Point and shoot digital camera - ~$250

GreatWhiteHunter on 23/12/2009 - 14:50

I am looking for a new digital camera to replace my 3 year old Sony.

I bought an IXUS 95IS from Dick Smith the other day for $242 but was very disappointed with the quality of the photos it takes vs my 3 year old Sony - they weren't particularly clear, many were blurry.

The IXUS95IS was particularly blurry when the kids (target of photos) were walking or running.

Ideally a shockproof one would be good, but for this price range may not be achievable.

I bought the Canon on the strength of the brand name, swapped it for another unit just in case it was just a faulty camera, but now have taken that 2nd unit back.

Considering a Sony W230 (http://www.hboutlet.com.au/catalog/sony-bundle-dscw230b-free…)

or if spend more a Pentax W80

Find Me A Bargain

Comments

  • ESEMCE on 23/12/2009 - 17:43

    Sounds to me like the settings on the camera were wrong…
    You didn't have it on scenery mode or something did you? Or have focus or other settings set to manual?
    Image Stabilisation cameras should provide very good shots no matter how shaky your hands and Canon IXUS have always had superb reviews including this model.
    Your report smells of user error to me.

    Anyway, since we don't know what your old Sony was, nor have you provided a list of wants/needs I'm not sure anyone can help you. Apart from to say, Google is your friend.. use it!

    Be aware that Sony continue to push their proprietary Memory Stick card format and that your old cards probably wont fit the new camera (they may, so it could be worth continuing with Sony for that reason alone). Your old cards definitely won't fit any other brand.
    Most of the others use SD or a variant of.. Buy micro-SD cards and you can use adapters to fit other slots.

    Sony make a decent camera, Canon generally seem to do a better job of price/performance and features though.

    • GreatWhiteHunter on 24/12/2009 - 09:39

      Hi Scuba

      Camera was on full auto mode the whole time. There is a bug with that camera that it sometimes automatically goes into macro mode (read it on dpreview) and I did experience that from time to time.

      Wants/needs:
      - a sturdy camera that can take a few bumps and scratches without breaking
      - something that takes good photos of moving and still people (people are the primary subjects of my photos)
      - decent brand name
      - 10 megapixels+
      - compact is preferred
      - price ~$250

      My old camera is a Sony W50 - http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Sony/sony_dscw50.asp

      Took brilliant photos but battery cover broken. Head to head I'd take the W50 over the Ixus 95IS

      User error is possible but hard to make too many mistakes in full auto mode

  • ESEMCE on 24/12/2009 - 18:37

    I've been eyeing off the new Panasonic Lumix.
    It has good low light sensitivity (which should translate to good fast action shots too), 10x optical zoom (the biggest selling point for me) in a fairly compact body (the other big selling point) and does HD video (nice bonus).

    But it's out of your price range.

    Forget pixel count, it's all marketing guff. You're highly unlikely to ever want to print a 600x400mm photo which is the only time you'd start to need 10MP.. If you are printing photos that size, you really ought to be looking in a higher price range.
    In fact, higher MP generally equals worse photos as the noise becomes a greater issue the smaller each pixel becomes.

    I like the Canon A Series cause they use AA batteries (very handy when you've forgotten to charge the rechargeables.. just buy a pack of batteries from your local). I currently have an A720IS (now presumably superseded) which takes a great sports photo which I imagine would be a similar scenario to moving kids.

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