Pocket Digital Camera Recommendations

[Duman]

Looking at getting a new, or lightly used, digital camera. Preferably a easy to use, pocket size, for vacation photos. Something that can work in low light, like home or around a campfire, and can catch some sequences of photos. Trying to keep the budget under $400.

Recommendations?

[ray1970]

Why don't you use your phone like everyone else?

Seriously, my last several cell phones have had better cameras that quite a few of the digital cameras out there.

I can't remember if I was using my iPhone or my Galaxy S5 but I took some pictures around a campfire one night and they turned out very nice.

[blacklabel]

With the quality of cameras in smart phones, I'll never go back to a point and shoot.

[Aloha_Shooter]

With the quality of cameras in smart phones, I'll never go back to a point and shoot.

Even a point-and-shoot often has better glass than the smartphone and most smartphones have pretty poor performance in low light situations like the campfire OP mentioned. I use my smartphone when I didn't think to bring one of my real cameras with me or when I want to use a feature on the smartphone that I don't have on one of my cameras like quickly uploading to WordPress or sending as part of a MMS. In addition, I don't like depending on a single battery hog for everything.

Don't confuse high resolution with high picture quality.

I would recommend looking through the reviews at http://www.dpreview.com/ and seeing what fits with your style and needs. I picked up the Panasonic DMC-ZS30 for under $300 last year after seeing someone else with it. I liked the 20x optical zoom (try THAT on a smartphone), convenient size, GPS tagging, wifi remote control from my smartphone, long battery life, recharging via micro-USB. It was fabulous on my India trip as well as various camping trips and family gatherings. I DON'T like not having RAW as a format option or not being able to charge the batteries outside of the camera.

Sony's new DSC-WX500 (http://www.dpreview.com/products/son...specifications) looks pretty good. 18 MP, 30x optical zoom, full HD video, wireless connection. From the name, I would have thought it would be weather-resistant but I don't see anything about that in their press release.

The Nikon Coolpix S9900 (http://www.dpreview.com/products/nik.../nikon_cps9900) also looks very good for about $300.

Of course, there's Canon with their new PowerShot SX410 IS (http://www.dpreview.com/products/can.../canon_sx410is) and its amazing 40x zoom for $250 but it's too bulky to throw in your pocket. Their PowerShot SX710 HS (http://www.dpreview.com/products/can.../canon_sx710hs) on the other hand is less than 4.5 inches long and a little over 1.5 inches thick for $330 -- "only" 30x optical zoom but the big drawback I see is the ISO limitation of 3200 (the Nikon goes to 6400 and the Sony goes to 12800).

Of the models I mentioned, I'd probably go with the Nikon for bang-for-the-buck but your priorities may be different -- peruse the reviews and see what strikes your fancy. Especially pay attention to their detailed analysis of the image quality from each camera so you know what you're getting.

[lex137]

To the op you should buy this and it turns your phone into a nice camera or something like it.

http://www.olloclip.com/product/iphone6-4-in-1/

[ruthabagah]

What aloha said. You wanna take a picture: use your cell. A nice picture that you will watch over and over again, and that people will give you kudos for? Get a real camera.

To the op: recently saw a sony rx 100 II on sale at best buy for 450$. Best point and shoot by far. If you can stretch your budget, get the more recent one rx100 III

[Honey Badger282.8]

Point and shoots are kind of useless in my opinion. They don't do much that a smart phone doesn't and they aren't good enough to use for serious photos. I like mirrorless cameras, some have a full DSLR sensor and they can easily fit in your pocket with a 22mm pancake lense. I have a Canon Eos M1 and I love it. I pop on the pancake for casual environments where my iPhone won't do but I also have the adapter to use any EF-S lense I want for more serious photos.

[Aloha_Shooter]

Point and shoots are kind of useless in my opinion. They don't do much that a smart phone doesn't and they aren't good enough to use for serious photos.

I would agree with you if you said they don't get software updates and improvements like a smartphone but even the most basic point-and-shoot has better glass and better optical zoom than a smartphone.

I took this with a 12 MP DSLR using a 400mm zoom with a 2x Extender (effectively an 800 mm lens):



Today's point-and-shoots will give you the equivalent of a 720 or 960 mm lens. I'd still rather use the DSLR with a high quality zoom for this shot but there are perfectly good point-and-shoots that will get you pretty close to this and the only way you're doing this with a smartphone is putting it up against a pair of binoculars or a telescope (doable but awkward for a handheld situation).

[Honey Badger282.8]

I would agree with you if you said they don't get software updates and improvements like a smartphone but even the most basic point-and-shoot has better glass and better optical zoom than a smartphone.

I took this with a 12 MP DSLR using a 400mm zoom with a 2x Extender (effectively an 800 mm lens):



Today's point-and-shoots will give you the equivalent of a 720 or 960 mm lens. I'd still rather use the DSLR with a high quality zoom for this shot but there are perfectly good point-and-shoots that will get you pretty close to this and the only way you're doing this with a smartphone is putting it up against a pair of binoculars or a telescope (doable but awkward for a handheld situation).

I agree a point and shoot is better than a smartphone camera, my thing is they aren't good enough to justify the purchase of one if I already have a smartphone. Plus if you're that worried about optical zooms you can get the case for a smartphone that allows the use of lenses, those run about $70 bucks and narrow the gap between point and shoots and phones.

[hatidua]

Point and shoots are kind of useless in my opinion. They don't do much that a smart phone doesn't and they aren't good enough to use for serious photos.

There are a number of "point & shoot" cameras that vastly exceed the output quality of even the best current phone. That said, it's often a case of results owing more to the indian than the arrow.