Any camera experts here?

[Apestosaur]

I'm looking for a new camera to replace my lost Casio Exilim. I want a small, easy to use point and shoot camera with great battery life. The casio was great, although night pics weren't the best. I don't know anything about photography, so I don't really care about Iso or manual settings or what not. Can anyone recomend another brand or model that can fit in a pocket and take good pics?

[phooey]

I say, get another casio, i have that camera and love it.. it's a nice size easy to use and I think it takes pretty good photos in comparison to other cameras

[Apestosaur]

Which model do you have? 'Cause i'm considering the EX-Z60 or the EX-Z70 as my Casio options

[mypersonalgetaway]

yea if you enjoyed your casio, stay with them, their exifilm series is nice. the only thing that competes in size is the sony T series cameras and those use memory stick which I hate! so yea stay with casio

if you want a faster camera with a better lens, move the the canon SD series.

[picard102]

Ugh.. casio?
Canon or Nikon.

[zunayed]

theres nothing wrong with casio for basic point and shoots
that said i played around with a nikon one and it was sweeet. I think the L7 or something. consult cnet or something

[phooey]

i don't know what model my camera is, but it was a great deal, I can stick it my pocket, it's stealthy and it is easy to use. It takes pretty good movies too. I am not a camera expert, but I take a ton of photos and for me, since I got this camera i can carry it everywhere. I will never go to a bulky camera again or overspend on a camera... this one is 6mp and I am sure that in a year it will look old so why spend a ton on a camera? I know people that spent over a thousand on a camera a couple of years ago and now it looks like a piece of crap compared to what you can get for a couple hundred bucks. I think cameras are almost as disposable as cell phones.

[adrian]

Sold cameras for 15 years and have owned most brands, I'm currently using a Pentax Optio WP - 5 Megapixel, they no longer make it, but when it dies I will buy the current equivalent - the Optio WP's are waterproof to about five feet. - You can even shoot video with sound under water. This also means they are impervious to dust,sand etc. Lens quality is good, images are good and software is great. (Canon also have nice) software.

Another (coincidental) bonus to the Pentax is that to enable zooming underwater etc. all the focusing is internal. - I have seen more point and shoot cameras rendered useless by zoom lenses that have "stuck" with dirt or taken an impact than anything else. - It can't happen with this one.

Two more bonuses with internal focusing are that a) it makes the camera look more basic and less of a prize to a thief, and b) when you are done taking your picture you don't have to wait for the thing to close down before it can go back in its pouch or pocket.

It does have some very nice features if you are into photography, but generally I find the software smart enough to be left on "auto" almost all the time. The best value in any camera is based on how much use you get out of it. Mine has been with me in lakes,pools and oceans, it will happily sit in a puddle of saltwater in my kayak and it comes to work with me everyday and sits in sun rain and snow without complaining - none of the other cameras I have owned would tolerate that.

[jeffdrafttech]

Mine was a bit pricey but I love it. I paid $330 for it when it was first released, but the price has gone up a bit because it has reviewed well and has become very popular.

Canon SD800is

The image stabilization (IS) works well. It wont let you go flash-free handheld in low light but it makes most handheld shots turn out tack sharp. It makes a real difference compared to non-is cameras. I wouldn't go back to a camera without is.

The colors are nearly perfect. I also have an overpriced Sony S5 "ultrazoom" and the Canon photos look much better. The Canon sd800is shows no digital flaws like purple fringing, unlike the Sony. The canon photos look like they were taken with a top of the line film camera.

The sd800 has a wide lens. this is essential if you take many photos indoors. A lot of cameras make you back far away from your subject in order to fit everything into the shot. The wide lens on the sd800 is great for indoor shots and getting the whole group in the shot. It has a "4X" zoom which is plenty tight for outdoor shots when the wide lens works against you.

The biggest surprise for me when buying the sd800 was the quality of the videos, even indoors with normal lighting (an average room with a lamp or a ceiling light kit). I often find myself recording as many videos as photos.

Quality canon optics. Sensor records great color and contrast. IS makes it easy to take sharp handheld shots. Subcompact size easily fits in a pocket. Takes nice video. Allows HCSD cards, which are available in 4gb size.

The only drawback, and the drawback of all non-slr cameras, is that images can be noisey at high iso settings. High iso settings make the sensor more light sensitive, so you can use a faster shudder speed in low light (for better low light flash free photos). The sd800is works well up to iso 400. Beyond that the photos are pretty noisy. I have never seen a compact do any better above iso400, but dont expect SLR-quality low light photos without flash. The camera is capable of iso1600. At 1600 it is almost like night-vision, but the images are blurry at this setting. If you need low light photos without a flash buy a digital SLR.

I have never run out of battery power. Once I took about 80 photos and 30min of video with plenty of battery to spare.

The Display on the back is sharp and easy to see in all light conditions. It also has a rare optical viewfinder. The optical viewfinder is one of the reasons I chose this camera, but the display is so good I never use it.

There are few manual settings (no manual shudder or manual aperture). It is pretty much automatic. The software that controls it is brilliant and the automatic settings work well.

It is ready to shoot in less than a second upon switching it on. The autofocus is very fast an accurate also.

The best thing is the tiny size. I seldom leave home without it. It is so small you dont know you are carrying it. If you own this one you will never be without a great camera and a decent camcorder.

If you can afford it buy it!

[mypersonalgetaway]

Originally Posted by jeffdrafttech

Mine was a bit pricey but I love it. I paid $330 for it when it was first released, but the price has gone up a bit because it has reviewed well and has become very popular.

Canon SD800is

That is a great camera. the addition of "is" to the elph line is well received.
I own a SD600, S3 is and a Kodak EasyShare (hatred). The s3 is is great for portraits and landscapes (12x zoom super fast) but the SD600 (same form factor as the SD800) I have with me at all times. I'm always taking photos of things.

some of my photos
http://www.spymac.com/?r=a&u=12869