Camera advice for photographing art

[katers]

Hi I have to quit procrastinating and decide on a camera. It has been hard because my uses for it are many, but budget is only $450, but of course would love to find something under $300.

What I need is a camera that can take shots of interior walls and or a good portion of rooms. I do interior design and artistic/decorative finishes on walls and often difficult to photograph.

Several times a year I take photographs of art classes to be posted online. Classes are held in a large garage with about 8 100 watt bulbs, so lighting is not the best. I also video portions of the classes. Longest length is usually 10 minutes and again used primarily for online.

I take photos of individual students holding their canvas art, which are used to make 16 x 20 photographs. Other uses are general nature photos, family pics, convention pics.

Wants include compact, something that takes good auto pics at least until I can get proper instruction on how to use all the manual settings.

From my own research I am leaning towards the Canon Powershot S100, which currently I can get for $369 at Best Buy.

[Greg McCary]

You can probably pick up a nice used DSLR and it would out class any point and shoot you buy. Maybe a used Olympus Pen camera like an Olympus Pen, EPL-1. Maybe a used Canon xTi? Something with low mileage. With that you are buying into a system and you can always use the same lenses and just upgrade bodies. If you get one that has a hot shoe adding a flash later would also make a big difference in the quality of your inside pictures.
I have never been overly thrilled with P&S cameras. But the Olympus XZ-1 has a really nice fast lens that works well indoors.

[Franglais]

I was going to suggest the Canon Powershot S100. I already recommended it to a sculptor friend - then I had to spend hours explaining how to get the effects she wanted.

The S100 has a very sharp lens which lets in a lot of light (at the wide-angle setting at least). Combined with the image stabiliser system this allows you to get sharp results in pretty low light, without flash (though a tripod is a good idea). All this in something little bigger than an iPhone.

As Greg says, the XZ-1 is another possibility. I've been looking at the Sony RX100 - but it's over $600. Too much for what it is.

[katers]

Thank you both! I have it narrowed between the Canon S100 and the Olympus XZ-1. There is a big price difference between them. I was able to find the Olympus with 14-42 Black M. Zuiko Outfit for $249.

[patrickwilson86]

Dont just read on them, go into a store and handle them, see which one fits you, see which one has controls that make the most sense to you....consider the lens line up..consider what type of photography you want to do....everyone has their opinions on the best camera(s)...but YOU will be the one using whatever it is you wind up with.