100-200 Camera?

daught

daught

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My old camera kind of fell apart. I just got A Fujifilm XP21 from Costco. It takes very poor pictures so i'm going to return it. I need suggestions for a $100-$200 camera. Out of the million cameras out there the waterproof/shockproof ones attract me. Best Buy and Future Shop have the Olympus TG-310 for 119? Is it any good? I have no idea what to look at. Decent movie recording with image stabilization would be a huge perk. I am open to other suggestions. They don't have to be waterproof or shockproof.

EDIT...

What about the Canon PowerShot ELPH 300 HS?
 
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I have the Olympus Stylus Tough 6000. It's water proof for 3m and shock proof for 1.5. Take nice under water photos, and can be thrown a lot farther then that and survive. I like taking close ups of bugs and animals, so I really like it's macro and super macro setting, that also has a built in flashlight. It doesn't have the best of zooms, but it's good enough.
 
Have you ever checked out Digital Photography Review? They have an awesome search engine that allows you to look up cameras according to your exact specs. If you don't know what each spec means they explain it really well for newbies.

http://www.dpreview.com/products/search/cameras

They also do reviews which I put a lot of faith in even though I can't tell an awesome picture from a so-so one. They give release dates for each model, pricing, where to buy, everything.

I bought my Fuji F40fd (P&S) based on their info and it was exactly as they described, a pretty good camera fo it's price/size, with just some purple fringing issues. Give the site a try, you'll feel like a camera expert before you know it.
 
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People still buy standalone compact cameras?!! Sorry..

The Canon Elph is a good choice.
 
The shockproof waterproof cameras definitely have their place, but in almost every case you are trading image quality and/or cost for toughness.

For cheap cameras I normally buy canon A series (they use AA's so I don't need to worry about expensive batteries and carrying a charger). For better image quality in low light, Panasonic Lumix are normally ahead. I have a Lumix waterproof camera (TS3) that is ok, the images are softer than the canon cameras that were 1/3 the price, but it has its place.

Another vote for dpreview.com

Good luck.
 
Amazon said:
I have the Olympus Stylus Tough 6000.
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I have one of those as well.

It's good for what it is and saves my real Camera from getting wet or full of dust, sand etc. but I doubt you are going to get much in terms of quality for under $200.

At the time the Stylus was the better WP/SP and got good ratings but you would probably be better off looking at current comparisons for that class.

You have to understand that those style cameras suffer a bit of picture quality due to the recessed lenses. It's a trade of for being tougher than a drop and replace.
 
Camera shopping is a ton of fun. Point and shoots are awesome...fit in any pocket. Google some reviews in the price range, but consider....


Optical Image stabilization.

Zoom range.

Lens quality.

Battery pack.

HD video.

I use a Canon SD 400 (old but small), and a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1 (12 X zoom).
 
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Thanks for the input so far. I found most cameras have limited HD movie length. Understandable since it's a fat32 card that has a 4GB limit. Are there any cameras that would start shooting another movie after the 4gb limit is reached? Doesent have to be waterproof and I would be willing to spend a bit more.
 
My Lumix shoots AVCHD Lite videos which take up a lot less space than regular AVIs.
daught said:
Thanks for the input so far. I found most cameras have limited HD movie length. Understandable since it's a fat32 card that has a 4GB limit. Are there any cameras that would start shooting another movie after the 4gb limit is reached? Doesent have to be waterproof and I would be willing to spend a bit more.
Click to expand...
 
Emerald94 said:
My Lumix shoots AVCHD Lite videos which take up a lot less space than regular AVIs.
Click to expand...

Perfect, that's what I needed to know. Using dpreview I found http://www.dpreview.com/products/sony/compacts/sony_dscwx9
Going for $134 on amazon. I will email sony to check if it can record long movies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnb5l57iTcw I must say its pretty comparable to the Countour.

I purchased the elph 300 HS today. Nice small camera. The pictures are good even in lower light without flash. A waterproof case is available for $60.
 
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I have the Olympus TG-310. That motha****er is durable. I also have tried out the water proof capabilities and I am impressed. For $119 that is a great price, I bought mine for about $179 back in May. Only issue I have had with the camera so far is that I had to buy a new battery from Bestbuy for about $30, because the batt decided it was on going strike.
 
daught said:
My old camera kind of fell apart. I just got A Fujifilm XP21 from Costco. It takes very poor pictures so i'm going to return it. I need suggestions for a $100-$200 camera. Out of the million cameras out there the waterproof/shockproof ones attract me. Best Buy and Future Shop have the Olympus TG-310 for 119? Is it any good? I have no idea what to look at. Decent movie recording with image stabilization would be a huge perk. I am open to other suggestions. They don't have to be waterproof or shockproof.

EDIT...

What about the Canon PowerShot ELPH 300 HS?
Click to expand...

I Have the 300Hs with a 16g card
9999 pics at Regular exposure yada yada
6500 at Full size / exposure ect
The cards good for an Hour at full 1080P which is way more then needed

Battery life is good for a full day of Pics but look to get a second if you plan on shooting Lots of Video
I was shooting pics/Video all weekend and still have 80% Battery left

Doesn't come with a case but i Picked one up on Ebay for $7 so not really an issue

Sears has them for $169.99 but if you feel like waiting till Boxing day Best buy will have them for $159.99


LOL
Wrote this and didn't notice you picked one up
Here's a link to the Case
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Soft-Neopren...5?pt=US_Camera_Cases_Bags&hash=item4ab135f5dd
 
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Bump the ELPH300 had a good run. Humidity killed it's flash.

For my next camera I want something with HDR. I take lots of pictures in forests with big snow covered mountains in the background. My ELPH300 struggled with the high contrast between white snow and dark forest. It also lacked a bit in low light conditions, like caves with little light. I still want something just as small. What do you guys think about the PowerShot S95? It's older, but the reviews say it's way better than the elph300. I can pick one up for <$100.
 
I'm very happy with my Nikon S01. Very small and good pics. Fits in my shirt pocket. Downside: Built in battery. About $100 @ Amazon IIRC.
 
I got the Nikon AW120 off AirMiles. Great camera! You can use it for anything.
I had the older Panasonic TS-1. It was a great camera. But love the new Nikon.

Photos 9/10
Video 9/10
Ease of use 10/10

Only con is the screen. Could be brighter. The Panasonic TS-1 had a better screen. Nikon AW120 is around $359-$399, but you can get it for free on AirMiles like I did.


GreyGhost said:
The shockproof waterproof cameras definitely have their place, but in almost every case you are trading image quality and/or cost for toughness.

For cheap cameras I normally buy canon A series (they use AA's so I don't need to worry about expensive batteries and carrying a charger). For better image quality in low light, Panasonic Lumix are normally ahead. I have a Lumix waterproof camera (TS3) that is ok, the images are softer than the canon cameras that were 1/3 the price, but it has its place.

Another vote for dpreview.com

Good luck.
Click to expand...
 
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I have a panasonic lumix waterproof shockproof thingamajig. I like it, good pics, gps tagging. **** battery life with gps on though.
 
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