I'm contemplating the purchase of a new digital camera and am having trouble deciding which one to get.

Anyone out there have experience with non-slr digital cameras?

I'm currently interested in the Canon S3 or S5 or the Sony H7 or H9.

Anyone?

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Make sure you have a good optical lens. Digital zoom is great and all but you lose quality. The better the optical lens, the better your pictures will be in the end.

Yup, I'm a photographer. First you may want to steer clear of those new Sonys as they've been getting some very mixed reviews. You'd almost be better off looking at the older H5. I own the Canon S3 and it's just okay with a very nice movie mode. The S5 has a better screen and a flash hot shoe (likely never used) but will be worse in low light conditions because they stuffed 2 million more pixels in the same sensor.

What sort of pictures are you taking? Are you willing to learn a camera and are you good? Are movies important or just images? Mostly daytime pictures or dark indoor situations like parties, bars, houses?

Killer, one more thing. I got a Fuji S6000 to replace my Canon S3 as a superzoom camera because the Fuji has a wider angle lens and is WORLDS better in low light. It is the size of an SLR though but feels great in your hands. Right now it's $300 online with a $50 rebate. My dad even just bought one because he liked mine so much.

I went out yesterday and spent $40 on a "close up" lens that screws onto the end of the Fuji lens. It allows really close up photography of things like bugs, flowers, birds, etc. It also gives you very shallow depth of field, meaning you can get specific things in focus and everything else is blurry. You might have seen SLR pictures where they'll take a picture of someone's face and the whole background is blurry. It can be very effective in highlighting a subject for artistic effect. Below are the first couple of pictures I took with this great $250 camera and the cheapo $40 close up filter yesterday. Just some crappy flowers on my back patio in this concrete jungle of a city. Here's a few pictures from yesterday.



Focus on a single blade of grass



A small flower the size of a pinky fingernail





I want to get some cicadas next. Those nasty little buggers will look cool with this lens.

It'll primarily be used for typical family junk, but I do like (when I have the time) to get out and take more "artsy" shots. Mostly nature stuff, but in all kinds of light.

I like taking night shots with ambient light. I also like experimenting with macro shots.

I was an avid photographer years ago (35mm, manual controls) and would like to get back into the game with a selection of manual controls (with an "auto" option). I don't think it'd take me long to get back up to speed.

I have been using an older Kodak 4mp p&s and can get decent 11" x 17" prints. I'd hope for at least the same quality from a 7 or 8mp camera

I like the novelty of the super-zooms, but if I'm going to get crappy prints, it's not worth it. I've also been looking into the Canon A710 IS for that reason.

Movie mode is not a necessity.

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The A710 is a very nice camera but won't give you close to the low light capabilities of a Fuji that has the Super CCD sensor in it. The Fujis will be able to go to ISO 800 and ISO1600 and take nice pictures where a Canon will look like noisy garbage once you hit ISO400. Look at this comparison on dpreview between the Canon SD800 and the Fuji F31 at ISO800. The A710 has the same sensor as the SD800 so image quality will be the same. When you're indoors and want to take non-flash pictures, the ability to go to ISO800 and ISO1600 is extremely valuable and only Fuji can do it right now. For a point and shoot with 3x zoom the F31 is the best buy right now and for a super zoom (28mm-300mm zoom range) the S6000 is hands down the best. The A710 and S3 will be very nice in outdoor lighted situations, but are very weak in lower light. The S3 also has a terrible problem with focus hunting, especially at the long end of the zoom. Maybe head to a local Ritz camera and play around a bit. Most employees there are brainwashed to think that the more megapixels the better and that Canon is the end all so be careful about listening too closely to those puds. The "measly" 6 megapixels in these Fujis along with the high end lenses they use will outresolve most 10 megapixel cameras. Here's the DPReview link comparing the Fuji to Canon...

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Fujifil ... page13.asp

Are you saying the camera is only $50 after the rebate? Where can I purchase it?

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Yeah, help a brother out

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Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Crap, typo my fault. It's $300 with a $50 rebate so a total price of $250. I'll edit the post. It's still a hell of a value for such a good camera. You can get it for that price at www.bhphotovideo.com.

Hawkeye -

Thanks for the tips. Those shots look pretty good! I'm going to check out the Fuji 6000 now.

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Boo-urns

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Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. ~ Benjamin Franklin

No problem, it's a great camera with a lot of creative capability. One other nice thing is that it has a zoom ring and focus ring on the lens barrel like you're probably used to from your 35mm days. Not the newfangled buttons that take forever to zoom in and out and aren't accurate at all. The flash power is also about as good as you're going to get on a camera without using an external hotshoe flash. It will fill up a whole room especially if you crank up ISO to 400 or 800. Again it's big and people will think it's an SLR but very comfortable when holding.

Also the new Panasonic TZ3 is a great camera. It has a similar 28-280mm zoom range of the S6000 but in a compact form factor for around $350 at Costco. The only problem with that is it has a much weaker flash and way worse high ISO capabilities when compared to the S6000. Small form factor is great though. You'd be very unappy with the TZ3 for indoor and low light shots though.

hey hawk,

i took my daughters to their 1st sox game last night and wanted to take a few pictures. I have had the sony dsc-f717 for years and hasn't failed me...until last night. the display wasn't working (neither the lcd nor the viewfinder)

so, i THINK it just crapped out on me. so, i guess i'm in the market for a new camera.

one thing i hated about that camera was its inability to shoot moving subjects blur-free, especially stationary objects that move (i.e. dance recital, mimes )

do digital cameras now have "picture stabilizers". i just want a camera that is as reliable as film cameras.

i'm looking in the $300 or cheaper range, preferably one that is available at best buy because A) i'm an impulse buyer and want to purchase it online today and B) i want to use my BB rewards card for points.

Thanks for your help!

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"Someone put too many farts in this engine! It's about to explode!" - Tracy Jordan

Mopery, there are two major distinctions with these picture stabilizing systems, commonly called OIS or Optical Image Stabilizer. The first type of IS is a mechanical engine inside the camera that reduces hand shake. This is the type you are thinking of. Lets say you're taking an architecture picture at night and need to use a 1/8 second shutter speed. An OIS system will allow you to shoot that picture hand held (no tripod) without blur. The big distinction is that this is ONLY for stationary images. If you had your daughter in that picture, it's still a 1/8 second exposure and she WILL be blurry unless she's standing perfectly still. This comes in to the second type of "picture stabilization" which is ISO sensitivity. It is also where my love for Fuji cameras comes in.

While Fuji doesn't have OIS, it has the unique ability to hike ISO sensitivity much higher (and way better quality) than ANY other point and shoot digital camera. So lets make a Canon to Fuji comparison if you're taking a picture of your daughter. The Canon will take the picture at ISO200 with a 1/15 shutter speed using OIS. Your background will be sharp because of OIS but if your daughter moves, she's blurry. The Fuji on the other hand will take the same quality picture at ISO800 and instead use a 1/60 shutter speed so it will freeze her motion much better.

Let me take a look at some of the cameras at Best Buy and prices. You sure you have to get the camera today? You can get some great deals online and probably ship overnight for way cheaper than buying today.

man, you know your S---! like i said, BB was my preference, only because i'm an impulse buyer and i'm bored at work now, and kind of want something, ahem, to play with tonight. but it's not necessary. if you truly feel that BB doesn't offer anything that would work for me, i'll take your suggestions to heart.

Bottom line: i need a camera that will stabilize jittery 5 and 4 year olds.

thanks for the great information!

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"Someone put too many farts in this engine! It's about to explode!" - Tracy Jordan

killer,

which camera did you end up buying?

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"Someone put too many farts in this engine! It's about to explode!" - Tracy Jordan

No problem. I just took a look at the Best Buy site and there are a few cameras that stand out. First would likely be your best fit and that's the Fuji F40fd. It is only $250 and WILL be able to freeze jittery kids. It only has a 3x optical zoom though which is a step down from the 5x you had on your Sony. Link to the Fuji. I'd call to see if they have it in stock first because Fujis can be hard to find in retail stores.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 1057791788

Next is the Canon A570IS which has OIS and is a nice quality low end camera with a 4x zoom. It won't give you the good high ISO quality of the Fuji but is a very good point and shoot type camera for only $250. Here's the link..

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 0290185861

In the next price range (a little more than you want) are the following cameras and descriptions.

First is the Canon SD850. This is almost the exact same camera as the A570 I mentioned above but $150 more and really the only difference is it looks sexier and cooler, and is in a smaller form factor. Not a very good value IMO.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 2881524792

Then there's Panasonic. Stay away from them for any indoor type shots but the TZ3 below for $350 is just an incredible deal with some unbeatable technology on it. It has a 10x zoom (28mm wide angle even which is hard to find and great for kid pictures). It is in a very compact package and has the best OIS on the market. The problem is that pictures over ISO200 are very "watercolor like" due to the Venus III engine in it that does all the noise reduction. I want this camera for outdoor pictures myself but would never use it for indoors or flash.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 1672224378

Finally is the Sony T100 which is a very nice camera. It is an extremely compact camera with a 5x optical zoom lens. It will give you the next best high ISO performance to the Fuji mentioned above but not nearly as good. Still better than the Canons though. This camera also has a great movie mode and you can use optical zoom while recording (great for kids). It has OIS and will take usable pictures up to ISO800 and along with the IS should be good for you. This camera is $399 though so above your budget. Link below. Let me know if you want any more info on these models and I'll dig up some images so you can see how they compare.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 0290214981

you're the best, hawkeye! i think you sold me on the fuji camera!

thanks a bunch!

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"Someone put too many farts in this engine! It's about to explode!" - Tracy Jordan

Cool, probably the best fit for what you're looking for. They have the F40 available online for $199 at the link below with free ground shipping. Overnight would be an extra $27 and there's also no tax so it would save you about $50 to buy online. If you get it, feel free to PM me with questions on it. Another thing I didn't mention is that this camera has FD (Face Detection) included. That means it will recognize faces in a picture, up to 7 I think, and ensure proper focus and exposure for those faces. It's great when you're handing the camera to someone who doesn't know shit about taking pictures.

It also has a unique feature called Auto ISO mode. You can choose Auto400, Auto800, and Auto1600. What that means is that the camera will choose the appropriate ISO, but capped at that level. Auto 800 should be the one you use most but 1600 and 400 would be good too depending on the environment. Then you don't have to worry about ISO settings for each picture you take but are also safe knowing it won't hike the ISO up too much and give you a noisy picture.

I'd also read the review at the link below all the way though either before or after you buy. It will give you a ton of insight to the features and functionality along with ISO test shots so you can see the effect of going to higher ISOs on this camera. Good luck, it's about the best camera value on the market right now.

http://dcresource.com/reviews/fuji/fine ... ndex.shtml

just bought it thanks for all your help!


on a related note: anyone want a *free* sony DSC-F717 that i can't seem to see anything through the viewfinder/lcd? this may be broken OR i hit a button accidentally that makes everything black. the camera was working last week, but couldn't get it to work last night.

this will not include the power adapter, since i use the same cord for my camcorder, nor will it include memory sticks. i can give these to my uncle.

i'll also throw in the camera bag.

to summarize: *FREE* Sony DSC-F717 (it may work, may not), camera bag, and USB cord.

here's what the camera looks like:

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"Someone put too many farts in this engine! It's about to explode!" - Tracy Jordan

Will do, I spend a lot of time doing this tech stuff and like talking/posting on it, especially with cameras. Just let me know what questions you have. Mopery did you find the camera at Best Buy or order online? Let me know what you think of it once you've had a chance to play around with it.

i bought it at best buy. i had a $50 gift card that i used, along with accumulating points on my rewardszone card.

thanks again for the recommendation. i'm sure it will be a great camera for me!

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"Someone put too many farts in this engine! It's about to explode!" - Tracy Jordan

I haven't yet. The "bonus" I was relying on hasn't come through yet so here I sit with my 5 year old Kodak POS...I mean P & S.

Hopefully it'll come through soon so I don't have to start researching all of the newest models too!

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screw the bonus! be like me and just pay for it over the next 20 years by putting it on a credit card

yesterday, i watched venus play sharapova. i couldn't stop thinking of your scrumpteous avatar.

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"Someone put too many farts in this engine! It's about to explode!" - Tracy Jordan

And she lost. Maybe I should find a similar shot of Venus? Nah, it'd probably violate the unwritten size policy by filling the screen.

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When someone mentions credit cards, I always think of this:

http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/41738/detail/

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chris parnell is great! thanks for the laugh

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"Someone put too many farts in this engine! It's about to explode!" - Tracy Jordan