Friend is looking to buy a P&S. $300 budget

[tayl0124]

A friend of mine is looking to buy a camera to take on their honeymoon. I am pretty sure that they would like a P&S being their price range. They want to keep it under $300. They can get a 10% discount at Target, or target.com so that is an option. What do you think? Waterproof is not a necessity.

[Kokopeli]

See if they can spend up to $400 and recommend they get a Panasonic Lumix ZS3, ZS5, or ZS7

[tayl0124]

$400 is not withing their $300 budget. I personally would like to also get an additional battery for the $300 range. They didn't specify, but I am guessing that they would prefer a rechargeable battery, rather than standard AA or the such.

[Photo-John]

I just checked the Target Web site and they have the Canon PowerShot SX200 IS on sale for $279. That camera is very similar to the Panasonic ZS-Series that Brian recommended. It's a pocket superzoom with a 12x optical zoom range. I think that looks like a great all-purpose honeymoon camera. Here's a link to the specs for the camera. Unfortunately we don't have any user reviews for it yet, but in general, the Canon SX-Series PowerShots get positive reviews:

Canon PowerShot SX200 IS Specs >>

I hope that helps and I hope they have a nice honeymoon. Just tell them to keep it away from the water!

[bitflogger]

See if they can spend up to $400 and recommend they get a Panasonic Lumix ZS3, ZS5, or ZS7

COSTCO has the ZS3 for $250 in a bundle with 2GB card and little carry case. I am very impressed with mine but admit wondering if the ZS7 might top it's performance for capturing motion via manual shutter speed.

These Panasonics give you what was unheard of pocket camera performance not long ago and a pretty good HD camcorder all in one.

The Panasonic display has 460,000 dots which is about double most of its competitors and that really helps use a camera without optical display and helps chip your photos for good ones while on the trail.