Canon Powershot A1000 IS - anything comparable in it's price range?

[MichaelD]

Newegg's got a nice combo pack for $200. (or just the cam for $180)

I need a new point and shoot digicam; I've had great luck with my Canon camcorders so I'm looking at Canon digicams.

The specs look decent enough; 10MP, 4x optical zoom, optical image stabilization. I take a large mix of indoor/outdoor pics and need something that will do well under both conditions with minimal fiddling. I.E. leave it on AUTO.

At the $200 pricepoint, is there anything better? Thanks for your assistance.

 

[996GT2]

Check out the Panasonic Lumix models; many offer better features at less than $180.

A good place to start looking is the Lumix LZ 10

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks 996GT2; I'll check that out now.

*edit*
The LZ10 has a 5x optical zoom and is smaller; that's a plus. Do you have the LZ10? How long have you had it? Thoughts?

 

[996GT2]

I had an LZ8 before I moved to DSLRs; it is the same as the LZ10, but is 8 MP and has a 32mm wide angle vs 30 (The A1000IS starts at 35mm, which isn't even really wide angle anymore).

The image quality was great (usable for 8x10 at ISO 400, ok for smaller prints at ISO 800), IS worked well, 5x zoom and 2.5 FPS burst mode were useful, and the full manual mode was definitely a plus. It also ran on AA batteries so I could just pop in a new $5 set of rechargeables if the batteries went out when I was on the go.

Prices on the LZ10 have actually stayed pretty constant, around $150-160. If you don't mind having 8 megapixels instead of 10, and losing 2mm on the wide angle end, then you can snatch an LZ8 for as low as $99 (it was $99 last time J&R had a sale about a week ago, so prices fluctuate with time).

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks for the details, 996GT2; that helps a bunch. I'll put the LZ10 on my short list and see what else pops up. Plus, I'm sure I can find better prices than Newegg has. Cheers. :beer:

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Your best bet yould be to check out camera review sites such as DCResource.com, Imaging-Resource.com, and DPReview.com.

The Sony W150 is good-looking sub-$200 digicam. From picture samples I've seen, it definitely has sharper, more saturated "out of the box" image quality than the Panny LZ10, and is also smaller. OTOH, Panasonic's auto scene recognition mode looks to be more feature-packed than the Sony's, plus Panny uses SD media whereas Sony uses Memory Stick.

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks, Flipped Gazelle. Sony makes great videocams, but having to use the memory stick in their digicams turns me off. I prefer the ubiquitous SD card; cheaper and more universal than the stick.

I will check out the websites you've suggested. I'm still looking around...havent' decided on a digicam yet.

 

[MichaelD]

It's done. I purchased a Panasonic LZ10 with a 4GB SDHC card. Link. I like the wide-angle lens; I take lots of group pictures at meetings and such and it will come in handy. CC's item price wasn't the lowest, but their shipping was. I.E. FREE. Got a case and some rechargable batts too. Should be great.

Thanks for the Lumix LZ10 suggestion, 996GT2. :thumbsup: