CCColtsicehockey

I am in the market for a new point and shoot digital camera. It is going to be the last one that I buy for a couple of years so I want it to be pretty high up. I do not want one that is very large in size. I was looking for between 4 and 6 megapixels. 3x optical zoom at least. Also I want the time between shots to be very low. I had a Nikon Coolpix 3200 and hated it cause the lag between pictures took forever. I have currently been using my moms Nikon D70 and love how fast the time between pictures is but I know I probably cant get something that fast in a point and shoot. I am in the $300-600 dollar price range basically but if there is something that has a lot of features slightly higher please mention it if you think it would be a good choice. I also like take a lot of photos at car shows and at night so it needs to take good inside and night pictures.

Dan Martin

This should really be in the Ramblings section.

Canon > *

jlukja

I have the Sony P72. Its a year old so you'll find more features at a better price but one thing I do like is the ability to use standard AA batteries. It lets me travel without the charger. However, if you go with Sony you'll have to use the MemoryStick format which is more expensive than other formats of comparable memory capacity.

CCColtsicehockey

ok well i figured in shoot go in the photograph gallery since that is were people post pictures. Another question is, is there any advantage disadvantage to and SD card over a CF card if they are both the new high speed digital camera cards. I forgot to post the camera that I am thinking about. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...onics&n=507846

Dan Martin

$300-$600 is a pretty big range and it encompases many models within the Canon lineup. I'd save some room in your budget for some accessories like a 1GB flash card, bag, tripod, etc.

Cameras around $500:
G6
-7.1mp
-4x optical zoom
-flip out screen
-lots of manual control and pretty good optics

S2 IS
-5mp
-12x optical zoom (equiv. length up to 432mm )
-Image Stabilization
-flip out screen
-takes AA batteries (convenient)

SD500
-7.1mp
-3x optical
-really small



Cameras around $300:
SD300:
-4mp
-3x optical zoom
-really really small

A95:
-5mp
-3x optical zoom
-flip out screen
-uses AA batteries

Dan Martin

There's no real benefit to either memory format. Just get a good brand like SanDisk and you'll be fine.

Any of the Canon SD### cameras are really nice. They're super small and very responsive.

jlukja

A wealth of information can be had here: http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com/

leftride

iTrader: (1)

http://www.dpreview.com/

Type X

i have the g6 and its awesome
a little big but love the pix !

GIBSON6594

I know nothing about them...but...
















:ibtm:

knthornt

I have the SD300, which is 4MP and i think pretty much the same specs as the SD400. The camera is amazing. I am glad I didn't get the SD400, since it would have been a waste of money for the extra mega-pixel. I find myself often sizing pics down afterwards because they are already so big.

To give you and idea of how many pics you can get on a card, I have a 512Mb SanDisk SD card and I keep my settings at pretty much the highest (I would rather crop later than rish getting a bad shot due to low settings). Anyway, with the settings as is, I can fit (this if off the top of my head) 438 pictures... more then enough for me, since i almost always have my laptop close by.

I would highly recommend the Canon, but that i just my


EDIT: Finally broke the century mark for posts!!

matelot

congrats

:IBTM:

dzuy

i have a pentax optio s5i and i love it.

5MP. it's quicker than that compact flash crap. i had a nikon coolpix 4300 and it was slow as dirt.

the pentax uses SD which doesn't have that terrible lag.

i paid 399 last nov. i dont know how much it is now.

my friend bought a casio (dang, cant remember the model) but the image quality is horrible.

Dan Martin

There's no inherent performance advantage to SD. It's mostly a function of the speed of the camera. The $4,000 Canon 1DII and $8,000 1DsII both use CF. They actually use SD as well, but only for a backup and to store camera settings.

CCColtsicehockey

dan what do you think of the most recent version of the SD400. I don't really think that I need a 7MP camera and I always have like to have one that I can fit in my pocket at car shows since it doesnt way that much either. Being that the average price is about $350-$375 for the camera and then I can still get a 1GB flash card and a tridpod and a case and should still be under $600.

Dan Martin

It's really nice and should serve you well for many years. The Digic II chip makes it very responsive and it's very small so it'll easily fit into a pocket.

If you can live with a bigger camera, the A95 should be on your list. It's about $100 cheaper than the SD400 and it has the benefit of a flip out screen. The flip out screen is nice if you want to take a shot down low of a bumper or something because you can just tilt the screen up instead of lying on the ground. Same goes for if you want to take a picture over a large crowd, just hold it over everyone's head and angle the screen down so you can see.

CCColtsicehockey

are the optics just as good on the A95. I have been looking at some of the pictures taken on digital phototography review and I am really starting to like the S2 IS camera cause of the 12x zoom cause I am always places where I am saying if only I could zoom into that. That is one of the reason I am also still thinking about the 7mp SD500 cause I could do the zooming on my computer some then.

Dan Martin

The S2 IS is currently my favorite P&S camera. It's got a great lens with image stabilization, Digic II processor, takes AA batteries, and a flip out screen. The only reasons not to buy one are: a) you don't have $500 to spend or b) you want something smaller.
The image stabilizer even works in movie mode which is a pretty cool trick.
5MP is more than enough for 99% of anything you're going to shoot. It will let you crop a fair amount of the picture and still be able to print an 8x10.

Arcticcl9

I have the SD500, and I liked it a lot. Paid less than $400 for it. No problems with it whatsoever I actually had the SD300 for a few months, but the flash was pretty weak, and the picture quality was not as good as my old S400. You might not need 7.1 mega, but after looking at pictures from a 7 megapixel camera, you'll be drooling

The SD 400 might be a good compromise of the two cameras that I mentioned

CCColtsicehockey

I am having such a hard time deciding on a camera with reading the different reviews. I really like the S2 IS because I always like having a good zoom at my finger tips but being that I am going to college I don't think I always want to be caring around that big of a camera. I have read a lot that the SD500 takes crisper pictures from the middle all the way out to the edges than does the SD400. With that said I dont know if I want a $500 camera at college to get damaged. Then there is last the A95, it is not as big as the S2 IS but still has a flip out screen which is very useful in taking pictures of cars, which since I am so into them is very important. However the sample picture gallary that I have seen on dreview.com do not seem as good with the A95 as they are with the SD300 since there is no gallary for the SD400.

Currently the list sits at:
1. SD400
2. A95
3. S2 IS
4. SD500

They are all canons as after the last nikon I had I don't want to go back to nikon P&S cameras.

lcrazyaznl

iTrader: (1)

i've gone from a 300 pentax s4i
4 mp
fits in an altoid case
has its ups and downs


new camera is the sony t33
slim
5.1 mp
about a wallet size
big 2 inch lcd
(400)

look into those i've been given alot of props to the awesome cameras i've had and experience great pictures from s4i to t33

now pentax s5i has actionshot

t33 is perfecthas action shot and various features that make point and shoot fun in outdoors mainly.

moda_way

Only disadvantage I see of the S2 and A95 is that they take AA batteries. However, that S2 is sweet ass!! I have the S500 (replaced by SD400) and I love it. The SD's models have slightly less shutter speed and a smaller optical chip, but they are extremely nice P&S cameras. If you look at my posts, they are all S500 shots.

CCColtsicehockey

Is it worth to get the older S500 or should I still be getting the newer one with digic II

Dan Martin

The battery life on the S2 is actually really good:
I'd definitely use the NiMH batteries, but it's nice if you're hiking or going to be away from society for while to be able to switch over to Alkalines.

CCColtsicehockey

I have to see how big the S2 IS is but I really like the idea of a rotating screen and have not really like the quality of the A95 as much as the S2 IS.

DaveWhyman

I also just got a Pentax Optio S5i. It works great. Paid $350 cdn at Futureshop.

My old camera was a Fuji S602Z, it was big, slow, used a ton of batteries but took really good pictures.

euroStyle

Im a big photo guys, but im also another person with his own two cents...
I really liked the canon powershot s50, very clean quality pictures, canon has s70 now, 7mp. very good camera and size.
the Canon G6 is very nice. kind of bulky but takes good clean pictures.
The canon s2 is seem very nice too. very clean pictures.

I think the sonys are a bit easier to use but doesnt always clean pictures as the canons.
but I've always liked the Sony v1, but they discontinued it and replaced with the v3. still a very good camera.
but the Sony h1 looks more promising. it very comparable to the canon s2 is.

Im more of a quality over convience when it comes to camera. so i dont really like compact cameras, cause the quality pretty much sucks on those cameras.
but i DO NOT recommand the Sony T3, or any compact sony cameras. the quality compared to canons are very poor.
so for compact cameras, id say you should look into canon powershot SD series.

CCColtsicehockey

i realized tonight after being able to go to the store and actually hold the cameras and taking my own memory card with me and taking some pictures in the store with each camera that I would also rather have quality over convience. I would much rather have a nice crisp clear image that I am happy with and have to carry around a larger camera than I would be to have a small compact easy to carry camera that only took ok pictures. So in the end I have decided to go with the Canon S2 IS. I have not yet decided where I am going to buy it from because of prices but also the fact that I am back and forth between NC every week right now so shipping is kind of hard. So I will probably suck it up and pay the little extra money so I dont have to wait to weeks for my new camera. Also does any one have a good recommendation on filter brands cause I would like to get some filters for the camera expetially an FD filter for taking indoor pictures at car shows and a clear filter for everyday uses just to protect the lense.