camera help

MrsSstrug

thanks to those who responded on Facebook already but i am hoping to take advantage of some mother's day sales on cameras.

we are looking for a new, easy to use, point and shoot camera (no fnacy SLRs or anything where i have to buy/change lenses). Our current one is five years old and starting to die a sad death. Time to upgrade...any recs. we have two trips coming up and want to get some good photos!

jess08200

We have a Nikon Cool Pix and have been very happy with it.  I like it much better than the Kodak one we used to have.

vtkgirl77

My last two P&S cameras that I used over the past 10 years were from the Canon PowerShot line and I have been really pleased with their performance. Also, Canon has great customer service. For example, a chip in the camera I owned in 2005 had a problem and they fixed it for free within 7 days and paid for shipping both ways. Also, my mom broke her camera from dropping it (her fault) and through their trade-in program, she was able to get a new one for half-off.

The current one I have is the Canon ELPH SD1000. I've had it for 4 years so I don't know if they still sell that model but it's similar to this (see link). I like that it's super compact and has a small, lightweight battery. You can see from Amazon that it gets great reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-SD1200IS-Stabilized-Dark-Gray/dp/B001SER492/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1303829589&sr=1-6

Good luck with your decision!

 

 

 

victoria1212

we have the Nikon Coolpix L110 and love it. It is bigger than a normal point and shoot but it is still fully automatic. It has some features that you would get with a SLR. It takes great photos! Only downside is that it does not fit easily in the purse :-)

cheekywife

we have two panasonic lumix cameras - one small, one that is just a step below an SLR (no lens changing, awesome zoom and can be completely automatic or manual). the little one was $110 and takes great photos but is definitely not as fast as the larger one (which was like $400 in 2008). i'm pretty sure those models are no longer available but there will definitely be updated models that are similarly priced and equally great.

little one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PTG2P2

big one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GHVZQ0

this is very similar to our big camera: http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMC-FZ35-Digital-Optical-Stabilized/dp/B002IKLJU0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1303829872&sr=8-2

my ILs actually bought one of the lumix cameras because they loved our 2008 vaca pics. theirs was around $200 and in between the size of ours.

i am a photo geek so the lumix cameras having leica lenses was important to me. 

if you're bored and want to look at photos: http://cheekygirlandfanboy.shutterfly.com/

most of the 2008 & early 2009 photos were taken with our big camera, most phtoos from summer 2009 on were taken with the small one. 

HTH 

cheekywife

and FWIW, i loved our tiny canon powershot but it died after less than two years. and given that it was almost as much as our big camera, i was disappointed that it crapped out after such a short time.

can_can

If your old dying one is a Canon, also call their Canon customer service, and ask about their customer loyalty program! I had an old PowerShot, and it was draining batteries. I called their customer service and they offered me to upgrade for 50% off what it would have cost me in the store to the newer model, and they gave me a box to ship them my old camera for free! I love Canon!

maryandkirk0909

I'm also a Canon Powershot fan.  I've had mine for 3 years now and it is still going strong. 

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-SD1300IS-Stabilized-Blue/dp/B0035FZJKS/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1303832026&sr=1-5

I love it, it has a lot of advanced features for a P&S, and I carry it in my purse now, even though I have a DSLR.

tomandcourt

Another Canon PowerShot fan here. We've had two and liked them both a lot. 

vtkgirl77

can_can:

If your old dying one is a Canon, also call their Canon customer service, and ask about their customer loyalty program! I had an old PowerShot, and it was draining batteries. I called their customer service and they offered me to upgrade for 50% off what it would have cost me in the store to the newer model, and they gave me a box to ship them my old camera for free! I love Canon!

Yes, this is what my mom did.

 

cheekywife:

and FWIW, i loved our tiny canon powershot but it died after less than two years. and given that it was almost as much as our big camera, i was disappointed that it crapped out after such a short time.

When you say it "died", was it an issue with the LCD screen? If so, it may have had a faulty chip and Canon will fix it for free and pay for shipping both ways if you still have it. Here's the list of affected models.

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/support/consumer/digital_cameras?pageKeyCode=prdAdvDetail&docId=0901e024801e74fe

 

cheekywife

thanks! it isn't one of the models on that list. the camera just got really, really slow when shooting and the battery lasted maybe an hour. that happened while we were in italy so extra disappointing. thankfully, we already had the big lumix by the time this happened so we just stopped using it.

stargirl0508

cheekywife:

we have two panasonic lumix cameras - one small, one that is just a step below an SLR (no lens changing, awesome zoom and can be completely automatic or manual). the little one was $110 and takes great photos but is definitely not as fast as the larger one (which was like $400 in 2008). i'm pretty sure those models are no longer available but there will definitely be updated models that are similarly priced and equally great.

We have a Lumix too.  We got it on the recommendation of SIL, currently a photography major in college.  She's got two DSLR Nikons of her own, but has a Lumix point and shoot for going out with friends, parties, everyday photography.  We love it, and she loves hers (and has had hers a year or two longer than us, 2007 I'd say and it's still going strong). 

Temp536318000001135

Another vote for the Lumix. DH got me one for Christmas this year because I wanted an easy to use point and shoot camera. not only is it easy to use, but it has taken really good pictures!

jenn248

Another big fan of Canons here.  We have an older Canon PowerShot (I forget the exact model, but it's one of the teeny tiny ones that fits in your pocket) and we bought the Canon G11 last year with our NZ trip in mind.  It takes great photos if you just point and shoot, but it has a lot of options if you want to get fancier.  I think Canon has since replaced it with the G12, which is the same but with a few more options. 

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/digital_cameras/powershot_g12

rnin02

I have a Panasonic lumix as well and love it. I've had it since 2007 I think and its still doing well. I forget the model number at the moment, but its one of their point and shoots, but has the ability to manual adjust settings as well (shutter speed,etc). I'm starting to get itchy to buy a new one and will probably get another Panasonic again.

rnin02

http://www.myproductadvisor.com/mpa/camera_/inputSummary.doI love this site for picking out cameras.

myvette13

jenn248:

Another big fan of Canons here.  We have an older Canon PowerShot (I forget the exact model, but it's one of the teeny tiny ones that fits in your pocket) and we bought the Canon G11 last year with our NZ trip in mind.  It takes great photos if you just point and shoot, but it has a lot of options if you want to get fancier.  I think Canon has since replaced it with the G12, which is the same but with a few more options. 

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/digital_cameras/powershot_g12

This.  We have an older powershot that fits in your pocket.  Love that camera for bar hopping :-)  We also have the G12 which is a great mix of automatic shooting plus manual shooting.  G12 also has a lot of options to make the camera more versatile (underwater shooting cases, ability to put on filters, etc).  Only downside is that its bulky and doesn't fit in your pocket.