For the wife, please - wanting point and shoot recommendations

[drcarl]

I hate to even bother my fellow professional shooters with this, yet, alas, I will...

Am getting my wife a "point-and-shoot" and, looking through "pro" eyes, I am going blind with the possibilities.

For her birthday, a family member purchased a Nikon S210 ($159) or something which I returned and plan to throw-down a hundred or two more to get her something more awesome (total around $300-$350) which I may even pick-up and shoot myself in a pinch.

Ultimately important to us (me) is ~image quality~ (I can always mess it up in PS) without purple (or pink) fringe effects. Also important is small size (a little larger than a deck of cards is OK; say 1.5" thick), optical zoom, shutter response speed, battery life, IS, even manual controls, etc. Being able to zoom while in movie mode would be cool, though certainly not a high priority for a still camera.

One Sales Rep tried to convince me that the Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG9 is the S$!t...er, most awesome thing. I am reluctant to think of a video camera with poor reviews as what I'm looking for in a point-and-shoot.

I am considering:

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-TZ5K
(might be too soft at all ISO's due to noise reduction)

Nikon S600

Canon 860 IS

SONY W170

My sweetie has been happy to play with her son's Canon PowerShot SD750 - kind of a cool camera...she has a good eye and needs a camera. Maybe she'll shoot more of ME!?! lol


So...there must be many (any?) here in a similar situation. If, after YOUR research, you blindmess is gone and your vision returned, and you know of the the most awesome point-and-shoot camera in the land...please grace me with the results to your quest.



TIA

drcarl

[Bendr]

Personally, I ended up with a G9, It's a nice little beast, well built, and excellent image quality.

Plus, it's got Raw support, and a flash hotshoe... :)

Here's the Dpreview Review...

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canong9/

[dadwtwins]

you have chosen all winners with the four you picked out. The canon supposedly has the best picture quality but I think the Panasonic is better due to color saturation.

As quality and features go, the panasonic would be my choice but it is NOT a pocket camera. It just does not slide in and out of pockets with ease.

The view finder is something I would want due to glare inhibiting your view sometimes and the canon and nikon do not have them.

I have shot all four of these cameras when my cousin needed a P&S and I have an in at a camera shop to allow us to go out and try first hand.

If you want a camera that is easy to carry, small and compact with good features and good picture quality, I like the Sony.

My cousin ended up buying the panasonic and totally is in love with it. Unlike me, he earns his living taking pictures and this camera satisfies his needs with manual control features as well as full auto features. This camera is a cheaper version of Leica's camera line. The glass is superior and the features are awesome for the more advanced photographer but then again it is a little more bulky.

I hope this one opinion helps a little:scratch

[Photo Joe]

If you want to go big, then I agree pick up a G9, but you're pushing 500 bones, and its not going to be overly compact. But its a fantastic point and shoot, and I've seen pro's use them in a pinch or when they don't want to lug a heavy SLR and equipment around. It isn't huge, and can fit in a shirt pocket, but would be bulky.

Here's my skinny, unfortunately I work at a canon reseller, so I'm a bit biased and thats all I know about off the top of my head, haha.

SD790 - $299
10.0MP
4.0x Zoom
3.0" LCD (No viewfinder )
ISO1600
SD890 - $349
10.0MP
5.0x Zoom
2.5" Zoom
ISO1600
SD950 - $399
12.1MP
3.7x Zoom
2.5" LCD
ISO1600
G9 - $499
12.1MP
6.0x Zoom
3.0" LCD (w/ viewfinder :thumb )
ISO1600
RAW Support

Digic III on all of them, as well as IS. A SD950 is nice, but but at $400, you might as well fork up another $100 for a G9, unless the smaller size is crucial.

[Andy]

Canon SD 870 P&S. 28mm wide, super image quality (see P&S Sucks Thread here!).

Best little P&S I've ever used.

[divamum]

Sorry to be contrarian here, but I have been deeply disapointed with mySD750 Canon Elph. I had an A75 which was a great camera in its time, so I was happy to go with Canon again. I researched it like crazy earlier this year, and just about every review said it had stunning image quality, great little camera, amazing sharpness. Uh... only if you like soft, grainy photos. Been horribly disappointed with it. The only thing it does do successfully is be very small (which is why I bought a P&S - I was going away on a gig, didn't want to take the full kit, but knew I would want to take some snapshots).

If I were to pick again, I'd go with one of the small Olympus P&S - they seem much sharper and to have better IQ, and are almost as pocketable. Also, DON'T buy at Best Buy - I bought this one there because I didn't have enough time to mail-order it and was kind of stuck with brick-and-mortar, and that was the best price at the time. However, they've seriously tightened up their return policy since the last time I gave in and shopped the Borg, and WOULD NOT take this back without the 15% restocking fee, which is why I got stuck keeping it... :scratch

FWIW.

[swintonphoto]

I got my wife an Olympus Stylus (http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_digital_stylus.asp). Pretty powerful little camera. I use it from time to time. Has a reasonable amount of user controls, yet not too overbearing. It is very fast and responsive with a decent lens. If you want an even more powerful one, the Olympus SP cameras (They just released the SP-565 UZ (http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1393), and the SP-570 UZ (http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1367))are pretty packed little suckers. If i had one point and shoot to rely on, that would be my pick.
Here is a great photo gallery with sample shots from these cameras: http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/oima_gallery_form.asp

[Cuong]

Canon Powershot SD850 IS. Stylish super compact camera with a great value.

Cuong

[drcarl]

Thank you SO much everyone.

It's such a comfort having so many 'fellows' in the same boat.

After too much analysis, am going for the Canon SD 870...they all have minor and major advantages and disadvantages; I think this will to the trick.

Thank you all again,

drcarl

[davidweaver]

Canon SD 870 P&S. 28mm wide, super image quality (see P&S Sucks Thread here!).

Best little P&S I've ever used.
:agree:agree:agree

Ditto to Andy here.

[Stuggi]

Make sure to check out some of Olympus' P&Sers, they are quite excellent.

[drcarl]

GOT the Canon SD 870...

I think this will to the trick.

Thank you all again,

drcarl