My trusty Canon Powershot Elph has died. May she rest in peace. Now after the obligatory mourning period, I have decided its time to buy a new one. Here's what I'm considering.
Canon Powershot S95 $369
Pros:
Takes pictures in low light without flash
Allows for manual adjustments
Small, Portable
Image Stabalizer
HDMI Connection
Cons:
For a little bit more money, I could get an SLR.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 $399
Pros:
Large lens allows for better zoom, color saturation, and better soft-focused background shots.
Can attach other lens to camera
High Quality HD Videos
Light and easy to carry around
Full Manual Control
Cons:
For $399 on Amazon, plus shipping, this is getting dangerously close to SLR territory.
Nikon Coolpix S8100 $228
Pros:Huge high resolution photo display on the camera
High zoom lens
Fast pictures (up to 5 frames per second)
Subject tracking helps take moving shots better
Some great Night/Dark light (automatic) photo settings
Best bargain
Cons:
Doesn't allow for any manual settings as far as I can tell.
Leica D-LUX 5 $799
Pros:Manual option as well as full suite of automatic photo settings
Classic Leica design (not sure if this a perk I care about, but it's all over every review I read)
Good low light photos
Comes with a free Adobe Lightshop download
High quality video
Cons:
Video quality is less than all the others, though still HD.
Cost! At $799, there is a whole host of SLR's with automatic features available.
Canon EOS Rebel XS $489
Pros:
SLR camera at a decent price point.
Noise-free picture taking
Cons:
Price
Photo quality is lesser than some of the digitals
Nikon D3000 $589
Pros: Fully functional SLR
6 auto modes
Guide Mode helps you learn to use the camera
Fast picture taking (eliminates shutter lag)
In-camera photo editing
Auto-focus
Cons:
At $589, it's not much less than the D3100 which takes much high quality photos.
Less megapixels a lot of point and shoots
What are your thoughts? Did I miss anything really good out there?
I'm looking for something that will take great pictures, but doesn't cost a fortune and is fairly easy to lug around the city in my purse. I used to know how to use an SLR camera in high school, but I'd have to relearn again, so that's a definite disadvantage to the SLR's. But photo quality is a major, major, major plus.
So many things to think about... I'm going to head to B&H this weekend and if see if one of those camera geeks can't teach me a thing or two and help me decide.
im loving the blog amanda
ReplyDeleteI got 2 new cameras this year. I have the Nikon D3100 and love it. I also have a Sony Cybershot. It's also amazing! It has 12.1 mega pixels, 4x zoom (not sure if you're looking for more zoom or not), HD video, is super lightweight and only costs a little over $100 (found it online). It's something to look at since it's super cheap and all of my photos come out beautiful. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Melissa. I have to check out this Sony Cybershot. I know that it's best to have both an SLR and a digital one because you can't always lug an SLR around, but I just didn't think a good one was in my budget. Now I will definitely be considering both. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome!! Good luck on your hunt! And I love your blog! :)
ReplyDeleteI just got a Canon Rebel, and I will never go back to a point and shoot ever again. DSLR's are great cameras, but you have to be willing to put in some work to know how to use it if you want to get your money out of it. If not, it's really just a glorified point and shoot!
ReplyDeleteThanks! You're completely right. I realized I have a lot to learn, so I'm going with a high tech point and shoot with manual functionality so I can figure it out and then in a few months once I actually know what features matter to me, than I will get a DSLR.
ReplyDelete