$200 Camera for a buddy of mine

[keith204]

A friend of mine is looking for a $200 camera. He doesn't need anything real fancy, just the best quality for $200. Do any of you have experience with a Point & Shoot camera in this price range?

He's not looking to go pro or anything, he (his wife) just had a baby so that's why they're looking to upgrade from their old camera.

Any ideas? Here's a Kodak he was looking at... looks pretty nice, actually looks like the Kodak version of the Canon S3IS. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5871631

What do you think?

 

[gendarmee]

Have a look at Canon PowerShot A720 IS
6X optical Zoom & 8MP. takes good pictures.

&
Also a look at Canon PowerShot SX100 IS
Based on the S series. 10X optical, 8MP.

 

[Big Mike]

I don't have much knowledge of all the different digi-cams (there are just so many of them).

When it comes to choosing one in a lower price range...I figure they are all pretty much the same...give or take.

Pick a few features that you like, or are more important than others....research which models you might consider...then just go into a store and pick the one that feels best to you.

I would probably avoid some of the more obscure brand names...but any of the main ones should be OK.

 

[CWA_JGEISINGER]

I had the 12MP sony cybershot and I thought it was pretty nice.

 

[deudeu]

I bought my sister the Fuji f50fd, mostly because it had pretty good reviews on dpreview. I played around with it for a while and i must say that it is a pretty good P&S. I was surprised to see how much you can do with this thing! And it deals pretty well with high ISO which is a plus when you take pictures inside.On the downside, it is not the easiest P&S to use out there.
Anyways, it can now be bought at B&H for about $200 and i strongly recommand it!

 

[paynetrain90]

Target sells some nice canon models for $200, 7mp and 12x optical zoom, its a nice camera.

 

[keith204]

Man a $200 budget sounds so nice. It's tempting to buy a Canon Powershot pocket-size, so I don't have to lug around my 20D or 40D with me to dinner with my wife, etc.

But then, $200 is halfway to a 580EX II, or 1/6 of the way to a Canon 24-70 2.8, or 1/9 of the way to a Canon 70-200 2.8 IS, or 1/18 of the way to the rumored next generation of the 5D

 

[RyanLilly]

My sister and my uncle both have the canon PowerShot A560, and they both love it. Not much as far as manual control, but thats par for a $150 P&S. pretty fast at the wide end at f/2.6, and not too slow at the long end at 5.5. Overall its small, has good battery life(rechargeable also), takes good pictures. I think you can find it for about $129.

Hey Keith you and I have the same shopping list! Everything you want is on my wish-list at B&H.

 

[Battou]

As said by Big Mike, there are so many to choose from, your friend is definately going to want some idea as to what he wants out of it.

he should figure that out and go from there. Canon, Nikon, Kodak and Fuji all make something that should fit the bill, with Sonys growing popularity they should prolly not be counted out either.

 

[Dao]

For a new born, I think find a P&S camera that has a fast response. I have couple old Sony P&S and they were pretty slow. (maybe there is a improvement in the newer models) It take a while to get ready after you turn on the power button. Later I got a Casio, yes Casio. I was never thought I would buy Casio brand for camera until I read the reviews in DPReview.

It is pretty fast camera. From power on to ready for taking pictures and between shots, it works pretty fast. At that time, besides easy to use, take good pictures and good battery life, speed is very important to me since my daughter was born at that time.

You never know when you will have a special moment. And trust me that moment won't last long.

 

[keith204]

For a new born, I think find a P&S camera that has a fast response. I have couple old Sony P&S and they were pretty slow. (maybe there is a improvement in the newer models) It take a while to get ready after you turn on the power button. Later I got a Casio, yes Casio. I was never thought I would buy Casio brand for camera until I read the reviews in DPReview.

It is pretty fast camera. From power on to ready for taking pictures and between shots, it works pretty fast. At that time, besides easy to use, take good pictures and good battery life, speed is very important to me since my daughter was born at that time.

You never know when you will have a special moment. And trust me that moment won't last long.

Good point. It would probably be best to take in a SD card to walmart, hook it up to the Kodak he is wanting, and take a few shots to see how responsive the camera is.

Here's a question.... are P&S cameras the same as DSLRs in a sense that more pixels would likely mean more noise? I am unfamiliar with the sensor technology inside P&S cameras. In other words, I think a 7 MP camera would suffice, and 12 megapixels packed on such a small sensor would heavily contribute to more noise. Does it work this way with P&S cameras?

 

[asfixiate]

Am I the only one who actually likes Kodak Easy share? For 120 bucks at Best Buy takes pretty decent photos.

 

[Easy_Target]

The new Nikon Coolpix S210, retails for $180. The tech specs look good, I'm planning on getting one myself.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08012902nikons210.asp#specs