I read through the budget camera recommendations thread, and was thinking of getting a Cannon as recommended by the majority of people in the thread. I went to newegg, looked at the cameras in the 100-200$ range sorted by best reviews, and this one is the top of the list here. Does any one have any experience with this camera? Here is the entire list, ordered by best reviewed, with the cannons coming in second. I'm thinking that the Fuji was bought by more demanding customers (people that expected alot of functionality), so the Fuji reviews might be a bit more harsh, since the Cannons seem to have a higher percent of 5 star reviews, but I could easily be wrong about that. I'm planning to use the camera for taking pictures of stuff to put on ebay, pics of my friends and cats, just general use. I'd rather have a good camera than one thats super portable. Which one seems better to you?

A couple other miscellaneous questions-

Would I be better off just getting a camera in the 100-200 range?

Are there any other cameras in the list that look like they might be a wise choice?

Will any of these cameras be able to take pictures quickly right after one another? My current Kodak has about a 5 second plus pause between each picture. I'm looking forward to getting a new camera because my piece-of-junk Kodak has what will be a very satisfying date with a ball-peen hammer when I do, but thats neither here nor there....

Thanks very much for any input.

Test #1 for your new camera will be whether or not it can photograph, in rapid succession, the demise of your first camera.

My wife uses the Canon A590, and she likes it. It's quite portable and takes great pictures. Don't know/haven't tested the "recoil" time on it, though.

One hint that I could give you would be to set the camera for action sports mode if it's got one and you'll be able to peel off pictures a little quicker.

Most point and shoots have a burst mode which will take a three image burst rapidly. I do not know if that reduces the image quality at all, but suspect that it might. Either that or you have to wait a while until the buffer clears out before you can take another burst.

We just bought an Olympus Stylus 850SW which is shock and waterproof. What a great camera. My 3 year old loves to use it as I don't freak if she drops it. She can't lift my D80, battery grip and 80-200 f2.8 so I don't need to worry about that camera for a while.

Cheers,
Sean

Yeah, actually my Kodak does have a setting for capturing motion, I guess thats a burst mode. I thought that it somehow deblurred the picture. Well, that makes it a little more useful. Damn thing is still getting the hammer though, theres still too much bad blood between us. Did I mention how much I hate the Kodak software? It really adds insult to injury.

Well, unless someone says that Fuji is a bad choice I reckon I'm gonna get it, Newegg reviews haven't let me down yet.

Motion capture (video mode ) is different to burst mode which only takes stills. The video capture would only give you relatively poor stills if you grabbed a frame from it. I don't know which kodak you have so a quick read of the manual may help you identify the function (if possible) that you need

David

Look at Steve's Digicams reviews for some practical details.


I also like the use of regular batteries. And ignore the "digital zoom".

Random thoughts......


(1) Most of these use the 1/2.x sized sensors and the differences are in the digital processing and the lens.

(2) I notice a couple of the Kodaks use the larger 1/1.7 sensors which, theoretically, might produce a slightly better image.

(3) Fuji makes color film, as does Kodak. They have tended to look towards the end product, as has Kodak, more than other digital camera makers. Some people prefer the "Fuji look" in their images to the "Canon look." In truth, since Photo Shop and such, the looks are not as far apart as they were back in the film days.

(4) One never destroys old cameras, even digitals. Never no when they might be useful or turn into a couple of bucks. I have a Kodak DCM 280 2 megapixel which takes excellent pictures within a reasonable blow up range.

(5) Go over to www.pdbase.com and look up the cameras you are considering in the camera database where people post their pictures. Look for well taken pictures and see if you can tell the difference between the cameras.

(6) While at pdbase.com go to the Leica files and see the garbage taken by unskilled photographers with a $6,000 plus camera. It really supports the greatest truth of all, it isn't the camera it is the photographer.

Enjoy your new camera............

I love my Nikon D50.... My wife hates it...

She does not like the weight and says she does not want to have to change lenses....
To each their own..

SO.... we went searching for a digital camera she would like...
We spent about 3 weeks researching cameras with the specs she wanted and I thought she should have... and went out and tried as many as we could at shops in the area...

We eventually decided on a Kodak Z712IS... Priced at under $200... search the internet for the best price.... we spent $170 for ours...

To say I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement... the camera is fantastic and will do more than my wife could ever ask of it and it did a whole lot more than I expected of it...
It shot great macros and the 12X German lenses is real crisp.... the autofocus is fast and the program controls are over the top...

The only down side is that you will have to purchase a SD card as it does not come with one and you will also need to purchase a rechargeable battery and charger as the supplied battery is not rechargeable.
These two items cost me about $60 at Best Buy (I bought two batteries, so she has a spare recharged when traveling)....

I would definitely recommend this camera if you are not looking for a Digital SLR...

CANON A650 IS is perfect, though I don't know the cost.

I don't know your camera so I can't say for sure, but I think that setting is probably for capturing high-speed action rather than a burst mode. What it does is probably raise the ISO sensitivity (lessening the need for light) while increasing the shutter speed (to prevent blur). It's sometimes called "sports mode."

Or it could be completely opposite, slowing the shutter to create blur, to get a feeling of motion.

Burst mode is often denoted with an icon of three overlapping rectangles (like photos in a stack).

Neill