Point and Shoot at Roses
General December 6th, 2007
Sorry, I’ve been really bad about posting anything substancial about my life recently. Bad me. I can’t believe how quickly these last six months or so have flown by.
I’m going to the Rose Bowl! Things are falling in line — airline tickets, bowl tickets, housing, etc. It will be an unexpected expensive trip, but I’ve got credit and I’m not passing up the opportunity. I’m also loading up on the 100% juice and vitamin C so I can stay healthy this time. (I’m not missing 2 out of the last three bowl games.) I’ll wear a mask all through the Christmas season if I have to.
Anyway, the point of this post is the realization that I’d like to record this trip and my cameraphone is not the best camera. I know digital cameras are getting cheap now — and I don’t need the best on the market — but if I can get a sub $200 camera, it would probably be worth it. Any recommendations? My last camera was an old Canon, which was okay but really slow (both in po/po time, time-between-shots, and shutter speed.) I’d prefer as fast a “film speed” as I can get in a digital, consider I’m likely to take action shots and not be in the best light — or do people not even worrry about that anymore? Have digital cameras just gotten good enough? Size is important in that it must be pocketable (I don’t need a 10x optical, although I might really like one,) but it doesn’t have to be the slimmest camera available.
What P&S should I be looking at?
About
Nikon Coolpix P50
http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=2&productNr=25583
Nikon Coolpix S50c
http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=2&productNr=25557
Nikon Coolpix S51c
http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=2&productNr=25575
Nikon Coolpix S510
http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=2&productNr=25582
Nikon Coolpix S700
http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=2&productNr=25581
I’m partial to Canon – you might want to look at the Powershot A570IS (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona570is/)
Something that bugs me about the ones listed above is the use of a proprietary battery pack. Unless they have phenomenal life (my dslr batter lasts for ~1000 shots, for instance), I really like being able to buy a pack of AAs and pop them in. Definitely something to think about.
I wouldn’t get too caught up in the MegaPixel race, it’s like the Mhz race nowadays. Look for features – high (but good) ISO, fast shutter speed, etc.
Check out dpreview.com – you can do quick side-by-side comparisons between models that should be very helpful.
One thing’s for sure, I hadn’t looked in a while, but it’s pretty crazy what you can get for under 200 bucks.
It’s not quite $200 but there was a NY Times article today comparing some cameras. I’d usually not point to a big paper for such things but it pretty much mirrors what I’ve read on dedicated camera sites.
I’m planning on getting my mom the Canon SD850 for $240 including shipping (that deal expires in 2 days). I was briefly considering the Canon A-series cameras, but they have a low-res screen and despite a physically bigger body I actually find them harder to hold. Canon’s compact camera UI has made significant improvements in the past few years though you don’t read much about it in reviews for whatever reason. (I still prefer Nikon’s DSLR UI by quite a bit, though.)
If you care about low light performance in a compact camera, the Fuji F50fd (or better yet, a F31fd if you can find it) is really your only choice; the UI is pretty sucky compared to the Canon one though. dpreview.com will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about them.
You’re more than welcome to borrow mine if you don’t want to spend anything.
While I don’t remember how much it was when I bought it two years ago, I’m extremely happy with my Fujifilm FinePix F10. I read some reviews on http://dpreview.com (also mentioned above) and decided on it. The time from pushing the power button to shooting is one of the fastest I’ve seen, the battery (proprietary pack) lasts forever (I think I’ve charged it three or four times in the last two years), and the photos turn out well. I’m not sure how it would do with extreme action shots, but I think it might handle it just fine. The point of posting this: I started out looking for Nikon and Canon cameras, ignoring the Fujifilm cameras…until I came upon a good review.
Hello all, I plan to buy a Canon. Had a S80 before, really great but got stolen.
Is it smart to wait and buy it in America? Or will I not get guarantee then?
Thanks,
GL