Cameraguys... Recommendations wanted (1 Viewer)

[Evilgrin 72]

Looking for a new point and shoot digital camera for my wife for an upcoming trip. What she's looking for is:

Best possible image quality

Portability

Ease of use

What's not really important :

Advanced features/changeable lenses

GPS/WiFi functionality

Basically, she wants to be able to take pictures with a point and shoot that she could theoretically enlarge and frame without losing too much image quality. Beyond that, bells and whistles are fairly unimportant. A capable zoom and decent battery life would likely be the only other considerations, but image quality is paramount.

It's going to be used almost exclusively for travel so something small and light is ideal. This, and a approx. $300 budget are really going to eliminate DSLR cameras, so we're really talking point and shoot cameras here, right?

Anyone have one that really takes high quality images suitable for blowing up and framing? Any recos are appreciated. TIA.

 

[None_More_Black]

I just bought a Sony A5000 and really like it. Got it for 300.00 but it was an Amazon return. Mirrorless with a very nice sensor. Same sensor as the more expensive cameras in the line. Very portable yet has emount lens system if you get serious and want to pick up different lenses in the future. Does not come with a huge zoom however. Nice pictures.

 

[msommer]

My dad is extremely happy with his Nikon 1. You can change lenses if you need bigger zoom than native etc (obviously at higher cost)

wasn't too expensive last I checked

 

[skol asylum]

What's a camera ?

An app on your iPhone or Android phone.

 

[HellToupee]

Unless you want a megazoom p&s most flagships(i6 , galaxy) are just as good or a better option sub $300

 

[Treynwreck3]

Nikon Coolpix L830.

http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product/Compact-Digital-Cameras/26439/COOLPIX-L830.html?kpid=26439

 

[Bucks]

I just bought a Sony A5000 and really like it. Got it for 300.00 but it was an Amazon return. Mirrorless with a very nice sensor. Same sensor as the more expensive cameras in the line. Very portable yet has emount lens system if you get serious and want to pick up different lenses in the future. Does not come with a huge zoom however. Nice pictures.

Agree with the A5000. It's a little big for anything but baggy pockets but for your price range it is an excellent image quality indoor/outdoor and doing enlargements. After doing a similar search before the Holidays I got this for my wife and it is working out very nicely.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

Will the travel be in America or Europe? I ask because many cameras now have a charging battery and the charger may not be compatible with European power sources.

 

[Joe T]

I bought a Canon S110 after reading a bunch of reviews last year before a trip to Turks and Caicos. It cost about $250 back then, but looks like it is down to $179 now.

You can see some of the photos and video on this page: http://www.turks-and-caicos.org/grace-bay-beach/

(the video is time lapse which is obviously a setting which can be adjusted, just fyi)

Actually most of the photos I used for the site were taken with the Canon S110. Also, the photos on the site are often compressed so the quality is a little lower than what you actually get, but you'll get the idea.

 

[Joe T]

Unless you want a megazoom p&s most flagships(i6 , galaxy) are just as good or a better option sub $300

There's some truth to this too.

 

[Evilgrin 72]

Unless you want a megazoom p&s most flagships(i6 , galaxy) are just as good or a better option sub $300

She has a Samsung Galaxy S3, but she wants something with a richer resolution. When she blows up photos taken with the camera to 8x11" or bigger, they get kind of fuzzy. I'm guessing it's because it's an 8 MP camera rather than the 14, 16, or 20 MP I'm seeing on some of these point and shoots? I don't know squat about cameras, I'm perfectly fine with my Note 2, but we're going to be in Paris and at Oktoberfest and I guess she sees the opportunity to blow up a few photos she takes to turn into wall art of some kind, so she wants something that will take photos with the requisite resolution to enlarge and crop and still have it look "crisp."

 

[Evilgrin 72]

I just bought a Sony A5000 and really like it. Got it for 300.00 but it was an Amazon return. Mirrorless with a very nice sensor. Same sensor as the more expensive cameras in the line. Very portable yet has emount lens system if you get serious and want to pick up different lenses in the future. Does not come with a huge zoom however. Nice pictures.

Agree with the A5000. It's a little big for anything but baggy pockets but for your price range it is an excellent image quality indoor/outdoor and doing enlargements. After doing a similar search before the Holidays I got this for my wife and it is working out very nicely.

I'm going to look into the A5000 more. I looked at it some this morning already and it looks great, but it appears it's roughly $600 new. I told her she could spend $250 on a camera if her phone isn't good enough and no more. I'll bend to about $300 but not $600. Especially since she's already ruined 2 digital cameras in the last couple of years because she's a ####ing klutz.

 

[Evilgrin 72]

Will the travel be in America or Europe? I ask because many cameras now have a charging battery and the charger may not be compatible with European power sources.

Yurp.

I'll look into that, thanks. We're going to have 46 devices that need charging, so I'm sure I'm going to be buying a butt-load of adapters/converters.

 

[Evilgrin 72]

Nikon Coolpix L830.

http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product/Compact-Digital-Cameras/26439/COOLPIX-L830.html?kpid=26439

I bought a Canon S110 after reading a bunch of reviews last year before a trip to Turks and Caicos. It cost about $250 back then, but looks like it is down to $179 now.

You can see some of the photos and video on this page: http://www.turks-and-caicos.org/grace-bay-beach/

(the video is time lapse which is obviously a setting which can be adjusted, just fyi)

Actually most of the photos I used for the site were taken with the Canon S110. Also, the photos on the site are often compressed so the quality is a little lower than what you actually get, but you'll get the idea.

I'll look into both of these as well, thanks guys.

 

[Bucks]

I just bought a Sony A5000 and really like it. Got it for 300.00 but it was an Amazon return. Mirrorless with a very nice sensor. Same sensor as the more expensive cameras in the line. Very portable yet has emount lens system if you get serious and want to pick up different lenses in the future. Does not come with a huge zoom however. Nice pictures.

Agree with the A5000. It's a little big for anything but baggy pockets but for your price range it is an excellent image quality indoor/outdoor and doing enlargements. After doing a similar search before the Holidays I got this for my wife and it is working out very nicely.

I'm going to look into the A5000 more. I looked at it some this morning already and it looks great, but it appears it's roughly $600 new. I told her she could spend $250 on a camera if her phone isn't good enough and no more. I'll bend to about $300 but not $600. Especially since she's already ruined 2 digital cameras in the last couple of years because she's a ####ing klutz.

Yeah, forget it at $600. It could be had around the holidays at best buy and some places online for $300. I actually paid $450 for a bundle that added a second 55-210mm zoom lens which we have yet to actually use.

 

[Mr. Ected]

Anyone been interested in the Sony QX series(video)? They have 4 versions, a 10x, 30x, and 100x, as well as a base to hold interchangeable lenses like a DSLR.

The trick is that they use your smartphone as the engine, using it for display and controlling the camera. The pics are stored on a memory card in the lens.

The prices range from $200 for the 10x, to $350 for the 30x, $400 for the interchangeable base (no lens), and $450 for the 100x.

 

[BoltBacker]

Sony RX-100 has been around awhile and isn't a bad value. Kind of a 'tweener, which sounds like what you are looking for. Higher image quality usually means a bigger sensor, which usually means a bigger camera and bigger zoom lenses. If she wants to make prints bigger than 8x10's then I wouldn't go for a P&S and definitely not a camera phone because you may not have great light in traveling conditions.

Here is a link for $350....

http://www.abesofmaine.com/item.do?item=SNDSCRX100&id=SNDSCRX100&l=PLA&gclid=CLnVxc3lisQCFQSRfgodQnAApg

... and a good review of the camera....

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sony-cybershot-dsc-rx100/

If you plan on taking lots of photos indoors(museums, etc) or just before sunrise or after sunset you would probably be better off with a mirrorless camera that had an APS-C sized sensor(Canon M, Samsung NX, Sony NEX lines older versions can be found close to $300).

 

[Evilgrin 72]

Sony RX-100 has been around awhile and isn't a bad value. Kind of a 'tweener, which sounds like what you are looking for. Higher image quality usually means a bigger sensor, which usually means a bigger camera and bigger zoom lenses. If she wants to make prints bigger than 8x10's then I wouldn't go for a P&S and definitely not a camera phone because you may not have great light in traveling conditions.

Here is a link for $350....

http://www.abesofmaine.com/item.do?item=SNDSCRX100&id=SNDSCRX100&l=PLA&gclid=CLnVxc3lisQCFQSRfgodQnAApg

... and a good review of the camera....

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sony-cybershot-dsc-rx100/

If you plan on taking lots of photos indoors(museums, etc) or just before sunrise or after sunset you would probably be better off with a mirrorless camera that had an APS-C sized sensor(Canon M, Samsung NX, Sony NEX lines older versions can be found close to $300).

Good info here, thanks man.

 

[msommer]

Will the travel be in America or Europe? I ask because many cameras now have a charging battery and the charger may not be compatible with European power sources.

Yurp.

I'll look into that, thanks. We're going to have 46 devices that need charging, so I'm sure I'm going to be buying a butt-load of adapters/converters.

Most consumer electronics come with power supply that ranges from 110-240V 50-60Hz - that way the inside of the charger is the same for all regardless of the plug used in the market it is distributed in

 

[Bucks]

Check out this Sony A3000 for $250. http://www.ebay.com/itm/311306213454?customid=aab3272da8e5466ebb92cd44ffe535b5&pub=5574652453&afepn=5337259887&campid=5337259887&afepn=5337259887&rmvSB=true

 

[Rattle and Hum]

Daughter in same boat for San Fran trip. Any help with <$301 price point would we appreciated.

@Evilgrin 72 What did your wife and up getting and was she happy with it?

 

[Evilgrin 72]

I think I ended up getting the Olympus Pen-E. I want to say PL6 but I'm sure they've released a couple versions since. She loves it.