Looking to get a camera - help!

[cpals]

So I've pretty much read through all the posts here and would like some more specific help from everyone.

Budget = around $350 or less
Types of pictures = day to day, vacations, special occassions, family photos, nature, etc

I've never owned my own camera, but have had access to high quality ones that my father gets from his work. I've played around with the Canon Rebel XT and it's awesome to use.

I've always liked taking pictures and have enjoyed capturing special moments and being the 'photographer' at special occassions... Christmas, Easter, Birthdays, etc. I'm getting married next year and thought it would be great to get a nice camera to get started with for the honeymoon and years to come.

I've looked at the Canon S3 IS and am leaning towards that pretty hard. I went to my local Best Buy tonight to check it out personally and the sales guy was trying to lean me towards this other sony one, which was about $50 cheaper and had 10 megapixel shots. How important is the difference between 6 and 10?

Also, last question... would it be best to wait until Black Friday or near Christmas??? Do these types of cameras usually go on sale? The cheapest I've seen the S3 was $350 on NewEgg.

Thanks!

 

[FilmCamera]

Megapixel isn't everything. You could print a 16x20 shot with that 6MP camera pretty easily...and most likely you won't be printing anything larger than 8x10 so you should be fine. I can print 20x24's from my Canon 20D no problem. Though with say a 10MP vs. 6MP you would be able to notice that the 10MP is better when printing larger, but not from a normal viewing distance.

The S3 IS is a good camera. Not as good as the dSLR's but for your budget you couldn't really get into many dSLR's, esp. ones that had lenses.

 

[Lalakai]

:heart: i'll qualify first by saying that i still use alot of film and when it comes down to it, still prefer my film cameras when doing hi quality work (weddings, etc.).

Yes also have couple digitals and some very important targets to shoot at when camera shopping: how comfortable does it feel in your hands, how well does the menu "logic" fit your thinking (ie, does it make sense to you, flow easily, or are you constantly trying to remember menu options), and how fast will it take a picture?? that last item is key if you're taking alot of impromptu shots; from powering the camera up and taking the shot, how long does it take? got my wife a camera for her birthday, and it takes extremely fast shots.

my advice to you: go to store with large selection, line up 3-8 cameras on counter and play with each one, see which ones fit the best. then look for speed of taking that first shot. then start looking at megapixels and such. most cameras are pretty similiar after you get past the "feel" part. good luck. if you want more info, send me pm.

my personal digital camera is older nikon 4500; steel frame, fully enclosed lens, and it can take alot of attachements (external flash, external lenses, slide copier, etc.). this is my field camera that can take 4 mp pics but i usually have it set on 1 mp

 

[keeleysam]

You could look into a used Canon Rebel 300D.

 

[HexiumVII]

You really can't get much better than the S3 for the price. It has pretty much everything and outstanding quality, and big zoom. Only thing is the flash tends to overexpose at times and has no external flash option. The G7 just came out but thats about 2x the price. The next real step is a DSLR, you can try find used ones, probably around $600ish for a kit. The next thing to consider is size. DSLRs are huge, which mean you'll only have them when you know you are going to take the pics. While the S3 is "Compact" its still too big to carry around everywhere, but more managable to say leave in your car or something.

 

[episodic]

Here is how I see it for 350$


Desire Long Zoom: Canon S3 or an S2 at a reduced price

Desire portability: Canon SD IS 800

Desire medium portability, flip screen for composing shots, outstanding picture: Canon A640

Desire low light capability: Fuji f30

Desire medium zoom and portability: Canon A710 zoom IS

 

[AndrewR]

Megapixels are becoming less and less important unless you need to do plenty of cropping of the picture before you print (and the mega zoom pretty much eliminates that). In fact, higher megapixel counts are becoming a detriment because they introduce a tremendous amount of noise when you're shooting in low light. I have a Sony compact with 7.2MP, and it's practically unusable in low light.

My in-laws just took a Canon S3 to Europe and absolutely loved it. By all accounts, it's a great camera and is Canon's 3rd stabilized mega-zoom so they've worked out most of the kinks at this point.

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: Lalakai
:heart: i'll qualify first by saying that i still use alot of film and when it comes down to it, still prefer my film cameras when doing hi quality work (weddings, etc.).

Yes also have couple digitals and some very important targets to shoot at when camera shopping: how comfortable does it feel in your hands, how well does the menu "logic" fit your thinking (ie, does it make sense to you, flow easily, or are you constantly trying to remember menu options), and how fast will it take a picture?? that last item is key if you're taking alot of impromptu shots; from powering the camera up and taking the shot, how long does it take? got my wife a camera for her birthday, and it takes extremely fast shots.

my advice to you: go to store with large selection, line up 3-8 cameras on counter and play with each one, see which ones fit the best. then look for speed of taking that first shot. then start looking at megapixels and such. most cameras are pretty similiar after you get past the "feel" part. good luck. if you want more info, send me pm.

my personal digital camera is older nikon 4500; steel frame, fully enclosed lens, and it can take alot of attachements (external flash, external lenses, slide copier, etc.). this is my field camera that can take 4 mp pics but i usually have it set on 1 mp

Stop living in the past. Memory is cheap.

 

[Lalakai]

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: Lalakai
:heart: i'll qualify first by saying that i still use alot of film and when it comes down to it, still prefer my film cameras when doing hi quality work (weddings, etc.).

Yes also have couple digitals and some very important targets to shoot at when camera shopping: how comfortable does it feel in your hands, how well does the menu "logic" fit your thinking (ie, does it make sense to you, flow easily, or are you constantly trying to remember menu options), and how fast will it take a picture?? that last item is key if you're taking alot of impromptu shots; from powering the camera up and taking the shot, how long does it take? got my wife a camera for her birthday, and it takes extremely fast shots.

my advice to you: go to store with large selection, line up 3-8 cameras on counter and play with each one, see which ones fit the best. then look for speed of taking that first shot. then start looking at megapixels and such. most cameras are pretty similiar after you get past the "feel" part. good luck. if you want more info, send me pm.

my personal digital camera is older nikon 4500; steel frame, fully enclosed lens, and it can take alot of attachements (external flash, external lenses, slide copier, etc.). this is my field camera that can take 4 mp pics but i usually have it set on 1 mp

Stop living in the past. Memory is cheap.

lol not about living the in past; it's about getting the pics i want and using the camera the way i need to. down to basics when i hit the shutter button i take the picture that instant, not a 10th or 100th of a second later as the camera calculates and adjusts. for the people who have taken..........and missed those rare perfect shots, "time" is everything.

the past eh? You're right. i still use my OM-1 when i'm out in extreme conditions, where i don't have to worry about batteries, memory cards, lcd cracking, battery covers breaking, etc.. Even with no batteries the camera will still take the pics. No school like old school.

 

[cpals]

Thanks for the info... I'm really thinking about the Canon S3.

 

[yhelothar]

Pentax *istDS
You really lose out on the colors and dynamic range when you get a point and shoot that uses a teeny tiny sensor. So why settle for a P&S when you can get a DSLR for the same price? IMO the Pentax is the best bang for the buck. It's the most feature rich, and has the best build quality, biggest viewfinder, etc.

 

[funboy6942]

If your thinking of the canon S3 STOP, go look up the panasonc FZ5, FZ 10, FZ20, FZ 30. A much much much better camera. I had the S2 and my FZ5 is a ton better as far as picture quality goes and taking pictures in focus most of the time. The only thing the S3 will spank the Panasonic FZ series on is video quality. Other then that the Panasonic wins in everything else.

Yes the Canon may take AA and the Pana has its own battery and chanrger but I get 300 shots on one charge vs 150 off the aa's and you can always buy extra batteries for the pana off ebay. I got 2 more so Im never with out having juice for it. I just cant stress enough for you to atleast check out reviews on the pana, you wont find a single bad one. I have had my FZ5 for over a year and taken well over 5000 shots with it without a lick of trouble. Just looking out for you. Im not just talking out my ass, I owned the S2 which is the same camera just less pixals, I have also owned a panasonic Fz3, fz 20, Canon A70, S200, Several Minoltas, HP's, and Olympus as well. Panasonic is the best one I have ever owned out of them all. So well in fact I havent a reason to get rid of the one I have now and if I do it will be for the Panasonic FZ30 with the manual focus ring and then that will prolly be it for me till it breaks.

Let me know which one may spark your intrest and I will be happy to look you up some good reviews. I dont mind, I sit here all day will my thumb up my ass so it will give me something to do.

 

[yhelothar]

I had the Panasonic FZ15 before I switched to my DSLR. The DSLR is just on a whole nother league. As I said, why go for the P&S when you can get the DSLR for the same price?

 

[cpals]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0
Pentax *istDS
You really lose out on the colors and dynamic range when you get a point and shoot that uses a teeny tiny sensor. So why settle for a P&S when you can get a DSLR for the same price? IMO the Pentax is the best bang for the buck. It's the most feature rich, and has the best build quality, biggest viewfinder, etc.

Comments?

I also would rather prefer not making this a huge investment and ending up buying $1000 in lenses and stuff. I'd like to be able to buy a camera and be able to use it out of the box for most of the typical things I would be shooting.

 

[funboy6942]

Originally posted by: cpals

Originally posted by: virtualgames0
Pentax *istDS
You really lose out on the colors and dynamic range when you get a point and shoot that uses a teeny tiny sensor. So why settle for a P&S when you can get a DSLR for the same price? IMO the Pentax is the best bang for the buck. It's the most feature rich, and has the best build quality, biggest viewfinder, etc.

Comments?

I also would rather prefer not making this a huge investment and ending up buying $1000 in lenses and stuff. I'd like to be able to buy a camera and be able to use it out of the box for most of the typical things I would be shooting.

Then I say the panasonic FZ series is what your loocking for. And if you want it to be one of the last cameras get the FZ30 that just come out. It cost a few buscks more but with its large CCD sensor, manual zoom, and updated CCD sensor over my FZ5 it will be the last one. Has 12x Optical zoom and can be a easy point and shoot and when you get experienced enough can be very demanding as well. I honestly dont think you will find a better one.

Review 1

Review 2

Review 3

And so you dont think I am being Bias Here are some reviews of the Canon S3 IS:

Review 1

Review 2

Review 3

Check out the review, check out some of the test shots and save them between the two. Most of thoes sites take the same shots under the same exact lighting. Look at them side by side between the Pana an the Canon and see for yourself which of the two looks like it takes the best. Pay attention in the reviews though on focus. I havent gone through and looked at the S2 IS but the S2 IS had big time troubles getting the auto focus right. A review between mine (FZ5) and the S2 was huge. Mine was 1 and 100 would be a out of focus where the canon was much larger in not getting the shot right. And if your going for quick grab and shoot its not going to help if it keeps getting the auto focus wrong and missing your shots. I sold my FZ3 and got the S2 IS and after less then a week sold the S2 and bought my FZ5.

Just wanting to point you in the right direction like I said since I have HANDS on experience with both cameras and I take a lot of pictures. Night, day, inside and out.

 

[cpals]

Thanks for all the help... I ended up purchasing the Canon S3 a few hours ago. I might have changed my mind if I had waited a while for the later input, but I think overall I'll be happy with it for a starter camera. If I end up liking photography more, I'll look into going with the better SLR cameras.

Also, funboy42, the FZ30 is around $500, which is out of my range, but looks like a great camera nonetheless.

Thanks again.

 

[funboy6942]

Originally posted by: cpals
Thanks for all the help... I ended up purchasing the Canon S3 a few hours ago. I might have changed my mind if I had waited a while for the later input, but I think overall I'll be happy with it for a starter camera. If I end up liking photography more, I'll look into going with the better SLR cameras.

Also, funboy42, the FZ30 is around $500, which is out of my range, but looks like a great camera nonetheless.

Thanks again.

Well you can always take it back and get the FZ5

Your welcome for the info. Just make sure to test the hell out of that camera under all kinds of situations and make sure its going to work for you. Liight a few candles and take some shots. Take some random shots and test out the focus. If anything I just cannot stress that enough for you always want to make sure you pick one that will focus correctly and take the shot you want at that moment. If it cant do that for thoes kinds of shots its only going to be useful half the time.

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0
I had the Panasonic FZ15 before I switched to my DSLR. The DSLR is just on a whole nother league. As I said, why go for the P&S when you can get the DSLR for the same price?

Why go P&S instead of DSLR? Smaller size, ability to get a huge focal range without multiple lenses, sealed unit instead of having to worry about dust, consumer interface (well, ok -- Rebels are consumer oriented). The first two are big, and at times I do miss my Sony F717. It is a great camera and takes some fantastic pictures, and it took care of most of my needs until I found areas where I wanted to the abilities of a DSLR, so I made the switch. Not everyone will find those areas (macro, fast primes, low light shooting) so will be perfectly happy with a P&S.

It's only us crazy idiots with too much cash to burn who need the DSLRs.