i need digital camera shopping help… at connecting*the*dots

quick thought... May 7th, 2007 - 7:41PM

My Sony Cybershot DSC-S85 circa 2002 still works like a charm, but I’m looking for an upgrade along a few lines — better mega pixel resolution (my Sony tops out @ 4.1), solid zoom lens, streamlined design (I don’t want to lug around a large camera anymore), high quality video capture (if possible in low light) and any other top-notch features for a 2007 digital camera. I want to be able to pull it out of my pocket at a show or a party and take high quality pictures/video. Did I mention that my price range is ~$350? Any ideas?

Tags: personal, photography, Sony.

9 Responses to “i need digital camera shopping help…”

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1 jay May 7th, 2007 at 10:17 pm

something tells me you’re going to get a lot of opinions but since i’m here first…

i picked up a fuji finepix f30 and it’s awesome. mostly i got it for the low-light capabilities. is good.
2 sean coon May 7th, 2007 at 11:54 pm

thanks, jay. ok, i just checked out the fuji specs vs my current specs:

* 18.6x total zoom (3x optical, 6.2 digital) — sounds great, but my zoom knowledge is kinda shaky. is 3o x 6.2d good quality? w/ my current camera, i shy away from zooming at all because the pixelation becomes obvious, but my specs only pimp digital zoom as “Yes, smooth up to 2 x.” i’m guessing this camera would be a major improvement…

* 6.3 mp — i heard somewhere that mp isn’t the most important thing to look for, so is 6.3 good? and does that 2.2 mp boost from my current specs compensate for crappy zoom shots?

* small and compact, check

* great for low-light situations, check

* what about video? the amazon description has this:

…30 fps movie recording with monaural sound for capturing quick, digital video snippits…

30fps is good, but is monaural sound standard? i’d like to have decent quality sound for video. also, what do they mean by snippet? can you shoot as much video as there is free space on your memory card?

i’ll keep researching until i get some other suggestions…
3 Mikey May 8th, 2007 at 7:47 am

Check out the Canon PowerShot S3 IS. A very popular camera on Flickr
4 Ben Saren May 8th, 2007 at 1:53 pm

Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon Canon.

Oh, one last thing Sean, get a Canon.
5 Ben May 11th, 2007 at 2:13 pm

I can only recommend the two that have been recommended to me the most - The Fuji F31fd (update to the F30 mentioned above) and the Canon SD800 IS. Both in your price rage, the Canon @$350 and the Fuji for about $250. The Fuji is known for great low light / high ISO performance and image quality and also sports more manual controls and face detection technology.

The Canon has optical Image Stabilization, a nice wide-angle lens (if that is a concern), a longer zoom and more megapixels.

I’m having a tough time deciding between these myself. Part of me want the Canon ( I use a 20D most of the time) but I also love the ‘bang for the buck’ that the Fuji offers.

One thing to remember is that you might as well ignore any digital zoom figures, since as you said it just degrades image quality.

Hope this helps.
6 sean coon May 11th, 2007 at 3:00 pm

thanks, ben, that’s great info. i’m now leaning towards the the F31fd. i just want to make sure that the “video snippet” spec doesn’t mean i can’t record until the memory runs out. my sony lets me shoot 160×120 and 320×240 low end to my heart’s desire, but the high-end 320×240 setting only allows 16 seconds at a time…
7 Ben May 11th, 2007 at 4:05 pm

According to the review linked below, the clip length is only limited by the free space on the memory card.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilmf31fd/page7.asp
8 sean coon May 11th, 2007 at 4:12 pm

the video quality is pretty amazing.

based on jay and ben’s feedback, i’m going with the fuji F31fd.

thanks to everyone for the recommendations!