Anyone got a compact digital camera in the $200-$300 range lately? Even if not, what do you think is a good choice?
I’m leaning towards either the Canon SD600, SD630 or SD700, or the Panasonic DMC-FX01. My previous 2 cameras were Canons (A75 and A510) and I’ve been very happy with them, however I handled the newer ones in the store and the Panasonic felt better - the on/off switch is much easier to operate, and startup seems to be faster. But it lacks an optical viewfinder, and I’m not sure how this LCD looks in direct sunlight. Also all reviews of this camera mention bad noise at higher ISO settings; again I’m not very sure how big a deal that would be in actual use. Any thoughts or experiences?
I recently got a Canon SD600 and the photo quality is quite good. The controls are small but make sense. The documentation is less clear than it ought to be.
I was just discussing this subject with my father the other day. He’s a fan of Ken Rockwell’s, and I’m planning to buy a Canon A530 on his advice. Link: 2006 Holiday Camera Guide
The Canon SDxxx line and Pano FX01 are generally referred to as ultracompacts. Compacts are more like the Canon A-series (A630, A710 IS) or Pano LZ5 which offer full manual controls, more zoom, and usually lower cost. How small are you looking for?
Do you want manual controls? Are you going to take a lot of indoors shots? Action shots? How much zoom do you need?
I won’t buy a camera without an optical viewfinder, as I only shoot with the camera to my eye. It’s much steadier and easier to get a clean shot, IMO, plus it saves battery power when you turn off the LCD.
If you want to take many shots in low light without using the flash, the Fuji F-30 is the clear leader. It can do much more in low light than any other small camera.
I just ordered my parents an Olympus Stylos 750 for Christmas. (I got my son a 500 last year and really like it.) The 750 has 5x zoon and anti-shake. I really like the Olympus menus, they’re very simple to use, and the pictures always turn out excellent.
The Olympus 750 has gotten just adequate reviews. Image quality doesn’t live up to the promise of the specs in the test shots for reviewers. I don’t know how this compares to real world experience.
The Fuji F30 is clearly the best compact for low light photography, with the high ISO capability. However, it’s outdoor bright light results are adequate but not great.
Both the Olympus and the Fuji use xD memory cards, and they are a little more expensive and a little slower then SD cards. But it’s not enough to base a decision on for a camera, unless you already have an extensive collection of cards already.
You need to answer a few more questions before buying:
[ul]
[li]Do you want manual controls?[/li][li]Do you want a compact or ultracompact?[/li][li]How much zoom do you need?[/li][li]Are you going to be taking a lot of low light photos without flash?[/li][/ul]
Interesting review/guide by Ken Rockwell. Should I consider his review to be biased towards Canon and Nikon, or do you think he’s done a fair comparison with other brands before making those recommendations?
I generally don’t like to micro-examine the feature list when making a purchase decision. When I decide there are a couple of features that are very important to me, and pick a product that excels in those couple of features, it usually turns out to be a quirky product which is sub-par in all other respects.
That said, I guess what I want is an ultra-compact. High-priority features are battery life, ability to use in daylight (either optical finder or a very good LCD) speed (start-up time and time between shots) and ease of use. I already have DSLR for more involved photography so I don’t really need a big zoom or manual controls on my ultra-compact.
I have an SD450. The LCD is good even in pretty bright light (you do have to be looking at it straight on, though) and it takes very nice pictures. Like most ultracompacts, it has a custom sized battery, but the life is very good and it charges up quickly with the included charger.
I haven’t handled the Panasonic, but my impression from most reviews was that most other manufacturers use smaller CCDs (or something like that) and this is why high ISO levels cause noise. I don’t mess with ISO values anyhow, I just know my camera takes good pictures.