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Need to buy a cheap camera Tomorrow

W

weiv0004

Senior member
Like the title says, I need to buy a decent quality/relatively low price digital camera tomorrow morning. I'm looking to get the most I can for around $200-250. Looking at the local sales flyers, these pop up:

Olympus Stylus 7.1 MP - Reg 249.99 on sale for $219.99

Panasonic Lumix (DMC-FX07R) 7.2 MP - Reg $349.99 on sale for $249.99

Canon Powershot (SD630) ELPH - Reg $299.99 on sale for $249.99

Samsung NV3 7.1 MP - Reg $279.99 on sale for $249.99

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W50 - Reg $229.99 on sale for $199.99

I'm leaning towards the Panasonic Lumix at this point, but they're all relatively similar. Suggestions? Anybody own any of these?


 
Unless you're buying a camera with Image Stabilization built in, the Fuji will decimate it in any low-light situations (indoors/nighttime).

And for fast action in less than perfect lighting, the Fuji will beat any P&S camera. You can take the best ISO 400 shot from any Canon/Sony/Panasonic P&S and compare it to the ISO 800 shot of the same scene from a Fuji F20, and the difference will be startling.
 
Well, my plans were delayed by a day. I didn't get out to by the camera until this afternoon. Unfortunately, most of the deals I was looking at yesterday, have ended by today. I spent a couple hours shopping around and found a couple deals I almost jumped on, I almost bought one of these:

Olympus SP 500 UZ

Which was an opened box clearance item at Ultimate Electronics for ~$300

I held out, and went to Best Buy, where a helpful employee and I spent about 2 hours testing different cameras inside/outside and comparing results on their computer inside. Nothing I saw really wowed me, but I ended up buying this:

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1

Which despite the low MP produced some stunning photos from the Best Buy Parking lot.

Now that I've gotten home and had a chance to check out some of the reviews, I fear I may have made the wrong choice! Apparently there are some definite set-backs to this camera. The battery is charging now so I've got my fingers crossed until I can check it out in detail for myself.

Anyone out there have one of these?
 
Originally posted by: weiv0004
Well, my plans were delayed by a day. I didn't get out to by the camera until this afternoon. Unfortunately, most of the deals I was looking at yesterday, have ended by today. I spent a couple hours shopping around and found a couple deals I almost jumped on, I almost bought one of these:

Olympus SP 500 UZ

Which was an opened box clearance item at Ultimate Electronics for ~$300

I held out, and went to Best Buy, where a helpful employee and I spent about 2 hours testing different cameras inside/outside and comparing results on their computer inside. Nothing I saw really wowed me, but I ended up buying this:

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1

Which despite the low MP produced some stunning photos from the Best Buy Parking lot.

Now that I've gotten home and had a chance to check out some of the reviews, I fear I may have made the wrong choice! Apparently there are some definite set-backs to this camera. The battery is charging now so I've got my fingers crossed until I can check it out in detail for myself.

Anyone out there have one of these?
Click to expand...

The TZ1 is a unique camera.

Things it has going for it:

10X Optical Zoom in a relatively compact body.

Optical Image Stabilization.

Solid build quality.

4:3 and 16:9 image and movie modes.

Zoom works while filming movies.

Great picture quality with good lighting.

Cons:

Try to keep the ISO speed as low as possible; Panasonics are a little noisier than other brands at high ISOs.
 
The Image Stabilization is what really tipped me towards this one, rather than running back to the other store for the Olympus. That and the fact that the BB kid spent so long helping me. Thanks for the tip on the ISO.
 
The IS really does help (especially at full zoom), and it's really hard to believe they crammed a 10x zoom in there; the thing is about the size of a Canon A540. It'll slide pretty easy into a coat pocket (something you can't really do with a Canon S3 or Sony H2).
 
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