Newbie looking for a digital camera

[HalfPintHippie]

Hi,

I read the disclaimer at the top, but I'm not sure where to find various camera reviews. Besides which, cameras (technology) is special for every person and we're all looking for something different with different wants and specifications. That said, I need some advice. I was/am pretty set on the Canon SD550, however some reviewers have said that there is excessive red-eye when using the flash and the indoor low-light picture quality is 'terrible'. Other than those complaints, the camera looks great, and if it weren't for those, I'd jump at it. Can someone here give me a second opinion on the camera if they have it? Also, below are my criteria in case someone has something better to suggest.

- Slim (pocket-size)
- Lightweight
- Quick startup for candid shots
- Good picture quality (my current camera has less than 4 megapixels, and it seems fine, so anything better is good)
- Can record relatively long movies with sound (quality doesn't have to be great, but it should be OK. This is more for parties.)
- Good indoor/low lighting quality pictures
- Able to take relatively good pictures without the use of a flash
- An adequate zoom range (I don't really know what's acceptable, but a zoom that doesn't cripple the long-range of the camera)

So I'm not really interested in profession photography, I'm just out to get a good quality camera that fulfills those requirements. There's probably more requirements I haven't thought of since I don't know much about cameras, so feel free to chime in.

Can someone suggest a good-quality camera that fulfills those requirements, or give me a second opinion on the Canon PowerShot SD550 that would make it worth buying? Price is fairly negligible, but I'm looking around a maximum of $450 USD.

EDIT: Ooops. Just noticed the review link at the top of the page. I'll check it out for now, but I'm still open to any suggestions.

[HalfPintHippie]

Here are a few links I found. The first is a review of the camera detailing the red-eye and showing the night-scene stuff, and the bottom link is an alternate camera I thought might be of interest.

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/ca..._sd550-review/

http://dcresource.pricegrabber.com/r..._type=masterid

[mwfanelli]

Hi,

I read the disclaimer at the top, but I'm not sure where to find various camera reviews. Besides which, cameras (technology) is special for every person and we're all looking for something different with different wants and specifications. That said, I need some advice. I was/am pretty set on the Canon SD550, however some reviewers have said that there is excessive red-eye when using the flash and the indoor low-light picture quality is 'terrible'. Other than those complaints, the camera looks great, and if it weren't for those, I'd jump at it. Can someone here give me a second opinion on the camera if they have it? Also, below are my criteria in case someone has something better to suggest.

All cameras with built-in flash have red eye.. That is caused by the flash being too close to the lens. To really get rid of red eye, you'll have to invest in a much more expensive camera with a separate flash unit that can be used off-camera.

Low light performmance is also the bane of most small cameras. You won't be able to shoot very well in dim conditions, many times not even with a DSLR. The Canon is not better or worse than the others in its price range.

There are many good user reviewes here. For the massive nitty-gritty technical lab workups, the very best place is

http://www.dpreview.com

With the SD500 reviewed here:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canonsd500/

Don't get caught up in specs. To be honest, most of these cameras won't give you vastly different results for most situations. Pick one that you like and whose controls make sense to you.

[Photo-John]

I was/am pretty set on the Canon SD550, however some reviewers have said that there is excessive red-eye when using the flash and the indoor low-light picture quality is 'terrible'.

The Canon SD550 is nothing special in this regard. The above is pretty much true for all compact cameras. The positioning of the flash on compacts is the problem and there's no much that can be done about it aside from avoiding using the flash. Low-light is also a problem - especially if you use the camera on the totally automatic setting. High ISO settings are terribly noisy and auto flash generally delivers harshly lit subjects with black backgrounds. But like I said, that's the nature of most compact cameras - even compact film cameras. The best solution is to learn some technique tricks to avoid those problems. And there are ways to avoid them.

I saw that you found the main reviews link. That's good. But in case you miss it, here's a link to our pro review for the Canon SD550: http://www.photographyreview.com/cat...x.aspx?TabID=2

As far as super-compacts go, I've been most happy with the Casios. I think they're the quickest, have the best features (for me, at least), and I like the size and feel of them. Here's a link to my review of the Casio Exilim EX-Z750. Casio has a new model, the 850, which is basically the same except it has an 8-megapixel sensor now: http://www.photographyreview.com/cat...x.aspx?TabID=2

Hope that helps a little.

[HalfPintHippie]

So PJ, does the camera you recoomend have sound capabilities? I'm still looking at your review, but does it satisfy my criteria? How do you think it stacks up to the SD550?

[Photo-John]

So PJ, does the camera you recoomend have sound capabilities? I'm still looking at your review, but does it satisfy my criteria? How do you think it stacks up to the SD550?

To tell you the truth, I have no idea about sound. I'm a photographer and don't pay any attention to the video capabilities of the cameras I use. But if I remember correctly, Casio made a big deal about it being able to fill a memory card with video without stopping. You can check the Casio site to be sure. As for how it measures up - I like the Casio better than the Canon because it has more manual controls, which I use. You might not care about those, though. Still, they'd be there if you ever wanted them. I also think the Casios are faster than anything else I've used. Startup, shutter-lag, and shot-to-shot are very minimal for compact digital cameras. The Canon might be built a little better. But the 7-megapixel sensor (or 8 on the new one) on the Casio is definitely better than the 6-megapixel sensor on the Canon.

[HalfPintHippie]

~ So what do you mean by "sensor?"
~ By shot-to-shot I'm guessing you mean like taking the picture, then taking another one right after? (the digital I use currently takes literally three or more seconds to warm up and take another shot).
~ And what's "shutter-lag"?

Finally, what type of manual options are you referring to? What ARE manual options? I don't use anything really now, but if I know about them, maybe I'll use them.

As you can see, I really don't know much about cameras, but mostly it's because I haven't taken the time (if I had my own camera I'm sure I'd play around with it a bit more).

So if the Casio can take nice long movies (with a sufficient memory card of course, hopefully upwards to 1 GB) with sound, that's great for me. I'll go check out the Casio website to see what they say about your camera and the sound issue.

[HalfPintHippie]

Well I checked out the differences between what you suggest and the Canon SD550 since the site that I first referenced the SD550 review had a similar review for the Elixim.

They both look great, although I noticed a little less clarity in the Elixim during the night shot (as well, the elixim night shot had a yellowish tint while the SD550 didn't.

The reviewer also said pictures were a little too oversaturated with the Elixim.

On the other hand, however, it had great battery life, unlike the SD550. And the SD550 doesn't have as many manual controls, which might be a problem, although I'm not sure what manual controls are available to me and how they would affect me, so I don't know whether this is a huge problem. EDIT: Apparently the flash sucks. Good for about 7 - 10 feet away and takes about seven second to recharge. Ouch.

According to both review websites, the Casio can take twice as many pictures on one charge than the SD550 can. Personally, however, as long as the SD550 can take an eight minute or 1 GB video (whichever is reached first) with still some battery life left to take pictures I should be set.

So.... cons about the SD550 that would still make me switch to Elixim are:

Short battery life
Expensive extra batteries
Bad flash recharge time
Limited flash range

Also, do you know whether or not the SD550 has a battery-power indicator on the LCD so I know how much life I've got left? I may have read somewhere that it didn't have one, which wouldn't be very good at all.

As for the Elixim, could you tell me as to how long I can shoot video for? I mean, eight minutes is more than enough, but it'd be nice to be able to shoot that much video if need be.

Finally, I'm assuming that I can upgrade either Elixim or SD550 memory to at least a 1 GB card and thus, the more space I have, the more pictures and longer video I can store (i.e. the Elixim doesn't have a set time a video can be does it)?

Well I hope you can sift through all my stuff. :P