a point and shoot for the rest of us

[sillyberry]

I was just rereading BEG's camera thread, and thought it would be a good idea to start a new one for those of us who are definitely not "prosumers"!

I can't find my camera anywhere, so decided I might as well buy a new one. My old camera is a Canon PowerShot SD1000 7.1MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom purchased back in 2007. I like it just fine - I don't know a lot about cameras, but it seems to work. I think my previous camera was also a Canon.

Should I get the newer version (Amazon tells me that would be the Canon PowerShot SD1300IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD) or something else? To me the benefit of keeping a Canon is that I vaguely know how the controls work. However, I don't know them intimately, or anything, so learning a new camera wouldn't be the end of the world if there is a better option out there.

I take pictures of my cats, my friends, my jewelry, some scenery, and random other things such as my feet. None of that I do very well. Important factors to me are small size, ease of use, and good quality photos (knowing the limitations of a P&S) under $200.

Suggestions pretty please? Many thanks!

 

[Matata]

I have a Panasonic DMC -ZS6. Bought it based on reviews I read and bought it at Costco for a bit over $200. Love it.

 

[Sundial]

I recently got my daughter a Canon SD4000 point and shoot. She loves it and I have been very impressed with the quality of the pictures that she has been able to take with it. It even does well in low light. I read a lot of reviews before deciding on this model and I think it makes a great all around camera. It even comes in black, silver, or red!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Damn I was going to recommend the Canon S95, but it's like $360 That was my choice for a P&S except for the 3x zoom (I wanted something greater). I unfortunately only have experience with Olympus P&S cameras and I wouldn't recommend them because they use xD, not SD cards like Canon and it'd be a pain to switch over.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll get lots of great advice - I love that there are great camera experts here

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Btw, if you are interested in switching over to Olympus, I HIGHLY recommend the Stylus 1010 - Amazon. Apparently the Stylus 7000 is the newer model but I loved the 1010. All my jewelry/macro pics from before summer 2009 were taken with that camera, as were my New Zealand, Mexico and Japan pics (if you want to look on FB). And if you look on my ex's FB, all his Switzerland and Africa pics are with that camera since he took it with him when I moved to the Stylus 9000 (I don't recommend that one btw). It's a great little camera and very versatile, takes great pictures, and I miss it (though my G11 is pretty sweet).

 

[davi_el_mejor]

I love my Kodak. This one seems to have great specs and great price http://store.kodak.com/store/ekconsus/en_US/pd/M575_Digital_Camera/productID.169225300

 

[sillyberry]

Thanks everyone!

Unfortunately, for my purposes I really want to stay under $200. Given the pictures I take, spending more would be really silly for me. The newer Stylus 7000 is running at $151, which could be an option if it is a quality camera (the 1010 is at $244). I'll also take at look at that Kodak - it's showing up for $79 at Amazon!

I think I'm going to go over to a B&M store and play around and see what feels best... With most things I am a review-whore, but cameras are just intelligible to me and I end up confused!

 

[Amandine]

When my older Canon crapped out (had to turn it off between pictures to be able to take another picture, annoying!) I purchased the Powershot SD1400 IS http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerSh...ZJJ4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291504617&sr=8-1 and so far I love it. After I bought it, Consumer Reports rated it pretty highly, too. Pictures have been great, and it even has HD video! I was looking for something I could fit in my pocket, with some manual controls and good shutter speed to be able to take pictures of my dogs. It's under $200, too! At least on Amazon it is priced at $179. Hopefully this is helpful--camera shopping can be overwhelming!

 

[davi_el_mejor]

woot.com is selling a Panasonic DMC-FH20 14.1MP camera today. It's refurbished, but dang, at that price...

CNET Review:

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20 is a sub-$180 compact camera featuring a wide-angle lens with an 8x zoom and HD movie capture and, really, that's all. That might sound like a complaint, but it's not. It does what it does well, and though there's room for improvement on shooting performance and photo quality, all in all its speed is OK and the results are pleasing. This camera is about value, though, and if you're expecting more features (for example, a Mini-HDMI output) or anything much beyond a reliable auto mode and nice-looking snapshots for your money, this camera isn't for you. It's a simple camera with a flexible lens at a reasonable price.



Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cam...-fh20/4505-6501_7-33939621.html#ixzz17FWKH7yB

 

[sillyberry]

woot.com is selling a Panasonic DMC-FH20 14.1MP camera today. It's refurbished, but dang, at that price...

Ooh, that's tempting...

 

[cellentani]

sillyberry, I too had a Canon SD1000 for about 3 yrs, and loved it. I take a lot of jewelry photos, and it has fantastic macro, and practically all of my photos on PS are taken with it. Not much use if you can't find it of course, but if it ever does turn up, don't get rid of it. I just got a Canon S95, and I'm still getting used to it. It's definitely a step up in practically every category - shoots RAW, larger sensor, wider aperture, hi def video, IS, etc.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

sillyberry, I too had a Canon SD1000 for about 3 yrs, and loved it. I take a lot of jewelry photos, and it has fantastic macro, and practically all of my photos on PS are taken with it. Not much use if you can't find it of course, but if it ever does turn up, don't get rid of it. I just got a Canon S95, and I'm still getting used to it. It's definitely a step up in practically every category - shoots RAW, larger sensor, wider aperture, hi def video, IS, etc.

Cellentani, I want to hear a review on your S95! My friend is thinking of getting one (to supplement his DSLR), and he definitely doesn't want the G series since they're too bulky. Would love to hear what you think!

 

[cellentani]

sillyberry, I too had a Canon SD1000 for about 3 yrs, and loved it. I take a lot of jewelry photos, and it has fantastic macro, and practically all of my photos on PS are taken with it. Not much use if you can't find it of course, but if it ever does turn up, don't get rid of it. I just got a Canon S95, and I'm still getting used to it. It's definitely a step up in practically every category - shoots RAW, larger sensor, wider aperture, hi def video, IS, etc.

Cellentani, I want to hear a review on your S95! My friend is thinking of getting one (to supplement his DSLR), and he definitely doesn't want the G series since they're too bulky. Would love to hear what you think!

Haha, I just tapped out a review but deleted it after seeing that the OP wanted to stay under $200. Funny thing is, I've mostly been taking macro shots, so I've got lots to say about that, but not so much about regular photos, lol. My DH tried out the video, and it was better than his Canon SD1400. The RAW shots are excellent, but the Canon editing software is a bit clumsy. Adobe Photoshop Elements doesn't yet support the S95 RAW extension (I spent a good half-hour downloading and installing for nothing), and Picasa will convert RAW to jpg, but won't edit. Low light performance is really decent, and I posted some shots over in CS: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/best-red-stone-rubellite-or-rhodolite.153197/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/best-red-stone-rubellite-or-rhodolite.153197/[/URL]

What I find really annoying is the dial on the back - I always seem to have my hand over it, so it's super easy to inadvertently change the exposure compensation. It's easy to catch if you've moved the dial from 0 to +1.5 because you'll see the white blowout when you depress the shutter button halfway, but if it's only a 1/3 step, you might not notice. However, I don't think the S95 is alone - I've heard of other cameras with the same issue.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

sillyberry, I too had a Canon SD1000 for about 3 yrs, and loved it. I take a lot of jewelry photos, and it has fantastic macro, and practically all of my photos on PS are taken with it. Not much use if you can't find it of course, but if it ever does turn up, don't get rid of it. I just got a Canon S95, and I'm still getting used to it. It's definitely a step up in practically every category - shoots RAW, larger sensor, wider aperture, hi def video, IS, etc.

Cellentani, I want to hear a review on your S95! My friend is thinking of getting one (to supplement his DSLR), and he definitely doesn't want the G series since they're too bulky. Would love to hear what you think!

Haha, I just tapped out a review but deleted it after seeing that the OP wanted to stay under $200. Funny thing is, I've mostly been taking macro shots, so I've got lots to say about that, but not so much about regular photos, lol. My DH tried out the video, and it was better than his Canon SD1400. The RAW shots are excellent, but the Canon editing software is a bit clumsy. Adobe Photoshop Elements doesn't yet support the S95 RAW extension (I spent a good half-hour downloading and installing for nothing), and Picasa will convert RAW to jpg, but won't edit. Low light performance is really decent, and I posted some shots over in CS: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/best-red-stone-rubellite-or-rhodolite.153197/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/best-red-stone-rubellite-or-rhodolite.153197/[/URL]

What I find really annoying is the dial on the back - I always seem to have my hand over it, so it's super easy to inadvertently change the exposure compensation. It's easy to catch if you've moved the dial from 0 to +1.5 because you'll see the white blowout when you depress the shutter button halfway, but if it's only a 1/3 step, you might not notice. However, I don't think the S95 is alone - I've heard of other cameras with the same issue.

Ooh thanks. That's really annoying about the editing software. I'm no expert so I just do editing on iPhoto, but I definitely need to take some classes. The pictures from that thread look really good - the colors look great (that's what I hated about my Olympus 9000 - the colors never seemed to come out accurately, no matter how much I adjusted the settings).

Would you buy the camera again, now that you've had time to try it out?

SB, sorry for the threadjack!

 

[sillyberry]

I'm 100% pro-threadjack! I feel less selfish for starting a thread then!

(and I ended up wooting that Panasonic davi recommended - we'll see how it goes!)

 

[davi_el_mejor]

I'm 100% pro-threadjack! I feel less selfish for starting a thread then!

(and I ended up wooting that Panasonic davi recommended - we'll see how it goes!)

WOOT!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

I'm 100% pro-threadjack! I feel less selfish for starting a thread then!

(and I ended up wooting that Panasonic davi recommended - we'll see how it goes!)

 

[cellentani]

sillyberry, I too had a Canon SD1000 for about 3 yrs, and loved it. I take a lot of jewelry photos, and it has fantastic macro, and practically all of my photos on PS are taken with it. Not much use if you can't find it of course, but if it ever does turn up, don't get rid of it. I just got a Canon S95, and I'm still getting used to it. It's definitely a step up in practically every category - shoots RAW, larger sensor, wider aperture, hi def video, IS, etc.

Cellentani, I want to hear a review on your S95! My friend is thinking of getting one (to supplement his DSLR), and he definitely doesn't want the G series since they're too bulky. Would love to hear what you think!

Haha, I just tapped out a review but deleted it after seeing that the OP wanted to stay under $200. Funny thing is, I've mostly been taking macro shots, so I've got lots to say about that, but not so much about regular photos, lol. My DH tried out the video, and it was better than his Canon SD1400. The RAW shots are excellent, but the Canon editing software is a bit clumsy. Adobe Photoshop Elements doesn't yet support the S95 RAW extension (I spent a good half-hour downloading and installing for nothing), and Picasa will convert RAW to jpg, but won't edit. Low light performance is really decent, and I posted some shots over in CS: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/best-red-stone-rubellite-or-rhodolite.153197/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/best-red-stone-rubellite-or-rhodolite.153197/[/URL]

What I find really annoying is the dial on the back - I always seem to have my hand over it, so it's super easy to inadvertently change the exposure compensation. It's easy to catch if you've moved the dial from 0 to +1.5 because you'll see the white blowout when you depress the shutter button halfway, but if it's only a 1/3 step, you might not notice. However, I don't think the S95 is alone - I've heard of other cameras with the same issue.

Ooh thanks. That's really annoying about the editing software. I'm no expert so I just do editing on iPhoto, but I definitely need to take some classes. The pictures from that thread look really good - the colors look great (that's what I hated about my Olympus 9000 - the colors never seemed to come out accurately, no matter how much I adjusted the settings).

Would you buy the camera again, now that you've had time to try it out?

SB, sorry for the threadjack!

BEG - what I would like best, is to switch cameras with you for about a week, so we can each try out the other's! My top choices were the G12 ( I know you have the G11, but it's practically the same, save for a few features), the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5, and the Canon S95. The Lumix comes in a white body which was very appealing for gem photography, but the internal processor and jpeg compression won unfavorable reviews on cnet. This could be avoided by shooting in RAW of course, but given how memory intensive the files are, I didn't want to be forced into that option.

The S95 won out over the G12 because of price and the slightly wider aperture, but I have to say, I'm very intrigued by the G12's 1cm macro capability. Have you tried shooting any gemstones or rings? Aside from the camera obstruction issue, how close can you get and still focus?

I think I'd buy the S95 again, but your friend's camera choice will all depend on what it's used for. How do you like the zoom on yours?

 

[jstarfireb]

sillyberry, I too had a Canon SD1000 for about 3 yrs, and loved it. I take a lot of jewelry photos, and it has fantastic macro, and practically all of my photos on PS are taken with it. Not much use if you can't find it of course, but if it ever does turn up, don't get rid of it. I just got a Canon S95, and I'm still getting used to it. It's definitely a step up in practically every category - shoots RAW, larger sensor, wider aperture, hi def video, IS, etc.

I've heard VERY good things about this line. I think my husband has the SD1100IS, and it has a really nice "digital macro" setting. Great for taking jewelry pics! In general, the camera buffs tend to recommend Canon for your basic point and shoot digital camera.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

sillyberry, I too had a Canon SD1000 for about 3 yrs, and loved it. I take a lot of jewelry photos, and it has fantastic macro, and practically all of my photos on PS are taken with it. Not much use if you can't find it of course, but if it ever does turn up, don't get rid of it. I just got a Canon S95, and I'm still getting used to it. It's definitely a step up in practically every category - shoots RAW, larger sensor, wider aperture, hi def video, IS, etc.

Cellentani, I want to hear a review on your S95! My friend is thinking of getting one (to supplement his DSLR), and he definitely doesn't want the G series since they're too bulky. Would love to hear what you think!

Haha, I just tapped out a review but deleted it after seeing that the OP wanted to stay under $200. Funny thing is, I've mostly been taking macro shots, so I've got lots to say about that, but not so much about regular photos, lol. My DH tried out the video, and it was better than his Canon SD1400. The RAW shots are excellent, but the Canon editing software is a bit clumsy. Adobe Photoshop Elements doesn't yet support the S95 RAW extension (I spent a good half-hour downloading and installing for nothing), and Picasa will convert RAW to jpg, but won't edit. Low light performance is really decent, and I posted some shots over in CS: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/best-red-stone-rubellite-or-rhodolite.153197/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/best-red-stone-rubellite-or-rhodolite.153197/[/URL]

What I find really annoying is the dial on the back - I always seem to have my hand over it, so it's super easy to inadvertently change the exposure compensation. It's easy to catch if you've moved the dial from 0 to +1.5 because you'll see the white blowout when you depress the shutter button halfway, but if it's only a 1/3 step, you might not notice. However, I don't think the S95 is alone - I've heard of other cameras with the same issue.

Ooh thanks. That's really annoying about the editing software. I'm no expert so I just do editing on iPhoto, but I definitely need to take some classes. The pictures from that thread look really good - the colors look great (that's what I hated about my Olympus 9000 - the colors never seemed to come out accurately, no matter how much I adjusted the settings).

Would you buy the camera again, now that you've had time to try it out?

SB, sorry for the threadjack!

BEG - what I would like best, is to switch cameras with you for about a week, so we can each try out the other's! My top choices were the G12 ( I know you have the G11, but it's practically the same, save for a few features), the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5, and the Canon S95. The Lumix comes in a white body which was very appealing for gem photography, but the internal processor and jpeg compression won unfavorable reviews on cnet. This could be avoided by shooting in RAW of course, but given how memory intensive the files are, I didn't want to be forced into that option.

The S95 won out over the G12 because of price and the slightly wider aperture, but I have to say, I'm very intrigued by the G12's 1cm macro capability. Have you tried shooting any gemstones or rings? Aside from the camera obstruction issue, how close can you get and still focus?

I think I'd buy the S95 again, but your friend's camera choice will all depend on what it's used for. How do you like the zoom on yours?

Too bad we don't live near each other! I would swap you cameras for a week! Here is a good review of the G11 and the S90 (predecessor I believe to your S95) - I thought it was interesting. The weaker points of the G11 (not as good with action) don't bother me too much since I still have my XSi.

As for macro, the G11 and the G12 have the same range - I can get down to 1 cm for macro, which is awesome. I haven't really tested it out too much with jewelry pics yet - I keep meaning to but every time I get around to it, the lighting has been too bad outside (ugh winter). I did take some lower-light photos of some of my rings and the focus was great at the macro level - it was just the colors/ambient light that sucked, so I will have to test it out again soon. I like the extra zoom I get (it's a 5x). Definitely not as good as my Olympus 1010, but the rest of the camera makes up for it (I really didn't like my 1010 too much). If the S95 had a slightly greater zoom I would totally have gotten it though!