-light performance is great (f2, and very little noise even at ISO 3200), and I've been shooting all week on a single charge.

S90 is so last week.

now it's S95.

I took my nikon S200 on deployment with me. I had it on me every day, and most days it was tucked in my ACU breast pocket underneath my body armor. Slim design meant that it fit there very comfortably. Every once in awhile, I would bump it, and it would turn on and try to extend the lens. When it couldnt easily extend the lens, it would simply stop trying instead of burning up the motor or other parts. The rechargeable battery lasted FOREVER in it. It isn't the best low light camera, but the flash could be adjusted to be pretty powerful. 3x optical zoom was easy to control. I dropped this thing multiple times, and it dealt with a pretty harsh/hot/dusty environment for the entire year. Scratched the hell out of it, and even put a nice little dent on the extendable lens housing, and it never missed a beat. Even used it as a "document scanner" when a real scanner wasnt available to e-mail legal investigations.

Attachment 194378

I'm happy with it. Just need to play around with the modes on it.

btw this was in a nearly dark apartment.

I was pleased with the camera. Just need to read the manual for the features. I didnt have time to do so when I left for Maine.
PS these are really downsized.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._6522412_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._2194449_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._2321714_n.jpg

my gf in the distance
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._1996826_n.jpg

with zoom
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._1804621_n.jpg