~$450-$500 Digital Camera suggestions?

[akwok]

Hello,

I am currently looking for a digital camera (I came from a Sony DSC-T1, and it took horrible pictures). I take a lot of indoor photos, and ocassionally outdoor photos. I was wondering what would be a good choice in the $450-$500 range.

I am currently looking at the
Canon Powershot S2 IS
Sony Cybershot DSC-H1
Nikon Coolpix 7900

The Canon and the Sony are a bit on the expensive side, but would it be a considerable difference over the Coolpix?

Thanks

[klam]

One of the best things that will help you shoot indoors is a camera that can handle high ISO. Point and shoots generally don't fare well, however one camera that gets rave reviews for its high ISO performance is Fuji's F10 (and successor F11).

The camera produces "reasonably" good high ISO (800, 1600) photos for a camera with such a small sensor.

However, some larger models from Canon or Nikon have a flash mount so that you can use more powerful flashes.

[Loco]

I was looking in the Sears flyer the last weekend and the big flyer showed the Canon SD450 elph for $500 - $50 = $450. The small weekend flyer showed it for $499 - $20 = $479. go figure. Anyhow, a cousin had this camera at the last gathering and it was quite impressive.

We have a Canon digital SLR, so we are not in that market.

[jamied]

I was looking in the Sears flyer the last weekend and the big flyer showed the Canon SD450 elph for $500 - $50 = $450.[...]

The Canon SD's are nice little cameras, but are not great for indoor photography. This is because their small size means they have a small lense which doesn't let a lot of light in (even wide open)which results in slower shutter speeds and an increased likelyhood of blur from camera movement, subject movement or both. Compounding the problem is the small flash mounted close to the lense which increases the likelyhood of red eye.. Having said this, I have to say they still take a decent picture.

I think your best bet might be a Canon, but one from the A-line like the A-610. I have an A-95 (and a 20D, but that's a different beast) and I'm consistently impressed with the pics from it.

www.dpreview.com is a great resource for researching digital cameras.

J.

[cheukiecfu]

The Canon SD's are nice little cameras, but are not great for indoor photography. This is because their small size means they have a small lense which doesn't let a lot of light in (even wide open)which results in slower shutter speeds and an increased likelyhood of blur from camera movement, subject movement or both. Compounding the problem is the small flash mounted close to the lense which increases the likelyhood of red eye.. Having said this, I have to say they still take a decent picture.
J.

i second that... buy the canon powershot sd series...
compact and take quality pics...
sd 450 should be pretty good...
i have a sd300..

[elephant]

I agree with your H1 choice:

- pop up flash, always better than non-pop ups
- image stabilizer
- 3:2 ratio shooting
- unlimited movie shooting mode
- flash level intensity adjustment
- of course, the H1's amazing 12x optical zoom
- 2.5" LCD display (its so much better than 1.5" or 2")


The other cameras do not have any of these functions. After using Canons and Sonys, I still prefer Sonys.

[Bordello]

At that price range, you can easily find a Canon SD550 on ebay. It's a great camera. I love mine.

[NiMSo]

One of the best things that will help you shoot indoors is a camera that can handle high ISO. Point and shoots generally don't fare well, however one camera that gets rave reviews for its high ISO performance is Fuji's F10 (and successor F11).

The camera produces "reasonably" good high ISO (800, 1600) photos for a camera with such a small sensor.

However, some larger models from Canon or Nikon have a flash mount so that you can use more powerful flashes.

The Fujifilm F10 is supposed to have really good low-noise performance, which is very helpful if you notice that your indoor shots are very noisy and blotchy. Also, it's pretty decent with 6.3MP and (it claims) 500 shots per fulll battery charge!

[fireguy9]

want a great camera,,, look up a fuji finepix 3800 or better,,,,, they are great deals on ebay for those. The 5100 is a good one too,,, I bought the 3800 last yr and got a rebate promo which included case, charger, batteries and a large memory card after rebate for $200 U.S and at the time the camera was a $500 camera with the memory card upgrade