Looking for Realtor/Grandma/Traveler Camera

[vvl]

First of all - THANK YOU - to all of you for having this wonderful forum and helping with camera novices like us!

Background - We mainly use the camera for taking family pictures, especially grandkids, travel and interior shots of houses (Realtor). I need to be able to take interior photos of rooms in the houses, therefore looking for wide angle capability. Travel - pocket size and light is important. Battery life important and really like being able to recharge the battery rather than replacing them as they are spent. Up to know hubby would only buy if camera had a view finder, but is willing to give up for other features if needed.... we do prefer a viewfinder. Have had and loved two Canon Elphs - for their small size, ease of use, durability, viewfinder and rechargeable battery. Went out and bought a Canon Rebel EOS, in order to have a wide angle lens and really did not like it -too big and not that easy to use for me.

Questionnaire:

Budget - Prefer to spend under $250.

Size - small (pocket size) and light. Husband usually carries on belt for travel.

Features - megapixels - at least 7 up to 10

* What optical zoom will you need? Up to now have only had the 3x, but have been very intrigued by and considering the Panasonic Lumix TZ4K and the TZ5K. (Just don't know if have rechargeable batteries and think it has no viewfinder (can live without if have to...)

* How important is “image quality” to you? about a 9

Do you care for manual controls? not really, mainly use point and shoot; although have to disable flash many times to take interior shots while traveling, if this is considered a manual feature

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for? - wide angle shots of interior of rooms; family pictures, travel

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not? mostly 4x6's very few
5x7's or 8x10's.

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

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos? not usually but probably once grandchildren take up sports

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate? have loved the two Canon Elphs

Are there particular models you already have in mind? Canon Elphs (need help with which have the wide angles) and the Panasonic Lumix models I mentioned above. Open to any others - want quality and durability.

Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD) Definitely wide angle, would like weatherproof if possible - not imperative, the hotshoe feature is nice too for added flash, although not imperative. Like what I read about the long video time on the Lumix, have never had that capability before and don't think the Canons can do that?....

Looking forward to suggestioins! Thank you. :)

[AndyfromVA]

The Canon SD880is is the latest Canon Elph with a wide angle lens. It's a very good small camera.

[rpriedhorsky]

I'm not sure you're going to be able to get a lens sufficiently wide-angle for useful interior shots in a compact form factor; 28mm (which is what you get on the 880) isn't tremendously wide.

I strongly suggest you quantify what "wide angle" means for your purposes. Use the Rebel or borrow someone's DSLR to take interior shots at various zooms to see what they look like. Go down to 18mm or maybe even lower (making sure to take into account the 35mm conversion factor if necessary).

A compact camera with a wide angle conversion lens (e.g., A590+wide angle converter gets you to 24.5mm) might do the trick.

Alternately, there are smaller DSLRs (Olympus E-420 maybe). Look into the FourThirds or Micro FourThirds cameras; these were designed to support changeable lenses with a smaller body.

Good luck,

Reid

[vvl]

Thank you. I was considering the Canon Elph since I have liked them previously so much, but was waffling between it and the Lumix TX5K which seems to have a better lens capabilities and very good reviews. Anyone had experience with both of these and what is the advantage of one over the other?

The second responder gave me a very good idea which I had not thought about - maybe I should purchase an A590 which is very reasonable (looks like $110) and add additinal lenses (can I use the lenses I have for the Canon Rebel EOS on this camera?). Does the lens going from the 28 on the Elphs down to a 24 (by adding extra lens to the a590) make that much of a difference when taking a shot of a room interior? If it does, then I would consider purchasing one for Real Estate purposes and then get a separate and more compact one more for travel and family shots.

I was hoping to just be able to get one camera, but getting two might be a better solution?!

[AndyfromVA]

There are only a few additional lenses you can add to the A590 - a teleconverter lens, a wide angle lens and a macro lens. You can't use the lenses from your Canon EOS. Adding lenses to the A590 is a pain and not something you can do quickly and easily.

[tizeye]

I also am a Realtor, use a Nikon D40 DSLR and my pictures are the envy of the office. I also teach some inservice trining within the office. You absolutely want 28mm minimum equivalent lens, and you can usually find it by looking at the specs where they will list the 35mm equivalent for the camera. You can't go by what it says on the lens unles you know the conversion factor. The difference between a 28mm shot and a 35mm shot is that I typically do not have the road or mailbox in the picture and the house appears much closer. You can also get much more of the interior. Most Realtors use a 35mm equivalent lens so it gives you an advantage.

In one instance, a person I typically will team with asked me if I could do some software magic and prmove the sign for "unbranded" MLS listing. Technically I could, but the house was only 2 blocks from the office. I went and reshot it - positioning so the sign didn't show.

Of the P&S cameras mentioned thus far the Canon 880is and the Panasonic both have 28mm minimums. None of Canon's "A" Series, like the A590is, have the 28mm. Aside from the awkwardness noted earlier of the wide angle adapter lens, I have a different concern. First is aditional glass potentially degrading the picture. More likely is the extended length reduces light resulting in either/or/both longer exposures, increased ASA and potentially more noise in the photo.