Part of me feels so extremely sick of writing/reading “What camera should I buy?” posts (or vacuum cleaner posts—those two topics are tied for extreme sickness of), I never want to write/read another one.
Another part of me is in the market for a new digital camera.
The trouble, I think, is that digital cameras keep CHANGING: a post written/read a year ago is about cameras that aren’t even being sold anymore. And the thing is, the search for happiness with a camera (or vacuum cleaner) is a search most of us are going to be working on repeatedly throughout our lives: THIS camera took the picture the instant I clicked the button, but had trouble with focus; THIS camera had excellent multi-spot auto-focus, but paused briefly so I never got the picture I had in mind. THIS camera has everything I want, but is too expensive and too large.
I’ve read several places that if you’re not making poster-size prints (or frequently cropping down to a tiny fraction of the original photo), you don’t need anything larger than 10 megapixels. But it’s hard to even FIND a camera 10 megapixels or smaller.
Panasonic DMC-F2K Lumix 10.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom (photo from Amazon.com). This is the camera I bought most recently. Right around 10 megapixels (which is indeed more than I ever need), about as much zoom as I generally use, and when I bought it I paid $89 so that was the kind of price I was looking for. Downsides: no viewfinder, just the screen; and it takes a flat square rechargeable battery—so unless I want to buy a second battery, there’s no-camera-available time period whenever it needs recharging. Still, I would just buy a second one of these (we need a spare, not an upgrade), if they were still available at close to the price I paid.
Panasonic Lumix 16.1 MP with 8x Zoom (photo from Amazon.com), about $150. (The link is defaulting to one that costs $180, but over to the right is a “More Buying Choices” list that includes a $150 option.) This looks like the new version. Way more megapixels than I need, but I’d be glad of the increased zoom.
Canon PowerShot 12.1 MP with 4x Zoom (photo from Amazon.com), about $130. Or here’s a version with 10 MP and 3x Zoom for $90. (I had to add it to my cart to see the price. I hate that so much, especially when the SUPER SECRET TOO-LOW-TO-ADVERTISE PRICE!! is in fact the exact same as the list price.) I had an earlier version of this camera, and I liked it fine. We still use it as our back-up camera, and as a camera for the kids to use. The older version took AA batteries; the new version has the flat kind. That seems like the way things are going to be for digital cameras, so probably I should just buy a second battery and stop whining about it.
Nikon Coolpix 14MP with 3.8x zoom (photo from Amazon.com), about $90. I’ve heard people mention the Nikon Coolpix often enough that the name has stuck in my mind—but the reviews are poorer than for some of the other cameras, and this one has more megapixels and less zoom than my ideal.
Kodak EasyShare 12MP with 3x Zoom (photo from Amazon.com), about $60. The EasyShare was one of my first digital cameras, and I remember liking how fast it took the picture. Unfortunately, I can’t remember what it was that led me to replace the camera, but I do remember it was SOMETHING. Maybe the auto-focus wasn’t great: that seems to be the trade with the fast-taking photos. But it takes AA batteries, and that’s another point in its favor. Plus: color choice. I realize that shouldn’t factor into it, but it does. Blue! Silver! Green! Purple!
Olympus Stylus 14 MP with 5x Zoom (photo from Amazon.com), about $85. I seem to be working my way through a camera from every brand, and this is one I haven’t yet tried. I used a photo of the pink because I like pink, but I’d be getting the silver because the pink costs $121 including shipping, and I don’t like pink that much. Also, this camera purchase is primarily inspired by PAUL needing a camera, so.
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I’d be interested in your input. Do you have a camera in the $60/$100/$140 range that’s been a success?
I’m overwhelmed by the choices as well so I just keep lugging around my DSLR.
Amanda | August 3rd, 2011 at 11:32 am
My husband and I have slightly older models, but we’ve both with very happy with Panasonic cameras. The proprietary battery is annoying, but the cameras have lasted years for us and taken such nice, crisp pictures. Image stabilization is a much-appreciated feature.
As a note, there’s a deal at Target today (on their Daily Deals webpage) on a Polaroid camera for $50 (38% off). It has very mixed reviews on Amazon, so may not be worth the discount, but I thought I’d mention it just in case.
Leslie | August 3rd, 2011 at 4:55 pm
I’m a Canon loyalist myself, but my cousin is a professional photographer, and his time off, personal point & shoot is a Lumix. He highly recommends the brand for quality and price. So that’s my 2 cents.
Julie | August 3rd, 2011 at 7:18 pm
I have an SLR, but I want to comment on this because I was JUST talking to my son’s therapist about her camera. She has taken some *amazing* pictures of him on outings this summer and I was talking to her about what kind of camera she had. She said she has a Nikon 30,000,000 or something ridiculous BUT she said she still prefers her Panasonic Lumix for somethings, like especially the ZOOM. I couldn’t believe that she had this giant, expensive SLR and still liked the Lumix better, I hadn’t even ever heard of it and then I read this post. So Lumix, is what I’m saying.
Joanne | August 5th, 2011 at 12:47 pm
We had an older version of the Nikon Coolpix and it worked wonderfully for a long time. Last year we decided to upgrade to the newer Coolpix since we were expecting a baby didn’t want to worry about the camera finally conking out at an important moment. Turns out the new camera died the day our soon was born (all the pictures from his first few days of life are blurry and we eventually resorted to taking pictures with our phones). We sent the camera in for repair because it was still under warranty and it worked o.k. for a couple of months but now it’s starting to act up again (just in time for his first birthday party of course). I’d never recommend the camera to anyone.
Anonymous | August 7th, 2011 at 1:09 am
I just did (literally, this week) this same exact search for a similar camera, although using AA batteries was a point against some of the cameras for me, because I hate hate hate how fast those batteries die and need replacing. Rechargeable flat things are it for me.
Anyway, I ended up with a Fujifilm FinePix in the $109 range - 14mp (we do like large pictures) and it has great features, pretty good zoom, all around decent little camera. It is boring black, though.
Katie | August 12th, 2011 at 6:51 pm