Need a new digicam

Eric Chadwick

Looking for recommendations, if anyone has em.

My Canon PowerShot S50 was a decent point-n-shoot cam, but flimsy construction. Screws coming loose, etc. Dropped about a meter onto the pavement (inside a padded case), now just makes black pics.

Wishlist
• Fit in a pocket
• Great image quality
• >6MP
• >4x zoom
• Image stabilization
• Face recognition (focus)
• Low shutter lag/quick startup
• 640x480x30fps movies
• Water resistant a plus (waterproof would be awesome)


Panasonic TZ3 looks awesome, too bad the image noise is deal-killer. Even in full sun the noise is really there. Love the blue body.

Nikon Coolpix P5000 is looking good. Short in the zoom dept though.

Love that the Olympus Stylus 770 SW is shockproof (5ft) and waterproof (33ft). Too bad people report so many problems.

Maybe the Canon PowerShot A640, though I'm hesitant to go with Canon after that flimsy S50.

almighty_gir

i've never been a fan of the Canon powershot range, due to their size. if you want a "slide in pocket" job, i'd go for one of the Ixus range, cos they are the tits.

by far the absolute best, most powerful, and all round awsome camera though, is the Fuju F30 (although i think they've released a newer model now). it's got the best chipset for interpolation if you need digital zoom, its ISO range will allow you to take great shots in just about any lighting condition, usually without using the flash (added advantage = better colours in your shots, and longer battery life). it's slightly thicker than most cameras, but not noticably.
Fuji cameras have some of the best lenses in the small camera market too.

Nikon have been going downhill in compact cameras for years...

and i've never got on well with olympus haha.

ElysiumGX

Canons take the best images, but are easily broken.

If you want a waterproof camera that is durable, try the Pentax W series cameras.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Pentax/pentax_optiow30.asp

I personally own a Casio Exilim that has been dropped on pavement once from 5 feet, and still works (although most reviews commented on how fragile it is). It takes awesome videos, and accepts SDHC cards after a firmware upgrade.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Casio/casio_exs600.asp

EarthQuake

I've got a casio exilim too, the ex-s500, its great! Super tiny, i can take it anywhere and never even notice its in my pocket. The image quality isnt as good as some of the higher end ones but for its size i dont think you can beat it.

Emil Mujanovic

I have a Canon IXUS 500 and it has served me really well for the past 4 odd years (maybe longer). So I've been really happy with it. My parents recently picked up one of the newer IXUS models (I was sick of them always borrowing mine for months at a time and then not actually using it), but it has all the things you requested, though I'm not too sure on how it handles the water resistant/proof side of things.
Good luck finding one you're happy with.

-caseyjones

hawken

[ QUOTE ]

• Image stabilization
• Face recognition (focus)
• Low shutter lag/quick startup

[/ QUOTE ]

not aware of any cameras on the market that would give you these features together. Face recognition is painfully slow and anti blur is quite slow too.

Anyway, apart from expecting the earth, you could do well out of a Ricoh GR Digital. It's a fast professional point and shoot that also can use different lenses if you so wish. There's no face recognition or image stabilisation, however if you learn a few basics of how to shoot good pictures, you can make decent shots without these gimmicks anyway.

Eric Chadwick

Thanks guys.

The wish list is just some guidelines for my search. Haven't tried face recog, sounded good on paper. IS is a boon for a zoom lens though, seems impressive on my friend's cam.

CrazyButcher

my old ixus v2 broke down, but canon gave me a brand new model, no charge, eventhough warranty was gone years ago. Nice move canon! (then again one expects cameras that expensive to live longer)
it has face recognition, kinda neat, though I havent had time to use the camera extensively yet.

Eric Chadwick

Anyone tried the Sony line?

The DSC-T100 sounds great, though I wonder about the storage... Memory Stick Pro DUO.

The T200 adds a touchscreen but slower response time.

Joshua Stubbles

I have the DSC-H2. I absolutely love it. It's a bit large if you're looking for a pocket-cam though.

Eric Chadwick

OK, sprung for the Sony T-100.

A waterproof Pentax or Olympus woulda been a cool toy, but the image quality was too weak to seriously consider. Maybe when I get some extra dough to throw around.

Thanks for the ideas guys!