I've decided I should get a new digital camera before I visit home for Christmas this year. I looked a little on Amazon, where the Canon Powershot SD200 is king, and decided based mostly on looks that I most liked the Powershot SD400.
Yesterday I planned to go to Best Buy (there's one near home) to actually touch and hold some of the cameras, but ended up going to Fry's instead. One of my favorites was the HP Powershot R817 (silver; the R818 is the same thing but black). It has an actual indentation for your thumb, with a rocker switch at the edge. Holding it feels very nice, which (I hear) is the most important thing in a camera. I'm pretty surprised how picky I was about look and feel, though. I seem to be selecting a camera as if the internals were all fungible, based purely on not only how nice it feels to hold, but how little it looks like a camera. (This is similar to how I selected a car.) I did this to the point that I didn't pay much attention to anything with a wheel or dial, a category which I now realize includes the Powershot SD400.
When I mentioned the R817, my roommate said to definitely not get an HP camera, because HP software is annoying. That's a disappointing thought, as the R817 is still the camera that was the most joy to hold. However my roommate seems to have bad luck with software anyway, so maybe it would work out OK for me. Reading reviews, it seems to have some photo manipulation tools in the camera, which I definitely wouldn't use.
My roommate also suggested Digital Photography Review, which I didn't find helpful yesterday, but apparently that was my fault. I didn't notice that the buyers guide, which is a feature based camera search, returns at most 10 cameras at once; I wondered why I didn't see the cameras I thought I wanted in the results. Playing with it a little right now, I see that it's much more helpful than I thought: I've already discovered the Powershots don't have manual focus, which I might want. It's still not completely helpful, as I'm willing to trade features, and that's hard the way they built their guide.
So I was at Fry's thinking about most of this in front of the higher end cameras, and then the guy in the suit was totally like, "Dude, take a hit off this," and handed me a Sony Cybershot DSC-N1. Oh, man, it had the most elegant interface of all the cameras--because it has like a switch and a button and a huge touch screen. I don't remember any special dents or nubs to afford holding it, but I don't recall it being uncomfortable (and did I ever not want to drop it).
It's 8.1 Mpx and US$500. That is, I could buy an N1 or, for an extra $50, get the R817 and an iPod Nano (2GB). Ouch, but what a sexy gadget.
So I have a few options to consider. You can help by voting in this poll. (Or just leave a comment here or there.)
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Heh — I’m currently working at a camera retailer, so quite a bit of what you’ve written sounds pretty familiar to me. :)
First recommendation: wherever you decide to buy, take the time to stop by a “real” camera store rather than a big-box retailer to get a feel for the cameras you’re looking at. I’ve yet to see a big-box store that actually let you handle the cameras without them being attached to some sort of anti-theft system (which is often big, clunky, and seriously impacts any real impressions of the weight or handleability of the camera), while many camera stores will hand you the camera to play with (though it sounds like that may have been what Fry’s did for you…I’ve never been to a Fry’s, so I know nothing about the shopping experience there).
The Powershot SD400 has been extremely popular as of late (my store in particular has been sold out of all but our demo model since midway through Black Friday), and for good reason, as it’s a good, solid little camera. A bit too small for my personal tastes, but that’s entirely subjective. Canon’s cameras also have some nice in-camera software (I own an older A95), and are quite easy to use.
I’m not terribly familiar with HP’s line — our store only carries three models, and they’re among the least demonstrated cameras we have. People who know about them say good things, but we don’t get quite as much support from HP as far as training or information goes, so they don’t end up getting as much “play” as many others do. I was surprised to see that 5x optical zoom listed in the Amazon page you linked to…3x is the standard for most small-size point and shoots (Canon’s A610 and A620 are 4x, and Casio’s P505 is 5x, and all three are a touch larger than most compact cameras…more than 5x and you’re definitely looking at a larger body).
I’m not sure what I think of the Sony N1 just yet. We just got one into our store to play with a few days ago, so I’ve only had a couple chances to poke at it. It is very impressive at first blush, especially with that nice touchscreen, but I’m not sure what I think of the overall useability — how easy is it to quickly select certain settings, whether you have to dig through menu settings, etc. While removing many of the buttons from the camera body does create a nice clean look, there are some buttons that I like having easy access to (without even looking for them once I’m familiar with the camera), and wouldn’t want to have to pause, lower the camera, tap the screen, find the right button to switch the setting, hit exit, and then re-compose to take the shot. Of course, as I said, I’ve only had a couple chances to play with the camera, so it may be far easier with a little more familiarity.
Another consideration might be whether you really need the 8 MP resolution — for most people’s common uses (web and e-mail, printing primarily 4x6 snapshots with the occasional 8x10 or 12x14 enlargement) 5-6 MP is the “sweet spot”. 8 MP will give you two strong benefits — being able to print larger (but do you really need to?) and more cropping/editing ability once the shots are on the computer — but the extra resolution makes a big difference in how many shots you can keep on a single memory card.
Of course, you can set the N1 to shoot at lower resolutions if you don’t need the full 8 MP but still want the fancy touch-screen. :)
Lastly, when pricing things out, don’t forget to budget an extra $100-$150 on top of the camera for memory beyond the token 32Mb chip included with most cameras (and Sony’s MemorySticks tend to cost slightly more than comparable SD or CF cards), an extra battery, case…all the little things that actually make the camera useable.
Anyway, now that I’ve rambled on for at least as long as your original post…good luck, and enjoy whichever camera you end up with!
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That’s what they did with the N1, but that’s because he was hoping to sell the sexy new gadget, I guess. Every other camera in the joint is totally locked down, with about one in ten able to power on. I should definitely visit a camera store!
I’m pretty sure I don’t need eight whole megapixels, but I was looking more at four than 5-6. That and keeping in mind headroom for memory and goodies will surely help me pick. Thanks!
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I have the HP Powershot R818 It’s cool camera. I haven’t any errors with it and fotos is good. Sorry for my English.
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8.1 Mpx, mmm.. 500$, mm… i want it :)
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mark,
I use my camera just about every day, and it is always in my pocket. I have had mine for 16 months now. I got the Dimage Xg by Konic Minolta. It is a great camera. Though from the reviews I’ve read about their newest camera I would stay away from the dimage. It sounds like konica screwed up with their latest version.
The cybershot was my first choice but i could get the dimage for half the price. If you were asking my opinion I would say you should get the cybershot.
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i have the sony cyber-shot 8.1 N1 - i LOVE it. Well worth the money.