Yet another help me pick a camera thread! ;)

[animeguru]

Yeah, I see that there are a lot of 'em on here, well, not a ton, but enough.


Anyway, basically, I want a camera that'll last me for a good long time to come. I'm getting married next year, so I suspect we'll be starting a family not too far after that. What I'm looking for is a camera that is somewhat easy to use (for the wife), versatile, high quality, durable, and I'm trying to stay under $500.

After a lot of reading at DPReview, it seems that Canon is the best choice. I've been looking at these two cameras

• Canon PowerShot A620
• Canon PowerShot S80

At the moment, I'm leaning towards the S80 for a couple of reasons, 8MP vs 7, built in Li-Ion battery, and camera body type (it seems fairly sleek and would probably pocket better than the A620). Also, while the ability to add lenses on is nice, honestly, I'll probably never use that feature, though its still kind of lurking in the back of my mind.

Any thougths?? Do you use one of these cameras and have an opinion?? Do you think they're all crap and I should look at something else??

Thanks!

 

[SidewinderX]

I don't know too much about point-and-shoots in general, but don't let megapixels be a deciding factor for you.

if you have 4-5 megapixels is more than enough for any type of printing you'll want to do. You shouldn't notice a difference between an 11x14 print of a photo shot by a 5 mpxl camera and an 8 mpxl camera. So don't worry about the difference between an 7 and 8 mxpl difference.

 

[BillLeeLee]

Yes, I agree with ^^^.

With point and shoots, I think what I would want to look for are overall features beyond megapixels.

Like, for example, the Fuji F10, which is supposed to produce very usable images at high ISOs, even up to ISO1600.

There's also the cameras with Image Stabilization, like the Canon S2 IS, but they're not like pocket digicams, they're slightly larger.

Anyway, I'm not an expert on point and shoots either, I use whatever P&S cameras I have to if I don't have my main camera with me.

 

[westrock2000]

Yes, I agree with ^^^.
There's also the cameras with Image Stabilization, like the Canon S2 IS, but they're not like pocket digicams, they're slightly larger.

The S2 IS also has an uncanny 12x optical zoom which is fantastic if you never plan on getting a lens.


What 12x optical can do

 

[VictorEM83]

I wouldnt focus on just the camera but what can you add to the camera. Ext. Flashes can be very handy and mattering on the canon or nikon camera you can use a flash designed for a SLR that has more output power than one designed for a P&S digital. Also is the add on optics and how do they work? some are very cheaply attached as if they were not even designed for the camera.

Also westrock2000 pointed out a good fact is the optical zoom on a camera I dont care for the XXx style becuse 12x doesnt tell you anything becuase it could be a 1 mm to 12mm lens or a 10mm to 120mm lens look for the mm equilivant rating 28-200 is good but 28 is fairly wide 50 is about human sight and 200 is good tele length. also look for the F number with that lens anything over F4(F5.6 F8) be warry of low light focusing issues.

if you have any questions holler.

 

[Tim_axe]

For a digital compact camera (aka digital point & shoot) the zoom range is usually going to start around an equivilent 35mm. Some of the more expensive cameras start at 24mm or 28mm to let you get even wider-angle pictures. You want to look at these "mm" numbers so you can get an idea of how wide one camera is compared to another one.

How-ever many "x-zoom" the camera is rated, is just a multiple of that initial number that lets you find the final number. Obviously if 2 cameras both start at 35mm on the wide angle, and one is 4x and another is 10x, the 10x will get you closer: 35mm * 4 = 140mm, 35mm * 10 = 350mm.

Just beware when they don't start with the same "mm" numbers. In those cases the best advice is to see if those mm numbers offer the field-of-view you want.


An extreme example of how using the x-zoom number is not useful if you pull it out of contex is PS-RagE's little 2.7x zoom lens that weighs 13lbs. I don't think any 12x zoom on a digital compact camera can match his 2.7x zoom lens in the telephoto department...and if it could it wouldn't fit in a pocket