Picking Up a Canon S45 and Joined to Get Help!

[WillsGotDeals]

Hey everyone,

So today I joined these forums because for a while I've wanted to get into photography and now that I'm going to take the next step I figured this would be a great place to get some help!

I'm looking to spend under $100 on a Point and Shoot camera and I've been told by some avid photographers that I should look for a Canon S45. Apparently it's much better than the newer Point and Shoot cameras that come out these days and after seeing example pictures and reviews I believe it.

I'll also be purchasing a tripod along with the S45 but I figured that I would ask first if there was anything under $100 that is better than the S45. I assume there is no better place to ask a question like this than on a photography forum!

Thanks a lot guys and I look forward to getting more help with what I consider, to be the start of a great new hobby!

 

[Josh66]

Is that camera still in production?

I don't see it listed at B&H...

These are the digital cameras they have between $50 and $100:
Digital Cameras

From that selection, I think I would go with the Fuji J20, personally.
Fujifilm - FinePix J20 Digital Camera (Black) - 15931230 - B&H


EDIT
Did a search on Amazon ... most of the reviews are from 2002 and 2003, so I'm guessing it's out of production.
For what they were asking there for an 8 year old digital camera ... you could do much better for the same money with a new camera. The S45 actually costs $5 more on Amazon than the J20 I linked to does on B&H. And that's an old camera...

 

[WillsGotDeals]

Is that camera still in production?

I don't see it listed at B&H...

These are the digital cameras they have between $50 and $100:
Digital Cameras

From that selection, I think I would go with the Fuji J20, personally.
Fujifilm - FinePix J20 Digital Camera (Black) - 15931230 - B&H

I would be buying the S45 camera used.

I've heard that these days, MP is just a number that really doesn't mean much. Apparently a 4MP camera from years ago can produce better quality than some of the newer models.

This true?

 

[Josh66]

Well, I would say that there's a pretty significant difference between 4 and 10 MP...

That S45 uses proprietary NB-2L batteries ... those might be hard to find these days.
The one it comes with might still be good, but after so many years, who knows...?

The sensor is also physically much larger on newer cameras.

Here's the specs on the S45 for comparison:
Canon PowerShot S45 digital camera specifications: Digital Photography Review

 

[WillsGotDeals]

Well, I would say that there's a pretty significant difference between 4 and 10 MP...

That S45 uses proprietary NB-2L batteries ... those might be hard to find these days.
The one it comes with might still be good, but after so many years, who knows...?

The sensor is also physically much larger on newer cameras.

Here's the specs on the S45 for comparison:
Canon PowerShot S45 digital camera specifications: Digital Photography Review

After reading some reviews on the Fujifilm J20 it looks like a lot of people are saying that the camera is quite fragile and breaks fairly easily.

Seems like many point and shoot cameras these days have this problem.

 

[Josh66]

There are certainly other cameras to look at. That one just stood out to me.

I would just be a little leery buying something as old as the S45...

 

[KmH]

After reading some reviews on the Fujifilm J20 it looks like a lot of people are saying that the camera is quite fragile and breaks fairly easily.

Seems like many point and shoot cameras these days have this problem.

That's pretty common for low end consumer electronics.

$100 isn't going to get you a camera that will be able to produce high quality photos, but there is are fewer limits to the artistic possibilities.

Quality photographs have as much to do with the camera lens and the skill of the photographer than the actual camera.

With a cheap P&S camera you won't be getting a quality lens and the camera itself will have technical artistic limitations. For instance you won't be able to do shallow depth-of-field type photos or low noise low-light photos.

You can get lots of help here with the artistic side like composition and framing, once you get a camera.

Most members here seem to be more of the digital SLR, interchangeable lens type crowd, but just about everyone has a P&S. Mine is a Kodak C813.