Help me pick a $120-160 Point and Shoot by tomorrow?

[Raswan]

Hey guys,

I'm trying to pick out an anniversary gift for my girlfriend, and she's been mentioning that she wants a digital camera over the last 6 months. I don't know jack about cameras, and she knows less, so I appreciate the help. I read the guide provided here, but the recommendations he provided were all out of stock (given that they were 2009, I wasn't surprised).

My budget is relatively small--I'd like to stick to something under $175.00 at the absolute most, but if a quality, user-friendly camera can be had for $125.00, in all honesty she's going to be just as happy. And so will I. Looking for something that:

a) Has a good track record and is going to last
b) Is easy to use for someone with ridiculously small hands (her, not me)
c) I can buy online (newegg, frys, tigerdirect, amazon) so that it gets here by Sunday (I realize this also puts me in a time-crunch. I need to order Tuesday morning, what with Thanksgiving)

Here are my initial thoughts. Feel free to critique and suggest others:

Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS Black 14.1 MP 2.7" 230K LCD 4X Optical Zoom 28mm Wide Angle Digital Camera

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16830120426

SONY Cyber-shot DSC-W330 Black 14.1 MP 3.0" 230K pixels LCD 4X Optical Zoom 26mm Wide Angle Digital Camera

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16830179298

SAMSUNG TL105 Silver 12.2 MP 2.7" 230K LCD 4X Optical Zoom 27.5mm Wide Angle Digital Camera

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16830144302

Nikon COOLPIX S4000 Pink 12.0 MP 3.0" 460K Anti-reflection Coating Touch LCD 4X Optical Zoom 27mm Wide Angle Digital Camera

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16830113249

 

[Raswan]

bump

 

[mvbighead]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16830180291

Can't comment on all the ones you mentioned, but my wife has had a 7.2 MP Sony that she liked. It took a dip in the ocean, and got replaced with something similar to the link above. She likes it a lot better. Fits your price point, excellent quality pictures, pretty darned good optical zoom, a Leica lens that seems to make a lot of people happy.

Not saying it's the best, but it's pretty darned good in our opinion. Also takes SD cards so you don't need the duo pro crap that some other cameras require.

 

[Raswan]

That's not a bad-looking camera mvbighead. Thanks for the tip. I'll put it on the short list.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

I have to guess that the more seasoned people around here will say that you get what you pay for in PaS cameras. I tend to agree.

I'm biased towards Canon and Nikon products. The other two should also be fine though. I never have liked Samsung though.

What features do you want? That's pretty much what should make your decsion. I used to just pick the one with the greatest zoom for the price range I was looking. Looks like you are going after 4x zoom though. I'm an SLR guy now though.

For a girl, pink a pink one. The Nikon. She won't know the difference but she will think it is cute.

 

[Raswan]

bump

 

[Raswan]

Thanks again mv. Went ahead and ordered that one you suggested with an 8 gig sdhc for 159 shipped, should be here Saturday. Thanks for the help, and you as well ihatemyjob--would have gone for the nikon, but the extra 4x optical zoom and ten dollar price difference put me over the top.

 

[slashbinslashbash]

That one ought to be pretty good -- I go Canon and Panasonic for P&S's. Nikon kind of dropped out of the competition in the P&S market years ago... they've picked up their efforts lately, but IMO Canon/Panny are still the default choices.

 

[Raswan]

Thanks for the reinforcement. Not knowing anything, the Nikon was looking pretty good, but I think she'll really like the Panasonic.

 

[alrocky]

Don't think the Lumix DMC-FH20 has a Leica lens. Almost bought it yesterday at Fry's Black Friday sale for $100 but couldn't decide if Costo's version with a 2gb card, case and 90 day return @ $140 was a better deal.

Might bump up to a Lumix FP3 @ $160 or a Lumix ZS6 @ $220 (next month).

 

[angry hampster]

Picked up a Canon A3100IS at Target this morning for $90. VERY good deal on a great compact P&S.

 

[alkemyst]

not a terrible camera but it's around $100 or so everywhere.

 

[yhelothar]

What's the difference between a $70 P&S and a $180 one? They seem to have identical features.
Same sensor size.. same zoom lens, etc...?

 

[ElFenix]

What's the difference between a $70 P&S and a $180 one? They seem to have identical features.
Same sensor size.. same zoom lens, etc...?

cheaper ones tend to be made of plastic. more expensive ones tend to have better screens, and some add on gee-whiz features which may or may not be useful to anyone.

 

[angry hampster]

cheaper ones tend to be made of plastic. more expensive ones tend to have better screens, and some add on gee-whiz features which may or may not be useful to anyone.

Not to mention the ability to focus in low light, having sensors that can take reasonable photos at higher sensitivity levels, faster continuous shutters, etc..

 

[angry hampster]

not a terrible camera but it's around $100 or so everywhere.

Hrm...apparently EVERYONE dropped their price on it to $90 overnight. Checked earlier and it was $130-140.

 

[ElFenix]

Not to mention the ability to focus in low light, having sensors that can take reasonable photos at higher sensitivity levels, faster continuous shutters, etc..

only a couple have sensors that are notably larger than the others. practically every pocket cam has a 1/2.33" sensor these days. continuous and particularly movie mode do differentiate the cheapies from the more expensive models, although the better modes and gee whiz features seem to be on the $200+ models, plastic bodies on the sub-$100 models.

 

[jpeyton]

I came across a Canon SD980IS at Target on clearance for $125. It was an impulse purchase, but after coming home, reading reviews and comparing test images, I found it to be quite a stunner.

For example, here is Imaging Resource's standard test image at base ISO:

SD1400IS

SD4000IS

SD980IS

The SD980IS is the best of the lot in terms of fine detail, and I think it has a lot to do with Canon using very heavy-handed noise-reduction in their newer consumer-level digicams (the S95 and G12 being the notable exceptions).

 

[yhelothar]

only a couple have sensors that are notably larger than the others. practically every pocket cam has a 1/2.33" sensor these days. continuous and particularly movie mode do differentiate the cheapies from the more expensive models, although the better modes and gee whiz features seem to be on the $200+ models, plastic bodies on the sub-$100 models.

AKA pretty much identical for the average facebook snapshot whore GF where most pics displayed will be no larger than facebook's 0.3MP.

My advice would be to just get the prettiest looking cam for under $100.