The Gun Counter

Looking for new camera.

Used several at a birthday party today. All had nice features, took good pics; but were so damn small that I could not get a comfortable strong grip and my fingers had trouble with the tiny buttons.

Anyone have a sub-$300 that they would recommend?

Les Nessman wrote:Looking for new camera.

Used several at a birthday party today. All had nice features, took good pics; but were so damn small that I could not get a comfortable strong grip and my fingers had trouble with the tiny buttons.

Anyone have a sub-$300 that they would recommend?

I have been really, really impressed with the Nikon J1 series but those are about $100 more than your figure.

Whenever I want to know what the latest in cameras is, I go to Ken Rockwell's website. His suggestion for an all-purpose camera at a reasonable price is the Nikon 3100. Adorama has a refurbished 3100 with a 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens for $379. That's a little more than you wanted to spend, but it's a really good price for a camera that will do so much more than a point and shoot pocket camera. If you want one of those, he has suggestions for those as well, (scroll down).

It helps a lot to go to a store like Target or Costco which have a lot of cameras on display You can see which ones fit your hands and have intuitive controls and menus. They don't always have a comprehensive selection though.

I have a Fujifilm Finepix S that I like a lot. It has much of the point and shoot niceties, but it can be operated by the user too.

It also is a bit larger than the "pocket" cameras so fits larger hands as well as feeling like you can hold it.

I think it was right at $200.00 in August, so probably a bit down from that now.

I've always liked and had good luck with the Canon A500 and A700 series cameras. Big enough to hold and they still have viewfinders.

(looks like they have been discontinued though)

Oh do your research on http://www.dpreview.com

Olympus MJU.
Easy to use, take great photos, can take a lot of abuse and they are waterproof. And yes, I've tested it. Even the early "waterprotected" versions survived dropping it in the water of a cold autumn river. Forgetting it outside in the rain is no problem either.

I've had several of them, and the last one I bought just before a long trip. I took almost 2Gb of photos, most of them just lifting the camera, looking at the screen and clicking, and they all turned out great. Bought another one to my mother, who wanted "the simplest camera there was".

I really like that Nikon 3100, but I should stay under my budget.
The olympus looks good and the price is right; I'm going to research some more.
thanks

Les, what kind of digital do you want?

A point and shoot, a bridge camera, or a DSLR?

Point and shoot? A Canon Powershot SX260 HS is around 200 bucks, 12megapixel, and gets fantastic reviews.

Bridge Camera? A Fujifilm FinePix HS30EXR comes in just under 300, but you might want to look at a Nikon Coolpix P510 if you can up the budget a little.

DSLR? Well, the thing there is which system of lenses you want to get involved with - new bodies are constantly coming out, but you'll eventually wind up with far more invested in glass. What I would suggest is taking a good hard look at what's available(and what each lines strengths and weaknesses are), then go looking for a something like either a used D60 or Canon Rebel with at least one lens that's within your budget, and then buy more glass and a better body as finances allow. It's what I plan to do this year.

HTRN wrote:Les, what kind of digital do you want?
A point and shoot, a bridge camera, or a DSLR?

What he said. For most needs, a bridge camera will serve you fine. They're a bit larger and therefor easier to hold stable. They also have full manual controls if you wish to/know how to use them. The point and shoot size sensor allows for wide zoom ranges on the bridge cameras. I think Chris picked up a super zoom bridge not too long ago. To get the equivalent zoom range from a DSLR you'd need several expensive lenses. The biggest advantages of DSLR's is the larger sensor which is better in low light and the ability to use many focal length lenses with fast apertures. Generally super zooms and point and shoots have a maximum aperture of around 2.8, which shrinks drastically as you zoom. If you're taking pictures of the kiddies you'll want the large(2.8 and under) aperture to blur the background out. DSLR's also allow for macro lenses(though you can just use extension tubes), tilt/shift lenses, fisheye lenses and other effects. Also, most P&S and bridge cameras don't have a hot shoe for a speedlight(flash). The ones built in the front of most P&S cameras and the pop up ones on most bridge cameras is almost useless. But then the pop ups on DSLR's aren't really any better.

Under $300, I'd probably go with a Fuji HS25EXR or HS30EXR. They are 2 of the few bridge cameras that do have hot shoes, and manual focus rings on the lens. Trying to get just the right focus using the rear controls on a P&S or bridge without a focus ring is nearly impossible. Or at the least, highly annoying. Also, Fuji's EXR sensor produces some amazing colors. It's a shrunken version of the sensor they used in their DSLR's which were considered some of the best when they were still being made.