Best P&S camera in the $250 range

In My Humble Opinion
1

I need a new camera and I’m strongly leaning towards getting the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H20.

What I like about it:

  1. Great reviews from Amazon reviewers and CNET. A P&S almost never gets four stars on an editor review on CNET.

  2. 10X optical zoom starting at 35mm.

  3. It has digital quality video and the zoom can be used while shooting video.

What I don’t like about it is the bulk. That’s a big drawback for me as it would be great to have a camera that has everything this one does and will fit in pants pockets.

I did some searching in the middle of writing this post and it looks like the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 is comparable and smaller and more form fitting (although it will put me in a higher price range).

Looking for opinions including other options. Thanks.

2

You might use this tool to search.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp

3

Two months ago I researched this same thing pretty thoroughly and ended up buying the wife a Lumix TZ5. It’s one generation out of date and was selling for $215 at
BuyDig. Came in black, blue or silver, and various places were selling the different colors at different prices.

It goes 28-280 (equiv.), and has a metal body (unlike competing Sony and Canons) and has a great 3" LCD with over 400,000 pixels. It gathered a lot of raves when it was released. It’s also better looking than the competition.

No manual controls, but I rarely miss them on P&S cameras. Exposure compensation is almost always enough.

Compared to the latest compact zoom Lumix it has a 10x instead of a 12x (25-300) lens. And the LCD doesn’t have a wide viewing angle.

It’s been a very good camera. The similar TZ3 was around $180-- it a few less pixels on the sensor and the screen is 2.7". Otherwise it’s nearly the same. I think there’s a review of it at dpreview.com .

I’ve no idea if the cameras are still available.

4

There is no best camera, it all depends on what you are looking to do with the camera. The H20 is a nice camera that takes good quality images, but the zoom range is 38-380 which means that is has no real wide angle shooting. The ZS3 that you’re comparing it to has a range of 25-300mm, which is much more useful IMO.

The biggest different is the H20 has full manual controls, and the ZS3 has none. Are you planning on shooting in auto mode or use the settings for aperture and shutter speed? If not, I actually think the ZS3 is a better choice.

5

My wife got a Canon SD780 is a few months ago, and I’m quite happy with it. The thing will quite comfortably fit in a pants pocket. In fact, it’s actually smaller than my cell phone.

It takes video, too, though I think it can only do digital zoom in video mode. The video quality is pretty decent in standard (640x480) mode, but a little grainy in the 780 “HD” mode. It also has an HDMI output, so if you have an HDTV you can hook it up directly to show off the pictures/videos.

6

I really like my Canon SX110, which cost about $250 last year. I’ve taken all kinds of pictures with it and have been impressed with the quality. It looks like the new, mildly updated SX120 is now going for the same price.

Pro:
Manual controls. Aperture, shutter speed, AF mode, metering mode, ISO, white balance, etc. The available settings and their location on the camera are nearly identical to Canon’s entry-level SLRs (Rebel series).

Lots of automatic modes. If you or whoever is taking the picture doesn’t want to fiddle around with settings. There is usually an auto mode that will produce a nice picture.

The long end of the zoom range is 360mm equivalent, which seems long enough for everything you’re likely to shoot.

DIGIC 4 processor.

It has image stabilization, which is always nice.

In addition to a very good ‘macro’ mode (actually a close focus mode) it has a workable manual focus mode.
It takes AA batteries. You can get 4 of the newer low-discharge kind (Ni-MH?) for about $12 plus a good charger and take pictures all day and night.

The flash is disabled unless you tilt it up by hand. Not a big deal to some people, but I like never worrying about setting it off unintentionally.

Con:
No RAW mode. Which is fine by me, as it seems like overkill in a point and shoot.

Not super-compact. It will easily fit in a jacket pocket or a purse, but not the pocket of your jeans.

Flash cycling is a little slow.

No viewfinder, which can be annoying, but few small cameras have one anymore.

No HD video. Not a big deal for most.
It only goes to 36mm, which is not all that wide, but still sufficient for many landscape photos.

Plastic body. I prefer it, since a scuff is better than a dent IMO, and anything that would shatter the plastic is likely to trash the camera no matter what it’s made of. But some people really want metal.

7

The SX110 and SX120 are nice cameras, and I’m a Canon guy.

But, if you want manual controls I think the Sony is a better camera for a few reasons: much better flash, better image quality in most cases, optical zoom in video mode. If you’re shooting mostly outdoors the first two won’t be a major issue.

If you don’t want manual controls I think the SX1/3 is a better option for a few reasons: much more useful zoom range, optical zoom in video mode, smaller.

I use a smaller SD800 for my around town camera. It’s small enough that I can and will take it anywhere. Even though the H20 and SX120 aren’t big, they are bigger than I would carry around with me. The ZS3 is right on the borderline.