shopping for a new digital camera

[Eagle]

Ok, so I currently have a Canon PowerShot S100 Digital Elph, 2.1 megepixel, bought it back in 2001. I like it's size, but it's outdated tech, plus the proprietary battery is starting to bug out, means I need a new one. I want one of similar size (hell, might go with the latest Elph if they still exsist, but i know mine was pretty expensive back in the day). The 2 biggest complaints I've always had with mine (that I hope to overcome with a new one are lackluster performance in low light (tends to have a bit to much 'yellow' in extreme low light conditions) and poor high speed shutter capability (blurs easily). Anyone have any suggestions, or know of any good review sights?

[RA1N1ER]

look into the canon elph series.... they have a bunch of features nowadays...

i personally own a Canon SD500 and use it for recreational and underwater.....I love it...

hope this helps...

goodluck

[oneworld]

look in my "i finally went down" thread.. and check out the pics..the outdoor ones look great and the dark garage ones are equally as impressive.. and they were taken with just a sony cybershot that i bought for $120.00?? i think.. and it has video..damn good camera for the price.

[jenarelJAM]

I recently bought a Panasonic DMC-TZ3: 7mp, 28mm-280mm 10x zoom, and great lens/image quality. I don't know what kind of camera your previous one was and I'm really not a camera guy, but I spent a LONG time figuring out which camera to get for myself, and the TZ3 was a great choice. Megapixels isn't everything. I read many many reviews on a bunch of different websites. It's not the tiniest camera, but it's small enough it won't take up much room and the pictures make it worth it.


<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img height=640 width=480 src="http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e383/jenarelJAM/P1000015.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e383/jenarelJAM/P1000015.jpg

This was originally taken at ~6 feet in tele-macro mode at 2304x3072 pixels, resized to 1050x1400 for photobucket, and resized to 480x640 for AO. Took it on the day I got the camera.



Oh, and about fast shutter speed, it's largely unneccessary these days(in point-and-shoot cameras). There's something called optical image stabilization which compensates for a jerky photo and leaves shutter time alone so you don't have to boost the iso and get a crummy picture. Works very very well imo.

EDIT: www.digitalcamerareview.com

[drg]

I recently was shopping for a similar pocket camera ... currently compact technology still lags in the low light area with the notable exception of one line -- the Fuji F series compacts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujifilm_FinePix_F-series)

I have a F40, which I find I can use without reservation up to ISO 400, and can push to 800 if I am willing to give up a bit of image quality. 1600 is usable if need be, but image quality gets compromised. Most other compacts have quality at 400 (or less) that this camera has at 1600.

If you get an earlier model, like the F31, you can shift those numbers upwards one notch; read about each model to figure out which you want.

Do note that in general image stabilization cannot completely replace good high ISO capability. It helps but is not as universally helpful as all around better high ISO quality.

As for the color casts in low light -- that is more a function of the camera's white balance and the kind of light you shoot under. Most cameras can eliminate or reduce color casts by properly setting the white balance.

[Hexis]

I got a SD800IS for the wife last year for the holidays. She loves it. I find it a bit noisy, but it's not exactly a fair comparison (I primarily use my EOS-5D). I love it for a small easy to use camera. She has taken some great shots with it. She can carry it everywhere since it's so small. It has IS (Image Stabilization) which is nice for slightly longer exposures (quite handy in low light). IS should get you about 2 stops of stabilization, so if you can shoot a sharp image hand held at 1/200s, with IS you should be able to shoot sharp at 1/50s. It also has a top (well fastest) shutter speed of 1/1600s. That should be fast enough to freeze pretty much any action. There is also a new version that is a little less wide on the wide end, but has a bit more on the tele end. I prefer the wide end, so that's a negative for me.

Reviews (and a great resource for digital camera data and reviews)
dpreview.com SD800 IS specifications
dpreview.com main page