Dear Lazyweb,
I am looking for camera recommendations. My needs aren’t that great. I just want something relatively small, takes good pictures, and I can play with manual settings when I want. The relatively small part is because I want to be able to have this in my pocket and not look like I am hiding a melon. That means I’ll take it more places and thus (hopefully) take more pictures.
What do you use and why?
Thanks, Lazyweb.
Greg
Get a canon. They are a little more expensive but they are better built and take better pictures. Also they have CHDK: http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page. It is the best hacked firmware ever and unlocks all sorts of fun features. I personally have the SD1000.
Here are the small canons on newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2070070012+50001213+1063107631&name=Ultra-Compact
Posted by tamoneya on July 29th, 2008.
Older camers, but I’m really happy with my Canon A530. It takes great photos, and is easy to get incredible results. My dad has a slightly bigger Canon camera, and it too takes excellent photos. The A530 is pretty small, though it’s not as small as the Nikons out there.
Posted by Craig Maloney on July 29th, 2008.
My main camera these dayse is a Pentax K100D. That said, I understand the concern regarding size and portability.
One other consideration is durability compared to cost. For my pocket camera, I carry a ‘Polaroid” i634 6 megapixel camera that I picked up at Target for something like $79. I’m on my second one of these, as the first one took a hit to the screen that makes it wonderful as an unmonitored camera, but pretty much useless for working menus, or trying to change anything on the fly.
I wasn’t looking for a camera that was the ‘most flexible, largest megapixel count, or such. The 6 meg, 16:9 capture, and some of the other features are nice, but I was really looking for something that I’m not going to worry about damaging. I can always pop the SD card and put it into another camera.
Now if I could just use the broken one as a webcam…
Posted by Rusty on July 29th, 2008.
I don’t know what size you’re actually after, but when we were buying our latest camera, we just happened to be standing next to a guy from the local amateur photographers club. He was kind enough to help us and advised the Panasonic TZ5 Lumix. We were thinking about a Canon (the Ixus range) but really, this camera gives the most beautiful pictures, has great manual features and is pretty darn simple “point and shoot” if you want it to.
Posted by stilus on July 29th, 2008.
Not sure how much you’d want to spend, but I’d take a look at the Canon SD1100 camera, small and should take great photos.
Posted by anonymous on July 30th, 2008.
I would recommend Sony W30/W35
+ve
- Good pictures.
- Big enough screen, 2.5″.
- Fast wakeup and sleep. Lense pops out and retracts quick.
- Fits in pocket.
-ve
- Proprietary USB/TV Out combo conenction. This may have changed with recent models.
- Proprietary storage media. This also may have changed with recent models.
- Not many manual settings. But whatever there are, I found them sufficient for entry level photography.
Posted by Onkar on July 30th, 2008.
You might want to check out a couple of cams I’ve seen recently.
The new Panasonic Lumix range is sweet 10X optical zoom etc and quite compact when shut down.
The other is the new range of Casio’s Not so great which the optical stuff but great fun on the digital side.
Posted by Dave Morley on July 30th, 2008.
Canon IXUS 750/Powershot… fantastic cameras, check flickr for examples and use the CHDK custom firmware for massive amounts of manual controls.
Posted by Ruairi Fullam on July 30th, 2008.
I see someone’s already beaten me to the suggestion of the Canon SD1000 – I’ve had mine for about a year and although I miss a fully-manual SLR sometimes, the fact that I can have the thing on me *all the time* is great! The SD1000 is the size of a pack of cards – tuck it in a jacket pocket or backpack pouch and it’s just there.
The alternative firmware is interesting – Canon’s is pretty full-featured for most purposes, but I like the idea of hackable firmware anyway!
Posted by Wirelizard on July 30th, 2008.
I agree with stilus: get a Panasonic Lumix. The TZ series is great, but if you want something smaller, the FX series is nearly as good. The main selling point of the Lumix is the real wide angle lense (28mm equivalent): so you have a much better chance to get everything you want on your picture. Most competitors start at 35mm equivalent, which is not really a wide angle view. The other nice feature is image stabilisation, so you are less likely to get a “shaky picture” in low light conditions.
Posted by Thomas on July 30th, 2008.
After dogs and beach sand destroyed our last two cameras, I decided to go with the Olympus Stylus 850 SW. It is water-proof, shock-proof, dirt-proof, and fits easily in any pocket. It takes great outdoors pictures, but the flash is a bit overwhelming indoors.
Posted by brousch on July 30th, 2008.
I’ve been very happy with my Canon Powershot A650IS.
Posted by jorge on July 30th, 2008.
Get a Canon. I’ve used an A5?0 for years, and just bought an A720 – both are fine point-n-shoot cameras. Most importantly, you can switch them off point-n-shoot and control ISO, shutter, aperture, and white balance. I went with the A720 because it has gotten excellent reviews and it has image stabilization (necessary for any in-door, out of the sun shots).
Check http://www.dpreview.com/ for reviews. They lean more towards SLRs, but provide decent reviews.
Like Rusty, my main camera is currently a Pentax SLR (K100 super). If you’re in the market for SLRs, I have to say that I highly recommend it: the UI is excellent, the sensor is pretty clean up to high ISOs, the image stabilization is great, and the lenses are fantastic.
Posted by Erigami on July 30th, 2008.
Thanks for the input everyone! I’ll let you know what I end up getting.
Posted by Greg on July 30th, 2008.
Another vote for Lumix. Although nothing beats the TZ 10x lense in that size range, my personal choice was the LZ10 because it has full manual controls (including shutter/apperture priority) and runs on AA batteries. The last bit is really useful: I get around 700-800 shots out of a single pair of 2800mAh NIMHs, it’s much easier to carry around spares than a Li-Ion charger (some of which are bulkier than the LZ10) and in an emergency one can always buy a couple of alcalines.
Posted by Lucas on July 30th, 2008.
Greg,
Canon SD1100IS – nuff said. I just picked this camera up a few weeks back at Frys Electronics for $200. Everywhere else was between $220 and $250. It is rated the best small camera right now if you go through the millions of digital photo review websites. I love it. The pics are great and it even records excellent video, as I just recorded some funnies at work the other day. Hit me up on IRC if you have any questions, you know how to contact me :)
Posted by nixternal on July 30th, 2008.
I recently bought my first digital camera, and went with the Canon PowerShot G9. I have two film SLRs, so wanted to have this addition be a P&S for easier carrying, but still offer similar control, features, and quality. It fits in my pockets, but isn’t the smallest, lightest thing out there by a wide margin. My biggest priorities were being able to completely manually control the aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focus, etc. when I wanted to, while still having sane auto features. It would have been a toss-up between this and a Nikon if not for the fact that the Canon had a hotshoe for an external flash. The G9 is a fantastic camera, but likely overkill for the more casual user, and goes for about $500. If looking for something cheaper, I would also suggest looking at other Canons (they make nice stuff), although there are some great offerings from Panasonic, Nikon, and a few others as well. For my last two points, I would like to second more things said previously: If getting a Canon P&S other than the G9, make sure it’s one already supported by CHDK; Make use of dpreview.com – both the reviews and the recommendation engine.
Posted by Tony Yarusso on July 30th, 2008.
This is my current favorite
Canon S5 IS
– Full Auto, Full Manual, AV/TV priority
– Flash Hot Shoe
– VGA Video 30fps
– 10x optical
– Anything mentioned in former posts about canon camera
Posted by Kuadhual on July 30th, 2008.
Canon S3 / S4 -IS. Just works.
Most important is to buy one _without_ proprietary battery(as recommended by Stevesdigicams). Buy eneloop (sanyo) batteries – one of the few technologies that really is good. Using Li-proprietary just sucks, especially, when I travel with my friends (we stay in youth hostels which have no power outlets available).
Posted by Karthik on July 31st, 2008.
I agree on the Canons. I have a PowerShot A590, and it seems like the kind of camera you’re after.
Posted by Alex on September 13th, 2008.
Yay for not paying attention to dates!
Posted by Alex on September 13th, 2008.
Get a DLSR, Canon or Nikon, and stick with that brand. They are all great. Buy what you can afford and keep it. Megapixel is irrelavant. Some 8MP cameras take as good or better pictures than the 12MP camera. Spend your money on a good lense, and then upgrade the camera when you feel its time to step up a level. You won’t be disappointed, unless you want something that fits in your pocket.
Be sure to stop by and visit the next time you are in Minneapolis!
Later cuz!
Posted by Christopher on October 30th, 2008.