I don't mind spending $400 on a point and shoot if it has excellent stabilization and great picture quality. I just can't seem to find a good combo of the two. I spend about 30 minutes taking pics of the car and maybe half are in great focus with a canon powershot a520. I'm not looking for a 7+ megapixel camera either. Anything above 6 (or 7 at the absolute max) is just a waste of my memory card. What is everyone using, what do you like, do you have example high-res pics, and what would your ideal camera be?

 

Hey, here I am again lol. Anyways let me check I think the canon sd700 may have the image stabalization......

Yup, probably going to be your best bet dude. Same great quality of the Canon digital elf series, but just an upgrade to image stabalization. There yah go You will love that

 

Canon SD700 ~$500
6.0 MP, Image Stablization, 4x, most compact
Canon S3 ~$500
6.0 MP, Image Stablization, 12x, advanced features, large point and shoot
Canon S2 ~$400
similar to S3 but 5.0 MP, fewer features, smaller LCD

or

Nikon P3 ~$450
8.1 MP, WIFI, Image Stablization (Vibration Reduction). 3.5x, average to compact, some advanced features
Nikon P4 ~$400
Same as P3 but no WIFI

*All of these use SD cards, so go with whichever one you like best.

 

I'm not looking to spend more than $400 or $500 absolute max. What about these cameras?

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Panas...oductDetail.do
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Sony-...oductDetail.do

Anyone have any input on these? Looks like they got really good ratings at CC (not that it's necessarily the end-all be-all of places for ratings).

 

H1 is garbage, if your willing to get an H1, get the S2-IS. You will be MOOOORE than happy with that camera. Great Image Stabalizer, quick, easy to use. I loved it when I worked with it. I recommended it ALL the time.

The Panasonic I don't know much about, however, the ones I was around always had problems with them.

Canons + Nikons make cameras

Panasonic and Sony make TV's

 

No Sony Cameras!!!!! Boooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I was considering the S2 IS as a definite top contender, but I just don't know about that small lcd. That thing is friggin tiny for the camera. I can't believe canon's judgement on that one. It is definitely a sweet camera though. I am just trying to get an idea of all of my options before I make a choice.

 

my buddy uses http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1117177232681

its great IMO

 

http://www.dcresource.com/

In general you really can't go too wrong with a Canon. $400 is a pretty fat budget, pick a few you like, go through the reviews, and be done with it.

About the only other thing for me is I hate cameras with proprietary batteries. It's just way too much of a hassle for a casual user not to be able to pop in double A's if needed.

640x480 30fps video is nice to have, as well.

 

If you are getting blurry pictures then it's the user not the camera and a stabiliser will not help you out.

Plus any of the stabilisers on compact camera's are only electronic and not gyro stabilisers so are very limited.

As for MP rating well it's all about print size and nothing more. More MP does NOT mean better quality it just means you can print bigger. If you only ever plan on printing A4 size images or smaller then a 3MP Camera is fine.

It's all about the quality of the components not the quantity of megapixels.

Any of the well known Camera brands such as - Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Fuji all make good Camera's. Sony are ok but they use the same CCD as Olympus yet cost more so why bother paying the extra.

Stay away from cheap brands and names such as HP and Kodak as they don't perform anywhere near as well.

If you want the best pictures then Digital SLR's are the way to go.

Tip - When you take your pictures are you remembering to pre-focus first? If not then that will result in blurry images.

Large zoom camera's are harder to get sharp pictures from at high zoom levels, this is due to camera shake. In low light levels these large zoom lenses are pants as they don't have a very good 'F stop', this means they have to run a slower shutter speed.

 

Actually, it's the stabilizer, because I can use some cameras and all of the pictures come out fantastic (my old sony cybershot) and some cameras half come out crappy (canon powershot a520). If I had parkinson's I wouldn't be caring about a stabilizer b/c it just wouldn't help, but I'm looking for a stabilizer that will help out if I do move the camera a bit or I don't have it on a tripod. Maybe I should just take diazepam before shooting, sniper-style.

Which is why I said I don't need a crazy amount of megapixels. I want enough to print large pictures but not to the point where it just takes up unnecessary space on my memory card.

What is this pre-focus you talk about? Are you meaning press the button halfway for it to focus, then take the pic? If so, I do that. I agree with the HP and Kodak comments, they are cameras definitely geared more toward the user who just wants to press a button and take a pic. I equate it to the "Easy" button from Staples. I'm not the average picture taker, but by no means do I need an SLR at this point. I'm just trying to figure out my best option for the money considering my budget and needs/wants.

 

May I suggest buying your camera at Costco? You can buy a $400 camera now, when you get more money, return it, add another $300 and you can get the Canon rebel.

I think costco.com has the rebel for $699 after mail in rebate and it has a lifetime warranty. I work for Costco, so I may be a little biased, but anything you buy at Costco (except computers) has a lifetime warranty from Costco. If it breaks in 10 years, bring it back and we'll give you a new one. Plain and simple.

 

Good call with the Costco one, I may look to buy an SLR from them then

Also, the Kodak p850 described in that link is a great camera, has that propriotary battery. I HATE the image stabalizer on that though. Don't know why, but it's garbage

The Canon Rebels are GREAT no doubt about that, but he said his price range is 300-400 with the Rebel he is looking 700+250 for a good lens. So he's looking at close to 1,000 bucks.

The S2-IS is the way to go. It has the small screen, but it's the small price to pay when looking at the ultimate goal. What you ultimately want is great pictures. The Canon S2-IS will get you that. The small screen was put there because it targets a different target market. It targets the sports fan, and the concert goer. Because of the small screen, and generally small size of the camera, it's geared towards a person who may not always have the perfect shot, and may have to raise the camera above their heads because of a crowd, then swivel thescreen to see what they are taking the picture of.

Honestly if I were you I would go and buy the Canon Rebel, but it is out of the price range. The next best thing would be the Canon S2-IS. Try it, you won't be disappointed

--I used to work for best buy, until now they shafted me, but I learned what I know from there so there you go, S2-IS for the win

 

One thing you want to check for is the lighting and/or the flash. If your subject is low contrast or poorly lit, the pictures will tend to be blurry, reguardless of how steady you try and hold the camera. Mind you, I'm not a camera expert and this is something I just figured out.

This may or may not help you but it is something to keep in mind.

 

I konw the rebel will run him into the mid 700's, but if he buys a $400 camera now that is of good quality and uses it for a year or two to satisfy his photo needs and builds the interest for photography, he can then return it and add another $350 and upgrade w/o dishing the $750 upfront. It deosnt seem as bad dishing the $400 one time and the $350 the next as opposed to dropping $750 all at once. Just a thought.

 

Lighting is a huge factor, but can be compensated for with a good camera and slower shutter speeds while using a tripod or very steady hands, and possibly some photoshopping. Some of the cameras mentioned (S2, S3, and I believe even the other canon and the nikons I listed) have this capability.

The really nice thing about the S2/3 is that they have many of their controls easily accessible as buttons, whereas most of the others referenced you have to navigate through menus.

I'd probably go with the S2, but you really need to go into a store (even if you don't buy in the store) and check out the ones that meet your criteria. If it doesn't feel right, or you aren't comfortable using it, it's not the camera for you, even if it's a great camera.

 

That's what I've been doing. I spend a great deal of my time in stores checking out cameras. I've even bought a couple and returned them.

That costco deal is pretty sweet though. I may consider doing that, especially since I have a friend working there

 

Do you want a pocket camera or one with a big zoom.

All of the small camera's have a 3x Optical Zoom Lens (digital zoom sucks - DO NOT USE IT). If you want a bigger zoom then physically the camera has to be bigger.

Generally, as stated before any of the photographic manufacturers offer good camera's that should produce good sharp images.

Canon's are generally very good (the A520 included, if you are having issues with it then you either have a faulty camera or it is user error). Most cameras do not have an electronic stabiliser only the ones with a large zoom as a rule (10 or 12x). Some have an advertised 'anti-shake control' which is just a warning telling you to use the flash - total and utter marketing

The Canon S2 IS is a good Camera but in the UK it's also expensive and uses AA batteries which are just heavy and rubbish run times. Panasonic offer some nice large zoom cameras and use better battery setups. The large zoom Fuji's have also always performed well although you are back to AA batterys.

For a sensible priced pocket camera I think the Olympus MJU700 is one of the best bets. The Canon Ixus range is good but pricey by comparison.

Do you ever use any of the manual controls such as Shutter or Aperture priority? If you do then this will limit your choice.

Is there any correlation to which pictures you take are blurry? such as ones on maximum zoom or without the flash, etc.

 

The blurry pics are actually just random. It doesn't happen in any one certain setting, they have occurred in the darkest/lightest conditions. I realize I don't have a rock steady hand so that's part of the problem, but the cameras should compensate for some of that. I'm looking for the one that takes the best overall pics, size doesn't matter (regardless of what you hear ) as long as it has great stabilization, picture quality, and can take more than 20 pics on batteries

 

Canon powershots are awesome.