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Buying a new camera. Recommendations?
rocketshipready
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, I want to get a nice camera. Currently, I use a partially broken Canon SD780 that's about 3 years old, and has been in some pretty rough situations. I definitely like its results, but sometimes it feels a little lacking (mainly low-light situations, and for built-in artsy fartsy settings). I'm not quite sure what features I really NEED, but I would like good low light performance and video. Definitely not looking for a DSLR, but it doesn't necessarily have to be the smallest point-and-shoot. I'm not really sure about removable lenses either. I guess it might be good? Who knows. Any recommendations?
Note: I have a bunch of SDHC cards, so, it'd be nice to be able to use them
Note: I have a bunch of SDHC cards, so, it'd be nice to be able to use them
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The Olympus XZ-1 also looks really really good. For my needs, I'd pick it over the S100. It also does well in low light, but through a large aperture f/1.8 lens that doesn't close down a ton when you zoom in like the S100 and most other point and shoots do. It's higher ISO quality isn't as good as the S100, so light-wise it's a choice between a brighter lens or sensor/processor wizardry. It also features a selection of artsy settings. The XZ-1 loses in the video category, though, since it records in the motion JPG format.
I'd also recommend looking into the Panasonic Lumix LX5. It's right up there with the above two cameras, and when I was doing research just a few weeks ago on a point & shoot for someone who likes SLR cameras those were the three I narrowed things down to.
Would it be worth it to look at some of the non-SLR removable lens cameras? I suppose I wouldn't mind carrying around two lenses and a body so long as they weren't super bulky if it'd give me more options and better quality.
If you can give a precise budget it'll be much easier to give advice. Based on what you've said so far, the Canon S-series would be your best bet, followed by the G12 if you want a slightly better camera at the cost of portability followed distantly by some EVIL camera and a $1k+ set of lenses.
Size and cost, mostly. I'd much rather prefer something I can slip in and out of my pocket/hip pouch on my backpack. I had a D40 a while back, and just never used it because the Canon was so much more convenient. If you think you can convince me otherwise though, go for it. I'll certainly entertain them if a good argument is made, I just don't know enough to make that argument myself.
This is a good argument to not bother with anything with removable lenses.
I went nuts and read a ton of reviews and its probably one of the best rugged digital cameras on the market right now. I don't know what kind of stuff you're into, but this thing is a beast. I can take it anywhere.
That's a good point. I take it on camping trips/long cycling trips, so ruggedness would be pretty nice. I'd say it's a 60/40 split between outdoorsy use (including winter stuff) and casual use (like concerts, parties, etc). How's the quality compare to similar standard point and shoot cameras? Do you have too sacrifice for the extra durability?
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Lumix+DMC-TS3&f=hp
It has burst mode, HDR, and all sorts of other neat adjustable features.
My wife just got that exact same camera. We wanted the ruggedness so we wouldn't have to worry about dropping it, or about it getting damaged if we take it to the beach or something.
It's a good reliable camera, but you're getting a little bit less camera-wise than you would for a non-rugged camera, and it's certainly not as capable as the S100 or the XZ-1, just capability-wise. The rugged Panasonic is a lot cheaper than those, though.
It's impossible to find a camera that will do every single thing great. You really have to figure out what features are most important to you. The rugged Panasonic will definitely be a lot safer to bring along camping, wouldn't be at as big a risk from falling while cycling, and would do better in wet outdoor cold weather activities. It won't be able to do cool flashless pictures in dark concerts like the S100 might be able to.
I have the pancake lens, I'd rather I'd bout the zoom lens to be honest.