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Which camera to buy?

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arjunajane

arjunajane

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 18, 2008
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Hey all,
as some may know, I have recently been lamenting my ability to get a great photo of my new ring, due to the fact of not owning a decent camera.
I have decided I need to buy a new digital camera, but would really appreciate anyone''s opinon on what is a good model..

Of course, I would like it to have a reasonable macro function so as to photo my jewellery, however I also just want a normal "point and shoot" easy to use digi for everyday use aswell, as I don''t think I''m interested enough to use a manual or SLR model.

I''ve quickly discovered that the entry-priced models have macro that is probably worse than whats on my nokia camera phone! So I have "upped" my budget to about $250-$300 (AUD).

My local guy has recommended these three choices:

Canon Powershot IXUS 80 http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_sd1100.asp
Olympus Mju 820 http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Olympus/oly_stylus820.asp
Nikon P60 http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Nikon/nikon_cpp60.asp

At the moment I''m leaning toward the Canon, mainly out of liking the brand, the look and being able to read the full review on DPreview!
As you can tell, I don''t have much technical knowledge for my choices, so I would love if anyone can weigh in on if they think any of those choices are any good, or can suggest others?

Thanks heaps in advance, I promise many lovely pics when I get it!
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Hi AJ,
I bought a new camera last month or early this month (can''t remember exactly when). I too wanted a nice small point and shoot just to be able to carry in my handbag and have handy etc. I went into about 3-4 camera places here (Myer, Teds, Camera House etc.) and said that I was looking at spending around $300 on a point and shoot. The three that I have mentioned all recommended the Canon that I ended up getting which is the Canon Ixus 70 (was $249 at Myer, and around $260 - $280 at other camera shops). I believe that the Ixus that you have had recommended to you is the newer model of the one I have, and comes in different colours (but that was around $400 I think when I was looking). I love the canon, it is easy to use, really small and cute, takes great photos, has Macro function (plus it seems a million other functions - but easy to use whatever you need). So far I have mostly just taken random photos around town to try it out, I haven''t taken many jewelery shots yet, and have never been that good at those with other camera''s, but it has performed really well for everything that I have used it for, so I would definitely recommend the canon, I LOVE mine.

I''ve previously had an Olympus and found it to be great, and I think I took a few photos with my friend''s olympus at a wedding (it may have even been the same model you are looking at) and it seemed great too.

I don''t know much about the Nikon, but know they are known for making good camera''s, but it looks a little bigger than the others if that matters to you at all -- it did to me.

Good luck with your shopping, can''t wait to see more photos of your POH when you get it!
 
I think a lot of the ladies here like the Canon''s a lot. I don''t think you could wrong with it or the Nikon.
 
Hi bling addict,
thankyou so much for your detailed reply! Its great to hear from someone else local..Cameraland is actually the one I''ll probably buy from as its down the road from me. Where abouts in Perth do you live if you don''t mind me asking? (don''t answer if you don''t want to please!)
I''m glad to hear you like that camera, as its the one I''m leaning to - its a lil bit more than I planned to spend, but the colours you mentioned it comes in do look great!
Do you have any macro photos you''ve taken with it you can share?

Thankyou penquaker, yeah for some reason I think a canon will be best even though I''ve never owned one! (how''s that for brand strength?
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)

I would love to hear any other suggestions, or should I just go with the canon?

Is strm or someone else with lots of technical know-how out there?
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I am a cannon girl all the way they take fantastic shots easy to use and are great all over :D

The one thing my BF and I did not like about the IXUS is that it has the mobile phone type of battery hence why we decided to go with the powershot (if they ever stock the thing in red).

If you decide to buy try to do it before the end of the month as sales people need to meet targets and are willing to discount for cash to do so ;)
 
Hey Arjuna, I just bought the Canon Ixus 75 a few months back (and I've had other Canons in the past) I keep going back to them because they just take really great pictures. I bought the Ixus because I wanted a small point and shoot, but am also saving up for the G9.

I think for a point and shoot it is great, and I am happy with the macro shots. I just took some pics of my new new wf scattered band
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- it's in the show me the ring thread if you are interested.

Unfortunately I can't offer any comparisons to the others, as they are all I have owned in the past seven years, so hopefully someone else can chime in on those.

I ended up getting mine at JB Hi-Fi, after pricing out a few places and I got them to bring it down to the cheapest price I saw online, plus no shipping.
 
Date: 4/22/2008 7:17:10 AM
Author: Deelight
I am a cannon girl all the way they take fantastic shots easy to use and are great all over :D


The one thing my BF and I did not like about the IXUS is that it has the mobile phone type of battery hence why we decided to go with the powershot (if they ever stock the thing in red).


If you decide to buy try to do it before the end of the month as sales people need to meet targets and are willing to discount for cash to do so ;)
Click to expand...

Deelight you are right about the batteries, and it''s something I considered because I really liked that feature on my old powershot. In the end I went with the Ixus just because it really is a pocket camera, and the powershots are just that little bit bulkier. Arjuna, I guess it depends what is most important to you.
 
Hi AJ,
I''m actually in Melbourne, sorry if I gave the impression I was from Perth
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I don''t have any good macro shots at the moment, I tried taking a few the other night, but they didn''t really turn out very well. There''s a few in the BWW show me your wedding pearls thread, but yeah, not very good sorry.

I hadn''t thought about the battery thing before, but I have a panasonic with a similar style battery which is a few years old and seems to be ok, but I guess spare batteries would be more expensive than something like my old sony which took NIMH AA''s. Good luck with your choice
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Hi all,
awesome thankyou so much for all the responses, its exactly what I need!
BlingA, not at all I guess I just made assumptions because of the stores you mentioned!
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Hi Dee, thanx for the advice - out of interest what is it about those type of batteries that you think are no good? Is it the life of them, as my sales rep actually was trying to lead me away from the double A's models, so I got the other impression, but really not sure now...
What do you think would be the equivalent in the powershot range?

Prettyblues, thankyou for the advice, its great to hear from someone that owns it..how do you find the whole battery thing, has it troubled you at all?
I just checked your shots out - gorgeous band btw!!
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I think the photos look great from your camera, thankyou for letting me know about them
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thankyou all for your replies!
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If you want to travel and take your camera with you it may not always be convenient to recharge also you can''t recharge those batteries on the go whereas with rechargeable AA''s you can get rechargeable ones with a car adapter and charge on the lighter.

For the money I like the new Cannon a470 powershot :) I still like the IXSUS as well
 
Yeah good point...
the a470 was actually the one i went down there intending to buy, but (for me at least), the macro was just not good - I know from the specs it sayd it should have super macro but just wouldn''t take a good pic.
think I''ll have to do more research...
 
I love my sony cybershot. It gets great pictures including really good macros (my ring pics were taken with it https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-ering-really.83556/), and mine is one of the cheap models.

I alway use consumer reports, they have never steered me wrong. The top cameras in each catagory were sonys, closely followed by cannons with a large number of both in their best buys, so either is a really good bet.
They sumerize the brands as follows:

Canon-The biggest model selection. Compacts are known as PowerShots. The moderately priced PowerShot A series is less likely than the S and G lines to have features such as image stabilization. (G models use proprietary batteries; most other Canon compacts use AAs.) Canon''s subcompacts are known as SD ELPHs. Canon also offers a wider selection of lenses than most brands.

Sony-Cyber-shot compacts and subcompacts offer distinctions such as touch screens and sleek bodies. In recent tests, Sonys have beaten most brands in shutter lag and next-shot delay, two common complaints. All Sony point-and-shoots use proprietary (and pricey) Memory Stick storage. The W and S series are budget lines. High-end H- and G-series compacts and premium N- and T-series subcompacts tend to be pricier than other brands.
 
Thankyou Irish for the info, I appreciate it. I''m the same as you, I''ve been reading numerous reports and reviews but alot of the techy terms escape me. Any good sites you can advise for reviews? I''ve been looking at DPreview..

Hey Dee,
actually I stand corrected on the a 470 - I just went to a shop on my lunchbreak, and it seems the sales person at the other shop just didn''t know his stuff! I just had to chnage the a470 to "digital macro" (whatever that is) and it was comparable to the ixus.

I''m now trying to decide between the a470 and the a590 - basically a difference of image stabilization, tiny bit more MP and some more manual features on the a590...and another $100 ..
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Anyone have an opinion which you''d prefer and why? Would like to make a purchase today or tomorrow..thanks!
 
Hi AJ (I hope you don''t mind me calling you that, please say if it bothers you!),
I think to help decide maybe you should just ask yourself if you would use the extra features? From what I have read the 590 has extra manual features - do you think you''d use these (I know I wouldn''t with a point and shoot, I''m just gonna point and shoot - kwim?) If it''s something like 7 mps v 8 mps will it make any difference to the things you plan to use if for? For me, I thought a lot of the extra features such as extra megapixels, and extra 0.5x - 1x optical zoom in small point and shoot cameras won''t make that much difference for what I would use them for, which is just to have handy and mostly take happy snaps, if I wanted more, I would be looking at a totally different type of camera.

Of the features you have mentioned, the most important to me would be the image stabilisation - because I think it would be handy (based on my crappy photo taking ability) for taking macro shots (but I don''t know if that is actually true, or if my photos would still turn out bad). Also price is something to consider, I guess just because $100 in the context of a $200 - $300 camera is a large percentage of price.

Anyways, I have been rather long winded again, I''m sure you''ll be happy with whichever one you choose!
 
Ok so I didn''t really read most of the replies...I just wanted to share that I just got my new Canon PowerShot SX100 IS today-macro seems to be pretty awesome on it, granted I haven''t had much time to play, but if you want to see a sampling of the pics I took today (Only about 100! And I got some decent shots too!) check out my thread link.
 
Hey Arjuna, probably doesn't matter as you are looking at the Powershots now, but I have been fine with the battery. I know about how many shots I can take with it, so have a feel when it needs to be charged. If this was going to be my only camera, I would probably just buy a spare battery but since I plan to get the G9 I think I can use the Ixus as my back up
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As for the two powershots, the 470 is cannon's entry level camera for powershot (I believe). I haven't used that one, but I have seen some shots with the 450 and I really wasn't that impressed with it. But I think the 590 would be great, and worth the extra money, IMHO. You also get more manual features, which can be fun to play around with (though some people could care less about this)

Oh and I mainly use dpreview, but have also used Steve's Digicams on occasion:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/

ETA: Oh, just realised you have played with the 470, so if the images seem good, then maybe it's not worth it get the 590!
 
Date: 4/23/2008 2:02:39 AM
Author: arjunajane
Thankyou Irish for the info, I appreciate it. I''m the same as you, I''ve been reading numerous reports and reviews but alot of the techy terms escape me. Any good sites you can advise for reviews? I''ve been looking at DPreview..


Hey Dee,

actually I stand corrected on the a 470 - I just went to a shop on my lunchbreak, and it seems the sales person at the other shop just didn''t know his stuff! I just had to chnage the a470 to ''digital macro'' (whatever that is) and it was comparable to the ixus.


I''m now trying to decide between the a470 and the a590 - basically a difference of image stabilization, tiny bit more MP and some more manual features on the a590...and another $100 ..
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Anyone have an opinion which you''d prefer and why? Would like to make a purchase today or tomorrow..thanks!
Click to expand...

;) most sales people know squat in those areas the turnover is high due to the demand of needing to SELL SELL SELL, My BF tends to confuse them with his knowledge much like I confuse alot of jewllers with my limited diamond knowledge
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The macro on the a470 apparently (according to the website you linked) can focus on macro from 1cm as opposed to the ixsus which is 3cm, how big a diff this makes no idea.

Personal experience I stood at the counter in Harvey Norman (busy Saturday) with the BF taking handshots of my ring to test the macro
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and it did super good I was impressed for the money it is a fantastic camera, if only I could find a red one.

For me I would save the $200 and buy a new silver trinket from the new tiff''s that will be opening up soon near you but that is just me
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Wow!
you have all been so helpful, thankyou all so much for your input.
Bling, not at all, AJ for short is cool
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, I know I chose a pretty long screen name! I;m totally with you on the 1590, and after doing some more in-shop research today I have ruled that one out, as I know I won''t be bothered to learn the manual stuff...

Freke thankyou for sharing, loving the new bling and shoes btw, and Happy Bday to you!
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PrettyB, thankyou for the links and info, and Dee - about the sales people, it gets really confusing as they all say something different where ever you go. One couldn''t find the super macro function, so he ended up telling me it didn''t have it..
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Not going back there....
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SO..that brings me back to my original decision of the a470 or the ixus - of which, from my research I''ve learnt that there is pretty much Nothing separating them in macro performance, the only diff really is the Ixus has IS and looks Waayy sexier!
phew, this camera stuff is just as hard as the diamonds!

So I''ve decided to go with my first choice the Ixus, just got to find the best deal around now...
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The extra $200 for something shiny would be lovely, but I think the Ixus is more of a "long life" kinda purchase, whereas I may have to upgrade the 470 too soon..that my reasoning anyway, not the pretty colours!

Now a vote - brown or gold..? ha ha just kidding, i won''t trouble you all with those kinds of details!

thanks all for the guidance, promise purdy pictures on the w''end!
 
Most SA''s in those stores don''t have a clue, I tend to go with what my tech geek super BF has to say over them :P. Apparently cannons have these really great lenses as well which I have no clue as to what but they are meant to be good all I know is they take awesome photo''s :D

If you want a good deal go in 2-3 days before the end of the month be a little nonchalant about it and say these magic little words: Whats the best price you will do for cash?

I saved quite a bit at Christmas doing this and I am not a great haggler, but it is amazing what those little words do. I am thinking of buying BF a watch for our anniversary and without any effort on my part I got $158 off. Places like Dick Smith and Clive Peters will give you a 14 day price guarantee but can be a little more pricey then the others, they will match or beat prices though so I would use them as a last resort.

Good luck :) I can''t wait to see some beautiful detailed shots of your bling bling :D
 
I use the Cannon and my pictures always come out wonderful

flowerslg24.jpg
 
Oh and mine is pink
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Hi AJ,
Glad you were able to pick a camera
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I just wanted to add that when I said I take crappy pictures, so far they have all turned out well except for when I tried to take a few ring shots (but macro of plants and stuff were fine) - but I have the earlier model that doesn''t have IS, and I have just discovered today (inspired by this thread, so thank you) that I can adjust a setting on my camera and my closeup pictures have since turned out fine! Long story short, I think you will love the IXUS (it''s such a cute little camera too) - what colour are you going to get?
Looking forward to seeing more photos!
 
I know I''m a bit late but I wanted to chime in and say that image stabilization is really worthwhile if you can get it - that''s a big part of the reason I recently upgraded my camera from the Canon SD550 to a Canon SD850, and I''ve found that the IS makes a big difference to the quality of my close-up shots and the ease with which I can capture them.
 
Hi,
thankyou Dee, Legacy, Bling and Amber for the input.
Thanks Amber for your opinion, as I still wasn''t sure whether the IS was worth the extra $.
Hopefully will be finding a good deal on the ixus tomorrow!
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