Point and Shoot opinions

[Peach]

Ok, so I've been thinking: I'd love to carry my camera around with me all of the time for those 'spur of the moment' type pictures, right? But the darn thing is too big and heavy to lug around everywhere. So I've been thinking about getting a small and slim P&S. Anyone have any good suggestions on a decent one? I'm looking to pay <$200. I'm thinking between $0-$190 is about my price range, preferrably more towards the $0 lol

I'm not looking for anything bulky, or clumsy. Just something sleek and thin. Otherwise, I may as well lug my D40 around.

Thanks!

Edits: I know I said not over $200, but this one caught my eye:

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10085487&catid=#

Sony Cyber-Shot 7.2MP. It's $209 but it looks like a nice little camera; sleek and thin, good megapixels, aperture is in decent range..

Any thoughts on it?

[Nicole]

Moved this over to Digital Cameras so that it doesn't get lost since General Chat moves so fast.

The only thing I have against Sony is that they use their own memory sticks, so you can't necessarily get them as cheap as the more standard kind like SD. If you're just going to get one stick and well, stick with it, then it's not so much of an issue. But otherwise, it may be something to consider :)

[Peach]

Thanks for moving this, Nicole. I wasn't sure where to place it :)

I never thought about the memory stick thing. I use a thin little SD card for my D40 so maybe I should look at a different one. I'll go in to Future Shop this weekend and look at that camera and see if I like it and then decide.

:)

[Nicole]

If you already use SD cards, then it's probably good to get something else that will use the same card :) Plus the SD cards go on sale so often you can hardly go wrong :p

[glyphon]

i picked up the Fujifilm F20 (http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital_cameras/f/finepix_f20/index.html) last year for $150 for the purpose of taking on our honeymoon. i've actually been very happy with this camera.

Its small and light, and, takes great pictures even in low light and high ISO speeds (see image below). it doesn't have an optical viewfinder, but i've never had any problems seeing the image on the lcd screen, even on the beach.

Can't comment on any other compact cameras, as this is the only one that i've had. although, it only takes xD memory cards. If you want to stick with SD compatible, check out the Canon compacts.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdelamater99/2212922153/" title="DSCF9341 by jdelamater99, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2193/2212922153_cb77f571ed.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSCF9341" /></a>
Larger Size (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2193/2212922153_cb77f571ed_b.jpg)

Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/3.7
Focal Length: 14.1 mm
ISO Speed: 1600

[mattdm]

I second the recommendation for a Fujifilm F20, if you can still find one. Don't worry about the xD thing -- just figure another $20 into the price.

The newer Fujifilm models can take SD cards, but they cram more megapixels onto the sensor and so actually take a hit in image quality.

Alternately, if you're not concerned with low-light shooting, check out the Panasonic TZ series.

[Jamesc359]

I was initially turned off by my camera (It's an older Sony Cybershot) when I realized just how much more Memory Sticks were compared to their counterparts. But that has change quite a bit since then, there's still a minor discrepancy, but it's not really that bad.

I've got two newer 1GB Lexar sticks that I bought on sale for my camera, and I've never even needed the second one. Even on the highest quality, JPEG files are just so small that I can take 380-400 pictures on a single card. With a 7MP camera you should be able to fit 300+ photos on a 1GB card.

What I absolutely adore about my camera is just how rugged it is. I don't know about the newer Cybershots, but mine has an aluminum body. I've had it for quite a while now (Dec-2003) and the only noticeable sign of wear is where the FCC/Model info sticker on the bottom has started to wear off. It's certainly aging, but for an electronic device it's doing so very gracefully.

[mrodgers]

My sister-in-law has the Sony DSC-W55. I haven't seen any pics from it though. She seems to like it. She had a film SLR for a while, and has been through a few pocket digicams including some of the Canon Digital Elphs (SDxxx).

BUT..... I've given up completely on Sony. The reason? I've never seen so much remanufactured stuff come from other brands as I have seen with Sony. My opinion doesn't have anything to do with digital cameras, but with the Sony brand itself. Back in the early 90's, Sony was top quality stuff. I have the first Sony 10-disc CD player ever to have been released from back in 1991 or so. It's been in 6 different cars, was pretty much ripped apart in an accident and put back together by me, and I was heavily into 4wheeling and the thing still, at 17 years old, is rock solid and never skips, even when off-roading.

Though, every portable radio I've had experience with since the late 90's on has broken. I had an AM/FM CD head unit I bought and it broke within a couple of weeks. I know others who have spent quite a bit of money on their Sony Wega TV sets that have had the need for replacement more than once during the same duration I have had my Magnavox (bought in 1996 and it is still my main TV).

Before Christmas, I received my gift early from my wife. It was the Sony DSC-650, a cheaper camera. I had it a total of 4 days, had taken 175 shots with it, and not one of them was any good. I returned it and decided on something in a larger body as well and bought what I use now. I don't mean to compare a cheaper Sony $80 camera with that DSC-W55 talked of here, because the one I got was definitely a stripped down "It's cheap so consumers will jump on it" camera. I wouldn't judge the quality of the W55 by my experience with the one I had. I judge Sony only on my own experiences of the brand overall and on experiences that I know from others that has gone with Sony products.

Before returning that Sony, I had my eyes on replacing it with a Canon SD1000. If I removed all the junk from my wallet, it would literally fit in the slots where my credit cards, license, insurance cards, etc fit. It was literally, the same size as all my cards I carry in my wallet (total of 9 cards). I had read many reviews online about that little camera and all was very favorable. If I had not changed my mind on changing from a pocket size to the larger body that I did, I would have bought the Canon for sure. I've seen some very fantastic shots on forums from that camera as well.

My $0.02 worth, if it's worth that at all....

[Jamesc359]

I'm not a Sony fan boy. If anything I normally look down upon most of their products, with a few of their products garnering special disgust. *cough*<span style="color:#EFF0F4;" onmouseover="this.style.color='black';" onmouseout="this.style.color='#EFF0F4';">Playstation</span>*cough*

But my camera (http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/p10.html) has held up very well. So I can't bad mouth it!

[Peach]

I got majorly burned by Canon, so I am quite leery of buying another one (sister also got a crappy camera from them; same line - Powershot). I don't mine Sony, but I am open to most opinions. The only thing that matters is a) it has to be small. b) is has to be around $200 max (less is preferred) c) Has to be small.. oh wait, I said that already lol

I'll take a look at all of the suggestions offered here, who knows - I might be swayed into another Canon. :)