looking to buy a new camera

[picksbigwagon]

Okay, I emailed my friend who is a techy and he is in Finland at Wolf Ridge ELC this week with his Daughter's class. So I came here instead: My wife informed me yesterday that our point and shot Digital camera won't turn on (the lense won't extend) so we both feel it is time after 6 years to get a new one. Time is of the essence since number three shows up on december 18th. I am looking for middle of the road here, not high end, and nothing like most of you here use (multiple lenses, etc) just looking for a really good point and shoot, I don't want the smallest one on the market either. thanks for the help

[Steve Foss]

Picks, there are a ton of good ones out there. Canon, Nikon, Sony, Panasonic, many, many more.

In these cases, for what you'll want it for, I generally recommend the Panasonic Lumix series point and shoots. They've got a phenomenally sharp and clear Leica lens on them, and anything from 5 to 8 megapixles will do you great.

Others will have other recommendations, so give it a day or two to see who else weighs in and go from there. You can google Panasonic Lumix and you'll find a bunch of info on it.

Good luck, and congrats on No. 3.

[picksbigwagon]

okay, anyone else with an opinion here? (that's a loaded question, would I be better off asking what is better, ford or chevy, remington/winchester, peanut butter/peanut butter and jelly?????)

[DTro]

I really like the Canon A series. I've had mine for about a year. Great photos and really good videos.

Check out any of my photos and videos, that is what I use.

Also the Panasonic like Steve said. They have the lowest price "image stabilization" on the market.

[MN Shutterbug]

I shoot with the Panasonic DMC-FZ7 and love it. It has a 12X optical zoom, full manual controls, 6 mp's, minimal lag time and more. Panasonic now has the FZ8 with some nice upgrades, for just $250 or less. If you wish to use it for wildlife, you can add an Olympus 1.7 conversion lens to give you 20.4X optical or 732mm.

[Moose]

I had a panasonic lz2 loved it but the dust and bad roads in Tanzania toasted it. I agree with Steve the lens is great also panasonic gives the best zoom ranges on the market which is essental for outdoor photography. I'm looking to get another Panasonic probably the TZ3 or the FZ8. Check out the Pics @ winkflash.com public sharing ID timsla

[Steve Foss]

It's not just that I recommend the Panasonic Lumix series to everyone else, just so you know. If I was in the market for a point-and-shoot, that's the series I would buy for myself.

[minndonn]

I will re-iterate one thing that dictates what kind of point and shoot camera I buy and that is it must have both a LCD screen and a viewfinder. When I have had both I find I actually use the viewfinder more than the screen. The viewfinder is very useful in bright sunlite. Most screen are hard to see then.

[MN Shutterbug]

Quote:

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I will re-iterate one thing that dictates what kind of point and shoot camera I buy and that is it must have both a LCD screen and a viewfinder. When I have had both I find I actually use the viewfinder more than the screen. The viewfinder is very useful in bright sunlite. Most screen are hard to see then.

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I couldn't agree more. I never use the lCD screen. Another advantage to the viewfinder is that you get more stability by holding the camera firmly against your head, when taking the shot.

[picksbigwagon]

I have settled so far on the panasonic lumix FZ8, but I still need to handle it and see how I like it, best buy didn't have one on hand, but they could order it for me and it would be here in a week or so, I could get it on my doorstep in less than 5 days and 50 bucks cheaper to boot

[MN Shutterbug]

Sounds like you might get a heck of a deal. One other thing I like about these cameras, and I'm sure some others have this feature, is the live view with histogram. Once you learn how the histogram works, it can be invaluable in getting the correct exposure. Be sure to let us know if you get it and how it works out. we'll also want to see some photos. Good luck.

[Moose]

Some of the walmart stores carry the fz8 go to the HSOforum and type in your zip and it will tell you the nearest location. I found this camera online for 185.00

[MN Shutterbug]

I'd be cautious buying from Walmart. I don't know about cameras, but I do know there are many things that are made specifically for Walmart stores. We all know why that is.

[Moose]

I agree but it was a easy place to touch and feel the camera that was close to home. The online store I was refering to is a camera shop.

[JClay]

Is the Panasonic fz8 good for wildlife and outdoor scene pictures because i was thinking of getting a Cannon point and shoot at best buy for around 360 bucks...does anyone have any suggestions for me. I am hoping to take a lot of outdoor pics. Thanks

[MN Shutterbug]

Actually Jclay, that is the only reason I bought my Pan FZ7. My wife has her little Fuji for family photos and I have mine for fun and games, in other words, wildlife. The pan may not give the results of a DSLR in the right hands, but for the money, it's a great little camera.

[Paul]

For those looking for the lumix, I think they are on sale at sears till tues for $99.00

[Moose]

Has anyone taken a look at cannons powershot sx100is looks like a nice camera in a smaller package with manual controls. Any thoughts on the control wheel on the back with big fingers? No viewfinder or raw photo options but 8 megapixles.

[Corey Bechtold]

I'm looking at 2 different camera's. Both have similar features. The first camera has 12.1megapixel, 5x optical/5x digital and HD something something. The second has 7.2megapixel, 6x optical/4x digital.

Both are similar in price so which would ya'll recommend?

Thanks,

Corey Bechtold

[MN Shutterbug]

Quote:

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For those looking for the lumix, I think they are on sale at sears till tues for $99.00

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That's a cheaper Lumix to begin with. This one can be found online for $99.99 - $119.99. This camera has just 3X optical zoom and none of the manual controls necessary for creative photos. This would be a great point and shoot for your wife's purse.

[picksbigwagon]

our lumix fz8 showed up yesterday, I quickly charged the battery and I am amazed at what this camera can do.. I took a picture tonight at 4:45 of my brohter in laws first deer ever 9 (lil 8 pter) and you would swear it was noon in the picture. I am gonna have some fun with this camera. (I fully realize that this post means nothing with out pictures and once I download the software, I will share the pictures.) at this point, I am more than impressed with this camera.

[JohnK]

Quote:

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I'm looking at 2 different camera's. Both have similar features. The first camera has 12.1megapixel, 5x optical/5x digital and HD something something. The second has 7.2megapixel, 6x optical/4x digital.

Both are similar in price so which would ya'll recommend?

Thanks,

Corey Bechtold

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Forget about digital zoom, it's useless and nothing more than marketing hype. You can accomplish the same thing as "digital zoom" by zooming with your image editing software.

If you plan on doing much cropping of your images to get in closer I'd go with the 12.1mp camera. Large prints will also likely turn out better with the 12.1 vs 7.2mp (all else being equal).

The Panasonic Lumix cameras can be very good, I've had 2 of them a FZ1 and a FZ30. In good light they can take extremely good photos. The key is 'in good light'. Above ISO 200 and you'll start to see a lot of noise with the Panasonics, especially in poor or mediocre light when you're likely to need higher ISO. The latest versions are better, but like all small sensor digital cameras they suffer the higher the ISO. If most of your shooting is done in bright light it probably won't be an issue for you. If you do much shooting indoors without the flash or outdoors at dawn/dusk or under thick tree cover it might be a problem.

[Steve Foss]

I agree that digital zoom isn't worth much, particularly when you'll want to make nice prints. Mostly a marketing ploy.

I'm going to argue just a bit, and good-naturedly, over the idea that getting a 12 Mp instead of a 7 Mp is a good idea in this case. My biggest concern there is digital noise. Point-and-shoots, even the best ones, have small sensors, most often much smaller than the smallest DSLR sensors.

Packing 12 Mp onto a sensor that small will produce a lot of digital noise compared with a 7 Mp sensor of the same size. I agree that if cropping will need to be done, you'll get a larger finished print size from 12 Mp with the same percentage of crop as 7 Mp, but it's not as much larger as one would expect.

Now, I don't know if both these cameras being compared have the same size sensor. If they do, not only will the noise at iso settings above 200 be much better on the 7 Mp sensor (all other things being equal), but each individual pixel is larger than those on the 12 Mp. Aside from producing less noise, larger pixels produce ultimately better image quality in other categories.

Pixel size is one reason you can make prints almost as large from a 4 Mp Canon 1D as you can from an 8.2 Mp Canon 30D. And on the topic of marketing, the so-called "megapixel wars" are simply because for most people, "more" must be "better," when it's not always that cut and dried.

[finnbay]

I have to agree with Steve on this one. I've made some great 20x30 prints from my 6.3 megapixel Canon 10D. I recently picked up a 40D which has over 10 megs, but that isn't what I was looking for - there were other features that I needed. Would probably preferred something in the 8 megapixel range.

[IFallsRon]

This week Office Depot has the Lumix LS75S for $100, $30 off their regular price and $50 off the shelf sticker price. A 1GB memory card is $15.

Next question: Is there a noticable benefit to using a high speed memory card with a point and shoot? I know my write time with the DSLR is pretty quick with Compact Flash Ultra II.