Nikon S550 or Panasonic DMC-FS5?

[lollipop320]

I've narrowed it down to these two cameras. I will be using this camera for mostly portrait shots of friends and family. I like the 5x zoom, smile shutter, and blink warning of the Nikon camera. However, I have also heard good things about the Panasonic which has 4x zoom and face detection. Of the two cameras, which is better as far as picture quality? I'm not very familiar with either brand as I usually have Canon cameras. I don't want to spend more than $200 and I really like both of these choices.

Which would you recommend?

Thank you!

[stever06]

I'd opt for the FS5 due to wider angle so family and friends will not need to squeeze together as much. And for the IS which will help you fight against blurry picts due to handshake. Cams at this price point *usually* don't get reveiwed unless the have stand-out features, so sample images are scarce.
Go to Flickr, you can plug in a camera model and it will display images users post there for comparison.
hope this helps, good luck

[tkbslc]

Have you tried them out? I HATE the Nikon interface on their compacts. That alone makes me not want to own one.

I agree with stever06. On specs alone the Panasonic is a winner. Wide angle 30mm lens and IS are very nice features that the Nikon does not have. Also, the Intelligent Auto mode on the Panasonic is pretty cool if you don't wanna have to think about which scene or settings to use.

[KCook]

In my view features like smile shutter and blink warning are gimmicks. If getting just the right moment is difficult, you can always shoot in burst mode. Assuming no flash of course! The Nikon S550 design does have some attractive aspects. However the pictures are not so sharp as the Panasonic. And the Nikon menu system is not so clear and easy as that on the Panasonic. So I would say the FS5 is definitely a better pick than the S550, really no contest. Another nice sub-$200 ultracompact with 5X zoom is the Olympus FE-340. No stabilization on that one however. And the specs for the Exilim EX-Z150 coming from Casio are really attractive. Hope its actual performance keeps up with those specs. In the past Panasonic performance has spanked Casio.

Kelly Cook