My family asked me what I want for my birthday, and the only thing I really want is a new digital camera. My Canon sd300 has seen better days, and actually is starting to act funny. So, what I guess I am asking is; What would be the best bet for a digital camera between $250-$400?

I am not a profesional by any means, just looking for something compact that will give great photos that me and my girlfriend take.

Thanks for any recomendations.

-Kevin

 

Canon PowerShot SD800 IS

 

 

^^ Disagree, go with the A710IS, a better camera than the 800. It looks like they rushed the digic III chip. Take a look at the below websites. I sent the SD800 back and got the A710IS. You read for yourself and make your own decision. Make sure you read about both camera's at the websites link below.

One thing I also like about the 710 it uses regular AA batteries throw aways or rechargeable. Something I didn't care for before. But not worrying about having extra canon batteries or the charger, I'm liking now.

http://www1.epinions.com/Canon_Power...Digital_Camera
http://www.steves-digicams.com/default.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerSho...e=UTF8&s=photo

 

It all kind of boils down to form factor:
Small camera: Canon A710 or Fuji F30
Pocket camera: Canon SD800
Large P&S: Canon S3 or Sony DSC-H5

 

I'd have to agree, unless they really want a tiny camera, they'll probably be happier with the A710.

I think most people will trade the size different just fo the zoom. Zoom is fun.

 

Here's another site that reviewed the 800. http://reviews.cnet.com/Canon_PowerS...?tag=mw.twenty

Poor pic at higher ISO is another reason I sent it back. It's one of the reasons I bought it in the first place, I was looking for higher ISO's in a P&S, but not with the one.

 

I would expect any P&S to be extremely noisy at ISO 1600. If you were expecting clean, detailed images at that sensitivity, I can understand why you took it back.

Another review (from an actual photography review site): http://www.imaging-resource.com/PROD...S/SD800ISA.HTM

The best high-ISO P&S on the market is still the Fuji F30, but it doesn't have image stabilization.

 

I was hoping that with the new Digic III chip, the higher ISO would have been better. When I really want to shoot I pull out my Digital Rebel. The A710IS replaces a Fuji I gave my wife 2 years ago.

She wanted a digital camera that she could use, it was under $200. But lately I was using a little more and found out that my 6 year old Sony Cybershot was taking better pictures. That's the camera my 6 year old is using.

 

I was just about to start a new thread on a similar subject... but I'll just "ride" off this thread instead...

I have some credit at Costco... (yeah, I know... I'm ALL about Costco), the selection at the stores are okay, but I decided to get something from their website instead... I wanted to ask you guys to help me choose between 3 cameras: a Canon, Panasonic, and Nikon... but it seems like most of you guys are "pro" Canon... so, here's the link to their Canon page (non SLR's) on Costco's site:

Costco's Canon (non SLR) page


but in case you guys were curious about the "other" two cameras... they were:


Panasonic's FX50K

and

Nikon's S7c

which has that wireless feature that I really like... you can send pics anywhere with wifi, AND it comes with 12 months of free T-Moblie hotspots for sending pics at Starbucks and Kinkos, the more I think about it... I would actually use the feature quite often cause I have wifi both at home and at work... and I also like how small it is...

size IS kinda a factor, cause I like being able to just slip the camera in my pocket

oh, and btw, the Fuji F30 is also in Costco's site...

 

^^ I don't think that Nikon is much of a camera, more of a gimmick. I've never owned a Panasonic camera or camcorder because Canon, Nikon and Sony do it better. I'm pretty biased on cameras, Canon has been the last 2 camera's (Rebel and A710IS) I've purchased as well as explaining to my father-in-law about them, he ended up going with a Canon after a gave him the websites to read, you may want to do that as well you'll get more opinions this way.

There alot of new camera's out there now, sometimes it's better to wait awhile before buying them.

Steve's Digicam is one of the best websites out there. If you don't want to read the entire report just read his conclusion pages.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/
http://www1.epinions.com/

as well as look at camera's on Amazon.com and read the customer remarks.

 

^^^

 

No processor in the world can make up for a sensor chip with a low signal/noise ratio.

 

Learning that, the A710IS was the camera I was going to buy a couple months back. Then the digic III cameras were announced, I can't find the page any longer but it was talking about the chip helping with this. I wish I could remember so I know not to trust that site any longer.

I think it was one of the so-called nonauthorized sellers websites.