Camera?

Looking for a good camera but under $300 budget. Any suggestions?:D:D

I like the Nikon AW100 a lot. It's waterproof, durable and for a P&S, very fast start up with little shutter lag as long as you aren't using the flash. Battery life is better than I expected, as well. I use one for work where I take about 1000 photos a day. I don't cut it any slack and it has held up very well. You can find them for well under $300.

I have the Panasonic Lumix TS-20 and it's a great waterproof point and shoot camera. Have used it underwater with great success.

Pick up a copy of Consumer Reports on the newsstand now. It has a feature article on cameras, and had a lot of excellent recommendations. ADDED: That's the August 2013 issue, in case this post is read at a much later date...

I use the Fujifilm XP20 and love it. Takes nice photos, easy to use, waterproof and makes good snorkeling videos. I think it's up to XP50, now. I would go to a few stores and mess with the displays to see what is comfortable and practical for you.

Did you know there was a Camera Board?:)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=118

You haven't said what you're looking for in the camera, but I would highly recommend the Sony HX10V. It has a 16x zoom, great in low light, sweep panorama and lots of other fun features. It's also a good size for a pocket or purse.

I have both the HX9V and the HX200V - I think they're great.

Action

Low light, no flash

Vic

There are a lot of choices for you in your price range.

The best advice I can provide is to not concentrate too much on the megapixels or zoom power - as both of these things have become marketing tools as of late by manufacturers trying to lure you to their products.

In the compact camera market, the best cameras will have around 10-12Megapixels, or up to 16Megapixels if the sensor is backside illuminated.

Any more is overkill - you won't likely see any improvement, and your low-light capability may suffer as a result. Compact camera sensors are tiny, and overstuffing pixels into them diminish their light-gathering capability.

Same thing goes for zoom power. The best cameras are around 4x to 7x. As zoom power increases, the optical quality decreases.

If you by a camera outside of these parameters you may still obtain good photos - but just realize they may not be quite as good as they could have been.

The best camera in my opinion in the $300 range is the Nikon P330. It has a fast lens, larger sensor, and manual exposure controls. A lot of features for the price.

There are a lot of choices for you in your price range.

 

The best advice I can provide is to not concentrate too much on the megapixels or zoom power - as both of these things have become marketing tools as of late by manufacturers trying to lure you to their products.

 

In the compact camera market, the best cameras will have around 10-12Megapixels, or up to 16Megapixels if the sensor is backside illuminated.

 

Any more is overkill - you won't likely see any improvement, and your low-light capability may suffer as a result. Compact camera sensors are tiny, and overstuffing pixels into them diminish their light-gathering capability.

 

Same thing goes for zoom power. The best cameras are around 4x to 7x. As zoom power increases, the optical quality decreases.

 

If you by a camera outside of these parameters you may still obtain good photos - but just realize they may not be quite as good as they could have been.

 

The best camera in my opinion in the $300 range is the Nikon P330. It has a fast lens, larger sensor, and manual exposure controls. A lot of features for the price.

I disagree with a lot of what this poster has said. The Sony HX series has a great sensor AND a Carl Zeiss lens - this is what sells many of the reviewers on what great cameras they are. It also does well in low light, which is missing in some of the others. The major disadvantage is that it is a little slow which translates to fractions of a second. It all depends on what you are looking for and how it feels in your hand.

All of the cameras in this range are pretty darn good and you probably won't be disappointed no matter which one you get.

Vic

Carl Zeiss licensed lenses - not necessarily made by Carl Zeiss.

I have a Sony Action Cam - with a Carl Zeiss lens. But it is in name only as the lens is made from the same Chinese factory as GoPro and the rest of the POV cameras.

With such an open ended question, you're just going to get a long list of replies of, "I use _____ and love it!"

awboater is right in general terms about cameras that boost the megapixels and zoom are often sacrificing image quality in other respects. But that of course doesn't mean a 4x camera will be better than a 20x camera.. As there are some very cheap 4x cameras that are quite inferior as well. And a camera like the Sony RX100 boasts 20mp and handles it very well, but it's not a typically compact. ($650 with a sensor much larger than other compacts).

So I'd look at your priorities, what are you shooting. I completely agree with awboater, that you should not put too much emphasis on zoom. But you may still find zoom is very important to you, in which case the Canon SX line and Sony HX line are both good quality for those type of cameras.

In your general price range, my top choice for a compact would be the Canon S100/110 (the 110 may be just slightly above your price range, but can get the older S100 for under $300). Truthfully, the Nikon P330 and the Canon S100 are very similar cameras.

The factors I would weigh though are:

1--- How small? Do you need a true compact, or you ok with something bigger? I notice you didn't specifically even say compact camera, would you consider a mirrorless with interchangeable lenses?

2-- What are you using the camera for? Candids and action? You may need a camera with low shutter lag and a high burst rate. Wild life? You may need a bigger zoom after all. Low light? A fast lens and bigger sensor become critical.

3-- Are you a pure point and shooter, or do you want a camera that gives you the options to take more control? Specifically, if you want to do your own HDR or post-processing, then it's good to have a camera capable of RAW files.

4-- Are there "extras" that are of particular interest to you? Wifi? GPS? waterproof?

These types of questions will narrow down your choices.

I should have stated that while the 10-12MP and 4x~7x zooms are generally the "sweet-spot" for a good balance, not all cameras in that range will be good as there are indeed some dogs - at least on the cheap end.

You will find that the very best compact cameras - such as the Canon G15, S110, Nikon P7700, P330, etc. all have larger sensors (1/1.7") and megapixels/zooms in that range. There may be some exceptions to this, but it's my belief that more often than not - 10-12Mp/4x~7x is the "sweet spot"... at least with today's technology.

But as pointed out above, not all cameras in this range will be good. While the best cameras may concentrate in this area, you will also find junk cameras in that range also.

The other thing I am saying is be careful when you look at high megapixel/high power zoom lens cameras - they are often the result of aggressive marketing and the result may be a camera that does not perform as well as you hoped.

Thing is - the current compact camera market - especially the low cost segment, is that manufacturers are finding increasing competition in a shrinking low-end compact camera market due to phone cameras. For this reason they are marketing towards things phone cameras cannot do - such as 50x zooms (at least not yet). As manufacturers jockey around for pecking-order, they are pushing the envelope more and more into the marginal "features" to keep market share. So far though, high-end compacts have been relatively immune to this, and they still offer the shorter zooms and sensible megapixel sensors.

Bigger is not always better.

Sorry if this was confusing.

This is just my opinion - so don't take it for anything else. You can agree or disagree - that's OK with me.

My main reasoning for commenting is that you can often find a good or even better cameras if you don't fall victim to the current marketing hype - (high megapixels and super zooms) as it is as much, or more a result of manufacturers trying to resurrect a dying market - not necessarily higher quality cameras.