Technical Forum

I need to buy a slimline camera, which fits in a pocket and is easy to use, but takes great pics. Any suggestions? Thanks! Anne

I have just bought a Nikon Coolpix s9100 and it is excellent.

Im happy using Nikon Coolpix S8000, its so easy to use and yet produced excellent color pictures like you see with your eyes..I like it..:-))

Taking great pictures has more to do with the photographer than the camera...

Point and Shoot cameras have totally automatic modes where all you do is frame the picture, zoom in or zoom out and press the shutter release. Make sure that the camera has image stabilization mode (I suspect most, if not all do), as this will reduce blurr pictures due to camera shake.

Unless you have specific needs, all cameras in a particular price range give you very similar results. In general, you will pay a little more for the Canon, Nikon, Sony because of brand recognition. You will get a bit more for your money if you go with the Samsung or Casio line, as they do not have the "brand premium".

The slim line cameras all come with rechargable lithium ion batteries. The disposable batteries are too wide for use in slim-line cameras.

We have Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus and Panasonic point and shoot cameras amongst our various family members (we also have some older super zoom and a couple of higher end DSLRs). The Panasonics are the best (and most robust), in our experience. I don't like the Nikon charger; it is not as compact as the others, versus the size of the camera (it has an external cord, while the others have built in plugs).

Hi, just wanted to thank everyone for taking the time to reply to my forum post. Grumpydiver, thanks for going that extra length, the info and tips you gave are really helpful. I'm not a very good photographer, I just haven't got the patience! I've got a Panasonic DMC-F27 which is great, but as you say, the Panasonics are bulky. I hardly use any of its special functions. The one I want to buy is actually to give as a gift but I want a good one which also gives nice clear images. In Malta, the camera shops all seem to sell Fugi Finepix - what do you think of those? Thanks.

Re the Nikon charger - it all depends for which model. The s9100 charges in camera off a USB cable connected to a laptop. I do not like this one iota - a real non-thinking move from Nikon. However, I have purchased a natty little charger that measures 8-1/2cm x 4.75cm x 4.75cm (and comes with a selection of plugs) that charges my barrier directly into the mains, so I can now go out and about with the camera, leaving another battery to charge. I've always had Nikons, from an F2s Photomic way back when, to my current S9100. Agree about it is the photographer not the machine. Best bit of advice I had was given years ago by a very famous photographer, who told me to work within the limitations and capabilities of my camera.

whoops, that's - charges my battery!

My Panasonic Lumix is great (ans so are other brands).

Look for metal casing and wide angle lens (25mm).

When comparing prices check that a spare battery and a memory card are included in the totals price.


PJ

The DMC-F27 superzoom is not configured all that differently than a lot of point and shoot (P&S) cameras. The main difference is that the larger P&S will have discrete controls on the camera body, while the slim line cameras will have the same functionality buried in the menus. I personally find this arangement a bit awkward and prefer the discrete control route. That being said, if you are casual shooter, you probably aren't going to get too deeply into the menus.

Fuji is one camera brand that I have no experience with. They have been a minor player and put out a number of P&S units. Recently they have made a lot of waves with their retro-look FinePix X100. The Fujinon Professional lenses are well regarded in the video and movie industries.

As for clear images; any P&S will give you passable images. The real downside to the slim line cameras is that body thickness puts some fairly severe constraints on the camera and lens designer. If you want a slim camera, you will not get as good an image as with a thicker camera. This will likely manifest itself in a number of ways. Less clarity, more distortion and spherochromtism (colour fringing) are likely outcomes. I would also expect limited range on the zoom capabilities; for example 3x to 5x range rather than 20x - 30x on thicker cameras.

I'm going to second the Panasonic Lumix
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMC-LX5-Digital-Stabilized-3-0-Inch/dp/B003WJR69E/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1319049347&sr=8-5

It has a great lense in it. I'm basically putting my dslr to rest for this thing's quality and portability.

I was asking the same question earlier this year. If you've been using Panasonic for a while, it may be worthwhile to stick with the same brand, just to save time to learn everything again, as functions and menus of the same brand are very similar.

What is your budget? I was looking at the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 before, and it is a nice camera. I didn't buy it at the end as I've always been using Canon. I tried it out at the store and the panasonic just doesn't feel right for me as I'm used to Canon.

I would recommend you to try it out first at the store.

i had 2 fuji p n s. the first one, after 3 days already had lines showing on the lcd. returned and had it refunded immediately.

the second one a a newer model a year later. the same thing happened, but this time it was 8 month when the line showed on the lcd. was repaired under warranty. after 2 months out of warranty, the lcd became a smoke screen, with nothing to see . had to use the view finder exclusively. Sorry, no more fuji for me.

bong

Well with all the help I've received here and some online reviews, I've finally bought the camera. Unfortunately I couldn't find a big choice in the camera shops here. I've had a few cameras in the past and my Panasonic DMC-F27 has lasted the longest. I could only find two types of Panasonic in one shop only (would you believe) so I went for the DMC-FS35. It cost a bit more than I wanted to spend for a gift but it looks like a good camera. The only thing that put me off was the battery and mem card cover which is made out of plastic but I noticed that most of the compact digital cameras in that price range were similar. It's got a 16mp x 8 optical zoom.

Before choosing I went around the camera shops and looked at the Fuji, Canon, Nikon etc. The Nikon Coolpix s9100 and s8000 weren't available anywhere although other versions were. The Fuji seem to be the most popular with a wide choice of versions, but to me they looked a bit filmsy and in the end, Bongski's comment put me off them completely...in a way, I was glad :-)

Well thanks again for all your help! Anne

Hi Anne
Glad to know you've got the camera you want and today, I bought myself a Olympus VG-110.. Its a very small and light camera, Im just fascinated with the magic art filters, nothing else. So Anne, enjoy taking more pictures with your new camera and hope to see them your travel page soon..Have a nice weekend.
Mimi