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kcbryan
12-02-2008, 07:33 PM
Hello,

Looking for a Christmas present for my wife. I have a Nikon D80 so this is mainly for her to take pics of our son when I am not around.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
KCBRYAN

Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.
$150-200 (online). Would spend a little more if there was a big bang for the buck, but really not sure how much she is going to use it.

Size

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you? - She wants something fairly small.

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you? 8-10

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify) Standard. Ultra would be great, but I am sure that you either give up IQ or $.

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10) -9. I realize you give up a lot on a lower end camera, but giving up zoom for IQ seems like a good trade off.

Do you care for manual controls? - No, but if they are there it would be a bonus.

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for? Pics of our son.

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not? No

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos? Some, but probably not a lot.

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos? - Yes Soccer & tball, but he will only be 5 - not exactly fast action.

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate? Nikon and Canon, but if there is something better I would definately consider. If all is the same, would prefer Nikon since I have a D80.

Are there particular models you already have in mind?
Just started looking, but here are the 4 that I have started to look at:
Nikon S610
Canon Powershot A2000
Canon SD770
Nikon S550

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

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AndyfromVA
12-03-2008, 07:16 AM
I like the picture quality of the Canon A2000 (and A1000), as long as you don't have a problem with AA batteries.

KCook
12-03-2008, 08:52 AM
For a small child I would want a bit of telephoto. Which the Canon SD770 and Nikon S610 are short on. Agree with Andy that the Canon A2000 would be a very practical choice. If there is a preference for a slim ultracompact then I would suggest the Sony W150 over the other ultracompacts on your list. Fairly quick and blessed with an optical viewfinder.

Kelly Cook

kcbryan
12-03-2008, 09:15 PM
I went to NFM today and actually tried several of the cameras. It is amazing how that changes things.

I realize it is pushing the budget a little bit, but the Panasonic Lumix DMC - TZ5 seemed a lot more solid, and seemed to take a lot better pictures, at least that is how they looked on the LCD.

I did NOT like the feel of the Nikons, and the Canon's were just ok.

The review on this website sounded pretty good.

Does anyone have a camera they like better in this price range?

Thanks

speaklightly
12-03-2008, 09:38 PM
I am in for the Canon A-200!

Sarah Joyce

KCook
12-03-2008, 09:53 PM
The TZ5 is essentially an auto-shooter. The Canon SX110 IS also has 10X zoom, and manual control.

Kelly