Friday, July 16, 2010

Pocket cams

In continuation of the theme of superzoom cameras, I was once more asked for a recommendation about which compact camera to buy.
For a while, I've been saying "buy the Canon compact you can afford, but make sure it has Image Stabilization for low-light hand-held shooting". And I'm still saying that. Those Canons has amazing image quality for the size and price. (We may now be at the point where all current models have stabilization, I'm not sure.)

A friend got snarled up in the many choices between zoom lengths and megapixels. My advice per 2010 is: stick to 10 megapixels and 3x zoom. More than that is pressing the limits of what compact cameras do well, due to the small sensors and lenses. But at 10MP and 3x zoom, you can have a tiny camera which still will cover most situations and can have excellent image quality.

4 comments:

ganesha games said...

I'm very happy with my Canon G11.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Doubtlessly. It has a bigger body than the "shirt-pocket cameras" I was mostly thinking of, and thus can have a 5X zoom of high quality. It's a good camera from all reports.
Notice they went back to 10MP after having ventured higher with the G10.

Ray said...

Just an FYI - the Canon G9 is 12.1 megapixels and has a 6X optical zoom.

TC said...

I ended up with a Casio Ex-10S when I needed a ultra-portable recently (to complement the Pany LX3 and the dSLR). It's still about the thinnest 10mpix P&S you can get.

I do miss the optical stabilization and it could have less noise (even at iso 100), but I can take it everywhere and I quite like it. Got it really cheap used on ebay.