Compact Digital Camera Recommendation Help Needed

[dragoncoach]

Hi All. Well, our vacation is around the corner and I need some help with the purchase of a point and shoot digital camera. Here are some of the features I'm looking for:



6-8mp

2.5-3.0" LCD display

Easy to use, since we really just frame shoot and print

Decent battery life

Under $300

Pretty small size

Any other considerations/features you can suggest?



We were looking at Costco and the Nikons, Casios, Sony and Panasonic.

Any help or recommendations are GREATLY appreciated.



Thanks!

[mmmmark]

I'd highly recommend the Canon A720 IS. It can be had for under $250 but is a very nice overall camera. 8MP, Image Stabilization, multiple face focus. SD card

It can be completely automatic, but has lots of bells and whistles if you need them.

Be sure to buy rechargeable batteries. They rock!

All reviewers say this camera is excellent. There are only two very minor issues that I've seen:

1) recharge time between flash shots indoors is about 8-10 seconds. having said that, this camera allows MANY flash pictures before the battery gives out. Much more than other cameras I've had.

2) Even though the camera comes with a USB cord and includes software for managing photos (it's ok I guess).....it does not mount the camera on the desktop as a USB mass storage device. You can either use their software, another software solution, or get a card reader ($5)

[whizmo]

Another vote for Canons, the A-series in particular because it uses commonly-available and cheap AA batteries, which give you the option for disposable or rechargeable with backup batteries available in any convenience store. The drawback is the camera can't be really tiny and pocketable, but the A-series has a nice form factor the is easy to hold and use with lots of manual options. I've owned four A-series Canon's and even the first one I bought (an A5) takes perfect pictures after literally taking tens of thousands.

Image Stabilization (IS) does more to improve the batting average of good pictures in a casually-used camera than any other feature I know of.

But... for $300, it's virtually impossible to buy a bad digicam. The market is extremely competitive. So anything you get will work very, very well.

http://www.dpreview.com/

- Mark

[mmmmark]

Whizmo's right on. DPReview is a great resource.

If you want smaller cameras, there are many, but the one I referenced has a 6X zoom which is handy.

[LChisum]

I've gone through several point and shoot digitals lately. I would agree that you can't go wrong with Canon. With any camera the most critical element is the lens. I had a pocket size Canon SD with only 6.x megapixels, and I believe it produced the sharpest pictures in my experience, including the Sony 12 megapixel I have now with all its stabilization and face detection. I gave it to my daughter and wish I had it back!

Larry

[colorider]

Moved to Off-Topic..........

[Happydady]

I highly recommend the SD870, 8mp, 3" lcd. It is about $250 on amazon. I have SD800 (the previous model), 2.5" lcd and it takes awsome pictures. They both have the best feature are wide angle. Since I have thic feature, I don't want to go back to normal view

[rlapid]

i have to agree with the previous posters, canon would be the way to go. i'm not big on photography, but i've always relied on their digital ELPH cameras for picture quality, ease of use, and style. from my experience, no other point-and-shoot can produce images like ELPH's. if you go into my gallery, the shots of my pilot were taken with my sd550.