My parents want to buy a new digital camera with a budget of about $450. I've looked into it and noticed that the Canon Powershot A95 looks like a good choice (as to be expected from Canon). I myself am very content with my Powershot A60 (although it recently passed away, need to send it back before the guarantee expires...). I do want to look into other models though, so does anyone know any recent good digital cameras?
If you want a really compact, solid little camera that takes nice pictures and has a really quick startup time then have a look at Minolta dimage X50. (about £200) It's smaller than a packet of cigarettes, including the zoom lens which is inside the body of the camera. It might not take the best pictures around, and there is no manual aperture control but the portability really makes up for it. It's so easy to slip this into a pocket that you have no excuses for not taking it pretty much everywhere. Add a 512MB, high speed SD card (about £30) and I think that should be in your budget. Is that 450 USD?
the Powershot A95 looks like a very solid buy to me. I wouldn't mind one myself actually, or possibly the A85 for a bit less money. My only other thought is that Canon may release an updated model fairly soon, in line with the new A510 and 520, although I may be wrong. There might be some useful info in the next instalment of the Bit-tech Guide to Digital Photography
I'll second the Powershot A95. I bought one for my wife for Christmas and she absolutely loves it (she was intimidated by my digital SLR). It is fully auto but has all the manual controls and extra features you could want in a point & shoot, should you want to use them. The reviews I read are consistently good, the picture quality is great and the price is reasonable! Couldn't ask for more. -monkey
Monkeyspank, they're not really looking for an ultracompact camera, I just put "compact" in there because that seems to be the category those cameras are in (there are like only 3 categories: ultra compact, compact, and SLR), not because it should be extremely compact (I'd put "ultra compact" in that case ). My mom has a handbag in which five watermelons would fit and you'd still have place to put a baby somewhere, so size isn't really an issue. But thanks anway, also to you D4VID and supermonkey, I'll recommend them the A95 then
My sister got the A85 last year and it's very good, I guess the A95 should be even better. Good size, good features, and good quality pics.
I had the A40 and when it died, I got the A70. I've always liked the Canon A series. They have always managed to find a great combination of features/size/price. But I will say, I won't buy anymore of them. I do a pretty good job of taking care of my camera and both have died a premature death. You have one and it has died. At least it was within the warranty period. I was not so lucky. I don't know if the build quality isn't up to snuff or I am just hard on my cameras but I know after my A40 died, I treated my A70 much more gingerly and it still gave me just over a year of use. I think that says something. Is that something worth staying away from buying another A series? hard to say. I have heard great things about their S series but I have no personal experience.
Wow, that's quite a string of bad luck there. Sorry to hear that your cameras died, and so quickly! I'm not sure what the build quality was like for the older A-series cameras, but it's been my experience that Canon equipment is hardy enough. My sister and mother have both owned the A85 for a while now and they haven't had any problems. It could be a unique experience, or it could be more. It's hard to tell. Admittedly, I may be a bit biased. I've shot with Canon since high school when I bough my first AE-1 (bought at a pawn shop). It still works to this day. Of course, it has an all-metal construction with quality mechanical parts, so even the dent in the bottom doesn't stop it! -monkey
relix i was looking for a camera in the same prices as your parents, at first i had in mind the cybershot p10, since is small and got good reviews altough it doesn't have manual modes, but the 9 automatic modes were supost to work fine(except in interiors, where in the reviews they say that the fotos were still good but not as good as in other models) then i took some professional advice of this friend who told me that right now the best camera in this prices is without a doubt the A90...haven´t bought it yet but i will (as soon i by my mp3 and get my next paycheck ) The one thing that finnaly ended my doubts was the fact that A90 uses compact flash memory, which are way cheaper then the memory sticks used by sony!!! There are others but i had one of the a90's on my hand and i really liked it! If you buy it, please tell me if you like it!
How do you think I got started on Canon digital. I'll do you one better, my first serious camera was an old Canon FT. That thing is built like a tank, it has a pretty sizable dent to the point that the frame counter stopped working but still my favorite 35mm camera. It took a lot to get me off Canon but my experience with the A series pretty much did it. (although I could use a digital rebel ) it's not really fair comparing the old tanks of yore to the new/compact digital toys but like I said, I had two and treated the second pretty well and got about the same distance. I've probably taken 4000 pics with it though so I may just represent an accellerated use-life or sumpin. I might throw out the Panasoic FZ3 for consideration but it's not really compact based on the lens size.
I think we may have used those in my high school photo class! There's just something to be said for a solid camera, one built so well that they end up weighing a ton. I guess they just don't make them like they used to, eh? As a side note...I have the digital Rebel and it has proven to be quite a decent "prosumer" level camera. Not quite as nice as the 20D (although it's about to come real close). Image quality is great and the price isn't too bad. Sorry to go off topic a bit there. The A95 is a very good camera in it's price range. Also, Canon's warranty service is top notch, just in case something does happen (/me knocks on wood). -monkey
