Which point and shoot digital camera?

[one-shot-wonder]

Looking to replace my dated Lumix digi cam with something of similar optical zoom (10X) but much smaller in size.

Here are the requirements:

Good quality lens
Optical zoom minimum 10x
Pixels minimum 12MP

HD Video - doesnt have too but would be a bonus

$200 - 400 range

Lets here your thougths...........

Thanks in advance!

[troutseeker]

I love my Lumix takes awsesome photos! Bought it last summer and it has 16X zoom, full hd video, 14 megapixels. Mine is the DMC-ZS10 with GPS. There is a model without GPS. Both are close to your max budget.

[Steeleco]

Check out http://www.dpreview.com/ Myself I like the Canon units. I like the lines of the SX20Is but they mo longer make them.

[russm]

I got the girlfriend the lumix for xmas,16x zoom, 14 mega pixels and you can get the new waterproof,freeze proof,drop proof dust proof one now also,if you know what you're doing with the settings they take a really nice picture,I think I paid around 400 for it.

[Lionhill]

4009
Waterproof. freezeproof. crush proof, and can be dropped from 3 meters on cement. $299
Fits in shirt pocket.
http://www.dpreview.com/products/olympus/compacts/oly_tg820

[mikeboehm]

I bought the lumix s7 a month ago. Love it easy to use. 10x optical zoom. 14.7 mega pixels. Full 1080 hd recording. 3d pictures. Leica lens

[dragonslayer]

Bought a Nikon coolpix 10 x wide optical zoom ,16 megapixel, takes awsome photos or videos. I think it cost about 250.00. Great camera for the price also fits in shirt pocket.:)

[David]

Someone already mentioned dpreview.com I don't necessarily agree with their recommendations, and the forums are filled with fanboys, but in the reviews you can compare picture quality to similar cameras.

The review site I like best is cameralabs.com but they don't review as many cameras as dpreview.

Having said what I said about dpreview, they recently did a comparison of "travel cameras" http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q311TravelZoomGroupTest/

You've said what specs you want in the camera, but you haven't really said what you want to take pictures of. IMO this is more important. i.e. if you want to take pictures of small children (which move fast) you probably want to pony up a few extra $$$.

In the lower mainland the three places I like best for purchases are londondrugs (londondrugs.com), broadway camera (bccamera.com) and kerrisdale cameras (kerrisdalecameras.com). If you comparison price, especially during sales, there is NO price benefit to shopping mail order or down south. It's REALLY important that you try each of these cameras in your hands. The best pictures are taken with the camera you actually have with you - no matter how good the camera is, you're not going to take good pictures if you don't enjoy taking pictures with it. In my case I had a Canon S95 (now S100), which was far and away the best reviewed compact camera at the time - I hated it because it was too small for my hands (and for other reasons).

Me.

[Singleshotneeded]

The new Lumix waterproof/shock resistant cameras are excellent, and take very good pics!

[keoke]

I love my Lumix takes awsesome photos! Bought it last summer and it has 16X zoom, full hd video, 14 megapixels. Mine is the DMC-ZS10 with GPS. There is a model without GPS. Both are close to your max budget.

This is the camera that i have and its great. If you can get to a Costco in the states, they have the best pricing.

[one-shot-wonder]

You've said what specs you want in the camera, but you haven't really said what you want to take pictures of. IMO this is more important. i.e. if you want to take pictures of small children (which move fast) you probably want to pony up a few extra $$$.


I will mainly be take pictures of scenery and wildlife......very few close ups, I am looking for an HD video for wildlife footage.

[one-shot-wonder]

Bought a Nikon coolpix 10 x wide optical zoom ,16 megapixel, takes awsome photos or videos. I think it cost about 250.00. Great camera for the price also fits in shirt pocket.:)

The Nikon Cool pix has definately caught my attention.....at first I was thinking Lumix all the way but this camera now has me debating:

http://www.londondrugs.com/Cultures/en-US/Product+Detail/Cameras.htm?BreadCrumbs=Cameras;Cameras;Cameras%20-%20Digital;Cameras%20-%20Digital%20Compact&ProductID=5732532&ProductTab=3

Its got everything I need plus cheaper than the Lumix equivalent.

[RiverOtter]

Can't remember price off the top of my head, but I'm pretty sure my next camera is gonna be the Canon G12. The pics I've seen from them are DSLR'esque, but in a package that makes them average joe friendly...

[David]

I will mainly be take pictures of scenery and wildlife......very few close ups, I am looking for an HD video for wildlife footage.

If the wildlife is not moving quickly (i.e. eagle diving for a fish) then you will probably want low-light sensitivity (shooting dusk and dawn) and some form of zoom.

In the pocketable cameras you either want something from the travel zoom link I listed or a Canon G12, Panasonic LX5, Nikon P7100 or equivalent. You can usually find these types of cameras on sale for $400 (I think London Drugs has the Canon for $399 right now). These will fit in a jacket pocket but not in a jeans/shirt pocket. I think these cameras have a burst mode which the travel zooms do not - but I could be wrong. Burst mode can help with the occasional fast action shot.

Most everything these days shoots HD video - the questions is just whether or not it shoots 720P or 1080P and whether or not it has a stereo mike. For shooting video you definately want to use a fast memory card - class 10. Shooting video while at maximum zoom can have focusing challenges in all these cameras - a more video dedicated camera would be better, but they are bigger.

Generally speaking, in this price class zoom is better than photo quality. Here's what I mean - let's say you have two cameras. Camera #1 has the best picture quality, but only has 4X zoom, Camera #2 has poorer picture quality, but has an 8X zoom. Generally speaking if you need to take the picture from camera #1 and crop it/double it's size electronically to equal the size of picture you got with Camera #2, camera #2 will give you a better picture (hope that made sense). On the other hand, you're almost always better off using your feet than using the zoom if you can.

Hope that helps.