Looking for a small camera...

[jwest81]

not too small though....I've pretty much narrowed it down to a handful of small cameras and was wondering what others thought of the models I've got in mind.

Fujifilm FinePix F10

Panasonic DMC-FX7

Nikon Coolpix 7900

Canon SD300 Elph

Canon SD400 Elph

Canon SD500 Elph

Looking for a small type of camera that I can pretty much carry anywhere but I also want good picture quality and resolution on my shots. I will use it for a variety of different things, including indoor, nature, and family events. Thanks in advance.

[jessie25]

Those are all good cameras, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.

Do a lot of low-light shooting without a flash? The Fuji F10 is probably the best bet since it can go to ISO 1600. However, there's no optical viewfinder, so if this bothers you it might not be the camera for you.

The Canon SD500 will probably take the best "out of the box" shots, but has virtually no manual controls to speak of.

The Canon SD200 or SD300 will save you some bucks, especially compared to the SD500 if you don't need all those megapixels.

The Nikon 7900 will probably have the least amount of redeye. It also has excellent image quality. If you're looking at the Canon SD200/SD300, also look at the Nikon 5900, which is essentially the same camera but with 5 megapixels if you don't need 7.

The Panasonic is the only one with image stabilization - great for reducing small hand shake while taking photos. But it also lacks an optical viewfinder and its battery life is less than stellar.

This isn't an easy question to answer. There are pros and cons to all those cameras.

[jwest81]

After looking around at these cameras a little more I'm looking at a different direction...possibly a slightly larger easier to hold (atleast for me) type of camera. While a compact camera would meet my needs I just don't think I would be totally satisfied with one, as I've been looking at other models, such as the Canon S2 IS. The big selling point on that camera for me is the optical zoom. I guess I'm still in the process of debating what to buy, but I've got a short list of which models I would like. I guess I need to go shopping some more and have a little more hands on time before making my final decision though.

[kimnicho]

I think you are headed in the right direction :D Generally speaking, the thinner the cam, the more the image quality suffers....also add the Canon S70 to your list and the Olympus C-7000 which has a retractable 5x Optical Zoom.

[MikeK]

isn't that Olympus a little big? You should think about the Pentaxs that have 5x zoom. I'm pretty sure they are the smallest cameras with 5x zoom, and once you have that zoom you really love it. My buddy took his on our backpacking trip, just kept it in his pocket. It was a lot smaller than my Nikon 4800 :) but that's an 8.3x zoom. It's a shame there aren't more in between choices for zoom and camera size, Pentax was about it when I was researching.

[kimnicho]

Olympus C-7000 is considered "very compact" - you might be thinking of the 7070 maybe?

[MikeK]

yep that was it. Is that Olympus smaller than the Pentaxs with 5x zoom? Let me check. The Pentax Optio SV is a bit amount smaller than the Olympus 7000Z on the review here. The Olympus uses xD memory which is rather expensive while the Pentax uses SD. They still don't compare to the small ones with 3x zoom but I'd take one of those two over the smaller size any day.