Camera for newborn baby pictures

[joshi81]

My wife is due few months and we are looking for a good digital camera to capture the moments.

These are features that I am looking for:


Very Good pictures in low lighting conditions (indoors or evenings)
Very good picture quality
Responsiveness after pressing buttin and time between pictures
image stabilizer
not too big. (It would be great if it could fit in to my pocket)
Decent Battery life
usable for scenic and outdoor pictures, beaches etc
not sure if I need 10X or greater zoom, but if I do, I dont want shakiness.

[K1W1]

An entry level DSLR will allow you to fulfil all those requirements and will also allow your photography to grow as your baby turns into an active toddler then a very active sports mad school child.

[joshi81]

Any suggestions on the entry level DSLR?

[K1W1]

Can't go wrong with either Nikon or Canon. Something like the Nikon D40 twin lens kit (18-55VR plus 55-200VR) plus a SB-400 flash will set you up with a really nice system.
Having said that the D40 is about to be replaced (April 14 is the rumoured day) with a new model the D5000 that will have on board video recording plus a swivel LCD like P&S cameras have. You may want to keep an eye out for that then decide to go with the new model or save some money on the run out D40.

BTW: In the Nikon DSLR section there is a thread exclusively for D40 pictures. You may want to check it out.

[mattdm]

An entry level DSLR will allow you to fulfil all those requirements and will also allow your photography to grow as your baby turns into an active toddler then a very active sports mad school child.

It doesn't fulfill the "fit into pocket" requirement. And honestly, without a nice lens or/and an external flash, the low-light capabilities won't be that amazing either.

Because of requirement #1, I'd suggest looking into the just-reviewed-here Fujufilm 200EXR.

[rahulpandit]

I have similar requirements and am looking for good camera with decent video shooting mode. Rather than go for expensive camera with good video shooting mode like SX1 or others, I would recommend checking out separate Camera and Camcorder option.

Here is what i have to share so far-

Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3
$399
HD Video
AVHCD Lite - Pain to edit and big minus point
NOT AA battery - Personally i am fan of AA batteries

Powershot SX 10
CCD sensor?
VGA (640x480) movie capture
Smaller footprint H.264 codec
Lens on SX1/SX10 is not threaded, so you can't attach any conversion lenses

Powershot SX1
CMOS sensor
1920x1080 4.0fps

Panasonic FZ28
1280x720 video (720p), again at 30fps > SX10
Audio (mono) << SX10
Motion JPEG format
You can attach conversion lenses to Panasonic FZ28 (you must use DMW-LA3 conversion lens adapter), as well as any 55mm filters or 3rd party converters.

If you want to look at separate camera and camcorder option, a cheaper camera is
Canon A630