Overwhelmed & confused!

[MissMet]

I am in the midst of buying a new Digital Camera. I have only purchased one other Digital Camera & that's my Kodak 4mp camera & it was purchased in 03! I frankly can't believe I've had it this long, but it's definitely time for a new camera.

I would like a simple point & shoot camera. I don't want to spend more than $500 & with prices as low as they are that doesn't seem like it will be that hard.

I have no clue what most of the functions on digital cameras mean so it's making it hard to compare & every website says something different about the same camera.

Here are my most important qualities I am looking for.

1. good prints (obviously!)

2. good shots at night- my present camera drives me nuts. I want nice shots in the dark without needing a tripod.

3. image stabilization- every camera has it, it appears, but I need a camera that will still take nice shots even with my naturally shaky hands.

I really have no clue. I went poking around amazon & really from what I could read the only good camera out there is a Canon SD1000.

What do you think?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated. I'm not in a huge hurry to purchase. I want it by Oct. so if maybe there's a new camera coming out & it sounds good don't count it out.

Thank you guys so much! I'm so confused.

 

[donaldduck1967]

While i've never used it or seen it alot of people here have the Canon S3 and absolutely love it. There are a few S3 picture posts on here with some great pics. You don't say how big or little you want the camera to be and the S3 doesnt' look to be a pocket camera.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Many point and shoots have difficulty with low light shots. You need to learn some steps on your own to improve them, regardless of what type of P&S you choose. One of those is using something to stabilize the camera with low light shots. If you don't like using a tripod, you can place the camera on a trash can or something. This will improve the shots by making them un-blurry (because with low light shots the shutter stays open longer so any movement on your part or the part of the subject will cause blur). Some of the little tripods are great and can be bought for $15 or so. You can also play with the ISO but the higher you go, the noiser/grainier your shots will be - though there is software that can help that, too.

My understanding is that IS is most helpful if you're using long optical zoom. Some cameras have IS with low zoom so you wonder if that's something you're paying for which you don't really need with a 3X zoom camera. Maybe someone else here will have more thoughts on that.

It's not necessarily true that more MP is better. You can stick to the 5-6MO range and get really great photos.

I have both the S2 and S3 and although they're awesome cameras, they're not something you can stick in your pocket if that's important to you.

Take a look at the Canon, Fuji and Panasonic Lumix lines of cameras. Kodak certainly sells millions of cameras if you're basically happy with yours. My friend just bought an Olympus and she's getting beautiful shots.

Good luck.

 

[ukcatfan]

Look at the Fuji F31fd or the S6000fd if a big zoom is needed. Some Fujis have a larger sensor that allows better high ISO shots. Look for a 1/1.7" or 1/1.6" sensor. There is also a new model coming out, the F50fd, but nobody knows if it will be very good at high ISO with a high jump to 12MP. It does add IS though.

Like Pea-n-Me said, it is going to be hard to take a low light shot without a tripod. A p&s was just not made for that situation. You also mention your shaky hands, which means that you might benefit from one even more than most. The table top versions are pretty convenient. There are also Gorillapods to consider. If you are totally against a tripod, check into a monopod.

Kevin

 

[Groucho]

Like the others said, low-light ability is an extremely common issue with digital cameras - and getting worse, as higher megapixel counts only highlight the problems. A big-sensor Fuji (look for the SuperCCD HR, not the plain SuperCCD) will help, or perhaps a competing camera with a larger sensor (they usually max out at 1/1.8" in the non-Fujis.) To go further than that, you pretty much have to go with a DSLR, and preferably pair it with a lens that's specifically designed to work well in low-light - not only a chunk more money, but a lot more bother to carry around. If you're just a casual camera user, it's probably more than you want.

As for image stabilization, it's nice, but if you have really shaky hands, you'll still need to speed up the shutter speed. If the camera you choose only has scene modes, pick the one that it set for fast action, this should give you a fast shutter speed and minimize the amount of shake-caused blurriness. But if you have a faster shutter, you need to make up for it somewhere else, and this is an issue where you can run into low-light issues again (the mottled "noise" that is so frustrating.)