Disney Camera

[dcmprshn]

Hello all going to Disney in a month. Looking for suggestions on a camera to take along. The wife will be using it mostly. Important to her are fast reaction time when she pushes the shutter and point and shoot type. She would also like to be able to do movies. Important to me is just decent image. Does anyone have any suggestion that will fit the bill??
Have looked at a coolpix l110
s8100
Panasonic zs7

Thank You

 

[fotofreek]

I used to look at Steves-digicam for specific info on their reviews. Unfortunately the lower cost point-and-shoot cameras have considerable shutter lag time. From what I could find in the stats, the Canon G12 has one of the shortest shutter lag times and best low light capability of any point-and-shoot. It can be used fully automatic, and it also has a full range of adjustments for those with more photography know-how. It is definitely noit a camera you can slip into your pocket, however. It also costs in the $500 area.

I've seen pros carry a G series for a second camera while using high level DSLR's.

 

[ghwellsjr]

I love my Canon PowerShot SD1200IS. The IS stands for Image Stabilization. I would not buy a camera today without that. It takes 3 or 4 seconds from hitting the on button to taking a picture or about 2 seconds if it is alreay on which often times seems rather slow. It also takes great movies. I've had this several years so there may be more current models.

 

[fotofreek]

George - the problem I've had with all the consumer-grade cameras is the shutter lag time. This is not an issue when photgraphing a building or scenery. Trying to photograph a child or taking quick shots of people while traveling often ends up with missing the shot you wanted. Until the consumer grade digital cameras are made with larger sensors, that problem will persist. The same is true for low-light pix. Prior to the digital camera age I used only SLR's with either interchangable lense or zooms. What I miss most is the instant response of a high speed focal plane shutter when taking a picture. Although there are excellent DSLR's avialable today I just don't want to carry around that much camera when traveling. The best compromise I've found, so far, is the Canon G12. I'd rather have a smaller camera and a longer zoom, but the shorter shutter lag, better low light capability, and ability to use it either point-and-shoot or fully adjustable is what sold me. It does have image stabilization. You are right that this is a great feature. My hands aren't quite as steady as they were in the old Kodachrome ASA 10 days! It also takes movies.

 

[Bertil]

Try Panasonic Lumix LX3 or the newer LX5.They are fantastic cameras with Leica lenses.I often prefer my LX3 to my heavy Pentax K20 D.They also take very good movies.I suppose you know what Leica stands for?Canon G12 is great too but a lot bigger and heavier.
Bertil

 

[l_d_allan]

dcmprshn,

* What's your budget?
* How much experience with digital and/or film cameras?

I taught a short course on "Intro to Digital Photography" at a senior residence center last year. For the people who didn't already have a camera, we bought whatever at that time was on close-out at Sam's Club, which was a Panasonic Lumix point-n-shoot.

I'd owned two Lumix point-n-shoots before, and prefer Lumix for point-n-shoots. The close-out was about $80 as I recall, and I was impressed with it. It came with a copy of Corel PaintShop Photo Pro 12, as I recall.

This isn't really the best forum to ask about getting a point-n-shoot. You might consider also checking the forums at dpreview.com

 

[qwertydude]

I really like my Canon SX130IS. I go for battery compatibility among all my cameras, this means AA batteries. The nice thing is in a pinch you can always find AA batteries if the ones in the camera go, even alkalines will do if you just need to take a few pics, lithium AA's work great too as a backup. My main batteries are AA nimh, they take plenty of shots, actually more than comparable li-ion rechargeables in compact cameras as they're 2000 mah. Most li-ion's in compacts are only at most 1600 mah and buying spares costs a ton of money. Often when I go with friends somewhere they like to throw their cameras in the bag but when they go to take a picture they find out the camera is dead, and needs to charge for a couple hours. With mine I can always pop in a fresh set of easily available batteries.

The reason why I like my Canon SX130IS is that it is among the only in digital cameras that you can record HD video and the camera can focus and use the optical zoom while recording. It also records in stereo sound. Thus with optical image stabilization and large lens it makes it a very capable HD camcorder substitute. Picture quality is also excellent. Plus it's only $199 and shopping around you can find even lower prices. In my opinion it's one of the best deals in terms of bang for the buck and quality.

 

[fotofreek]

Qwertydude - Have you purchased the newer hybrid nimh batteries? Standard nimh batteries lose about 5% of their charge each week whereas the hybrids hold nearly all their charge for a year. Nice to be able to pick up your camera after many weeks of unuse and still have fully charged batteries ready to go. On most packages they are marked "ready to use."

You are right about standardizing on AA batteries. Unfortunately, the camera I really wanted has a proprietary battery, so I need to carry a spare or two when taking an extended trip.

 

[fish]

I use a DSLR (Nikon D90), but use a Panasonic ZS7 at jobsites. It has a great zoom range and super image quality. Battery runs down a little quick if you turn on the GPS full time. I saw it at Costco for $200, including a 2G card and case - an unbeatable deal. As it is on your list of cameras, you should know of its capabilities. Also one of the hottest selling cameras - check it out as #4 most popular at:
http://www.dcresource.com/

 

[ghwellsjr]

Your post, fish, just reminded me of something else. My camera came with a small capacity SD card but said that it will work with the latest really large cards. I bought a 4G card which worked fine with the camera but then discovered that it wouldn't work with any of my card readers. This includes several Canon printers that will print directly from memory cards, my deskTop computer, my really old PDAs, and, of course, my older Canon camera. That's when I learned that these newer SD cards are called SDHC (for High Capacity). So if you are in a similar situation, you might want to limit your purchase of new SD cards to the older style. I managed to find a 4G SD card made by Qmemory that works in all my equipment but it cost double what the 4G SDHC cards cost.