I am in need of a second digital camera. Since it’s only for occasional use, I would like to keep it on the cheap (ie less than $100) which means used, based on the features I need.
My wife does freelance reporting, and occasionally needs to take pictures at city council meetings, school board meetings, etc. Our point and shoot camera is simply not up to the job, it’s a canon ELPH model, and it needs you to be pretty close for the flash to have any effect as well as having no appreciable zoom level.
So, I would like a used camera with decent picture quality, really 4MP or higher is fine. It should have a 10x zoom and image stabilization if possible.
I’m looking for feedback from folks who have used the cameras they are going to recommend, as quality and infuriating menus vary with the camera. My wife doesn’t want to fiddle with a bunch of stuff, she generally just wants to point, zoom, and shoot.
The problem is that most small cameras only sport flashes that work between 10 and 20 feet, tops. In addition, the more zoom you use the shorter that distance becomes. In auto mode, nearly all small cameras will have problems shooting anything beyond 15 feet with a flash. You’ll have to learn a few controls to do that. You might be able to do so with your current Canon - what is the model number? I’d start there before moving on to a new camera.
Is most of your shooting going be indoors? if so, there probably aren’t any cameras in your price range that will take these shots without flash. You can push the ISO higher to allow you to shoot in low light without flash, but the resulting shots will be very grainy.
You might look into a slave flash for your current camera. That will give you added flash range without much cost. An example is here, but I know there are cheaper models - http://www.adorama.com/Als/ProductPage/ICAHFDC1.html
The current camera is an SD450, and the flash is only good to about 8 feet or so, really. If we could get one that’s good to 15 feet, that would be great, because that would effectively double the distance. I don’t know of any slave flashes for the ultra-compact line of Canon cameras, and quite frankly, I think my wife would take one look at a setup like that and say it’s too complicated and she’ll make do with what she has.
She doesn’t want to get shots from the back row, but she doesn’t want to have to climb on stage and stand in front of the presenter to get a picture, you know what I mean?
Thanks for the advice thus far.
There are plenty of slave flashes that will work with the SD450; they’ll work with any compact camera. The one I linked to will work with your camera. When the on board flash goes off, the slave does too.
You might look at a Panasonic TZ5 if you can find one. The flash range is greater than your Canon, but still not a drastic improvement. The ratings are for auto ISO, which will often push the ISO up too high and result in grainy shots. You’ll probably want to set the ISO yourself rather than let the camera do it. There really aren’t many small cameras with the flash range you’re looking for, especially with a big zoom lens.
I’m sure if this were possible, you’d be doing it, but I’m compelled to ask anyway… If these publications are asking her for photos, maybe they could also provide a reasonable camera? It’s one thing to cheap out and make the reporter do the photography (sorry – touchy subject for this former news photographer), but to make them supply their own camera too seems ridiculous (especially given the pay I know most publications are offering freelancers).
Just be aware that no matter what you do, if you’re shooting a city council meeting with a point and shoot with on-camera flash, it’s going to look pretty awful no matter how strong the flash is. Obviously if you’re tightly constrained on budget, there’s not much you can do about that – I just want to make sure your expectations aren’t too high…
Beleive me, if she could get a pro to do it, she would. Newspaper pay is so meager nowadays that any real pro wouldn’t show up to do a $25 photo. No way they’re going to lend her a camera.