Digital Camera Recommendations: $300 to $400

LazyHippy said:
Lots of canon lovers here and although I still recommend the Panasonic my last cam was a Powershot A something and was really good (for it's time) so doubt you'd go wrong with em. I prob would have got another Canon if they did a compact with a 28mm lens and at least 10x optical.
Click to expand...

Actually, they've made several compacts 28mm for a few years now.

30-120-348-TS
 


when looking for a camera, make sure you get one where you don't need to take out the battery to charge it.
 
lanwar said:
when looking for a camera, make sure you get one where you don't need to take out the battery to charge it.
Click to expand...

What? Why?

Every camera I've ever owned required me to take the battery out to charge it, but that's not a problem in any way that I can think of. I always have 2-3 batteries for each camera anyway and almost always end up changing them half way through a serious day of photo taking, like hiking, urban sight seeing, music festivals, etc.


If I were buying right now I would get the SD 960 (Ixus 110 IS) or the SD 880 (Ixus 870 IS).

HOWEVER, with the IFA coming up, Canon alone has announced at least 5 new cameras since this thread started (including the G11), and I'm sure there will be more to come, from them and every manufacturer.

Scope the front page of Dpreview... Digital Camera Reviews and News: Digital Photography Review: Forums, Glossary, FAQ

I would personally hold off to see what is on offer before making any decisions.
 
Canon seems to be the hands down favorite when it comes to reliability and overall picture quality. However, it seems Canon's compact cameras don't usually offer much in the way of Optical Zoom. Megapixels don't matter too much either - unless you're blowing up a picture for a poster it seems 7-9MP should suffice.

So I guess I want to find a Canon compact with decent MP, strong #X optical zoom, and recording HD video would be awesome. Unfortunately, I don't think that camera exists.

Back to the research room...
 
What exactly is your girlfriend going to be doing with the camera? I assume she will mainly be using for taking pics of friends and family? If so, 2x-3x optical zoom will be plenty.
 
She also coaches cheerleading and itd also be nice to get a good enough compact camera so when we're on vacation, at sporting events or her cheerleading team (she coaches) has a competition, she has a pretty sweet camera to catch it all.

Considering IFA is going on now (I think), I would assume prices of existing cameras would drop when the new ones are released. And then again for the holidays. When will the new ones go on sale and therefore slightly old ones see reductions?

2x-3x would PROBABLY suffice... I just love the ability to zoom super close (like if you're at a concert) without losing image quality.
 
trigatch4 said:
Canon seems to be the hands down favorite when it comes to reliability and overall picture quality. However, it seems Canon's compact cameras don't usually offer much in the way of Optical Zoom. Megapixels don't matter too much either - unless you're blowing up a picture for a poster it seems 7-9MP should suffice.

So I guess I want to find a Canon compact with decent MP, strong #X optical zoom, and recording HD video would be awesome. Unfortunately, I don't think that camera exists.

Back to the research room...
Click to expand...

You need to look here...

Canon Digital Cameras: Digital Photography Review

Canon has several compacts with high zoom, like the SX200 at 12x with 28mm lens and 720 video, and a few others in the 6-10x range but with less wide angle lenses. Typically zoom is sacrificed for wide angle and vice versa, and I personally find wide angle to be much more useful and valuable than zoom.

You might want to consider the winner of the super zoom comparison on Dpreview, the Panasonic Lumix ZS3. It has a 25mm lens and 12x zoom + 720 video at 60 fps.

'Compact Super Zoom' Camera Group Test (Q2 2009) Review: 16. Conclusions and ratings: Digital Photography Review
 
trigatch4 said:
I just love the ability to zoom super close (like if you're at a concert) without losing image quality.
Click to expand...

Seriously mate, check out the Panasonics I mentioned earlier. The 10x optical zoom (12x on latest one) + stabilisation = some fucking amazing shots!
 
make sure whatever you are buying is waterproof or at least spend and get a water proofing casing.. It is worth it
 
Damn, the powershot G10 looks fine. A bit pricey though, a cheap DLSR is about the same.

::emp::
 
emp said:
Damn, the powershot G10 looks fine. A bit pricey though, a cheap DLSR is about the same.

::emp::
Click to expand...

there are no such thing as cheap dslr:zzwhip:

after a few month you will want a better lens. and then a flash or two. then you will want a better body. You can easily spend over a thousand dollars in the first year
 
LazyHippy said:
Canon PowerShot SX200 IS digital camera specifications: Digital Photography Review I take it?

It it had been around last year I might be raving about that one now instead of my Panasonic! Looks very nice.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's the one, I linked to a round up review of it earlier in this thread and it did quite well against the others in its class, though they rated the Panasonic ZS1 and ZS3 as the overall winners so if one of those is the one you have then you chose well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom