General point and shoot with some manual controls, ?$400

[Logan]

I'm looking for a camera. I am interested in photography, and would like something that would allow me to expand in that field - so, a consumer point and shoot, but with manual controls as I get better.

Budget: Sub $400, preferably

Size: Portable - at the largest, still small enough to carry around in a case comfortable. DMC-FZ7 size is about my maximum, maybe a little bigger. DMC-TZ1 is my prefered size.

Features: Any megapixels. I want an optical zoom of at least 6x, preferably 8-10X. Image quality is fairly important to me, 7/10. I want something that won't be grainy, muddy, noisy, blurry, or have fringing, though a little of any is okay. I want manual controls so that as I expand my photography, I will be able to fine tune the settings for a shot.

Usage: As said, mainly experimentation with photography, mostly outdoor shots with some indoor ones. Some low-light, but that is not a primary factor. No sport/action to speak of.

Miscellaneous: I have already looked at the Lumix DMC-TZ1 and FZ7. TZ1 is my favorite so far - how are the manual controls, and in actual usage, how is the image quality? FZ7 would be even better, except - It doesn't allow you to use optical zoom in movie mode. I want something that lets you use optical zoom in movie mode. EDIT: Optical image stabalization is a huge plus!

If anyone has any other suggestions, they would be much appreciated. If something deviates from a few of my factors, I don't mind very much.

Thanks!

[sjseto]

TZ1 is my favorite so far - how are the manual controls, and in actual usage, how is the image quality?

If by "manual controls" you mean direct control over aperture and shutter speed, the TZ1 doesn't actually have any, except for being able to select from a few preset shutter speeds in "starry sky" mode. It also allows you to set ISO and white balance manually (most cameras do), but that's about it. That's not to say that it isn't a good little camera. It's one of the smallest ultrazooms that you can buy. But you'll have to rely on the scene modes to get the shot that you want.

John Reed, one of our members, owns a TZ1 and I'm sure he can tell you how well the scene modes work.

Another candidate for you is the Canon PowerShot A710 IS, which is quite compact. It only has a 6x zoom lens, but does have aperture and shutter priority modes, as well as full manual. Like the TZ1, it has image stabilzation.

Stephanie

[Logan]

The A710 would be perfect... except it doesn't support the use of optical zoom in movie mode, which is something that I really want.

[David Metsky]

The A710 would be perfect... except it doesn't support the use of optical zoom in movie mode, which is something that I really want.
Not many cameras do because the optical zoom would get picked up on the mic. The Canon S3 does, but that may be more camera than you are looking for.

[Logan]

How about the S2 IS? That seems like a good balance of point and shoot with some manual controls, size, zoom, image quality, and price. Does anyone have any experience with this model?

[David Metsky]

The S2 is a fine camera. The S3 was a modest improvement over it, and it doesn't sound like those changes would really matter to you. It's about $70-90 cheaper, so you could then buy a big memory card, case, and possibly the adapter tube and filters.

-dave-