Camera suggestions.

pearsall001

I'm in the market for a new camera to replace my old Sony. I have my budget set at $300 & want a pocket size camera for convenience. I'm not a big camera type of guy. What should I be looking at? How many megapixels, zoom, battery life, etc. & any other worthwhile features. The Sony we now have eats batteries like crazy & it has a very long delay till it actually takes the picture. You pretty much have to time the picture you're going to take & you pray that nobody moves or else they'll be out of the picture. Very frustrating. I'm hopeing cameras have progressed to where they have better battery life & take a quicker picture. The simpler to operate the better. My wife does most of the picture taking & the camera has to be easy to operate without getting too confusing. Any thoughts? I just looked at the Panasonic LUMIX cameras & they looked pretty good. Yes, no? What brands do you recommend. Thanks.

jaycam

pearsall,

DPReview is a great place to start looking. There are so many cameras out now that you can get lost just trying to pick one out. The Canon PowerShot lines of cameras always gets good reviews. I personally own a Nikon D5100, an entry level DSLR. Here's a quick link to get you started...

http://www.dpreview.com/products/compacts/statistics

newrival

good advice above.

Just as a personal preference for point and shoot, I have moved from Nikon and Canon to the Panasonic Lumix cameras. They have some of the nicest lenses out there, and take some of the most impressive full-auto pics in daylight. Many people in my family have switched to them based on always being impressed on my shots compared to theirs at the same event/vacation, etc.

The use lenses made my Leica. and the filters the camera applies are very pleasing.

I use a Canon T3i for my DSLR. I had a D5100 like you, Jay, but I found that I do a lot more video than I thought I was going to and it's video is based on the 5D. Nikon doesn't add manual video options until the D7100. But that 5100 is an awesome camera. It's crazy how good entry DSLR's are these days.

jaycam

newrival wrote: »

good advice above.

Just as a personal preference for point and shoot, I have moved from Nikon and Canon to the Panasonic Lumix cameras. They have some of the nicest lenses out there, and take some of the most impressive full-auto pics in daylight. Many people in my family have switched to them based on always being impressed on my shots compared to theirs at the same event/vacation, etc.

The use lenses made my Leica. and the filters the camera applies are very pleasing.

Yes, I've been keeping my eye on the Lumix series. The small form factor and interchangeable lenses are very attractive. I'm slowly finding myself not needing a DSLR (even an entry level one).

BeefJerky

I personally prefer Canon, and have always had good luck with them.

The Lumix do have nice lenses, but the rest of the camera isn't always up to par. In fact, I was tempted recently by the new Lumix DMC-ZS10, which is a 14.1MP model with 16x optical zoom. Nice lens, but it takes worse pictures than the model it replaced due to Panasonic making the inane decision to switch from a CCD sensor to a lower quality (and less expensive) CMOS sensor. Typically CMOS sensors have lower sensitivity, higher noise levels, and worse overall picture quality (especially in low light). The CMOS sensor used in this Lumix camera exhibits those characteristics. For outdoor pictures on a bight, sunny day, they can be pretty good. However, indoor pictures or night pictures suffer from a lot of noise and poor picture quality. One thing the reviews made an effort to point out was the lack of consistency. Two pictures taken under the same conditions had a habit of turning out vastly different.

Note that not all CMOS sensors are bad, but a good CMOS sensor implementation can cost as much or more than a CCD implementation. Some very high end DSLR's use them due to the possibility of a higher capture speed, but they are not in the same league as the low cost CMOS sensors.

At any rate, just make sure to do lots of research; it will pay off in the end. In addition to the site mentioned above, I also like http://www.steves-digicams.com/

Tbone289

I LOVE my Lumix DMC-ZS6 for a compact camera. It has just the right balance of intelligence and manual control, IMO. It is very easy to take good pictures with.

I also find myself leaving my DSLR rig at home most of the time, unless I need it for a specific purpose. The Lumix goes with me everywhere and is very convenient.

Drenis

All I'll recommend is Canon. I'm loving my SX 130 I got for Christmas last year.

shack

I am a Canon shooter from way back and own several Canon DSLRs and P&S cameras. If I were to buy a P&S today it would probably be the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8 or DMC-ZS10.

The Leica lenses in the Lumix are a step above most of the other P&S cameras. I really like the fact the focal range is all optical zoom vs digital zoom, which means the lens is actually doing the zooming and not just merely cropping in camera (digital zooming).

If I had to summarize the P&S strong points for the top 3 brands...Canon has the best image quality due to their excellent processor and very good focusing system. Nikon has very good ergonomics and build and is just all around good. Panasonic has the best lens IMO. I also like the Panasonic build quality of the case itself. They are more metal than plastic. It makes them a little heaver...but sturdier. I'm not a fan of Sony, Olympus, Pentax, etc...they are not bad...just not for me.

Some of the new Four Thirds format cameras or EVIL (Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens) cameras show some real promise. Not much bigger than a point and shoot but the sensor is the size of the "crop" DSLR cameras. Image quality may be as good or better than some of the entry level DSLRs at half the size. However, by the time you start putting some of the larger zoom lens on, they are almost as big as an entry level DLSR. They are somewhat pricey though at around $600 with a 14-42mm lens to start and can get up to $1,000 or so.

BeefJerky

shack wrote: »

I am a Canon shooter from way back and own several Canon DSLRs and P&S cameras. If I were to buy a P&S today it would probably be the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8 or DMC-ZS10.

All, I'm going to say is do your research. I mentioned the ZS10 above, as well as the reasons that I didn't end up buying it. Put simply, nice lens, poor sensor. However, the do-your-research thing applies regardless of what brands/models you are looking at in my opinion.

shack

BeefJerky wrote:

All, I'm going to say is do your research. I mentioned the ZS10 above, as well as the reasons that I didn't end up buying it. Put simply, nice lens, poor sensor. However, the do-your-research thing applies regardless of what brands/models you are looking at in my opinion.

I am very familiar with the Lumix ZS line including the ZS8 and have no problem with the Panasonic CMOS sensor. I've seen the images produced by the ZS8 and compared them to a couple of Canon's middle of the road P&S cameras as well a earlier ZS models and they compare well IMO. The Canon CMOS sensor is probably some better but the Lumix balances out the pros and cons quite nicely. Of course my demands of a P&S may be different than some as the majority of my shooting is with a DSLR.

pearsall001

Thanks for all the great info. I'm doing a lot of research on the sites that were recommended & some of their forums. Reading about some of this camera stuff is akin to guys views on cables. I guess every hobby has their own version of crazies. It makes for fun & interesting reading though.

tonyb

Yeah, the camera video nuts are worse than we audio nuts. Have had a canon p&s for years, no problems, takes good pics, compact, easy to use, well built.

Just another thought, may or may not apply here, ever thought about a HD camcorder ? The newer ones take still shots and are small, not much bigger than a P&S camera. Plus you get video which is beneficial for those special memories of the kids or you throwing up all over your new shoes after a night out. In your price range too.

newrival

P&S's do video, too. Many do 1080p with optical zoom. I feel it's easier taking video with a P&S than it is taking photos with a camcorder. My Lumix TZ5 does 720p, is 3 years old, and is a great performer. I'm sure the new ones are even better. Also totally agree with lumix build quality. it's fantastic. And I, too, love all the metal on them; they're very solid with good heft.

k0tuynh

This one ..
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/729876-REG/Canon_4343B001_PowerShot_S95_Digital_Camera.html

newrival

Lasareath wrote: »

I sold all my cameras. Don't need them anymore. I have an iPhone.

So do I, and I still have 3 cameras.

Any of the cameras mentioned on this page are far better than the camera on the iPhone4s

pearsall001

Thanks for all the great info & sites to check out. I picked up a Canon Power Shot SX230 HS at Best Buy. They had a great deal that came with a case, 4GB card, & a backup battery. I also like to use their card with the zero interest when paid off according to the promo. I'm surprised they let me buy anything there...they lose money on me bacause I never have a problem paying it off in time.

billbillw

I would probably recommend the Nikon S8100, but we have one and it has been sent back to Nikon twice for lens error (in less than 1 year). I don't know if this is an inherent problem with the Nikon 10x zoom lens or what, but this camera is the only camera in more than 10 years to give me problems.

A few of my extended family have the Panasonic ZS series and they love it, but I believe they all have the older generations. I have also read the less than glowing reviews of the current ZS10 and ZS8.

EDIT:
Oops, I see now that the OP has already decided on a camera. That Canon should be a pretty good camera.