Sarah Joyce- Could you answer a 'which camera to buy' question for me please?

[Vette1]

My main use will be for family and new baby pictures. My wife takes tons of pictures and wants a picture good enough to crop or blow up to an 8x10 and print out and still be clear. Using a 2 Mpixel Kodak now which has been a great camera but it gets a little blurry when cropping and working with it.

What's important to me
1. picture quality, picture quality, picture quality
2. movies with sound (don't have to be best quality-just have it)
3. ease of use - point and click
4. cost of use down the road (batteries, memory chips, etc.)

I have done some research and think the best for us would be the Canon A95, S500 or Sony DSC W1 but I am not sure.

I chose these cameras in this price range because I think that is all I would need but I am willing to spend more if I need to in order to meet these requirements.

Any advice would be greatly apprieciated. :)

[George Riehm]

My main use will be for family and new baby pictures. My wife takes tons of pictures and wants a picture good enough to crop or blow up to an 8x10 and print out and still be clear. Using a 2 Mpixel Kodak now which has been a great camera but it gets a little blurry when cropping and working with it.

What's important to me
1. picture quality, picture quality, picture quality
2. movies with sound (don't have to be best quality-just have it)
3. ease of use - point and click
4. cost of use down the road (batteries, memory chips, etc.)

I have done some research and think the best for us would be the Canon A95, S500 or Sony DSC W1 but I am not sure.

I chose these cameras in this price range because I think that is all I would need but I am willing to spend more if I need to in order to meet these requirements.

Any advice would be greatly apprieciated. :)

Sarah knows that I would recommend the Canon A75. The A95 would probably be overkill. The A75 will do all of the above and more. Additionally 3.2 MegaPixels is plenty for 8 x 10 prints. And at $249 list it should meet your budget as well.

[PixChick]

My main use will be for family and new baby pictures. My wife takes tons of pictures and wants a picture good enough to crop or blow up to an 8x10 and print out and still be clear. Using a 2 Mpixel Kodak now which has been a great camera but it gets a little blurry when cropping and working with it.

What's important to me
1. picture quality, picture quality, picture quality
2. movies with sound (don't have to be best quality-just have it)
3. ease of use - point and click
4. cost of use down the road (batteries, memory chips, etc.)

I have done some research and think the best for us would be the Canon A95, S500 or Sony DSC W1 but I am not sure.

I chose these cameras in this price range because I think that is all I would need but I am willing to spend more if I need to in order to meet these requirements.

Any advice would be greatly apprieciated. :)


I think I read in another post by Sarah, and here is the link:

http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4235#post4235

that she is going on a trip for quite some time. I don't know if she will post/check this site while she is gone or not, but I thought I would let you know just in case!! You could be waiting a while.

PixChick :)

PS--I think George is giving you good advice!

[George Riehm]

I think I read in another post by Sarah, and here is the link:

http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4235#post4235

that she is going on a trip for quite some time. I don't know if she will post/check this site while she is gone or not, but I thought I would let you know just in case!! You could be waiting a while.

PixChick :)

PS--I think George is giving you good advice!

Just trying to fill in... ;)

[Vette1]

Thanks guys. George- I will check that one out.

I always thought the Megapixel was soooo important and it seems like that is the main selling point they try to push on the cameras. Just so I have this right, once you get to around 3 Mpixels there isn't much of a difference in the picture. So a 3 and a 6 would look the same in a 4x6 or 8x10, correct?

Again, thank you for your help! I know nothing about cameras and it can get very confusing with all of the options out there- almost too many for a beginner. :)

[Vette1]

Okay, I've been reading a little more and think I have a little better understanding of pixels, sensor size, etc.

George, from your recommendation of the A75 I did a little research on it and it looks like a great buy. I have actually been looking at all of the Cannon line (A75, A80, A85 and A95) and trying to figure the differences. My head is hurting. :rolleyes:

It sounds like the picture quality is about the same on all of them with the A75 probably being on top because of minor 'purple fringing' and blown highlights in the others. If we are talking the same picture quality and pretty much the same features than the A75 is a better buy for the money and no need to spend the extra cash.

The only thing I still wonder is how the A75 will do with cropping. My wife likes to take pictures of the baby in a room and zoom in and crop him. Is this where the extra MPixel will help? I am going back to this because it's pretty important and I don't want to have buyers remorse and wish I got something bigger or better two months down the road.

THANK YOU AGAIN!

[kdrosey]

I'm glad you're asking these questions as they are my needs as well (including a wife who takes tons of great pictures).

In particular, I've found that cropping is a huge issue, so I'm also interested to hear the feedback.

Right now, I've narrowed my search to the Canon s70 or the Sony dsc-p150 (which is due out later this month). Both have 7.2 mpls with the Canon having superior zoom specs while the Sony is about $100 bucks cheaper. Also, my wife prefers a silver camera (Sony) to a black (Canon).

But I agree that picture quality is more important than cost savings.