Need opinions on picking out camera

[fastchevy]

I'm looking at some digital cameras and need some opinions.
I'm sticking to mainly point and shoot, but want a good one.

Any suggestions...make/models?

TIA

[Bouncer]

Cannon SD 800 IS. Gets very good reviews for a compact point and shoot and is likely my next camera purchase.

1) It's small, so it fits in a pants pocket easily (about the size of a pack of cigarettes). That's important, because if you're just doing touristy or family pics, you don't want to lug unnecessary gear. You won't get tired/annoyed lugging it around, and won't start to "forget" it in the hotel room by day three.

2) It has image stabilization to get rid of herky jerky shots you alky. This also applies to action shots.

3) It has a facial recognition feature and will focus on people faces automatically AND set the exposure correctly. That's going to save you on more than one occasion and make you look like a genius.

4) It's fast. Time from power on to ready to shoot is about 1 second. Time to cycle is about 1.5 seconds.

5) Quite a few shoot modes and full motion video @30 FPS recording at VGA (640x480) with sound.

6) It's simple, very simple to use. This cuts both ways, you're not going to be doing artistic timed release stuff etc etc. OTOH you can learn the whole camera in less than 30 minutes or so. You can learn the important bits in under 5 minutes. There are scene/color modes to play with, and you can do some manual adjusting, including a white balance and ISO settings. It's a nice blend for the casual shooter who might want to get a little arty once in a while or adjust a little for slightly unusual shooting conditions.

7) Nice true wide angle lens. Rare on a camera this small. You're not going to get super detail of the cheerleader across the stadium, however you get a nice wide view of the stadium instead. Which tends to be more important at family events and tourist pics. You get a better sense of scale when taking that panorama. It does have a nice optical and digital zoom though, so you can zoom in some (basically 4X optical) and up to 15X digital.

8) 7.1MegaPixel. Though cameras go higher, you reach a point where you simply won't see it with the human eye unless you're making poster size blowups. 3072 x 2304 is pretty huge. After a certain point, "MOAR MEGZASPIXELES!!!" is just like getting a bigger tailfin on a car. It doesn't actually do anything more for you or improve the photos.

9) Optical viewfinder. There are times when any digital display will wash out, or not be appropriate to be on. An optical viewfinder is very rare to find on a sub-compact camera, but there it is. And it's usable. If you've ever tried to take a picture on a beach or on a snow covered hill you will appreciate the genius of this.

Reviews:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/sd800.html
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_sd800-review/
http://reviews.cnet.com/Canon_PowerShot_SD800_IS/4505-6501_7-32069607.html
http://www.dcviews.com/reviews/Canon-SD800/Canon-SD800-review.htm

While each otf the reviews has plus and minuses, of course, effectively all of them recommend the camera. The last one has some very nice casual outdoor photos taken with the camera.

The only gripe I've found, is the rechargeable battery. It works fine, but I'd like an option someday to use AAA or AA batteries again, since when I'm on vacation I'm not real interested in lugging around a charger (even if it is small). OTOH you can take north of 250 photos between charges, and really you can just buy a spare battery for 20 bucks. Between the two, there's probably no need to take a charger on anything other than some cross country journey.

Regards,
-Bouncer-

[fastchevy]

2) It has image stabilization to get rid of herky jerky shots you alky. This also applies to action shots.


:rotfl: :rotfl:
Thanks for that review...that was awesome.
I will check into that.

[David]

What is your budget and what features would you like?

[knightmare]

SONY DSC-W100 Silver 8.1 MP Digital Camera --$289

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16830179054

more compact-- SONY DSC-T10 Silver 7.2 MP Digital Camera--$339

http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?Item=N82E16830179074

always loved the Sony's....

looking for a new cam for Hawaii?

[Joint Chiefs of Staff]

SONY DSC-W100 Silver 8.1 MP Digital Camera --$289I've have the DSC-N1 camera for about 5 months now. It's nice and all but.....You have to charge the battery using an external charger. I did not do my research before buying or else I would not have purchased it. Why? Because my other Sony's could be charged via the USB cable without having to remove the battery. I'm assuming this model is the same. A huge hassle for me if I'm traveling. I don't want to bring along other gear if I can charge via my lappy. Not to mention the battery life is only about 45 minutes of continuous use.

Now on the Pro side it takes fantastic shots but (again a but) you have to do some fine tuning manually for low light shots and does not auto save the settings which means if you shut down the camera you have to reset manually each time.

On the plus side again the macro function allows you to take unbelievable "crisp and clean" close up shots.

[CableDude]

What are your plans for this camera? http://members.speedguide.net/cabledude/shifty.gif

[YARDofSTUF]

Avoid Sony, expensive memory sticks and only works in sony stuff or a card reader, compact flas is my favortie memory media, so widely used.

[fastchevy]

What are your plans for this camera? http://members.speedguide.net/cabledude/shifty.gif

The scenery in Hawaii :D

[fastchevy]

What is your budget and what features would you like?

Well probably $300 or less. As far as features I just want it to take good shots, fairly quick processing between shots (current camera takes about 20 seconds before you can take another pic). I really don't aniticipate needing advance features, but ya never know...maybe I'll use them

[YARDofSTUF]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16830120086

Small


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16830120177

Older small


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16830113023

This sucker has wifi!

[fastchevy]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16830113023

This sucker has wifi!


That one is pretty cool!

[CableDude]

The scenery in Hawaii :D

Ah ha!





I was hoping for some OKC college girls too. ;)

[YARDofSTUF]

Ah ha!





I was hoping for some OKC college girls too. ;)

Yeah


Scenery = hawaiian chicks!