Regardless of megapixel count, and to some extent cost, I’ve found most slim line style digital cameras with little tiny lenses pretty severely compromised by low light and motion scenarios. Daylight and close up is fine, and they take fabulous macro shots but long distance, low light and action shots are (in general) pretty crappy.
There is only so much a lens the size of your little fingernail is going to be able to capture. If you want a higher performance camera you need to get one with a larger lens and possibly even an SLR for best results.
I take it back. Looking at the specs for your camera, you’ve got no good way to force higher shutter speeds. Look for a camera with an action mode or with manual shooting modes (shutter speed and aperture priority, if not full manual).
Panasonic DMC-FS7 might fit the bill. Panasonic’s been making better than average point and shoots recently, and this gets you a sports mode. I don’t really know anything about this particular model aside from what you see in the specs, though. Seems like Canon no longer makes it’s A-series Powershots that had manual exposure modes.
I’ve got a Canon Powershot SD960 Elph. I haven’t had it very long. The “Kids & Pets” mode doesn’t completely eliminate all blurring when you’re dealing with rapid, close-up movement – for example, a cat’s swishing tail. The pictures still come out nice though. I’ve been pleased with the camera so far; there are plenty of little adjustments you can make for each shot, or you can just leave it in Auto mode.
Nothing can guarantee to eliminate blur. If the camera can’t get enough light it needs to keep the shutter open longer. There’s no automatic mode that will do that for you; you’ve just exceeded the limits of what the camera can do.
I have a Powershot A710 IS (now replaced by the 720 I think). When I purchased it, my feeling was that I would have more use for a longer (optical) zoom, than umpteen megapixels. I’ve been very happy the the model I purchased (6x zoom and 7.1 MP). I also wanted a model with optical viewfinder and AA batteries.
First off, I am not a photobug. I will never spend the money on a digital SLR camera because I much rather spend the money on other things. I don’t take pictures for art, I only take them to remember stuff like my family laughing around the dinner table, or my kids opening presents on Christmas morning.
That said I have a Canon SD1000 Elph. I bought it about 2 years ago for around $150. My wife mainly keeps it in her purse. If we’re at the zoo or something, I might keep it in my pocket. That is what I like about it. It is very portable and always on hand. You don’t have to carry a whole other bag for just for a camera, lenses, flashes, etc.
I am very happy with the pictures even at 7.1 MP. They are more than sharp enough to put on photo stock and put in a photo album. It does have a Kids&Pets setting that I have never really needed to use, so I can’t really comment on the picture quality for that.
Also, I like that it turns on very fast. Maybe 5 seconds from pressing the power button to taking the picture. My old Sony took forever to boot up.
I know that you’re looking at a different model, but I think my camera is similar enough to the ones you’re looking at to offer a valid opinion. If you plan on taking up photography as a hobby, this is NOT the type of camera you want. Go for a SLR. But if you are looking for something easy and portable, either of the ones you linked to should make you plenty happy.
I have a PowerShot SD790 IS as well. It works fine as a point-and-shoot, which is all I expect of it. For action photos, it’s almost better to use the video mode and try to capture single frames from that. As far as image quality goes, I don’t think it’s really all that much better than my 3MP Nikon Coolpix 3200 (it has more bells and whistles of course). As others have noted, compact digital cameras have to compromise somewhere, you just have to figure out what features are most important to you.
Well, it all depends on what level of hobby–there are lots of people who love their Lomos and Holgas!
Not in my experience. The video frame captures are 640x480, which is mostly useless for anything interesting. It’s much better to put the camera in burst mode (1.3 FPS) and just hold the shutter down. It would be nicer with some of the other SD-series, my SD800 shoots 1.7 fps and my S3 shoots at 2.1 fps, but it’s still much better than frame grabs.
Well, you have a point about the image size–probably not very useful to most people.
After reading your post, I went back and tried the burst (“continuous”) on my SD790. The specs say 1.4 shots per second, but it seems slower that that. Maybe that has something to do with how good my batteries are or the kind of memory card I’m using? I did notice that the shutter fires a LOT faster in the 3200ASA mode, but then you have a problem with the noisy images.
-The camera still tries to acquire a proper exposure for each shot. If that means it has to keep the shutter open for longer to compensate for insufficient lighting, it will.
-That’s why 3200 mode makes it go faster (by decreasing time needed for a sufficient exposure).
-If possible, put it on the camera’s closest equivalent to a Sports mode or an Aperture Priority mode with the aperture wide open and as high an ASA setting as you can bear. That’ll get you the shortest exposures allowable by your current lighting conditions.
-If you have the flash on, the camera will have to wait to recharge the flash between each shot and the batteries could affect this
-Your memory card can make a difference depending on how fast it is and how much of a buffer your camera has.