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Point and Shoot Recomendations

I was shopping for a camera for our school and decided to post several recommendations for anyone who is interested.  Here are a few things I look for in a camera  (Notice, all of these suggestsions are merely opinions.  Some of them are well-researched and others are…well, just opinions.):

–Number of megapixels   Although, to be honest, I don’t rank these quite as high as most people do.   When I first started doing photo sessions, I was using a point and shoot with 3.2 megapixels.  Yes, there were times when it did not cut it, but for the most part it worked fine; people looking at the pictures thought I was using an SLR.  I even printed a few 11×14 prints with it.  Yes, I could see some pixelization, and I wouldn’t recomend buying a camera with that amount of megapixels, but I just want to say that megapixels are not everything.   I still have some of the portraits taken with that point and shoot in my gallery slideshow on my image hosting site; I bet you couldn’t guess which ones they are.    As a general rule, stay above 7 megapixels and 10 would probably be a great number.  (That is totally from my head and not a professional opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.)

–Optical Zoom Range   Now this is where you’ll hear me harping.  Point A. Do not be fooled by the digital zoom.  The digital zoom only crops the picture within your camera, so it’s really not helping you.  I would recommend turning off the digital zoom in your settings and not using it at all.  You can crop after you’ve taken the picture which is better than zooming in, thinking you got a great close up, then ending up with a picture of awful quality.  If you see a camera with an optical zoom of 3x and digital zoom of 10x, just keep walking (unless of course you’re looking for something tiny to stick in your pocket).

Point B. What your optical zoom can do for you.  There are two main problems with standing too close to your subject.  First of all, you will probably distort the subject creating fisheyes and other strange shapes that should be beautiful people instead.  Secondly, when you are standing too close, the flash is very bright and your picture will be “flashed out” and likely overexposed.   You may also have a problem with red eyes.

If instead you stand back and zoom in (with your optical zoom) to your subject, the flash will not be able to reach the subject as well which is a good thing.  You only want a kiss of flash.  Also, peoples’ and objects’ dimensions will be correctly protrayed.

A little side note on flash–Turning off your flash when you have sufficient light will increase the quality of your pictures.  However, when there is not quite enough light, the picture will be grainy or the subject, especially if he is a baby or child, will most likely be blurry.  Again, back away, zoom in, and use a lite touch of flash.

Other features:

–Oh, well, I didn’t mention brands which can be quite the subject of debate.  I know there are several brands out there which are great, but I am a huge Canon fan.  I love the color from Canons and by now I understand better how they work and just like them all around.    I don’t even look at anything else.  Someday I might change, but for right now it’s only Canon for me.

–IS stands for image stabilization.  It helps to minimize blur from camera shake (you moving while taking a picture) or the subject’s movements.

–Macro features are great for taking close ups of flowers.  I always wished I’d have one and didn’t on mine.  (Look for the flower symbol on the settings wheel.)

–Look for AV and TV and M modes if you would like to play around with manual settings.

That’s all I can think of at the moment.  Feel free to add suggestions or advice for finding a great camera in the comments (or correct me if I’ve offered mis-imformation).  Also, if you have questions, I’ll be glad to answer them if I can.

Now, here are a few cameras that I would recommend.  I would be happy with any of these–especially because my point and shoot quite working.  I adore my camera, but there are lots of times I’d like to have a smaller camera to pop into my bag to have along just in case I want it or to take pictures when I wish to be less conspicuous.

Option 1:  I think this would meet most anyone’s basic needs.
(link)
Canon PowerShot A2000 IS Digital Camera
* 10.0 Megapixel
* 6x Optical Zoom
* 3.0″ LCD Display
* Optical Image Stabilizer
* High Sensitivity (ISO 1600)
* Face Detection & Red-Eye Correction
* Easy Mode
* Powered by AA Batteries
* Price: $ 169.95
* Free Shipping

Option 2:  Great package for the price.
(link)
Canon PowerShot SX110 IS Digital Camera (Black)
* 9.0 Megapixel
* 10x Optical Zoom
* 3.0″ LCD
* Optical Image Stabilizer
* High Sensitivity (ISO 1600)
* Versatile Shooting Modes
* Easy Mode
* Face Detection & Red-eye Correction
* Powered by AA-size Batteries
* Price: $ 214.95
* Free Shipping

Option 3:  Super camera.  This long zoom lens would be fun to play with!
(link)
Canon PowerShot SX10 IS Digital Camera (Black)
* 10.0 Megapixel
* 20x Wide-angle Zoom Lens (28-560mm)
* 2.5″ Vari-angle LCD Display
* Optical Image Stabilizer
* High Sensitivity (ISO 1600)
* Versatile Shooting Modes
* Intelligent Contrast Correction
* Advanced Face Detection
* Powered by AA-size Batteries
* Price: $ 359.95
* Free Shipping