Canon Powershot SD 1100 IS?

[autumnpalm]

I just bought a camera for my last Disney trip but... long story short, there was a fire in our building and it got lost.

I'm now in the market for a new camera, and this time I'm hoping to do a little more research before I buy. I just talked to my local camera store and they recommended the Canon Powershot SD 1100 IS. I really don't know much about cameras, so I decided to do some review reading before I went ahead and bought it.

I'm looking for a camera that will be able to do these things:

1. Take good night pictures
2. Be able to take quality pictures in all different light levels
3. Clear pictures
4. Take good "moving" pictures

It would be nice if the camera also had a video function, but that isn't completely necessary.

Thank you!!

 

[boBQuincy]

I have a SD1100, it is a great little camera but:

it will not take good night photos;
it will not take quality photos in all light levels.

It is pretty good at taking photos when the light is bright and ok when the light is not bright and you can use a tripod (and the subject is not moving). Movie mode seems to work well, again it is best in bright light.

Anything above ISO 200 is not very good (and not adjustable afaik). The flash is only good to about 10 feet. None of this is a problem with this camera, most of it's competitors are about the same. It is just the limitations of a tiny camera.

We like the little SD but usually carry dSLRs for their capability to do everything on your list (except movies, and some dSLRs do that now too).

 

[autumnpalm]

Thank you, boBQuincy!

Are there any cameras you WOULD recommend that take good night time photos?

Thanks!

 

[boBQuincy]

Your item #2 is the tough one, it is going to take a dSLR to meet that requirement.

Canon's Rebel Xs (and some other entry level models) is not very large, not very heavy, under $500, and meets all your requirements (except video). It is also very easy to use in auto mode. True, it is a lot larger than the SD1100 but to us the capabilities are worth it. We only carry the SD when we are not concerned with whether we can get the photo or not, and that is not often.

 

[sherry7]

Thank you, boBQuincy!

Are there any cameras you WOULD recommend that take good night time photos?

Thanks!

Well, it's definitely not in the same league as a DSLR, but check out the Panasonic TZ5. It takes pretty decent night photos, providing you set the max ISO to 400.

It's a bit larger than a typical point & shoot because it has 10x optical zoom. However, it's still quite small compared to my DSLR.

Prices have been dropping on it recently since the TZ50 recently came out. From what I understand, the only difference is that the newer model has Wi-Fi or something like that. Gimicky, and definitely not something I personally need.