Anyone have recommendations for a digital camera (mostly for family photos) that’s good, basic, simple, cheap? Half-decent zoom.
Thanks?
Up until a few years ago I’d be able to help. I used to buy new Elphs every few years as the features improved, and I really loved the form factor and felt they occupied a sweet spot between the holy size/cost/permance trinity. Sure, point and shoot cameras have basic limitations that come from lens sizes, but Canon (and some of the other manufacturers) were really tuning the heck out of these little cameras.
Then my latest point & shoot died (a dreaded ‘Lens error’ code) after I had gotten my iPhone 4. I started using it as my camera more and more often, and while it’s not as good as a dedicated cam, the sensor+lens quality in modern cell phones has really improved recently.
I guess that what I’m saying is that even if they’re not there yet, it’s possible that unless you’re planning on hauling around a DSLR rig and shooting weddings, your current or next phone may have (or will have) optics of sufficient quality to take care of 90% of your photo needs. It might be worth considering when you’re figuring out your cash outlay right now. The difference between dropping $100-200 on a camera vs. $500+ on a camera that might end up sitting in the back of a ‘General Purpose’ drawer in your kitchen might make a difference if you’re planning on upgrading your phone in the near future.
I’m in the same situation as dxf, I’ve been looking at both new cameras and new phones for a while now but can’t make up my mind.
Could some kind member with a half decent camera phone post some photos so I can see what the quality is like?
Most of the photos I take are for Google maps, so the geotagging feature on camera phones really appeals to me, but it’s going to be useless unless the photo output is good enough quality for me to use.
I’m considering getting the Samsung Galaxy Mini with a 3.5Mp camera as that’s one of the few phones within my price range.
Lots of talk about this on various Modern Geek episodes. You can find them via the descriptions. Short answer: Unless you’re going to spend $400+ (or you grab one of the super deals off Amazon, like my S95 or the LX5 for $275 or so) you’re probably fine with one of the newest camera phones like the Galaxy SII or the iPhone 4S. These don’t offer manual controls or any serious low-light capability, but they’re not that bad. The one drawback is a complete lack of optical zoom. (There’s just no room for the lens on the camera.) Digital zooms are worthless as you can just crop the image later for the same effect.
If you’re not due for a phone on your current contract (like Sean, for example), you might consider one of the zillions of decent ~$150 Canons or Nikons. And if you decide to go the $400+ route, just remember that learning to use the damn thing is a necessity. The more capable the camera the more the “full auto” mode is going to suck because it can’t really tell what you want from it.
Just for funsies, here are 4 random recent shots I’ve taken with my iPhone 4. I won’t embed them out of kindness to everyone’s bandwidth, but these represent casual snaps in a variety of conditions. Low light, daytime, dirty lens, etc. I’ve left them untouched so you can see all the warts, but that said, I’m pretty happy. If you do go the phone route, research the photo sensor size. The iphone and I think the new Galaxies have larger photo sensors than previous phones which ends up helping with low light. A modest DSLR will still kick the pants off these, of course, but cell phone pics have sure come a long way, baby.
Again, these are not glam shots, they’re just some random pics I took recently on my iPhone 4 (1.5 years old).
Thanks Thunderscreech, those are a hell of a lot better than most of the camera phone photos that I’ve seen before.
Thanks!
We’re not smart-phone people*, quite content to get a camera.
Though – and I keep meaning to call Modern Geek and admit this – when I look at my various hardware setups, I’m starting to feel… unwise about owning so many appliances that only do one thing.
* But I like to think that makes us smart phone people.
Anyhow, if someone has a camera they dropped $150 on and are satisfied with the picture quality & how little time the flash takes to go off, I’m all ears about it.
Anytime! Again, it’s a year and a half old, so the modern camera phones are probably better yet. Look beyond the mere megapixel count and check out things like sensors size and find REAL example shots by people.
Good luck!
As a pro photographer I agree with Chuck here. Unless you are willing to spend $400+ dollars for something like a Canon S100 or better and actually have a need for the capabilities of such cameras, the camera in most current generation cell phones is about on par with most consumer grade point and shoots. Sure an Elph 100HS is marginally a better camera than an iPhone 4S, and sure with a EyeFi WiFi memory card it can give you a sort of half ass way to upload images to the web, but outside of the zoom it isn’t as convenient or in truth as good in quality as a modern 8-12mp camera phone.
Also, I’ll tell ya this: It’s the kind of thing you don’t think about until it’s too late, but take an advance look at what kind of battery they use. We bought a Canon Sureshot/Powershot/Whatever for Xmas, and it came with a funky rechargeable battery of proprietary design. Which was nice and ecologically friendly and green and such, but didn’t exactly meet our needs.
While I do use my iPhone 4S camera a lot, there are times we need more zoom for the kids. I’ve always liked Canon’s - our first 2 digital cameras were Canon’s. Good pictures, features, easy to use. My bro-in-law convinced me to try a Sony when we were looking for something with more zoom, and while it takes good photos, I hate it. It’s recharge time is slow, uses memory stick dou cards (which are not available anywhere in Disney’s parks!), and has a stupid lens cap. While it still works, I’m about to chick it and get a canon SX230HS. It’s gotten good reviews, feels good in the hand, and seems like a winner.
Just my $.02
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=27.347655,-80.244533
This is my major concern. I’ve found a camera that I like the look of, the Samsung WB700, it has some nice features, including 18x optical zoom but uses a Li-Ion battery.
I’ve not used a camera with a rechargeable battery before, how many shots can you take with yours before it drains?
With modern cameras? LOTS. Seriously, like hundreds. Just use these basic tips:
-
If it’s going to be more than half a minute before your next shot, just turn it off. Modern cameras spool up to ‘ready to fire’ mode in like a second or so. The preview window eats power the way Godzilla eats trains: Prodigiously and with sloppy disregard for everyone involved.
-
If you can set the preview LCD to turn off after a few seconds, do it.
-
Turn off the flash. Unless you’re Ansel Adam’s reanimated corpse, it’s probably going to make things look shitty anyways and it’s unneeded like 95% of the time if you just hold the camera steady.
Lithium Ion batteries have much higher energy density than the disposable batteries you’d put in, you can usually pick up an extra online for a few bucks if you shop around anyhow, but you’ll probably run out of storage on the card before you run out of powah.
Believe this man, he is a God.
Photonutz, is there a compromisehere in picking up an older generation Canon S100 or comparable camera? I don’t recall which I have in my desk drawer at home, but in a pinch I can grab it and take great shots. It is prolly only a 5 to 7 megapixel camera but it does the trick. The iPhone as solution is one of the few areas Chuck and I disagree on anything (don’t get me started about Zooey Deschanel) but when I hold side by side a pic taken with my iPhone with one taken with my camera there is never a question of which lacks quality. Even in best lit conditions it lacks a crispness that a dedicated camera will give you. Or am I totally wrong in your professional and respected opinion?
Much appreciated! That’s helped me decide, I’ll probably order a new camera tomorrow.
That is seriously good advice. Whenever people ask my advice about taking better pictures this is the one. There is a learning curve and you will get plenty of blurry pictures, but this is why digital is your friend. Take 10, delete the 9 blurry ones and show off the amazing 1.
Maybe we got a bad one, but with the one we had (and returned)…
With a full overnight charge, then sitting idle for maybe 12 hours (inside), during a Christmas Eve family party, we got a couple dozen pictures in rapid succession before the battery bottomed out.
I have a question in the same vein here. My wife wants a dedicated camera. Her only stipulation is that it be quick. She’s fine with a point and shoot, but we don’t want to have to hold the button for 2 seconds before it takes the picture. Or wait 6 seconds for it to be ready for another one. Are there any recommendations? Or has it been so long since we bought one that they’ve all gotten better about that?
Not at all. The S100 is a very good camera, and to be honest most folks really only need around 6-8mp since most wont print much above 8x10. The camera phone is good IMHO for the vast majority of folks, but yes as you have far more control over it, a small digicam will give better photos. That said, most folks won’t be able to tell the difference and there is a certain charm to the lo-fi imaging abilities of a camera phone when used creatively
In this case I would recommend a nice entry DSLR, something like a Canon Rebel or such as they use PDAF versus CDAF which is much faster on startup and faster to focus. Also DSLR’s have much larger buffers so shot to shot time is near instant.