In the market for a camera...

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Lila64

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It may be time for a new camera for Maddy. She's been asking for one for a while & her birthday is coming up. She currently has a Canon Powershot A550. It generally seems to take good pictures, but definitely not at night. She uses it to takes tons of photos, day/night indoor/outdoor and videos too. She's also plans to take a photography class as an elective for her junior year at High School. The counselor indicated that the first part of the year would be with manual cameras, which we still have a few here: a Canon EOS Rebel X S, and an even older Nikon, so we should be set there. I don't have a ton of money to spend, but want to get her something good that will last. Not that her Powershot hasn't lasted, it's just not good for certain things, unless there's something with the settings we can play with, but... right now, neither of us know manual settings. Any ideas, suggestions, recommendations, etc. would be appreciated.

:)


And this past weekend's Target ads for my area...
http://weeklyad.target.com/target/d...ash&citystatezip=91360&ref=tgt_email_RS005020
 
Thanks for the links, Sicy. I'll look at them tonight. But remember, she's not wanting a camera because of U2 touring :wink: And the technology changes/improves, and new models become available, so there's that to factor in too. :)
 
A recommendation largely depends on price range- dslr versus fixed lens, etc. Some review websites like Steve's digicams give sample photos, which can be compared across cameras.
 
I think you sent me to that site last time :)
Yeah, nothing high-end/fancy schmancy. Maybe under $200 :shrug: I don't know if you can see the cameras in the Target ad link I posted.
More in line with the small, carry everywhere including concerts type o' camera.
 
I just ordered the Nikon Coolpix kit that's in that Target ad for my mother for Mother's Day. I got it from Amazon with no tax and free 2 day shipping for 149, same as the Target price. Every time I'm looking for something advertised at Target they're out of it, it does say limited quantities. Best Buy had it advertised this week for the same price. I've been doing quite a bit of online comparison shopping and that seemed like a good deal to me, of course I needed to get it this week.

It's the LCD touchscreen so I thought it would be easier/less intimidating for her..I hope so. I've never had a Nikon Coolpix but hopefully it will be a good one. It's only a 4X zoom. It comes with the case and a 2Gb card.

It's in the girly and chic plum color too with a matching case. I know that doesn't matter but your daughter would probably like that. I do.
 
So are you wanting to mess with manual settings or no? Most new compacts come with almost full manual settings. I have a Canon SX120 and I love it. I took those hummingbird pics with it and the most recent cat pics (on fb) you can see that it really does a good job with a little tweaking of the settings. It's a little bulky though so it really doesnt fit in your pocket.
 
Most new compacts come with almost full manual settings.

I haven't noticed that - it still seems most compacts have auto settings plus scene modes, but not manual, aperture priority, shutter priority etc. I had a Kodak Z915 before - it took good concert photos. I decided to re-order it for something like $120 on amazon and use it only for concerts. It's pretty small and has manual modes, and takes pretty good low light shots for the price. It might not be the best for daytime shots, but I don't plan to use it for that. The SX120 looks good too (probably better overall).
The Canon S90 and G10/G11 are great, but cost $400ish.

Some show photos are here from last fall (taken with the Kodak z915). :
http://www.u2interference.com/forums/f307/september-29-2009-fedex-field-201986-7.html
 
I just ordered the Nikon Coolpix kit that's in that Target ad for my mother for Mother's Day. I got it from Amazon with no tax and free 2 day shipping for 149, same as the Target price. Every time I'm looking for something advertised at Target they're out of it, it does say limited quantities. Best Buy had it advertised this week for the same price. I've been doing quite a bit of online comparison shopping and that seemed like a good deal to me, of course I needed to get it this week.

It's the LCD touchscreen so I thought it would be easier/less intimidating for her..I hope so. I've never had a Nikon Coolpix but hopefully it will be a good one. It's only a 4X zoom. It comes with the case and a 2Gb card.

It's in the girly and chic plum color too with a matching case. I know that doesn't matter but your daughter would probably like that. I do.

I checked all the ads in the paper from over the weekend, and I saw that camera everywhere with the case and 2gig memory card. Sounds like a good deal, but I don't know if it's a good camera for her needs/wants, or if there's something better in the price range. And her birthday is not til July, so don't know if the good deal will be around if I wait. Ntal? Liesje?

Sicy - right now neither of us know how to use the manual settings. I would think she might learn about them if she gets into the photography class, but I don't know. She's not one to sit with the manual and try to figure it out, and I'm not either :reject: I'll have to see what an SX120 looks like and how much it costs. Maybe I can take up a collection for Maddy's birthday, LOL. (KIDDING!)
 
The SX120 is on the Target website that you linked to in your first post. It's $200.
 

My default answer is go with Nikon or Canon.

I like this site b/c it ranks cameras rather than just reading individual reviews and having to rank them somehow in your mind: Digital Cameras - Unbiased digital camera reviews, prices, and advice

For example.... Best Cameras Under $150 | Digital Camera HQ's Buyer's Guide - Unbiased digital camera reviews, prices, and advice

Overall, you kinda get what you pay for. If she's looking for better performance at night....I don't know, the limitations of any point and shoot are kind of a deal breaker for me. I guess I'd look for something with more manual settings and maybe offers a higher ISO. Even with a DSLR I am using a flash attachment for low light (or setting it up on a tripod and using a remote for the moon, fireworks, long exposures, etc).
 
I'm also in the market for a new compact- canceled my Kodak order for now to explore other choices.

This seems to be a good site - I'll dig into this more:

Camera Labs Buyer's Guide - The Best Digital SLRs and Point and Shoot digital cameras

I'm going to try to stay away from more megapixels - more MP usually means more noise if the sensor size is the same. Ironically cheaper cameras can have less noise because of the fewer MPs.
e.g. that $120 Kodak has less low light noise than many cameras twice the price.
 
I decided to order the Fuji F70EXR:



Basically, it has a manual mode and the lowest ISO 400 noise of any compact selling for under $300 or so.
 
I checked all the ads in the paper from over the weekend, and I saw that camera everywhere with the case and 2gig memory card


It's a "Mother's Day special"

That Fuji EXR camera looks nice- especially with that zoom it still doesn't look too big and bulky. I've always wondered if Fuji cameras are any good.

Do you mind me asking how much that was?
 
I decided to order the Fuji F70EXR:



Basically, it has a manual mode and the lowest ISO 400 noise of any compact selling for under $300 or so.

Ha. That's the one I originally bought and got rid of it for the Canon :reject: I didnt like it.
 
Oh- oh, what didn't you like about it? Paid under $200 on ebay - oh well.

Well you're much more into cameras than I so I'm sure you'll like it fine. The settings were very confusing to me and I could never get any of them right for the pics to come out any good. I also noticed that on plain auto mode, it really didnt take as great pics as my previous canon's and there was a lot of noise even with a flash! Not sure how it was rated with the least amount of noise at 400 ISO? Was that listed on a website somewhere? Anyway, everyone has their preferences, and for me I am glad I sold it back on ebay and got the Canon, even though its bulkier I think it takes better pictures. But again, you will probably be able to take phenomenal pics with it and I will end up grumpy and mad that I couldnt do the same when I had it lol.

*edit I found my post where I complained about it
http://www.u2interference.com/forums/f304/good-cameras-for-the-new-tour-197244-7.html#post6590334
 
Thanks for the info.
This is where I saw the comparisons for mid-high ISO noise, towards the bottom of the page:

Fuji FinePix F70EXR Review | Digital Camera Resource Page

It mentions - "I think it's safe to say that the F70EXR really cleaned up in this competition. While it's not going to rival output from a digital SLR, Fuji definitely has at least a full stop advantage over other compact cameras in terms of noise. The only non-Fuji cameras that really come close are the Canon PowerShot G11 and (presumably) the S90, though the F70EXR pulls away at ISO 1600. "
 
I'm still wondering if the camera Maddy already has is just not good at night/low-light pics, or if it's the users (us). We're usually using auto settings and/or even the night one. But still... I'd hate to buy a new camera for it to basically be the same or almost the same as the one she already has :reject: :confused:

And yeah Mrs.S, I knew they were Mother's Day specials. That's why the pressure is on to decide in the next couple of days if those on sale are something I want, or wait til 4th of July Specials, which is her actual birthday.
 
I'm still wondering if the camera Maddy already has is just not good at night/low-light pics, or if it's the users (us). We're usually using auto settings and/or even the night one. But still... I'd hate to buy a new camera for it to basically be the same or almost the same as the one she already has :reject: :confused:

Auto settings shouldn't be used for concerts - some other threads have manual settings used. Compacts are inherently noisy compared to dslrs/superzooms (at least at mid to high ISOs used for low light) because their sensors are smaller.
 
I guess auto settings shouldn't be used in low light, period (except maybe if the camera's on a tripod). You'll have either too much noise or motion blur.
Noise control has improved in compacts over the past few years though.
 
I'd say read the manual plus practice with different modes and settings. Newer cameras do have image stabilization, which helps reduce motion blur.
 
I received the Fuji F70EXR, my first compact in months. I forgot how crappy compacts are at ISO 400 and above (in terms of low light noise/grain), especially at full resolution. I'd recommend resizing images to 25% or so of original size, and possibly applying noise reduction afterward. I can see why Sicy didn't like the F70EXR - its menus are a pain and the manual mode is difficult to use and quickly change settings on. That being said, I think I will be able to get some decent concert shots from it (at small sizes).
 
Yeah. I used it for a week and gave it a fair enough chance before it drove me crazy.

Do you mean resize after taking the pics, or changing the settings on the camera to like Medium size or something? I think on my Canon I have it at the largest setting. Is it better to set it smaller?
 
I'd resize it afterward (because I crop away as much as two thirds) - I use large/fine. Some continuous shooting modes on compacts do take a lower res image though to get more frames per second.
 
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