Newbie Looking for a Good Compact

swampvet89 · Apr 19, 2013

Hi everyone, I'm new to the realm of serious photography and could really use some direction on purchasing a new camera. I'm heading to Italy in a few weeks for work and vacation and would like to get a good compact camera that has fairly nice features but wouldn't be a huge monetary loss if it ended up getting stolen or damaged while I'm overseas. I'm a bit spoiled by having access to a good Canon DSLR in the states but I'm completely lost when it comes to looking for a good point-and-shoot camera.

Ideally I'm looking for something that will above all give me a good picture quality (when will I spend three months in Sicily again), possibly take short video, and not be a total disaster for my wallet if it's the victim of some hiking or tourism incident. My upper price range is about $300-350USD

I've been looking at the Sony DSC WX-150 and a few various Canon Powershot models. I'm kind of sold on the features of the WX-150 but I wanted to get the opinion of some people who were much more knowledgeable than me. Thanks!

Juga · Apr 19, 2013

Perhaps you can look into renting a dslr and good lens combo. I have used lens giant and they had very good prices with discounts offered. Just a thought.

timor · Apr 19, 2013

You may also try Fuji Finepix F series like this:
Fujifilm announces F800EXR - 20x compact superzoom with Wi-Fi: Digital Photography Review
http://www.dpreview.com/news/2013/01/30/Fujifilm-announces-WIFi-enabled-F900EXR
More zoom and RAW format, but read it.

SquarePeg · Apr 19, 2013

I like my Sony DSCHX30V for when I need something that will fit in my pocket or purse. It has options for manual shooting and 20X optical zoom. You can really only use the 40X digital zoom feature if you have a tripod or other stabilization option at hand. Also has a panoramic feature which is nice for vacation shots. It has wifi to upload and share but that feature is spotty, IMO. So far it has been great outdoors and very good in low light. I paid $299 on sale Thanksgiving day w/ a case and 16 GB card included. When I just went to the Sony store to check the current price, I see that it and the DSCHX20V (same thing w/out wifi) have been discontinued - not sure if that means there are issues but I have not had any. BH Photo has it for $298.