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View Full Version : Compact/Ultra Compact P&S... too many choices!


Ge-off
08-07-2008, 12:21 PM
Hi everyone!

I have been looking for a camera on and off for the last couple of months and now it is crunch time before my vacation in a few weeks :rolleyes:
There are so many cameras in this catagory it is hard to narrow it down. I always over examine stuff like this but I want to make sure I will be happy with my purchase. Main things I need are small size, picture quality, and that it will last me a while. Thanks in advance for any help! P.S. This site is great!

Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? under $250 if possible.

Size

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you? Size is very important. I am going to be carrying this in my pants pocket most the time so it needs to be compact.

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you? 8

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify) Standard 3-4x is fine

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10) 9, I really enjoy clear pictures but I do understand the limitations of a compact camera.

Do you care for manual controls? I am not a photographer or anything but I do like to tinker. I am sure I would like to play with a few adjustments here and there like exposure times but this is not a deal breaker in anyway.

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for? Nights out with friends(bars, restaurants, clubs, street shots), vacations, daily fun shots, cars, pretty much everything.

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not? Probably not anything over a 8x10. Mostly just saved on my computer and print out standard pictures.

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos? Yes

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos? Yes but not frequently.

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate? I have heard great things about Canon and that is what I was looking for at first but I am open to everything.

Are there particular models you already have in mind? I was looking at the
whole SD line in my price range but again im open to everything.

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)

I would like to have the image stabilization, and the Wide angle would be nice sometimes I am sure. But I am flexible.

AndyfromVA
08-07-2008, 02:10 PM
The Canon SD1100is is a good camera that's in your price range, but it doesn't have a wide angle. The Panasonic FS20 has a wider angle than the Canon and has many scene modes. Panasonic makes excellent small cameras.

Ge-off
08-07-2008, 03:30 PM
browsing around the forums I keep reading about the Panasonic's. I will look into these also. Any model recommendations? I am going to Best Buy tonight to check out the Canon's and some others to see what fits well in my hand and what the largest camera I would want to go with.

keepcoding
08-07-2008, 03:32 PM
Hm, what you are looking for is an ultra-compact camera with very good image quality, even in low light scenes.. I would look for a camera with a sensor as big as possible.
You should have a look at the following cameras:
- Fuji F40fd (no manual control, no wide-angle, but 1/1.6'' Super-CCD)
- Fuji F50fd (manual control, no wide-angle, but 1/1.6'' Super-CCD)
- Canon Powershot 870 IS (wide-angle, manual controls with software patch, but only 1/2.5'' CCD)
- Canon PowerShot SD850 IS (good test results although its 1/2.5'' CCD)

greets

[EDIT] I'm not sure, but I think panasonic's low-cost cameras aren't very good at low light.