what to do

[wdwfamilyinIL]

I am wanting to upgrade my digital camera. While I get great daytime pictures, the others are about 50/50. I currently have a sony cybershot that is about 2.5 years old, 4.1 mp. I just want something that takes good family pictures, will work good inside or out, night/day....and son's football games. I don't want to spend a lot, just enough to get a good decent camera. I have been looking at the sony h2(i think) 6.0mp with 12x opical zoom. I just don't know very much about cameras, what can someone suggest.

 

[YEKCIM]

I would suggest starting by reading some reviews on www.steves-digicams.com and/or www.dpreview.com. Be sure to look at the sample images on each review.

~YEKCIM

 

[ukcatfan]

Since you already have memory sticks, you should probably stick with Sony. I believe that the H2 and H5 are very comparable to the Canon S3 that everyone around here likes.

If the football games are at night, any p&s camera might be tough to get great results.

Kevin

 

[wdwfamilyinIL]

The memory sticks I have won't fit the h2, or at least that is what best buy told me.

 

[2angelsinheaven]

I played around with the Sony last night at Walmart and I liked the look and the zoom. That's one regret I have with my camera it's only got a 3x optical, didn't think about that when I bought it.

 

[ukcatfan]

The memory sticks I have won't fit the h2, or at least that is what best buy told me.

Then don't count out the Canon S3. It uses cheaper SD memory if you have to buy all new anyway.

 

[wdwfamilyinIL]

I do have one question, since it seems a lot of people of the s3. Whenever you change the picture settings on the sony, there is a sentence that comes up, and it tells you what the setting is for. Does the s3 do anything like this? Also I noticed the s3 has 4x optical zoom, and the sony only has 2x....is this anything big, and if so what does it mean? Thanks

 

[ukcatfan]

I do have one question, since it seems a lot of people of the s3. Whenever you change the picture settings on the sony, there is a sentence that comes up, and it tells you what the setting is for. Does the s3 do anything like this? Also I noticed the s3 has 4x optical zoom, and the sony only has 2x....is this anything big, and if so what does it mean? Thanks

I do not know about the settings sentence b/c my DW's is an S2. It is not that difficult though if it does not have it. For example, landscape is for landscapes, night portrait is for night portraits, etc. Knowing what that setting really means in terms of aperture, shutter speed, WB, and ISO is a completely different ballgame that would take more than a sentence. I personally stick with the manual modes and avoid scene modes.

I am not sure what you mean on the zoom numbers, but I have a guess. Are you possibly talking about "digital" zoom instead of "optical" zoom? I know the S3 has a 12x optical zoom and I thought the Sony was the same. Just ignore digital zoom. All it is doing is cropping the image and then stretching it to match the pixel size. You can do this yourself with much better results in an image editor. It is just a marketing gimmick to make you think you are getting more than you really are.

Kevin

 

[jann1033]

i thought the canon had 12x optical zoom, did you mean digital zoom by any chance? if so that is basically like cropping your photo and you probably don't want to use that very often
this explains the difference
http://www.photoxels.com/article-optical-digital-zoom.html

 

[wdwfamilyinIL]

Sorry that was my fault about the zoom, they both have the 12x, but the s3 also has a 4x zoom, while the sony only has a 2x. I am not really that up on cameras, but would really like to know if the s3 has the feature where it tells you what each setting is for.

 

[jann1033]

Sorry that was my fault about the zoom, they both have the 12x, but the s3 also has a 4x zoom, while the sony only has a 2x. I am not really that up on cameras, but would really like to know if the s3 has the feature where it tells you what each setting is for.

i don't think i would base my decision on that sentence thing.( sorry don't have either camera but it don't think the s3 does, it would say in the reviews thought) since you have the manual and really after you use the camera a few times you can pretty much know when to use what..jmho but i would probably look up the reviews at the links cited and look at the picture quality for the samples posted, especially at the higher iso settings..the sentence will only last a second, the picture is the more important part. also look at things like shutter lag although they are probably pretty close( the canon and sony) then if they look the same, worry about the sentence thing but that is kind of a marketing thing imo rather than something to base a purchase on.