Point n go shoot

Jul 18, 2007

Point n go shoot

by Susheel Chandradhas

Hi there… I need a bit of help; for a change, I need you, yes You… to share some information with me. It doesn’t matter if you’re new to photography or not, your opinion is welcome. What information? Well, do read on…

All these years I’ve been taking pictures with SLR and D-SLR cameras and I’ve never really really had a point and shoot digital camera, or a point and shoot film camera for that matter. I’ve recently had a revelation though…

Off late, I’ve been noticing that there are a lot of things that I really do want to photograph, but I really don’t want to have the hassle of lugging around a big, expensive piece of equipment. I have used other people’s point and shoot digital cameras in the past and I’ve enjoyed the experience. So, I’m looking to buy one for myself.

So now I come to you, my experienced reader, because I need help in choosing a good point and shoot digital camera. I’d posted this on my shiny new personal blog a while ago, but the problem there is that hardly anyone knows it exists… Well, so far Johann has suggested the slightly bulky Canon G7 which he himself uses and the Fuji Finepix F31fd, and Trish suggested the Canon Powershot SD630.

Important criteria to me are the camera’s capabilities in low-light situations, it’s size, and its ruggedness. This is a camera that I’ll want to keep in my pocket all day, even if I’m on a photo-shoot, so ruggedness is a real factor.

Any Suggestions? Do let me know…

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8 Comments, Comment or Ping

louisclub

Hi. i was in the same position than you. i even post a topic on some group in flickr. i needed a camera that is compact, with flash possibility.

from all the answer, the camera that came on was half of the time, the olympus XA. it is a compact rangefinder, that you can attach a flash at the side, so it still goes well in a pocket. and it has a 35mm f2.8 lens, wich i consider fast for a compact camera

i havnt bought one yet, but i will.

hope that will help. (i wanted a flash for lowlight situation. i wanted a compact holga for 35mm :p, but i dont think that exist.)

Jul 18th, 2007
Juan

Hi, I suggest you to get a camera with the fastest lens possible (in P&S, I think it’s 2.8) and image stabilization. I own a Panasonic Lumix FZ8. It’s not a compact camera, but slr-like. Night shots are super without flash. The other one I’ve evaluated was Canon A710 IS. Both have image stabilization and are great cameras

Jul 18th, 2007
louisclub

dont forget, its olympus XA, and not the XA1 and 2 and 3 4 etc.

XA is a rangefinder, the other are simple point and shoot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympus_XA

Jul 18th, 2007
Susheel

Hi Louis & Juan,

Thank you for the suggestions.

Louis: many thanks, but the Olympus XA is a film camera and I’m looking for a digital one. Sorry, but that’s ruled out.

Juan, Both look like great cameras… They also look like tanks. I really do need one with a smaller profile. Pocket size.

Jul 18th, 2007
Abhishek

hi ..
You already have great SLR camera …which is superb.. but as per your requirement i will suggest Olympus Stylus 720SW, enough compact and sturdy to carry in all situation. See the features and benefits in http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1225&fl=2
As company claims Stylus 720 SW is Shockproof (up to 5ft.), Waterproof (to depths of up to 10ft.). Image quality is good. Night mode also works pretty well, see the examples in http://www.flickr.com/cameras/olympus/s720sw/
if see the negative side, compare with compact cameras of canon image quality lacks in Olympus.

Jul 19th, 2007
Susheel

Abishek,

Thank you. The Stylus 720SW does look like a promising camera. I will look into it.

Jul 19th, 2007
Jessica

Funny how you ask, because I’m contemplating buying a D-SLR now. I even mentioned it on my blog this morning. I have a kodak V550 (I have a link on my blog to what it looks like too). I’ve only had digital kodak cameras and I’ve been really happy with them. I like mine a lot because it is so small, but there are a lot of new ones out there that are small. My friend just bought a new small camera and it has a touch screen (like how you can touch the iphone), i thought that was pretty cool, but i can’t remember the brand at all. I think my camera does great in regular situations and average for low light situations. Hope that helps a little?

Jul 24th, 2007
Omer

Hi;
I would nominate Canon PowerShot SD850 as one of the most versatile point & shoot digital cameras out there. Better than even some of the other newer Canon’s. Here are my reasons:

- Very small and compact
- 8 M pixel CCD sensor with good sensitivity (usable to ISO 800)
- 4X optical zoom (35 mm - 140 mm equivalent)
- Real image viewfinder
- Image stabilization
- Big 2.5″ LCD display
- Fast startup, very little shutter lag
- Well-developed Canon color processing algorithm for smooth detail
- Very nice lens (Mainly because Canon outsells every other brand, so they can afford to put good lenses on their P&S cameras, because they can recover the cost.)

I also have a Canon PowerShot A620 (4X optical, 7.1 M pixel), and love that one too, because of most of the above, the movable LCD and the full manual controls. A620 is a bit heavy, however, and very difficult to fit into the proverbial shirt pocket!

Good luck with your selection.
Ömer.

Mar 23rd, 2008