Point & Shoot Cams

[Valerie]

I was wondering, what's a good brand and model for a point and shoot cam that produces good quality photos and has manual settings as well (such as the shutter speed)?

I used to have a Sony T1 but a lot of things in it are automatic and it's hard to capture still images and the flash and quality isn't that good either.

I'm looking for ones that procuce good quality photos that are close enough to SLRs (if there are such).

Sorry if I sound so noob-like. Lol.

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the Forum.

There are many P&S digi-cams that have manual control of exposure...although on most, it's hard or inconvenient to make those adjustments quickly. Check out www.dpreview.com they have specs for just about every digital camera.

There is a new Sony digi-cam that has a medium sized image sensor...but all other p&s digital cameras have small sensors. Digital SLR cameras have medium or full (35mm) sized sensors and that's what makes them so much better.

You can get a decent P&S, that can give you great pics in good conditions...but I don't think you can beat the versatility of a good SLR.

I suggest considering an entry level DSLR. They are getting cheaper and they are so, so much better than P&S digi-cams.

 

[danny]

If you don't want a DSLR, which I also recommend, try the Canon S2IS or a used S1IS. The produce really good photo's and can be set manually. Has image stabilization, and 10X optical zoom.

 

[shev]

Whats a bigger image sensor do opposed to a smaller one? is that the only difference between point and shoot and DSLR?


im also a noob trying to learn

 

[Big Mike]

A bigger sensor will produce less digital noise, that means cleaner & clearer images. The higher the ISO setting, the more noise...and a typical DSLR will give you a cleaner image at ISO 800 or ISO 1600 than a digital camera at ISO 200 or 400. That may not seem like much, but it's an easy way to gain a few stops of light...which would cost hundreds of dollars if we were talking lenses.

The cleaner images are also more suited to enlarging or cropping & editing. A photo from a 6MP DSLR will be better than an image from a typical 8MP digicam. Things can get noisy when they try to cram all those pixels onto a small sensor. Also, the best technology usually goes into DSLR cameras. The firmware, circuitry & buffer etc. are usually much better than what is in a digicam.

Besides that, an SLR camera has a real shutter...compared to most digicams that don't. This makes the shutter lag very fast on an DSLR...with most digicams, you press the button and it waits a half second to snap the photo...this drives me crazy. The trade off is that you can't see the image on the screen before you take the photo.

Interchangeable lenses. When you buy a digicam, you are stuck with the lens. If the technology advances, the whole camera falls behind and becomes obsolete (in a new technology sort of way). With a DSLR, you have to spend more money on different lenses, but at least you have the choice. You can buy some of the best lenses in the world, or one that meets your specific needs. The good thing about that, is that lenses hold their value...you can almost always use them on newer cameras...so you can upgrade the camera as technology advances and keep your investment in lenses.

 

[shev]

Wow thanks big mike. that was exactly what I was looking for.

Do all dslr cameras have replaceable lenses?

and one more thing... lets say I have a couple pretty old minolta lenses, could they possibly be attached to a newer minolta, or a different brand of camera?

 

[Big Mike]

I'm pretty sure that all major brand DSLR camera have interchangeable lenses.

I've had a quick look at the Minolta 5D http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Konica_Minolta/konicaminolta_5d.asp , and it says it will take "Minolta A-type bayonet mount" lenses. So if those are they type of lenses you have...there you go.