[wakeride74]

I have a Sony Cybershot and it's great for what it is but anything less than mid day with the sun out and the pictures don't turn out so well. I was considering getting a Canon digital Rebel 10.1 but I'd really like something less involved with the lens built in.

So here's what I'm looking for:
- Top notch, super clear image quality with excellent color, depth and detail.
- One piece (lens built in)
- Must operate very well in low light settings (i.e. pictures at night, inside, etc.)
- Good flash, able to take good night time pics up to about 10ft.
- Good macro shots
- Point and shoot

Price - the lower the better but no molre than say $650.

 

[blessingx]

You could go dSLR and a fast lens, but that would break the built-in lens requirement.
A couple Fuji point-and-shoot models get mentioned often when discussing low light. I'm not sure if the F series lives up to the hype, but here's a couple shots.

 

[wakeride74]

Those pics look pretty damn good!

Checking out the Fuji site and it looks like they have some pretty good stuff in the S series that fits what I am looking for but they must be pretty new because I googled a few model numbers and it doesn't seem like anyone is selling them

 

[DBrim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakeride74 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have a Sony Cybershot and it's great for what it is but anything less than mid day with the sun out and the pictures don't turn out so well. I was considering getting a Canon digital Rebel 10.1 but I'd really like something less involved with the lens built in. So here's what I'm looking for: - Top notch, super clear image quality with excellent color, depth and detail. Most cameras in your budget will give you this - One piece (lens built in) Why? - Must operate very well in low light settings (i.e. pictures at night, inside, etc.) More a function of the lens, probably not within your budget - Good flash, able to take good night time pics up to about 10ft. No experience in this area - Good macro shots Function of the lens - Point and shoot Why? Price - the lower the better but no molre than say $650.

At your price point, I don't know why you're not going the DSLR route. Apparently you're considering the rebel, but that's not one piece, which is one of your requirements?

Personally, I am a huge fan of the Nikon D50. It may be an outdated camera but you can get it and the 18-55 lens for $400 or so and get outstanding results. With your extra money you could get a better flash, too, or the outstanding 55-200VR lens (great for low light due to VR, increases your range).

My gallery has mostly images taken with the D50, and many of those were with the D50 and the kit 18-55 lens.

 

[GTRacer]

Honestly, if you're going to pay $650 for a camera it'd better be a DSLR. It'll outperform any fixed lens camera. You can just leave the lens on if you like.

But if you really want a fixed lens, here are some:
- Canon Powershot G7 (sample shots I've taken with it: gtracer.deviantart.com)
- Canon Powershot S5 IS
- Fuji Finepix F31FD
- Sony DSC-R1

 

[Fallingwater]

Sadly, "integrated-lens" and "high sensitivity" are two concepts that don't go well together.
Not because they are intrinsically incompatible, but because nobody seems to be making an integrated-lens digicam with a large sensor.
Large sensors are what you need for high sensitivity; all dSLRs have them, and they are in great part responsible for the high price.

Sony made a digicam with a slightly bigger sensor, but low-light performance didn't quite get to dSLR levels.

Many integrated-lens digicams allow you to set pretty high ISO values, but anything above 400 ISO (rarely 800) gets hopelessly noisy. Better than nothing, but not really that better.

You can get a DSLR and leave the lens on, of course. Many photographers will faint at the very thought, but no law says you can't do it.

 

[3x331m]

Canon Pro1 is another candidate. It's worth an investigation.

 

[sinsiang]

For $650 I think that you can get a nice dslr secondhand and the pics are just uncomparable to point and shoot.

siang

 

[AlanY]

There have been one or two very good threads on this topic recently; do a search, there's lots of great advice.

Anyway, the camera you want is the FujiFilm FinePix F31fd. (Not its successor the F40fd.) Don't be fooled by the $230 price tag; there's a reason it's a classic. I and others went into this in greater depth with reasons in one of the most recent threads. Fantastic low-light performance, good lens, etc.

You could also consider an introductory DSLR if greater bulk is not an issue for you, though DSLRs do not meet your lens criterion. Also note that the FujiFilm F31fd has superior low-light and high ISO performance to the previous generation used DSLRs.

Btw, if you don't already have Adobe Lightroom, that's not a bad way to spend the extra money in your budget left over from getting the F31fd. Either that or Aperture if you have a Mac.

 

[wakeride74]

Ok, I don't want a dSLR because I don't want to lug that crap around and deal with different lenses, add-on flash accessories, etc. I know they will be the best performers but convenience and ease of use is why my 35mm Rebel is usually left at home.

I'm really know next to nothing about aperture, ISO and other such terms and to be honest this is not something I'm really all that interested in. I just want something that will perform well and take good shots regardless of the users photo taking knowledge.

I realize all my requests will have limitations based on my own restrictions so again, just looking for the best I can get for what I want it to do, in my price range and within my fixed lens preference.

 

[AlanY]

Sorry for being too technical. If you want a really easy to read list of suggested cameras, this is my favorite:
http://photo.net/equipment/best-digital-camera/

(Note that the F30 they talk about is essentially the same as the F31fd; the F31fd is just tweaked a little. The F40fd is not the same camera and isn't as good.)

 

[wakeride74]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlanY /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sorry for being too technical. If you want a really easy to read list of suggested cameras, this is my favorite: http://photo.net/equipment/best-digital-camera/ (Note that the F30 they talk about is essentially the same as the F31fd; the F31fd is just tweaked a little. The F40fd is not the same camera and isn't as good.)

Nothing to be sorry about, a lot of that stuff is just over my head so I just didn't want anyone to think they were making recs for someone who really knew what he was doing

 

[dj_mocok]

Nothing beats Fisher Price. No apertures, ISO, or lenses to worry about.

 

[grawk]

panasonic dmc-fz20

28-450mm equiv. lens
f2.8 aperture
good flash
anti-shake for low light
it's only 5 mpix, but come on, do you REALLY need to print bigger than 8x10?

The fz20 has the best lens of any point and shoot I've ever seen.


It doesn't have super high iso, and has a bit of noise on the sensor, but noise ninja et al take care of that with no problems.

http://flickr.com/photos/grawk/sets/72157600673409989/

 

[skyline889]

Quote:

panasonic dmc-fz20 28-450mm equiv. lens f2.8 aperture good flash anti-shake for low light it's only 5 mpix, but come on, do you REALLY need to print bigger than 8x10? The fz20 has the best lens of any point and shoot I've ever seen. It doesn't have super high iso, and has a bit of noise on the sensor, but noise ninja et al take care of that with no problems. http://flickr.com/photos/grawk/sets/72157600673409989/

The Pannys are excellent cameras but do not do well in low light. In bright light ISO noise is negligible but in low light even down at ISO80, my Panny FZ5's noise level is about equivalent to ISO 400-800 on my D50 and 20D. At ISO 200 on the Panny you lose quite a bit of detail and sharpness (Which can't really be accurately recovered) and ISO400 is pretty much useless. Because of their smaller sensor size P&S camera will inherently have higher noise than a DSLR with a larger CCD or CMOS sensor so if low light performance really is important to the OP than a DSLR is almost a must however, if he isn't too picky about a ISO noise, a megazoom like the Panny or a Canon S3 would be a great buy since they have decent internal flash, excellent range, a fast lens, and great macro performance.

Why I wouldn't go with a DSLR is because depending on what he shoots, for $650 I'm not sure if he could get a lens that would cover all his bases. If he doesn't need telephoto than he'd be able to get a D50 or a Rebel XT body for about $400-450 than add on a Sigma 18-50mm 2.8 macro (Still only 1:3 for Macro though) and be around his budget but if he does, it'll be a stretch to find something decent.