Point & Shoot Digital Camera

As always, my 02c; You'd be hard pressed to find one that didn't work beautifully.......

I guess "most" output will be to the web/facebook etc (?) Pretty much anything will work fine. If she wants to get large (say > 8x10") prints things change a little, but you're still in a buyers market with these things.

Is she "tech savvy"? Macro mode? Telephoto (NOT digital zoom!) important? Or, does she just want a fully automatic P&S? - Ease of use may be an issue? - My suggestion would be a big box store where she can handle 'em and see which "fits" best (my big ol' hands and tired eyes have different needs to a "healthy" kids for example!)

If you want to get anal about it, dpforums.com is a great resource for reviews & comparisons etc.

Cheers,
Ian

 

My bad! - I meant to write "dppreview.com".

 

Canon S90 / S95.

F2 lens is pretty decent in low light for a point and shoot. The camera can be set in manual modes like an SLR or can be used with standard scene modes for non-photogs.

 

kenrockwell has easy to read, easy to understand reviews.

There's a couple canons point and shoots out there that are designed for low light. Vibration reduction's a nice bonus. If she can use macro, it's helpful as well.

That said, my favorite point and shoot was a casio exfilim cheapo, takes awesome pics in daylight and indoor light, meh in low light, but no worse then most point and shoots.

 

I like Canon's S95. If wide angle is important, consider Leica D Lux 5 (pricey) or its Panasonic equivalent. If longer lens and higher (optical) zoom ratio important, consider the new Nikons (S3100 or S9000).

 

Let me try that again. Nikon P300 or S9100. P300 if you like wide angle shots and a fast lens. S9100 if you want a very large zoom ratio and long telephoto.

From the NikonUSA site:

P300: The COOLPIX P300 camera does justice to your photographic talents with a 4.2x wide angle, F1.8 maximum aperture NIKKOR glass lens. This is the fastest lens Nikon has ever designed into a COOLPIX camera—it offers a 24-100mm optical zoom range and impressive telephoto performance for razor-sharp images.

S9100: The COOLPIX S9100 is no exception. Its high quality 18x wide-angle optical Zoom-NIKKOR ED glass lens offers impressive telephoto coverage (25-450mm) with outstanding color capture and razor-sharp results.

I think the Canon S95 has better control, but for me, the zoom range is not ideal. At 28-105 equivalent, it's not quite wide enough at the short end (for me), and although f/2.0 at the wide end, it slows to f/4.9 at the long end. The S9100 is slow, too at f/3.5-5.9, and the P300 slows down at the long end, too, f/1.8-4.9.

On all of these, don't think you'll get the blurring (bokeh) effect you can get with DSLRs. Even at wide open apertures, the depth of field is rather great.

So for me, the ideal compact hasn't been made yet. I do like the Leica D Lux 5, however. It's an improvement over my D Lux 4, which I also like. It's not as easy to use as some of the others. But the zoom range is a useful 24-90 at a rather fast f/2.0-3.3. Very good in low light. If you like the Leica but don't want to pay Leica prices ($799), the Panasonic LX-5 ($499) is a near clone. The Leica is a nice camera to have when you don't want to lug around your DSLR. Check out this review. http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2010/09/28/the-leica-d-lux-5-review/

 

I'd suggest a Nikon Coolpix S630. The camera did its work for me. Lots of different modes including a sports continuous mode. It shoots video, but it's not the best quality. You may remember some of the posts I made in the DFW section with pictures. Yup, I shot those with the Nikon.

Only reason why I put it away was because I got my DSLR. Until I get a macro lens for the Canon, I still use the Nikon for those up-close pictures, for instance, model cars. I also use it for sporting events.

Some pictures. The drivers side headlight on the LP560-4 was my buddy icon on Flickr for quite awhile.
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I like my Canon PowerShot SD950IS. It has been an outstanding camera going on 3 years now, couldn't be happier with the product.

 

This. I am a Nikon guy and all my professional camera gear is Nikon, but my carry around point and shoot is a Canon Powershot as does my wife and I love it.