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View Full Version : Point & Shoot recomendations


shardinite
07-15-2007, 03:15 PM
Budget

~ $500

Size

Something compact, fits easily in a pocket or the cell phone/accessory pocket of my bag (my Sony TC-1 fit in there with room to spare).

Features

About 5 - 6 mega pixels should be sufficient at minimum.

Standard = 3x-4x optical zoom should be ok.

Image quality rates at a 8-9 for me.

While I'm not familiar with manual controls I would definately explore them if available, but it's not a necessity.

General Usage

Main need right now is for a trip to Hungary with my grandfather. It will be mostly pictures of family, architecture, and scenery. It will be a mix of low light/indoor and outdoor daytime shots, but not nessecarily a lot of action shots. Most of my pictures are not really action oriented (I'm too slow to capture the moments). :) I will want to make big prints (by big I mean 8x10 or maybe a couple sizes up).

Miscellaneous

Only digital I have ever owned was a Sony Cybershot TC-1 and while it was nice and compact, the quality was not the greatest. It would be nice to get another camera that can use the MemoryStick Duo, but not a nessecity. My main problem with the TC-1 was no view finder, noise issues, and no image stabilization (wasn't really offered at the time).

I'm open to any brand.

I tend to have issues with hand shake so something with good image stabilization is a must. Also, if possible it would be really nice if the camera could shoot in RAW. I know this is not a common feature on P&S cameras, but this would be a real bonus if available.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

shardinite
07-19-2007, 07:08 PM
I have less than a month to research, purchase, and familiarize myself with a camera before the trip. Anyone have any recommendations?

David Metsky
07-19-2007, 07:35 PM
Fewer standard zoom cameras shoot RAW these days, most are restricted to the ultrazooms which may be too bulky for you. The only one that is smaller but support RAW is the Panasonic LX-2, at least that I can spot.

If you're willing to drop that requirement, something like the Canon A570 or A710 would be a good all around camera with an optical viewfinder, a nice video mode, IS, full manual controls, and pretty good ISO performance. You can pick up a 2G SD card for $15 so I don't think memory cards are a big issue.

shardinite
07-19-2007, 07:42 PM
Thanks David! Shooting in RAW would have just been a bonus but it's something I can sacrifice. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll be researching them tonight.