Wow, absolutely overloaded with the options for a slim, fast, $200 P&S.

[fuzzybabybunny]

I've never been good at recommending general consumer level cameras. A friend wants a "small, slim, fast, takes good pics, and under $200" digicam.

I have no idea. I'd also like to add wide angle in the list too. By fast I assume she means fast bootup, focus, shutter lag, and shot to shot time.

Uhhhh.... I recommended her a Sony WX1

 

[shocksyde]

People ask me all the time for recommendations. If they're not asking about DSLRs from Nikon or Canon, I'm worthless.

 

[ElFenix]

are any of them fast? i guess some are slower than others.


anyway, no one ever got fired for recommending a canon (or a panasonic).

in general
nikon doesn't care about compact cameras
kodak has a century of experience making crappy cameras and they show no signs of changing
samsung isn't really there
sonys are nice
GE is rebadging crap they bought at fire sale in western china
casio has some very interesting products. maybe by fast s/he means many FPS. casio is the way to go there.
pentax is kinda meh for compacts
olympus has some nicely spec'ced compacts but i think they fall behind canosonic in IQ.

 

[radioouman]

Fuji used to make some really nice P&S cameras a few years ago. The F series cameras come to mind. I have no idea what they are doing now.

 

[BigSmooth]

You forgot Fuji - they had a couple of big hits with the F30 and F31fd back in the day because they had low-light performance well ahead of their time. The competition has largely caught up in that regard but Fuji does still make some solid compacts. The F200EXR and then the F70EXR were both well received, and the just released F80EXR looks very interesting.

Edit: yeah, what he said ^^^

 

[ElFenix]

crap how did i forget fuji?

 

[Kaido]

Canon SD780. Same size as an iPhone, super portable & slim, and also takes great 720p video.

 

[randomlinh]

Canon SD780. Same size as an iPhone, super portable & slim, and also takes great 720p video.

wait what... same size as an iphone? the iphone is huge compared to this. at least, from the front anyway.

 

[randomlinh]

crap how did i forget fuji?

simple. they haven't done anything to stand out recently, heh

 

[slashbinslashbash]

wait what... same size as an iphone? the iphone is huge compared to this. at least, from the front anyway.

Yeah. The 780 is more comparable in size to a folded-up RAZR. If you set the camera upright and set the RAZR up on its side next to it, the comparison is:

SD780 is quite a bit narrower from left to right... if you look only at the "lid" or flip-up part of the RAZR, that's about the right dimension
Almost exactly the same height
SD780 is maybe a millimeter or two thicker, but it doesn't feel like it because of the rounded corners

 

[Kaido]

Yeah. The 780 is more comparable in size to a folded-up RAZR. If you set the camera upright and set the RAZR up on its side next to it, the comparison is:

SD780 is quite a bit narrower from left to right... if you look only at the "lid" or flip-up part of the RAZR, that's about the right dimension
Almost exactly the same height
SD780 is maybe a millimeter or two thicker, but it doesn't feel like it because of the rounded corners

I have an SX200. It's a brick compared to the SD780