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Compact Digital Camera

Hello everyone,

Does anyone have a recommendation for a compact digital camera that meet the following criteria:

1) Good value for a beginner (easy to use, won't break on a dime, etc,...)

2) 10 megapixel or more

3) Price range between $200 and $400

I have been trolling CNET and other review sites. For every camera that receives a good rating, there always seems to be folks who seem to have bought the one that stops working at a drop of a hat.

Is there anything reliable out there ?

If there is already a thread on this topic, please point me to it.

Thanks :biggrin:

TGY
 
hi

With decades of photography experience in and out of the industry, I offer you the tip of what I carry; Canon PowerShot S90, or in this case you'll need to get the S95. ~$300

You can get a much longer zoom but an experienced shooter knows how useless those long zooms are upon all but the beastliest of the compact cameras; none of 'em let in enough light at the long end to be worth a damn.

You can get more megapixels, but by specifying "10 or more" as one of your criteria I know you'll have many lessons ahead of you...the quantity of the pixels is far less critical than you think. What is much, much more important is the size of the area in which those pixels are being collected; that's what costs the camera manufacturers greatly to increase, and that's what they'll go to great lengths to not disclose to you when they're not proud of their piddly little chip size. My original digital SLR was a 6-megapixel model that collected those six megapixels upon a 15x22mm area, and any image contest between it and the very fine Canon S90 is going to be a slam dunk in favor of the six megapixel model. So be it; I can take the S90 everywhere with me, and wear it on a belt pouch without even thinking about it. Any camera with a mirror inside of it that moves can't say that. The Canon S95 has a standard 3:2 aspect ratio chip with a hypotenuse of (1/1.8" ), and that's about as good as you're gonna get unless you get one of the finer 16:9 aspect ratio models, all of which are beyond your budget.

There's not a lot of stupid modes on the S95 that you'll not use, but there is the "green button" to make it a point and shoot camera, as well as the very finest manually-controlled mode I've ever seen, maybe in any camera of any configuration.

Lastly, the image quality's tremendous and at the short end of its zoom range it is the brightest point and shoot camera imaginable. Those are important!

The Panasonic shown above's actually a really great camera, too; I actually did a 5-month job as a representative of that exact model last year to keep my toe in the pool of the imaging industry world from where I came. But it does NOT have the 1/1.8" chip, it instead has the far more common 1/2.5", and for that reason alone I consider it hardly the S95's competitor in any meaningful image quality comparison. In short, I defy anyone to show me the image quality comparison adhering to the scientific method where ANY modern 1/2.5" chip camera surpassed ANY modern 1/1.8" camera (though I doubt it, it isn't inconceivable that processing advantages over the generations COULD make a really old 1/1.8" inferior to a cutting edge 1/2.5" in very favorable bright light conditions).
 
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Hello Blue Raccoon and Kwigibocity,

Thank you very much for the recommendations and the detailed explanations. I really appreciate it.

Have a great day,

TGY
 
sorry I don't have decades of professional experience. but, assuming it's for travel, family pics, snapshots, etc.. you would be hard pressed to see a difference. btw, the s95 at amazon is closer to $500 then $300.
 
With all due respect Blue Raccoon, how do you know you would be hard pressed to tell the difference? A few years ago I'd routinely show 4x6" prints from top 1/2.5" vs any of the 1/1.8" or bigger cameras to customers, and it was an obvious difference, to anyone of any background. Maybe not on Facebook or the like, but if you'll actually print, you'll notice the 'presence', and it takes no experience to do so. I severely doubt that's changed in this particular example.

I see S95's ~$400...that's $100 more than I'd paid 7 months ago for its predecessor, and only the video mode's been improved beyond a few really subtle differences (like surfaces and wheel detents). For ~$160 savings, I would have to consider dsc-zs7. But the original poster gave a budget range, and S95 still fits, if just barely.
 
well excuse this poor boy red neck who don't know cr%$ from shine.. I really don't give a rats$$ what he buys. He ask for point and shoot suggestions that fit his list and that's what he got. if you took your avg travel or people snapshot with the Canon or the Lumix (with the Leica lens) and printed it on your avg/above avg home printer at 4x6. I'll bet 8 out of 10 folks on here could not tell which came from which camera. At twice the price $244 vs $479 I don't know if it's worth it for the professional level manual controls. If it is to him great.. BTW, all my equip other than the Lumix is Canon but he didn't ask about DSLR's.

of course YMMV.
 
My wife bought the Canon S95 for me as a birthday gift. I've been shooting for decades - my first camera was a Canon AE-1, then a Canon T-90, some point and shoots for work, a Sony Mavica, and a Cool Pix I shot over 48,000 photos with in the past 5 years. The S95 is flat out awesome in low light with its f2.0 lens. Plus, it does well in macro, has decent length telephoto, good optics, metal frame, and made in Japan not, well, you know. My only criticism is the proprietary battery - so I bought a second at $35 bucks. My wife bought mine at Best Buy where it was on sale for $369.00. With the extra battery and a lowepro case you're just over $400, but definitely money well spent for a camera you can grow into.

Good luck and happy shooting.
 
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Hello everyone,

Thank you for the follow up. Did not realize things could get controversial so quickly. I do appreciate the franc exchange of views. Can we keep it friendly? I guess like many things (including shaving) it comes down to preference :biggrin:!

Have a good one,

TGY
 
TGY, if you would share your intended use maybe folks could narrow their suggestions. I never said the Canon was a bad camera but you mentioned easy to use so I didn't think you would cared about professional lever manual options.

I have been using Canons since I bought a Canon F1 at the PX in Vietnam. After my last Canon P&S took a swin while I was fishing in Yellowstone I went with the highly recommended Lumix. (in a watertight bag now) I have multiple bags full of 35mm Canon bodies, lenes, flashes.. you name it that have not seen the light of day since I went digital a few years ago. Not worth enough to even bother selling them on ebay. Also since the wife uses the P&S it needs to be a no brainer aim and shoot camera. Most any of the brand names put out a very decent P&S. Take your pick. Current cameras in rotation are the Lumix, Canon SX20 and a Canon Rebel Santa brought for Xmas. Thinking of selling it cause I don't want to go back to lugging bags of lens, flashes, etc..
 
TGY, if you would share your intended use maybe folks could narrow their suggestions. I never said the Canon was a bad camera but you mentioned easy to use so I didn't think you would cared about professional lever manual options.

Hello BR,

Good point. Let me provide more info. Yes, to be more specific, I am looking for a Point & Shoot Camera that is easy to use and with possibly some advance features that I could grow into. I plan to use it for a while. I am not planning on buying additional lenses. I am ok with a P&S that comes with preset modes. I am very much a novice. I am laboring with an Olympus Stylus 600 that I bought back in 2005. Never really invested the time to learn the device.

In terms of use, it would be for every day stuff (pics with family & friends, my cat, stuff around the house and the garden). Also I have a son on the way so I plan to be taking some baby pictures this Spring. I do not aspire to professional level photography. Just something to document the happenings of my growing family. The only item which I would probably like some advanced features to grow into pertains to my tea hobby (I hang out mostly in the Cafe area on B&B - although I am starting to check out other forums too!). I would like to be able to take some nice pictures of my tea sessions, tea stash and teaware (and arrival of tea boxes full of acquisitions :biggrin:!).

I think that about covers it :laugh:!
 
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/q42010highendcompactgroup/

The above review is great. There has been a lot of talk about the much better quality of the 3 cameras - in the "compact" market. The light sensing chip is much larger in these than cheaper point-and-shoots. They are viewed as in-between the point and shoots and digital SLR's. There are some differences between the Panasonic and the Canon - though they tied for first in the review. They are very clear about the small differences so it should help with your selection. I just ordered one of them last week but won't try to sway your selection because you may use different criteria than I used.
 
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/q42010highendcompactgroup/

The above review is great. There has been a lot of talk about the much better quality of the 3 cameras - in the "compact" market. The light sensing chip is much larger in these than cheaper point-and-shoots. They are viewed as in-between the point and shoots and digital SLR's. There are some differences between the Panasonic and the Canon - though they tied for first in the review. They are very clear about the small differences so it should help with your selection. I just ordered one of them last week but won't try to sway your selection because you may use different criteria than I used.

Cheers Mink! Thank you much for the link!
 
zs7's video's in another world for quality; the s95's upgrade is much better than s90's terrible video mode, but still not the zs7's equal.

It also has, in my opinion, a faster AF speed and facial recognition software that you can program.

At $245 vs $400 I think I'd pick the Lumix, but at $370 vs $245 it'd be a much tougher choice...

Shooting both wide open at maximum aperture in low interior light and selecting amongst 4x6" prints for quality, though, I know whom my money is on as the consensus favorite for image quality as selected by random humans.

Unfortunately, the world of digital p&s cameras at the top level of image quality is dominated by the proprietary lithium-ion battery, which I hate, too.
 

Legion

Staff member
If the s95 is out of the price range (and it might be, though it is a nice camera) get yourself a Panasonic LX3. AWESOME compact camera.

The best part is, since it has now been replaced by the LX5 (very similar with a bit more zoom) you can get hold of LX3's for around $350-$400.

This camera has full manual, auto, a 24mm equivalent wide angle, f2 lens, a flash hot shoe and many hidden extra features such as HDR, manual focus, a super sharp Leica lens, all sorts of things. While there are still a few of this model floating around I recommend them as the best "bang for your buck" in the compact camera world.

And as far as reliability, this guy in Finland has now shot over 125,000 images with his.

http://lightscrape.blogspot.com/
 
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Point and Shoot...I would recommend a Canon S95.

I have a Canon G12...which is a P+S...sort of...it's for DSLR owners who want a small camera that has setting, manual controls, etc.

The S95 has I beleive the G12's sensor.

I have been a serious photog for over 40 years...Leica Rangefinder, Olympus, Mamiya medium format, Pentax slr and dslrs, Canon.....but I give the nod to the Canon S95.
 
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Get the Lumix DMC-FT1 (or the new, updated model). I fell down a mountain with it and it didn't break.

Water- and shock proof and shoots film in 720p too.
 

Legion

Staff member
I thought I'd share this macro picture which I just shot on the LX3. The macro on this thing is amazing. This bug was less than 1" long and it can do a head/ shoulders portrait without cropping?? A moment after I took this the bug walked onto my lens... The camera could still focus on him!

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