Best small digital camera for a good price?

[kjs1976]

Looking for a small, light digital camera for our upcoming trip...inexpensive, of course and good zoom, obviously better than an iphone5 in terms of quality. Thanks!

 

[mrodgers]

Hmm.... My oinion is the iPhone camera rivals just about all inexpensive digital cameras. My definition of inexpensive is $150 or less.

I have a Canon A4000 that I think was a good bit above $150 and I think the quality is horrible. Then again, there isn't any kind of manual or semi manual modes so I have no control over anything. I use full manual on my other 7 year old camera. The Canon is my wife's and she wanted the absolute basics. I tried to find one that was decent but couldn't. I just had to go with the lesser of evils with the camera choice.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Almost any camera can take decent nighttime photos if you know about the camera itself and the principles of exposure. At night, keeping the camera still is half the battle for static shots. Moving subjects at night are another story. Those are tough no matter what camera you have. I think the camera you mentioned is a bridge camera, right? (Oops, did you edit it out?) If you use it at night for telephoto shots, you will likely get a lot of blur. Probably best to keep the lens retracted and zoom with your feet whenever possible - that way you get the largest aperture possible. You might want to stick with a point and shoot that has a large aperture lens, like an f/1.8. Trade off is you might not get much on the zoom end. You could also consider a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, or a dSLR. In a point and shoot many people seem to like the Sony rx100. (The price has come down but I wouldn't call it inexpensive.)

Also, an iPhone can take some pretty decent shots. See link in my signature.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Oops, my apologies, I mixed up my threads!

Off to post essentially the same reply elsewhere.

(mrodgers is confusing me posting on both threads, too! )

 

[Viva Las Disney]

I bought a Samsung ST150 about 6 months ago and DON'T recommend it. It has a lot of really cool features like being able to link and control it from your cell phone and it takes amazing daylight and still shots but it is terrible at night or for motion shots, I ended up using my cell phone camera for all my night shots and Kilimanjaro Safari shots because it worked better than my actual camera.

I've read some good reviews on Canon ELP's but haven't used one myself.

Curious to see what others recommend because I'll be replacing my camera soon even though it's still new.

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

You can never go wrong with a Panasonic Lumix. That was all I took on our cruises and the best pictures to display.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Saw this this morning. It might be one to consider.

http://www.getolympus.com/us/en/dig...ts/xz-2.html?gclid=CPSM45TN9LwCFaVQOgodXBAA3Q

 

[GrumpyBa*D]

I second the samsung. Originally very happy with it but finding the more I use it the worse the pictures are. Definitely not good for dark nor motion shots!

 

[ChrisinNJ]

You can never go wrong with a Panasonic Lumix. That was all I took on our cruises and the best pictures to display.

I completely agree. Love my Lumix. I Have had it for 3 years and it has held up well. I liked it so much I bought my MIL a Lumix for Christmas!

One with a decent zoom won't be super cheap, probably $200 - $300 range. I got hers at Costco on a black Friday deal for $198 after tax.