Need help choosing a new camera

[MickeyMamma]

I posted this on the Budget Board and it was suggested that I ask over here too.

We are getting a new digital camera for the holidays this year, but I am having trouble picking one.

My current digital camera is about 5 years old and actually I still like it, I just want to be able to do more things and get a higher resolution (that one is 3MP).

I have been looking at the Canon SD700 and the A630.

Anybody have experience with either one of these? Or is there another one you would recommend?

We already have a video camera.
I want something that is easy to use.
I mostly point and shoot, but I do alot of photography of the kids (portraits like)
I don't need the BEST technology out there. I want something that takes a good picture.

Currently I have a Kodak EasyShare 3.1 MP. I am looking for something with more features and better resolution.

TIA!

 

[Master Mason]

What is important to you?

Size
zoom
shutter lag

You said portraits of the kids... do they play sports?

 

[MickeyMamma]

Size - doesn't have to be tiny, just easy to carry along with me.

I am not a big photography buff, but I do take a TON of pictures of the kids.

Sports? DS will be starting baseball in the Spring.

Mostly I like to catch the joy of childhood. Family kind of stuff. Vacation pics.

I do take some portraity type pictures of the kids a few times a year.

Nothing to fancy. Easy to use, fun, and a great picture. That is how I had picked the first 2 that I am looking at.

 

[ukcatfan]

If size is not your primary concern, then you really do not need to look at the "SD" line. That is their main feature and it costs more for that reason. You can control many more aspects of your camera with the "A". Both will have an auto mode if you do not want that. You will also get a little better zoom range from the "A" series. You also get the use of AA batteries with the "A" line. Don't get me wrong, the "SD" line are great, but are really only better in the portability feature.

Kevin

 

[manning]

Don't get trapped into the pixel race. All you need is 5 MP, 6MP tops. Unless you are planning to print a billboard.

What is going on out there is the physical size of the sensors stay the same but they are putting more pixels on them resulting in a noise issue. The more pixels you put on the smaller the pixels have to be.

As a matter of fact I have a Canon G-1, 3.2MP that in my opinion takes just as good a picture as a 5MP camera. I tend not to crop very much, I try to do that when I take the picture. I like to get in close. When it comes down to a good picture, less is more. I remember my dad commenting when he saw my first pictures. He said, "what are trying to do take a picture of the world with one shot??"

 

[lyzziesmom]

I would also like advice on a new digital camera. (Not trying to hijack!) For me the most important is shutter lag. I have two active kids and hate when I miss their precious expressions due to a shutter lag of a couple seconds. I currently have a HP Photosmart and have been looking at Kodaks, but am open to suggestions.

Thanks to the OP for this timely thread!

 

[Master Mason]

I would also like advice on a new digital camera. (Not trying to hijack!) For me the most important is shutter lag. I have two active kids and hate when I miss their precious expressions due to a shutter lag of a couple seconds. I currently have a HP Photosmart and have been looking at Kodaks, but am open to suggestions.

Thanks to the OP for this timely thread!

If shutter lag is important, then you should probably look at the S2 or S3 By canon, or one of the other Bridge cameras. That would probably be your best bet.

Unless your ready to move to a dSLR, which is where you really get rid of any shutter lag.

That was probably the number 1 reason I bought my XT, there were a number of others, but that topped the list.

 

[allyn]

regarding shutter lag, all of the recent models of canon cameras use an image processing chip that canon calls "digic ii". this is a very fast chip and the cameras that use it have minimal shutter lag.

 

[MickeyMamma]

Don't get trapped into the pixel race. All you need is 5 MP, 6MP tops. Unless you are planning to print a billboard.

What is going on out there is the physical size of the sensors stay the same but they are putting more pixels on them resulting in a noise issue. The more pixels you put on the smaller the pixels have to be.

As a matter of fact I have a Canon G-1, 3.2MP that in my opinion takes just as good a picture as a 5MP camera. I tend not to crop very much, I try to do that when I take the picture. I like to get in close. When it comes down to a good picture, less is more. I remember my dad commenting when he saw my first pictures. He said, "what are trying to do take a picture of the world with one shot??"

I can totally understand this. Part of my background is in medical instrumentation so I am very familiar with this problem. I would like something that can make a nice 8x10 - 11x14 is nice, but not really necessary for me.

In terms of cropping, I do some of that. I figure it is easier to make sure that I have the picture that I was trying to get even if it is not ideal. It is usually the kids finally sitting nicely or cutely for the picture and I know I can always edit out some of the background.

LOL about your Dad!


Shutter lag - yes, that is a concern too. I HATE lining up a great shot and then having to guess if that is the one I captured. I noticed that problem when I tried out BIL's SD450 and is why I have been asking around some more.

 

[Amy]

Don't get trapped into the pixel race. All you need is 5 MP, 6MP tops. Unless you are planning to print a billboard.

What is going on out there is the physical size of the sensors stay the same but they are putting more pixels on them resulting in a noise issue. The more pixels you put on the smaller the pixels have to be.

As a matter of fact I have a Canon G-1, 3.2MP that in my opinion takes just as good a picture as a 5MP camera. I tend not to crop very much, I try to do that when I take the picture. I like to get in close. When it comes down to a good picture, less is more. I remember my dad commenting when he saw my first pictures. He said, "what are trying to do take a picture of the world with one shot??"

THANK YOU!! My old Canon A70 (3mp) never had as much noise as I'm finding in my Canon S3 (6mp). It's been driving me crazy! I've been using the Noise reduction filter in PSE4, but it doesn't help much. I guess I have to get one of those special noise reduction programs mentioned on another thread.

 

[jann1033]

THANK YOU!! My old Canon A70 (3mp) never had as much noise as I'm finding in my Canon S3 (6mp). It's been driving me crazy! I've been using the Noise reduction filter in PSE4, but it doesn't help much. I guess I have to get one of those special noise reduction programs mentioned on another thread.

this really surprises me (as from what my less than perfect brain remembers from the reviews i read when i was considering the s3) the noise levels are supposed to be good on the S3...is the iso on the a70 a lot lower maybe or do you have your s3 set to a high iso? just curious as i can't get it out of my brain that i want to buy that camera (even though i know it's probably smarter to save my money for the 70-300 lens ) so tell me some really bad stuff about it that will make me hate it

you can try noiseware, freebie noise reduction, works really well and it's, like i said, free

 

[jann1033]

That was probably the number 1 reason I bought my XT, there were a number of others, but that topped the list.

ditto on all of the above , but i did find this shutter lag chart... if it's up to date it could help
http://www.cameras.co.uk/html/shutter-lag-comparisons.cfm

 

[joece]

I definitely recommend a camera with optical image stabilization, you have probably seen this feature advertised countless times, and it is a true must.

If your taking pictures of kids, you'll need a camera that is good in terms of reducing red-eye, but always have Picasa ready as a last resort.

I would look at the:

Canon PowerShot A540

You can see sample photos testing camera features on this site for any camera:http://www.dcresource.com/

Also, I do not recommend Kodak.

 

[Amy]

this really surprises me (as from what my less than perfect brain remembers from the reviews i read when i was considering the s3) the noise levels are supposed to be good on the S3...is the iso on the a70 a lot lower maybe or do you have your s3 set to a high iso? just curious as i can't get it out of my brain that i want to buy that camera (even though i know it's probably smarter to save my money for the 70-300 lens ) so tell me some really bad stuff about it that will make me hate it

you can try noiseware, freebie noise reduction, works really well and it's, like i said, free

I notice it most often in low-light situations - taking pictures of the band competitions at night under stadium lights using Sports Mode (esp. when zooming in), and most recently when I took some pix for the "show us your Disney ornaments" thread - I used a few of the different auto-modes. So I guess the camera ups the ISO when using auto modes. I need to practice more with using the manual settings on the S3 to see if I can get around that somehow.

 

[lyzziesmom]

Thank you, that shutter lag chart was very helpful and it seems to be up to date.

joece, why do you not recommend Kodak? That is what I have been looking at but if there is a problem with them I may change my mind. My dad has a Canon and I do not like the controls on it, they don't seem user-friendly to me, although it does take great pictures.

 

[joece]

By my own personal experience, and by constantly looking at new cameras at DCResource, I find that the image quality and lens are to the level I would not be satisfied with.

I have a Canon PowerShot SD700 IS, and think the controls are easier then the past SD models, and I love the image quality, maybe I will post some samples later, and the camera was great on my summer WDW trip.

Definitely check out some of the camera resource sites, I picked by SD 700 IS off of camera controls and image quality.

I find the Canon A series to be quite hard to control.

 

[Groucho]

THANK YOU!! My old Canon A70 (3mp) never had as much noise as I'm finding in my Canon S3 (6mp). It's been driving me crazy! I've been using the Noise reduction filter in PSE4, but it doesn't help much. I guess I have to get one of those special noise reduction programs mentioned on another thread.

I think that'll be true for most any PnS. I was always much happier with my old 2mp PnS than my 5mp one. The 2mp one rarely if ever showed any noise whatsoever, whereas the 5mp had it in the majority of photos, often severe.

My wife just replaced her old 2mp with a 6mp SD600 - this was a case where the old camera never took particularly good photos, but noise was never really an issue. The SD600 isn't too bad for a PnS but there is definitely noise in the pictures, especially in darker ones.

Too bad that marketing won't let them release a camera with cutting-edge features and functionality, but with a 3mp or maybe 4mp sensor. I think you'd see more consistently good photos coming out of it, still plenty big enough for viewing on a PC or in a 4x6 printout.