help me pick

[mom2ee]

i am completely camera illiterate. just want to take pics of family and friends and take good pics on vacation. i can point and shoot but cant do much more. what would you choose for ease of use. tried to research but everything is WAY over my head.

 

[Anewman]

What is important to you

Size
Price
Zoom
Speed
IQ
Low light
Image stabilization

It will help narrow things down for you if everyone knows what is most important to you.

 

[jann1033]

not knowing what you want if you want image stabilization i'd get either the canon s2IS or s3 IS...IS helps with you shaking and getting a blurred picture but does not help if you are riding in a car or something similar or if the thing you are taking the pic of moves...but both have a good optical zoom of 12x, lots of nice auto modes, a movie mode( short snatches, not really a camcorder replacement unless you have a huge memory card), take very good pics. it is not pocket sized and runs in the $300-400 range
if that is too big, one of the canon powershots,,,,daughter has the 7mp i think the number is a620(??) and it takes great pictures, same sensor as the s2 so same nice pic quality. lots of modes also ..there could be a new model since she got hers in May, haven't checked
check here to help you narrow your options and there is a digispeak glossary ( check the h ome page , left bar) to help if you don't understand something http://www.steves-digicams.com/hardware_reviews.html

 

[mom2ee]

what i want is the ability to take daytime pics at the world, have some ability to do nighttime pics, not the set up a tripod set. be able to take parade pics where what you take is in the picture (is that the delay? should i use a sport mode?). be able to not have blurry pics. have some zoom---the pics posted here are all wonderful, don't think i could ever be that good. try for under 500ish. somewhat "compact" like in the backpack. what is the "noise" people talk about?

thanks

 

[waltfan1957]

what i want is the ability to take daytime pics at the world, have some ability to do nighttime pics, not the set up a tripod set. be able to take parade pics where what you take is in the picture (is that the delay? should i use a sport mode?). be able to not have blurry pics. have some zoom---the pics posted here are all wonderful, don't think i could ever be that good. try for under 500ish. somewhat "compact" like in the backpack. what is the "noise" people talk about?

thanks

try the ricoh r5

 

[PaulD]

what i want is the ability to take daytime pics at the world, have some ability to do nighttime pics, not the set up a tripod set. be able to take parade pics where what you take is in the picture (is that the delay? should i use a sport mode?). be able to not have blurry pics. have some zoom---the pics posted here are all wonderful, don't think i could ever be that good. try for under 500ish. somewhat "compact" like in the backpack. what is the "noise" people talk about?

thanks

I wish this camera existed... Seriously though, it sounds like you would probably be served well by the Canon S3 IS described above (about $430). The Image Stabilization will help with blur and also with night shots (to a point). Unfortunately, it's impossible to avoid the tripod if you're taking night shots. These cameras also have a great big zoom lens (12x) that is a lot of fun to experiment with. It's not quite as small as some of the other cameras but there are always compromises that you have to make for features (in this case the long zoom). I have the original S1 IS and really like it. A lot of people speak really well of this series so you can't really go wrong here.

If you want something more compact you may want to consider the Canon SD800 IS. It has less zoom (3.8x) but it also has Image Stabilization. one nice thing is that it has the ability to go to ISO 1600 which will make it just that much easier to take low light photos before you have to break out the tripod (the S3 IS can only go to ISO 800). I can't speak for the image quality since I have no experience with this camera but the price is only about $350.

There are undoubtedly cameras from other manufacturers that are just as good but I'm familiar with Canon stuff. I've always preferred their image quality to other makers but that's just my opinion.

As to your last question digital sensors will always be affected by electrical noise. Ideally, light reacts with the photo sensor which produces an electrical signal that is measured and ultimately translated into image information. But real life is not perfect and electrical noise interferes with this process. Depending on the design of the sensor and the camera software used to process the image this will result in a grainy appearance in the final image. Most cameras hide this really well at low ISOs but it's important to remember that the higher the ISO that you use (i.e. make the sensor more sensitive to light) the more noise that results. It makes more sense to look at some photos so take a look at the following link:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons3is/page6.asp

Good luck!

 

[Scottl]

what i want is the ability to take daytime pics at the world, have some ability to do nighttime pics, not the set up a tripod set. be able to take parade pics where what you take is in the picture (is that the delay? should i use a sport mode?). be able to not have blurry pics. have some zoom---the pics posted here are all wonderful, don't think i could ever be that good. try for under 500ish. somewhat "compact" like in the backpack. what is the "noise" people talk about?

thanks

I would look at the Nikon Coolpix S10. It has vibration reduction and retails for $399. It has 6mega pixels and 10x optical zoom which would be clearer than digital zoom. You can find it cheaper on Amazon.