Best Point and Shoot to take

by **Ildi** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 12:52 am

i'm just shopping for a point and shoot to take on my 4 month trip. I"m not a professional photographer so i don't need any real gear but i want to be able to zoom in on a branch to take a picture of a monkey etc., but also take it out to the pub to take a picture of the group etc. I don't want to stand out of the crowd with the camera either and shoud i lose it I don't want to worry about losing the best camera in the world...

so, with those desires, any suggestions for a lightweight, nice point and shoot?

i'm going to Henry's tomorrow to get their ideas...but they want to sell me cameras..any additional help is appreciated!

by **hansi** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 1:26 am

Hello Ildi

There are a hundred and one different types of point and shoots camera's on the market these days. Some are now offereing 15 - 18 times zoom. Although this is good, it makes it less practical, ie you can't just pop it in your pocket.

The alternative is to get a small point and shoot with say 3 - 5 times zoom. however, this limits the potention to get a nice shot of the monkey.

When it comes to brands i would suggest Canon. my current canon point and shoot has served me well, considering the amount of dints and scratched on the outside. (i have a Canon ixus 750) already outdated. I found this camera quite handy as it fits into my jeans pocket, together with a mobile phone. and as mentioned before, the zoom is quite limited.

by **Dawna** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 10:11 pm

I have heard great things about the canon, although it does have a delay when you hit the "take a picture" button. I have a Kodak Easyshare c360. I am in love with my camera. It is extremely compact, takes great quality pictures, takes 2 AA batteries and has some great photo features and video. I highly recommend this camera (or something similar) I am very impressed with my picture quality.

Dawna
Ps 3x optical zoom 5.0 mpixels

by **PaulTeolis** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 10:51 pm

you will not find everything in a compact point and shoot, but you will get close. You have to ask yourself how much control you want to have when
you take your pictures as that will affect how much money you want to spent.

checkout http://www.dpreview.com for info on the compact cameras that are available. Yes Canon makes some of the best.

I would go to Vistek at queen east near river street. They know their
stuff.

by **Tracey** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 11:01 am

I also have a Kodak EasyShare camera and although it was a little buggy at first, it does take great pictures. Plus it's on the cheaper end than the more professional cameras out there

by **lsamchuk** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 12:05 am

Hello...
For the longest time I was still using my Pentax K1000 film camera :shock:

but out of the desire for convenience I bought the Fuji Finepix Z3. It might not have been my first choice, but I got it at Shoppers Drug Mart with my optimum points and only paid $10 for it - can't really go wrong with that. It's very small and flat and relatively simple - it takes some experimentation to find the best settings for different situations (it's REALLY important to have the right ones). I'm pretty happy with it - takes decent low light photos and has a pretty good macro feature. Not the greatest zoom but it's ok - works much better to get REALLY close to what you're taking pictures of and use the macro :wink:

Wish I had more patience for wet darkroom work - there's nothing that can really emulate the beautiful film grain of silver halide - similar to that warm imperfection of vinyl records. But who wants to haul around a tank of a camera?

by **ballu** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 11:55 am

I love my canon...I've got an SD400 (ixus I think in the UK). It's a few years old so upgraded models of it are available. I don't experience any delay between taking one picture to another.

by **steve** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 12:09 pm

I've used a Canon Powershot S20 for over 3 years and am very happy with it. It's a 3MP camera with a 10X optical zoom and image stablizer. Obviously way out-of-date in terms of features but I've had no problems with it and will likely buy another Canon next time around.

by **mattk** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 11:12 am

I'm really happy with my Panasonic DMC-FZ8 Point and shoot, I just bought it two years ago and I don't have a bad thing to say about it, the perfect travel camera for me.

My FZ8 might be a bit big for what you need, but Panasonic also has some much smaller point and shoot cameras with great zooms, usually 10 to 12 x optical zoom. The DMC-LX2 is much smaller and was ranked in Gear of the year with Outside magazine.

I also definitely recommend checking out dpreview, I did so much research on this website before deciding on a camera, it helped me out a lot.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Panasonic/

Cheers

Matt

by **questlove** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 11:26 pm

I opted for a smaller point & shoot, but went with a higher quality camera & ended up getting the Leica D-Lux 3. It's turned out to be a GREAT camera, fit in my pocket throughout the whole Inca Trail & has turned out some really nice pictures.

http://www.amazon.com/Leica-Digital-Camera-Optical-Stabilized/dp/B000J6FTUQ/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1198121094&sr=8-1

All the pictures on my blog are from that camera. If you dont want to spend the $$ for that one, Panasonic makes a nearly exact version of the same camera (lens and all). The problem with the bigger point & shoot cameras is that they're just...bigger... & if you're going to get something bigger, you may as well get an SLR, as the lower end ones arent much more expensive and take much better pictures.....

- L

by **Alpine_Resort** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 1:12 am

Pentax makes a waterproof digital that's really nice. (Optio wpi) It doesn't have a viewfinder, which I don't like, but it's small and indistructible. I've taken it snorkelling and got great pictures so no worries about rain or dropping it in a puddle.

by **Orlaith** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 6:39 am

Hi- I'm no major photography expert but I do love to take photos.

I spent a month interrailing and the best thing I did was buy a spare lithium rechargeable battery for my camera. They have such a long life it's well worth the investment and sometimes I went a week without having to charge a battery. Great if you're not always staying somewhere with good power outlets.

just bought a new camera and did the exact same thing- got a spare battery- in preparation for trip to india and china!

by **thetravelingbee** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:25 am

I'll join in and agree with those recommending Canon. I've had a Canon PowerShot S50 for over 4 years now and it's been a GREAT point & shoot - plus it has a lot of manual settings so I can play with it. I have a DSLR camera as well, but I always keep my PowerShot around.

by **Alpine_Resort** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 2:39 pm

I had a canon sr1 (the new version is sr3 I think) before I upgraded to the dslr canon xti and loved it. It has the 12x optical zoom which is really nice, a great macro setting and all the manual settings make it very versatile. I had the first canon for 3 years, took LOTS of photos with it and now my daughter is really enjoying it. It takes better pictures than the pentax I mentioned earlier but is bigger and bulkier and not waterproof.
I will be taking the dslr on my trip to Peru along with the pentax for those times when a big camera is not convenient.

by **Sierra_Travels** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 3:58 am

I have a Canon PowerShot S3, which, while not a "pocket" camera is a pretty versatile digital camera (Think the most recent model is the S5; around $250).

My "pocket" camera is a Canon PowerShot A570IS; I really like its ease of use etc. Plus it uses the same 1GB memory cards as my S3, which makes it super easy for me. (about $145).

Both of these run on AA batteries.

Best Point and Shoot to take

Best Point and Shoot to take

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