looking for a new camera, mine is dying.

[Alameda]

My trusty little point and shoot is getting on and showing signs of dyeing. I had two, one has hit the dust, the lense doesn't close anymore, unless I do it manually with a toothpick.

I have been using a Casio XLMS600 and a Casio EX S 10. I particularly loved the EX S 10. Both had multi focus options. I got another Casio EX something, but it didn't have that option, it was cheaper, I gave it away as it was just not acceptable to me.

What I love about these little cameras is the small unobtrusive size. I find larger cameras intimidate people and cause things to freeze up. The small camera seems to be more friendly. I like to take walks and take photos, and these small cameras are great for my purpose, they fit in the palm of my hand, can be carried in my purse or pocket easily, thus it's always with me. I've had larger cameras, but found they were left home too often. I like haveing a camera with me all the time.

They say the best camera is the one with you, thus my choice is the smaller ones. My budget is limited to around $350., which puts a limit on things. Any suggestions

[NV Whino]

1. Check out the following for used or refurbished camera

B&H
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Cameras/ci/2936/N/4294246882


KEH
http://www.keh.com/?gclid=CPfSx6b6iLQCFQsGnQodlzAApQ

Adorama
http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=itemlist&cat1=Used&cat2=Canon%20Digital&cat3=Cameras

I've purchased fom all three. Good deals and reliable companies.
If these longer links don't work, cut them down to the .com address.

[Major Nikon]

2. I like the Canon Elph series cameras

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/842882-REG/Canon_6160B001_PowerShot_ELPH_530_HS.html

I have an older Elph. It does a great job and it's very well made. If you want a camera that has better manual overrides, there are better options.

Small cameras really benefit from the use of a tripod or monopod, especially if you are trying to shoot video with them.

[justiceischeap]

3. I have a Panasonic Lumix I'm happy with

They also consistently get good reviews:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?atclk=Brand_Panasonic&ci=8612&N=4288586279+4291296566

These were taken with my ZS5

[Adsos Letter]

4. I second Panasonic's Lumix series.

My wife and younger daughter each have one. I've also had very good luck with the Canon PowerShot series.

[alfredo]

5. Now that the Olympus XZ-2 is out, you can pick up the Olympus XZ-1 at a good price.

This camera sports a bright f1.8 lens, and has received good reviews. You can shoot in lower light without a flash.

It comes in other colors

[Alameda]

7. thanks, do you have any photos

you took with it? Personally I hate flashes and never use them. Or rarely do, they give an unnatural look IMHO. Sometimes unnatural is nice, but I prefer natural.

[alfredo]

9. I don't own that camera, but have read a lot about it. There was a lot of excitement

due to the very bright lens.

http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-Digital-Camera-3-Inch-Monitor/dp/B004HO59LK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355029036&sr=8-1&keywords=olympus+xz-1

Get the auto lens cap too.

http://www.amazon.com/eForCity-Auto-Lens-Compatible-Olympus/dp/B008O0R7I6/ref=pd_sim_p_12


A review
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/OlympusXZ1/

One from Steve Huff:
http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2011/05/30/the-olympus-xz-1-digital-camera-quick-review/

Olympus has a good representation for rich colors and good skin tones, but what is rich colors to one, might seem garish to the other.
Look at the Sony RX 100. It has a loyal following. It might be more than you are willing to spend.

If you hate flashes, check out the Olympus EP-2. You can pick them up for around $300.

The Lumix LX3 is also a very good camera that can be found at a good price. This is another camera that can use an auto lens cap. It is also sold as the Leica D-Lux for much more money.

[Fumesucker]

6. I have two P&S cameras

I took these three pictures with my Lumix ZS15, nice lens for outside in the daytime, goes from seriously wide angle to a pretty strong zoom. It's OK as a wide angle snapshot camera with flash in darker places but with the lens zoomed in tight it doesn't work in the dark well at all. Put it in five megapixel mode with a fast memory card and it will shoot two frames per second until the battery goes dead, great for action shooting like sports. It also does nice HD video and you can operate the long zoom while recording.







Here's a sample of video from my Lumix, this is a clearwing hummingbird moth in our garden.

http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=2aaj5ex&s=6


I also have a Canon S90 which has its own strengths, particularly for shooting in lower light situations without using the flash, it's got a very nice sharp f2.0 lens, it's also quite small for the quality of images it will produce. The latest model of the S series is the S100 and I understand it is considerably improved over the already very nice S90.

Here's one of my S90 images, this one is a ten minute exposure of the night sky.

[Alameda]

8. Nice

would you mind telling more about the specifications in these shots? Please tell me on each one. Did you zoom in on any of them? The 10 minute exposure is nice. A friend of mine, Jerry Burchard, use to do that and probably would have loved that camera. We had the same Casio.

[Fumesucker]

10. The shots from the Lumix are mostly zoomed in quite a bit, two of them all the way

Last edited Sun Dec 9, 2012, 07:45 AM - Edit history (1)

The chameleon was smaller than my little finger and about three feet away, that's the closest the camera will focus at full zoom (16x), the shot was taken on a bright but somewhat overcast day. That shot was cropped somewhat in Photoshop to frame the chameleon the way I wanted.

The Moon and Jupiter rising was at full zoom also, that shot was about 1/8 second or so hand held and the image stabilization did a yeoman's job of smoothing out the jitters, I had forgotten to bring my tripod and there was nowhere to brace myself or the camera in the one spot I could see the distant tree line to get the shot. That shot is not cropped, it's full frame and if you look closely you can see the actual disk of Jupiter.

The baseball pic was also zoomed in but I don't think it was full zoom on that one, I took a lot of shots that day and honestly don't remember, I was taking pictures with the lens stuck through the chain link fence behind and to one side of home plate.

The sky pic from the Canon is full wide angle for that camera (28mm equivalent on the old 35mm film cameras) but I had the lens stopped down quite a bit, my first shot was wide open and the whole picture came out white, too much light even at ISO 80, the nearly full Moon was off to the right in the picture and washing out the dark sky.

The Canon has a larger sensor and a faster lens than the great majority of pocket cameras so the pictures from it are quite clean and smooth, it would be the one to choose if you were going to do a lot of indoor shots in available light without the flash. The Canon has about 75% of the capabilities of a DSLR with about 20% of the bulk.

For candid daytime outdoors people shots I'd pick the Lumix, the long zoom on a normal size P&S lets you get pictures with people being unaware you're even shooting.

There are a few more shots I did with the Lumix here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10369847

And here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/103611368

ETA: Evidently Canon is up to the S110 now and it would come in right at the top of your price range.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-Digital-Wide-Angle-Stabilized/dp/B009B0MYSQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355053147&sr=8-1&keywords=canon+s100

[rDigital]

11. Are you interesting in stepping into DSLR territory? It can be done under $350 : ) nt

[canonfodder]

12. That is a thought

There are some good used Nikon and Canon models that can be had for such a price.

[Alameda]

13. Sort of...but I love the compact and simplicity of the small hand held.

It's very unobtrusive and enables me to shoot very natural shots. I'm sure it can be done with other equipment, it's just for me, the small ones work best.

[Alameda]

14. I ended up going to eBay and getting a

Casio 10 megapixel EX S 10 for under $50. I had that same camera previously before it bit the dust. It took a lot of abuse and kept on going. I had to choose what features were most important to me. As my budget is very tight, maybe more like very very tight, this was the best option for me IMHO.

Here is a photo I took with the same model camera previously



Here is a recent one with the new camera



Thanks to everyone for the help and advice. I really appreciate it.