What camera? Simple P&S/Great pictures

[tenille]

Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible. $250 max

Size

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you? doesn't matter

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you? 6

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify) 3or 4, but 10 or 12 would be better

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10) I like to be able to crop pictures, so 9 or 10

Do you care for manual controls? not necessary

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for? pictures of my kids, ages 3 month, 2 and 5

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not? 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? yes

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate? not really

Are there particular models you already have in mind? I was looking at the Canon A590 IS, but if I can get better pictures by spending a few more dollars, then I will do that.

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

I want a camera that will take great pictures, but be easy to use. I currently have a Canon S2IS, but over time, seems to not take great pictures any more. Alot of them are blurry. I want a camera that has great image quality and that are not blurry if someone moves an inch. AA batteries a plus. Also, if there is a more expensive camera that fits my needs perfectly, I would definitely consider it.

[rpriedhorsky]

I think the A590 is a solid choice. I've experience with the A530 and A570, previous models in the series, and been quite happy.

The A1000 and A2000, follow-ons to the A590, are not nearly as nice.

Jeff's written his typical highly-useful reviews on all three, I believe.

[KCook]

To freeze blur from subject motion you need a high shutter speed. Which means high ISO too. I would suggest a Nikon S610 or Sony W130.

Kelly Cook

[speaklightly]

tenile-

I also believe that the Canon A-590, now selling for about $(US) 110.00 gives you the biggest bang for the buck. However, the Kodak Z-1012 just received Consumer Report Magazine award as the low light camera of the year. And after some experimentation I can show you that the Z-1012 can do it. In the attached photo, I selected "High ISO" on the camera's Mode Selector, and then shot the photo hand held. The camera used F 2.8 and 1/30th of a second. The attached photo is an evening photo taken with just normal room lighting. Surprisingly the photo does look pretty good.

However, that shutter speed of 1/30th of a second will not stop the rapid motion of 3 and 4 year old children. You will end up with a lot of blurring at 1/30th. My husband and I raised 8 children. The Z-1012 does vary the shutter speed, based on the amount of light available to the camera within the photo environment. However, I never got more than 1/40th of a second on the shutter speed with 10 photos that I took.The Kodak Z-1012 is within your budget. You might want to take a look at the Z-1012.

Sarah Joyce

[KCook]

Excellent info on the programming of that Kodak Sarah :)

Point being, even though a camera includes very high ISO, you cannot assume the camera's Auto programming will actually use it when you want it. I really wish the review sites would do a more thorough job of reporting the programming of these cameras.

Kelly Cook