Inexpensive Point-&-Shoots that take bright, realistic photos?

[doxology]

hello...

I am an insurance inspector; and I rely heavily upon a decent digital camera...taking photos both inside & outside of buildings. I used to own a Samsung WB350F, which took bright, beautifully colored photos, both inside & outside. On auto mode, even when the sun was behind a building I was photographing, the shots were contrasted perfectly; & those that let in too much light could be easily manipulated in Photoshop or PSP to make them presentable in my reports. Inside...same thing...plenty of brightness...realistic colors.

Sadly...that camera died. I have been financially unstable of late; & so I went out & bought a Kodak PIXPRO FZ53. Absolute worst camera I ever owned. Every shot (inside & outside) is dark; and has a bluish tint. When brightened or otherwise manipulated, they come out blackish w/ a lot of grain. Changing to Scene mode for the exterior shots helps only marginally....forced flash on the interior produces grainy results.

So...I am DONE w/ this camera...but cannot afford another WB350F. My question is...is there a reasonably priced point & shoot on the market that takes bright, correctly contrasted outdoor (& indoor) photos...without having to mess around w/ ISO speeds & all of that...that I could go to right now (until I can afford another WB350F)?

Thanx,


dox

 

[SquarePeg]

iPhone

 

[Designer]

My question is...is there a reasonably priced point & shoot ..

What is your budget? What country?

 

[bratkinson]

Believe it or not, for 'casual' shooting, and I do this somewhat unwillingly, I second Squarepegs' suggestion of an iphone, or any recent model cell phone. You'll save a BUNDLE if you don't buy the latest greatest cellphone. Look around on Amazon or even Walmart websites for cell phones in your price range.

One of my non-computer-savvy friends had filled up their <whatever> brand cell phone with photos and asked for help. I brought over my laptop computer, plugged her micro-USB cell phone into my regular size USB port and the laptop saw it as a new device. A few seconds later, I had full access to the memory card in her phone and copied the photos to my laptop. I'll let her spend time deleting the couple hundred she doesn't want on her phone. A few minutes later, I copied it all to a USB thumb drive for her safe keeping. She also asked that I print some of them at home. Using only basic Lightroom functions such as white balance, exposure adjustment, cranking up the clarity and vibrance a smidge, a bit of sharpening and noise reduction, the printed photos from my Epson printer surprisingly sharp! Would the cell phone match what I can do with my DSLR in low light and dancing kids on stage? No. But I was stunned to see that even pictures with available light in a living room came out surprisingly sharp.

See for yourself - I did VERY little adjustment on this one, the border was added on her cell phone!

 

[480sparky]

'Pert near every entry-level P&S.

 

[doxology]

thanx for all the input...but cell phone cameras shoot at a closer perspective/depth-of-field. I've tried that; & all my shots look too close (especially bad shooting interior rooms, where one is unable to back up).

dox

 

[Designer]

thanx for all the input...but cell phone cameras shoot at a closer perspective/depth-of-field. I've tried that; & all my shots look too close (especially bad shooting interior rooms, where one is unable to back up).

dox

I don't understand the terms you used here. Your shots look "too close". To what are you referring, exactly? Can you post an example? Can you post your budget? Can you update your profile to indicate your country?

 

[480sparky]

thanx for all the input...but cell phone cameras shoot at a closer perspective/depth-of-field. I've tried that; & all my shots look too close (especially bad shooting interior rooms, where one is unable to back up).

dox

I don't understand the terms you used here. Your shots look "too close". To what are you referring, exactly? Can you post an example? Can you post your budget? Can you update your profile to indicate your country?

Using too short of a focal length and causing perpsective distortion by being too close to the subject.

 

[Destin]

thanx for all the input...but cell phone cameras shoot at a closer perspective/depth-of-field. I've tried that; & all my shots look too close (especially bad shooting interior rooms, where one is unable to back up).

dox

I don't understand the terms you used here. Your shots look "too close". To what are you referring, exactly? Can you post an example? Can you post your budget? Can you update your profile to indicate your country?

Using too short of a focal length and causing perpsective distortion by being too close to the subject.

No.. I think he’s saying the focal length is too long. Basing this on the “especially bad where I can’t back up in small rooms”

But most point and shoots don’t go any wider than an iPhone.. at least to my knowledge. The iPhone camera is actually pretty wide at 28mm FF equivalent.

 

[SquarePeg]

Most realtors and real estate photographers use something like a 11-16 or 12-24 on a dslr to get their indoor shots. If it was possible to get quality wide angle shots in poor lighting with a cheap point and shoot everyone would abandon their expensive gear. My iPhone suggestion was serious. It takes better photos than most point and shoots, in my experience.

 

[TonyBallas]

thanx for all the input...but cell phone cameras shoot at a closer perspective/depth-of-field. I've tried that; & all my shots look too close (especially bad shooting interior rooms, where one is unable to back up).

dox

Just for reference, they do make wide-angle lenses for phone cameras, believe it or not.
They are usually either clip on or magnetic, which there in is where I had a little trouble with them, if you have an Otter Box or similar protective case to protect your phone the clips and possibly the magnetic lenses are harder to use. What happens is , you have to be a little more careful to attach it and center them, since the clips never seemed to open up wide enough to attach over the Otterbox cases.

There must be a similar option out there that works for these cases, and I will try to look into it further since I have been using my iPhone on occasions and may be using it more often.

Just a thought and another option.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[KmH]

Consistently making high quality images is more a function of photographer knowledge and skill than it is what camera they use.
You were just lucky the camera you had did an acceptable job.

Or put another way, there really is no avoiding the need to learn how to do photography if you consistently need high quality images.
Inexpensive point & shoot cameras have very small image sensors, because small image sensors cost less to make. Unfortunately, small image sensors put limits on image quality.
Your need for "correctly contrasted" photographs is about how much dynamic range a scene has.

• Understanding Dynamic Range

When a scene has a broad dynamic range you have to make HDR images.
High-dynamic-range imaging - Wikipedia

I use a clip-on wide angle lens on my cell phone when I want that wider perspective.
I also use a camera app - Open Camera.
For an iPhone look at the $15 FiLMic Pro app.
All recommended by a variety of YouTube videos about how to make better cell phone images & video.

 

[flyin-lowe]

Several years ago I bought my elderly father a Panasonic FZ 200. It is f 2.8 which really helps if you are using it indoors in a lot of lower light situations. If you are almost always outside with decent light that is not as important. My 12 year old daughter is asking for a camera for X mas and I am considering this one for her as well, should be goot to get her started and my wife and I can use it indoors at some of the school events with poor lighting.