Which camera should I buy??

[jenny_belly]

I need help buying a camera! I'm going to Peru in February, and I want to make the most of it, and take tons of photos,

Here’s some details:
Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible. up to $500
Size

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?
small enough and light enough to carry easily on long walks (nature hikes), and easy to take out and use quickly. Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you?

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

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
I’d like to be able to take macro shots from as far away as possible of wildlife. So, I’d like as high as possible optical zoom, without compromising image quality.on a scale of 1-10, I’d say 7-8 (for image quality). I don’t necessarily care for manual controls as long as the camera can adjust for the large zoom, low light, etc… although manual controls can be useful as long as they are relatively easy to use.
Do you care for manual controls?

General Usage
Taking pictures of wildlife outdoors, at all times of the day/night. not making very large prints, and shooting action photos of birds and other wildlife and nature.



Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate? no

Are there particular models you already have in mind? no

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)Weatherproof, and image stabilization would help a lot

Thank you so much for your help!

[coldrain]

You can forget making bird/wildlife pictures at night.
Your budget excludes a DSLR.
Where you say macro, you mean tele.

This all means that you probably are looking at an ultrazoom. These are digital cameras with a big zoom range.

The models you should consider are the all new and not yet tested Fuji S6000fd, the Fuji S9000, the Canon S3 IS and the Sony H2 and H5.

The Fuji's perform best in lower light High ISO, the Canon applies the least noise reduction of the Canon and Sony cameras I mentioned, the H5 applies a lot while still giving good results.

You can find reviews of the S9000, S3 IS and H5 on this site.
If you have any questions regarding my recommendations, don't be afraid to ask.

[jenny_belly]

Thanks so much for the quick reply, I will look into those models right now, yet i still have a few questions:

What does noise reduction mean?
What is the difference between macro and tele (like telescope?)?
What are the advantages of DSLR, and does DSLR come in the small size I require, or is that a compromise?
(I'm new to the digital camera lingo still... sorry...)

[ben7337]

well when you take a picture with digital pictures you have many little pixels making up the pictures. the sensor in the camera that takes in the image is not perfect and makes some pixels off. as you incres ISO (sensitivity to light) more and more pixels are off color making the picture look bad. if you go look at a review in this website you can see some examples at different ISO's. now that that has been explained noise reduction is obviosly the reduction of this noise in a program like NoiseNinja or noisware.

[coldrain]

Since noise and noise reduction is already explained, I will just answer the rest.

I missed your 'small enough' part, so I guess you should skip the S9000.

Macro is the ability to get the camera really close, to make photos of tiny details. Tele is the ability to make photos over a big distance.
The lens has to do very different things with the rays of light in either case, so it is something totally different. Almost any camera is capable of making ok macro photos.

The advantages of a DSLR are that you have BIGGER camera that houses a BIGGER sensor, and the bigger sensor has bigger pixels, and the bigger pixels can collect more light, and therefore the sensors are more light sensistive and will not give as much noise as smaller sensors. The disadvantage is that the bigger sensor needs BIGGER lenses, and they are expensive, bulky and heavy.

So, probably you will find a DSLR too much, both in money and in weight/bulk.

My advice is to have a look at the Canon S3 IS, Sony H2 or Sony H5.

[ben7337]

sorry for answering the noise thing but I never know when someone will come back soI post the answer in case they won't be on in like 12 hrs adn then the person who made the board would be delayed from getting their answer.

[jenny_belly]

OK, that really helps! Is it possible to ever get nice details while taking pictures at larger distances?
Yeah the DSLR is for sure too large for what i need... How big is the S9000?

[ben7337]

Fuji FinePix S9000 5.0 x 3.7 x 5.1 in. 94.4 cu in. 646 g

sounds big to me. an ultracopact is like 10cu in max I think and you get big after 20 cu in. this camera is 94.4 cubic inches but you could probably have no problem carrying it.

[undefined]

You mentioned "easy enough to take out and use" - this leads me to believe you want something that will fit in a pocket of some sort? That rules out the Sony Hx series, the Canon Sx series, and the Panasonic FZx series. Take a look at the Panasonic TZ1 (10x zoom, noisy images), the Ricoh R4 (7.1x zoom, ? on noise, some banding possible). If ultrazoom is not necessary, and you would rather capture the landscape and scenery in Peru, consider the Canon SD700 or the Panasonic FX01. All of these cameras will fit into your price range (<$500), and if you go the Panasonic route (TZ1 + FX01) you may be able to fit two cameras into $550, giving you the maximum flexibility.

Image Quality (my opinion and my wife's opinion)

(pixel peeping 8x10 print from <12" away)
1. Canon SD700
2. Panasonic TZ1
3. Panasonic FX01

We did not have an equivalent sample from the Ricoh to test.

[jenny_belly]

I think that 5x5 inches is too big, it doesn't have to fit in my pocket persay, but not so heavy as the Fuji one you described. I think 4x3.5x2.5 is a good maximum... and as light as possible.

If you get too small, then the optics get small and there is more noise... am I understanding right?