Buying a new point and shoot- canon, fuji, kodak, sony?
I'm looking for a new point and shoot for my mother and possibly myself. We both have had different previous nikon coolpix models and both hate them with a vengance. Flash is totally useless, long lag, etc. So I've been looking over dpreview and consumer reports to find something better. Here are some things she is looking for:
1. 10x or more optical zoom
2. Ability to do a good amount of video
3. Small size
4. Better flash
5. Image stabilization would be nice, but not required
Here are some of the cameras we were looking at:
1. Fujifilm FinePix S5200, S6000fd, or S9000
2. Canon PowerShot "S3 IS", "S4 IS", or "S5 IS"
3. Kodak Easy Share P712
4. Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H2
5. Canon PowerShot Tx1
She is not very technology-savvy, but can learn basics. As for price, I'm Ok until it gets up into the price of digital SLR's, then I start to question if it's really worth it. If it really doubles as a video camera, it might be worth a bigger price tag.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Re: Buying a new point and shoot- canon, fuji, kodak, sony?
Heather
Recently researched a similar issue, but with different requirements, and chose a Canon. Since my daughter has a Coolpix, I have some understanding as to your frustration with their PS models. If only they carried their intuitive functionality from their DSLRs to the PS line, they'd have a much greater market share. But that's another story.
Since I'm not interested in the models you list, I can't speak to specifics, but from general perusing of reviews over the last few months, those listed, like the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H2, look like good value for what you want. It would cost about twice as much for a comparable DSLR and lens with models like the Nikon D40(x).
The only real contribution I can make to your query is regarding video. From all I've researched, and from my personal experience, for high quality video, it takes a dedicated camera for video only. And with the amazing advances in HD video, there's likely to be a quantum leap in quality at a dramatically lower price in the next year or so. So my advice is to focus on the still capability of the camera, with video capabilities as an added bonus. Good luck!
__________________ OldPhotos
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Re: Buying a new point and shoot- canon, fuji, kodak, sony?
With all due respect to Lloyd and TOP, who have some excellent points, there actually are some digital point-and-shoot cameras that stand out from the crowd for various reasons, and if they happen to line up with what an individual's photographic priorities, they'd make far wiser choices than many other cameras. Here are three examples that come immediately to mind:
1. FujiFilm Finepix F31fd, which has the best high ISO noise performance of any digicam out there by a substantial margin. Fuji deserves huge kudos for investing in and actually making progress on this issue, which is the Achilles heel of digital point-and-shoots. [And they certainly didn't deserve to have their camera pictured next to TOP's phlegmatic declaration "they're all sh*t". What a way to recognize a company that's actually working on the right problems!]
2. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3, a compact camera with a pretty decent 28-280mm equivalent zoom lens and image stabilization that makes using the long focal lengths possible. Wow, a real wide-angle to telephoto camera - I think that is a pretty tempting package for travel - too bad Panasonic did not pay attention to sensor noise the way Fuji has, and arguably is among the worse of class in this regard.
3. The Canon A570 IS, a surprisingly affordable camera with image stabilization, a little more telephoto reach than usual (140mm equivalent), and, something very rare for a digital point-and-shoot, full manual controls. Oh, and it runs on AA batteries and, while ISO noise lags Fuji by a substantial margin, ISO 400 is not total crap as it is with many cameras.
There are probably some other stand-outs for people with particular requirements in mind. I, for one, hope that Fuji continues pressing for improved image quality and can work image stabilization into their mix.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Re: Buying a new point and shoot- canon, fuji, kodak, sony?
I'll share my recent experience. You can take from it whatever is useful. My 1st digi camera was a Coolpix 990. I used it until the much anticipated Canon D60. Both were flawed, but amazing instruments. I recently decided that there were too many days I did not pack up my EOS MkII, 70-200, 16-35, yadda yadda --- and really should have a p&s handy.
I did a bunch of research. Most was pretty grim. I had just a couple of requirements, and there is simply NO current camera that met these criteria. I wanted reasonably low noise. I wanted RAW. I'm solidly into the RAW workflow, and it seemed that RAW could mitigate at least some of the P&S deficiencies.
I did find the 7 mp Canon S70 that met these criteria. But they are discontinued. It's quite small, but not the new generation credit card size. Seems that the S80 dropped RAW.
After 2 days of looking, I found an S70 on Craigslist, boxed, hardly used, for $160.
Martin
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Re: Buying a new point and shoot- canon, fuji, kodak, sony?
Heather
Sorry you're receiving some negative replys. You've stated your purpose and criteria well, and deserve more positive feedback. While I'm a very critical photographer, I certainly don't agree with the articles mentioned above. If P&S cameras were useless, why is there such a huge market for them world wide? Because, like everything else, they serve a purpose, with attending tradeoffs. It's wise to understand these tradeoffs, which are primarily governed by size/cost of camera, lens options, and number of pixels/physical sensor size, and I'm sure you already do.
Since you've already listed options of cameras you are considering, it's really just a matter of evaluating these choices, for which you've asked our help. Since I'm not familiar with these options, I can't give any first hand response. The best I can do is provide a perspective of my personal views on the above tradeoffs, which you can find at these threads in this forum:
Re: Buying a new point and shoot- canon, fuji, kodak, sony?
Thanks for the replies so far, I've been reading the articles/cross posts and am looking into everything.
I also wanted to mention that I'm not set on ONLY the cameras I mentioned- they were just the ones I had found so far that fit my criteria. If there are other ones out there that are better (or close) feel free to suggest them.
Also, if you've heard anything bad about any of the ones on my list, please let me know before I make yet another bad buy in the point-and-shoot market (as my nikon coolpix's).
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
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