Well, I’m looking into buying a digital camera with my graduation money, and I was wondering if anyone had any advice. I’m looking for a small, compact camera I can carry with me. I don’t care about manual settings or anything (I only have a vague understanding of that); I just want something I can keep in my pocket and take decent quality pictures. I’m looking for something in the $200-300 range.
*Originally posted by Clark Gilbert *
**www.dpreview.com <—all you’ll ever need! **
Agreed. dpreview is awesome.
I have a Nikon Coolpix 995 [obsolete, now]. I am happy with how it’s performed. It probably has more features than you want (automatic and manual everything), and is a bit larger than you had described; it definetly would not fit in your pocket.
*Originally posted by indieFan *
**I would check out Consumer Reports. The address should be www.consumerreports.com and they should have a free trial.
indieFan **
I dont like consumer reports too much, I see many contradictory reviews out there compared to theirs on a regular basis.
I have a Olympus… Brio Zoom ____. It is a wonderful camera… you can carry it anywhere… I throw it in my pocket, and don’t even notice it is there. Mine is just a year old now, so I don’t know if you can still buy the exact model. I know Olympus makes a very simial model though. The thing that tops it off for me… is it wasn’t outrageously priced… I believe I payed less than $300… it has 3x optical zoom… plus the standard digital zoom. I threw in a 128mb card… and well… let’s just say I have high quality photos from the ENTIRE 2003 season on that card.
I’m not too fond with consumer reports… to many conflicting views. I have always used www.pcmag.com I have even read articles on other similar well known sites, and they recommend PC Magazine.
I’ve got a Mavica, the most recent version with both memory stick and floppy disk. Most people want something handheld like a small regular camera; I wanted something big and honkin’ with dual media.
I have the Olympus 2100 Ultra Zoom (the Uzi), which is also obsolete, and way too big for what you want anyhow, but with its 10x optical zoom and image stabilization, I am spoiled and I don’t think I could ever go to anything less (which means I will probably spend way too much on my next camera to get those same features).
It looks like some Office Depot stores have the Olympus D-520 for $200. I know some people who have this (it’s the upgrade for the D-490, which was my first digital camera) and they really like it. But it’s a clearance item and it probably won’t last long. Of course, since camera companies are starting to move away from the smart media memory cards due to their limited storage room, you might not want to go with an older camera.
MissInformation
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“Long ago it must be, I have a photograph
Preserve your memories, they’re all that’s left you” Simon and Garfunkel
My Take:
The A70 looks like it has the best features, and seems to be the best value, but is it too big? I’m really enticed by the small size of the ELPHs. However, the 230 seems too expensive, while the 200 is on its way out, and seems rather light on features. Can anyone offer any advice on these particular models?
I have the Canon PowerShot S110 Digital ELPH. Its nice and itty bitty, and fits in my pocket very nicely. I’ve had it for 2.5 years now, and it has worked very well. I wanted something that I could just take with me and take pictures with. It only has a 2x optical zoom, and that has been the only thing I’ve occasionaly wanted more, but with more zoom it dosn’t fit in my pocket…:rolleyes: I like the portability. It has the LiOn, and with a 128 meg CF card I can take about 120ish pictures per charge and card size at full resolution. If most of the pictures use the flash, then the battery dies at about 95ish pictures, but that is still alot of pictures if you thing about it. The battery charger is well desinged and travels well. No cord, just flip out the prongs, slide battery in, plug into wall.
The Canon software worked very well while it worked. On my desktop, the software decided to ignore my camera about three months ago. Windows regonizes that it is there, but the Canon software(the download software) refuses to reconize that it is attached. I havn’t fiddled with it that much(read about 20 minutes) because I’ve just used my laptop instead.
It does have some manual settings that I played with when I first got it, but havn’t bothered because I don’t know what most of them do/havn’t the need.
I don’t know what the details on the cameras you have, but Canon has good optics in general and I’ve been very happy with my S110. One lacking feature has been a large zoom, but with 2x (optical, digital zoom dosn’t count) it is passable. Taking pictures while hanging out with friends is fine.
{edit}
Looked at the specs for the cameras you listed. I would stay away from the A70 because of its use of AA batteries. Friends with AA digi cams are forever changing them. The S200 looks just about excatly the same as mine, with some physical layout changes. The features apear to be equliviant.
{/edit}
Well, I made my decision last night. I decided to order the A70, based on its additional features. I would’ve liked to get the s230, but I just couldn’t justify the $100 premium for its small size, and the s200 just didn’t have enough features. Having seen the A70 in person, now, it doesn’t seem that much bigger than the ELPHs, so my decision was fairly easy. Thanks for all the help, everybody!