Best Coolpix for HD and low light too?
in [Digital Cameras]
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From: tony cooper on 17 Jun 2010 09:59 On Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:50:08 +0100, "David J Taylor" <david-taylor(a)blueyonder.co.uk.invalid> wrote: >"Jane Galt" <Jane_G(a)gulch.xyz> wrote in message >news:Xns9D9A179C458ABJaneGgulchxyz(a)216.196.97.142... >> Looking some more, the S90 is also tempting, so it's between the >> >> S90 $350 >> S8000 $250 >> and SD4000IS $350 >> >> It would stretch the budget for the more expensive two ( $350 street >> price ) >> if it would bring $100 more joy to my shooting, but what's a credit card >> for? >> :) >> >> >> >> -- >> - Jane Galt > >If you're paying that much you might as well get a DSLR - the larger >sensor will make for better low-light performance. > Jane specified in her first post that she wanted a "purse-sized" camera. No dslr is truly purse-sized. I can see why someone wants a pocket-sized or purse-sized camera to carry around. There are times you want to have a camera available but not carry around a large dslr. Ideally, you should have a good dslr and a good p&s and take whichever one that suits the situation. -- Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
From: James Nagler on 17 Jun 2010 10:15 On Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:50:08 +0100, "David J Taylor" <david-taylor(a)blueyonder.co.uk.invalid> wrote: >"Jane Galt" <Jane_G(a)gulch.xyz> wrote in message >news:Xns9D9A179C458ABJaneGgulchxyz(a)216.196.97.142... >> Looking some more, the S90 is also tempting, so it's between the >> >> S90 $350 >> S8000 $250 >> and SD4000IS $350 >> >> It would stretch the budget for the more expensive two ( $350 street >> price ) >> if it would bring $100 more joy to my shooting, but what's a credit card >> for? >> :) >> >> >> >> -- >> - Jane Galt > >If you're paying that much you might as well get a DSLR - the larger >sensor will make for better low-light performance. > >David Now add in the $1,500 to $15,000 needed for lenses to make it the least bit functionally equivalent in image quality to P&S cameras. Why do you DSLR-Trolls always forget that important bit of information?
From: David J Taylor on 17 Jun 2010 11:01 > Jane specified in her first post that she wanted a "purse-sized" > camera. No dslr is truly purse-sized. Agreed. Interesting to see how the higher-price small-sensor cameras can be similar in price to the lower-end DSLRs, though. > I can see why someone wants a pocket-sized or purse-sized camera to > carry around. There are times you want to have a camera available but > not carry around a large dslr. Ideally, you should have a good dslr > and a good p&s and take whichever one that suits the situation. > > > -- > Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida Yes, I take around either a DSLR (with one, two or thee lenses), or a purse-sized (105 x 59.2 x 36.7 mm) compact camera, and sometimes both. Cheers, David
From: Neil Harrington on 17 Jun 2010 15:02 "Jane Galt" <Jane_G(a)gulch.xyz> wrote in message news:Xns9D9A1096BC232JaneGgulchxyz(a)216.196.97.142... > "Neil Harrington" <nobody(a)homehere.net> wrote : > >> >> "Jane Galt" <Jane_G(a)gulch.xyz> wrote in message >> news:Xns9D9687834354EJaneGgulchxyz(a)216.196.97.142... >>> I'd like to consider a newer purse sized Coolpix. I have the 4500 which >>> is nice, but not exactly purse sized. >>> >>> I like to do a bit of low-light shooting without flash, so it looks >>> like the >>> S8000 isnt up to that, though the 10x optical zoom sounds nice. >>> >>> I enjoy mostly scenery and non-flash shots of our shoulder pet birds. >>> >>> My purse cam is now a Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-S750 but the image quality >>> isnt as >>> nice as the Coolpix. I suspect Nikon makes better quality lenses? >>> >>> So suggestions? >>> >>> I need to keep this in the under $300 street price range. >> >> Of the current crop of Coolpixes, the S640 looks about the best for your >> purposes. Its lens is a relatively fast f/2.7 at the short end and it >> also has Nikon's "4-way VR" -- both of which will help in low-light >> shooting. The "4-way VR" is actually a combination of optional features >> and includes Nikon's exclusive Best Shot Selector feature, by itself a >> big help in low-light shooting (BSS lets you hold the shutter release >> down for up to 10 shots, then saves the sharpest one; since >> slow-shutter-speed shots usually vary a lot in sharpness, this helps a >> great deal). Also part of the "4-way VR" is the camera's offering auto >> ISO settings up to 6400 -- great for low light, though at the cost of >> increased noise. I have found high-ISO settings very useful in Coolpixes >> despite the increased noise, but I may be more tolerant of noise in >> photos than some other people. >> >> I don't have that particular model myself so can't speak about it from >> experience, but I do have a gaggle of other relatively recent Coolpixes >> and have consistently fine results from them all. The S640 has a MSRP of >> $219.95, so street price should certainly be no more than that. And it >> is very compact -- no problem at all for your purse, you could carry two >> or three there if you wanted to. > > Before coming back here to see this, I've been loking around, and am very > tempted by the Powershot SD4000IS now, except for the price. Whew. Then > the > Coolpix S8000 is PHAT too. <sigh> What to do, what to do.... Buy one of each? :-) The S8000's lens is just over 2/3 stop slower (f/3.5 vs f/2.7 of the S640), which gives the S640 a slight advantage in low-light shooting, all else being equal. Also the S8000 does not have quite the wide-angle capability of the S640 (30mm equiv. vs 28mm), which might be of some importance to you since you've mentioned your interest in scenery. These are reasons I suggested the S640 as being perhaps the best choice for your purposes. Yes, the 10x zoom is nice, provided it works well. I had (very briefly) a Coolpix S10 which also had a 10x zoom, nice lens except for its horribly unreliable autofocus at the longer focal lengths, which made it practically useless. I promptly returned it for that reason, the only Coolpix I have ever returned. Of course that doesn't mean the S8000 has a similar problem, but it did tend to make me leery of superzoom lenses in very small cameras. Other than that, the S8000 has what advantages? It's a 14-megapixel camera instead of the S640's 12, but the 12 is already cramming far too many pixels into such a tiny sensor as far as I'm concerned. I have Coolpixes in 8, 10, 12 and 14 megapixels -- and I routinely set them all to 5 megapixels. The Great Megapixel Race serves no purpose as far as I can see except to help manufacturers sell more cameras to people who think their pictures aren't sharp because they don't have enough megapixels.
From: Neil Harrington on 17 Jun 2010 15:15
"Jane Galt" <Jane_G(a)gulch.xyz> wrote in message news:Xns9D9A179C458ABJaneGgulchxyz(a)216.196.97.142... > Looking some more, the S90 is also tempting, so it's between the > > S90 $350 > S8000 $250 > and SD4000IS $350 > > It would stretch the budget for the more expensive two ( $350 street > price ) > if it would bring $100 more joy to my shooting, but what's a credit card > for? > :) The two Canons you mention look sort of interesting, though if I were buying a Powershot I'd go the extra $100 for a G11. I don't know if you'd consider the G11 purse sized, however. |