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QUESTION: I need to replace my old camera. It's pretty old, but was a fairly good one when purchased seven years ago. I have a Nikon Coolpix E5700. It is a 5 megapixel (mp), but it's so slow! The big problem is the lens is stuck. In any case, I've been looking at cameras and need some thoughts on the matter from other folks. I wish I could afford even a used DSLR, but that isn't possible at this instant, and I don't want to wait and miss all my four-month-old's growing. So what camera would you recommend? I've been looking at the FujiFilm S1800 which is well within my immediate budget. My concern is whether it will give me as good pictures as my old Nikon. Any thoughts on the subject or recommended cameras? Thanks!
ANSWER: These are the cameras that I have been using over the past few years.
Kodak Easy Share Z980 which I've had for a couple of years and it really works great. The zoom is a 24x Optical zoom which goes from 26mm to 624mm. Really super close-ups. I also have an Olympus E600 DLSR which I just bought a few months ago. It has two lenses which are from 14mm to about 40mm, and from 40mm to 150mm. I get really nice close-ups, but not as close as the Kodak Z980. I bought both of them from QVC and used their easy pay plan and paid them off over four or five payments, interest free. I just made my last payment on the Olympus, so it's officially mine. Woo-hoo! Eventually, I will be getting another lens with more zoom range. They are very expensive, so it will be awhile before I buy one.
ANSWER: I've been happy with the two Sony Cybershots I used over the past eight years. When I buy my daughters a point-and-shoot for Christmas, I'm probably getting another Cybershot.
ANSWER: I saw you are in Germany, which is good for me. I can give you the European model number! Some years ago, I bought a Panasonic DMC-TZ7. I have two big digital cameras (DSLRs), but wanted something smaller to always carry in my purse. I love the DMC-TZ7! It has a powerful zoom, wide angle lens, and lots of good programs! Now, however, I've given it to my husband and bought the latest version - the Panasonic DMC-TZ10. It has an even better zoom, better wide angle, and GPS! My mother-in-law loved my TZ7, so we bought her the model in between my two - the DMC-TZ8. She carries it with her everywhere and uses it almost every day! I think that is rather impressive, considering she's turning 80 in March! My "American mom" was also very impressed with my Lumix, so she went out and bought the American equivalent (DMC-ZS7)! Now, my mother and sister are both putting this camera on their Christmas wish lists!
ANSWER: I have a DSLR, which I love, but it is not easy to tote around. I had given my Canon G12 to my son recently, as he has sole custody of his five boys and didn't have a camera (which means I get more pics of my grandsons that way). But as much as I love my Canon 500D, it is not always easy to take along. Recently, I had a business trip to Washington, D.C., and left the camera at home due to trying to lug it through airport with my luggage and laptop. I was horrified when I found myself downtown D.C., on the mall with all of those wonderful buildings and monuments – but without a camera!
So I just ordered the Canon Powershot S95 - quite a small camera, loaded with features. Due to the large aperture, it is quite capable in unlit places and has several advanced features. In my research of point-and-shoot cameras, there is such a large choice out there, and they keep getting better and cost less. You can't go wrong with any of the mid- to high-end range. I am not sure what your budget is, but I would be confident with any of the Nikons or Canons out there, as well as the others mentioned above. There is a large market out there, that is for sure!
ANSWER: My small camera for my purse is the Canon S90. It has a fast (wide aperture) lens which is great for capturing kids and pets in low light. You can really be creative with this little camera - sometimes I just use the built-in point-and-shoot modes, and other times I use the advanced features. I shoot in JPG and RAW so that was an important feature to me. Quality of pics is excellent. There are a few annoyances - it's a bit sluggish when snapping one pic to the next and there is no grip to hang onto, plus the pop-up flash is not in the best spot.
ORIGINAL POSTER'S RESPONSE: Thanks, everyone. Although the more I study this out, the harder it is to decide. When I take it down to picture quality, I find that I am only really happy with DSLR quality... unfortunately, that's out of my budget! So which of the others do I run with? One of these days I'll figure it out and then I'll let you all know what I chose! Thanks again for your input!
ANSWER: After talking to the saleslady at Best Buy and reading some reviews online, I decided to get the Fujifilm FinePix (in raspberry! My girls will love that!). I'm excited, even though I'm getting it for my girls. I'm not sure I'll be able to hide it away until Christmas.
ANSWER: I bought a Fuji FinePix about a year ago when I was looking for a small camera to carry in my purse. We were looking at Sony's and the clerk showed me the Fuji because he thought it was a great buy. I have to say I love it, and it is waterproof.
QUESTION: I am thinking (again) of investing in a point-and-shoot. The camera I have now, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50, is just more than I need. I bought it three or four years ago because it had all the settings of a manual or DSLR camera (shutter speed, aperture, etc.), and I wanted to learn to take really great pictures, take a photography class, etc. But I have just never found the time. It's kind of big and heavy, and I am reluctant to take it places like the beach or the park for fear it will get damaged (considering how expensive it was). My Panasonic is a 10.1 MP with 12x optical zoom. When I import the pictures into Photoshop Elements, they are usually some ridiculous size, like 50x30 at 72 dpi. Even when I resize to 300 dpi, the pics are still 9x12 or something like that.
So finally, the question. How many megapixels in a point-and-shoot do I need to get digital scrapbooking-quality pictures? I would like occasionally to use larger pics (8x10 or a full 12x12), but most of the time, I use 4x6. I don't exactly understand the correlation between megapixels and dpi, other than "bigger is better." But how big is big enough without being too big? Then, of course, what camera should I pick?
ANSWER: I would say you could probably get by with 7 MP for scrapping and for the occasional 8x10. The problem is finding current cameras with that low of a capability.
I have a Kodak similar to your Panasonic Lumix with more controls, similar zoom, and 10 MP. I love it, but I decided to buy a point-and-shoot to be able to carry in my pocket when I'm out walking or in my sporran when I'm in my pipeband uniform. I did get a 10 megapixel, mostly because I wanted more than 3x zoom, and the 5x zoom or greater were all 10 MP or greater. I have since purchased a DSLR that is 12 MP. I use all three cameras.
ANSWER: I don't know that you'll find one with less MP than what was mentioned above. I have a little one that I carry in my purse that is 6 MP, and I can scrap with the photos just fine. It is pretty old. I use my DSLR for most things, though. We gave a little camera to my son for Christmas last year which was 12 MP. It wasn't very expensive either. I find that sometimes, when I can't get as close as I'd like to something, it is really nice to be able to crop and still have a decent size left to work with. If the larger files are a bother for you, you can set the quality lower on any digital camera. I don't recommend it, though. Enjoy shopping for your new camera!
ANSWER: Getting a 10 MP is good. The large files are something separated from the number of MP and can be changed in any camera. I like having a tiny camera on hand to carry in pocket or purse; however, the size of the camera doesn't necessarily make it any less of a good instrument. I hope at some point you can have the time to learn more about your camera. It's a really good one.
ANSWER: I can't recall which professional said this, but he said actually 6 MP was fine for your normal picture taking, which means basically printing out mostly 4x6 pics. So I guess it depends on what your style of scrapping is. Do you zoom in a lot and need more MP? That would probably be a consideration. But I think most point-and-shoots are at least 8 MP or more anyway now.
QUESTION: I have a Canon XS Rebel that I love. I haven't played with it and learned enough about it. I have an extra lens that is 75-300 and the lens that came with it 18-55. I want to buy a lens that lets you zoom in and get a close-up of a flower. I know I can do macro, and I love my macro, but I want to not have to get close all the time and instead to use the lens to zoom in. What kind of lens am I looking for? Thanks for any help!
ANSWER: I have the Canon 60mm macro lens. It is not a zoom lens, but a fixed lens. Not only does it do great macro shots, but I love it for portraits and landscape, too. It's hard to get used to moving around to get the shot instead of just turning the barrel of a lens, but I'm really happy with this lens. It has the best sharpness of any of my lenses. For the recent worldwide photowalk, this was the lens I used exclusively and am very glad I did. It's become my new walk-around lens.
ANSWER: I like the above suggestion (in fact, I just added that lens to my Amazon wish list!), but I'm going to throw another one out here for you, too.
There's a lens called the Nifty Fifty. It's usually right around $100, so it's a great lens to "splurge" on. It's a 50mm, f1.8. It's great for close-ups of flowers or insects, because that f-stop of 1.8 can give you some amazing bokeh! (For our readers who aren't familiar with that term, bokeh is the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light. It's the intentional blurriness that occurs in backgrounds while the foreground image is in focus.) I used this 50mm lens to learn how to shoot in full manual mode, and since it's fixed, it made it so easy. This lens was on my camera and never removed for almost two years. I made it my "walk-around" lens.
ORIGINAL POSTER'S RESPONSE: Oh, wow, thank you guys so much for your input. I think it is a good thing! Now I need more stuff. I can't wait to check these out.
ANSWER: I was really happy to see this thread. I recently purchased a Canon Rebel XSi, and it came with just the 18-55mm lens. I remembered reading about the Nifty Fifty, but didn't really pay attention to what it was all about because I didn't have a DSLR at the time. Thanks! I love doing macro.
ANSWER: If you don't mind using "independent" manufacturer lenses, take a look at the Tamron 90mm f2.8 SP AF Di Macro 1:1 or the Tokina AF 100mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro D macro. Both are excellent lenses, but they are a little pricey. They both make superb portrait lenses, too!
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