Budget (~$215) Digital Camera

[squirrelza]

Hello everyone,

Well I just got my old camera back from the shop and they said it's broken beyond repairing. My budget for a new camera is around $215. I am not from America so prices might differ slightly. I mainly use my camera for taking shots of live bands and just general use. I never print them out, just keep them digitally on the computer. To give you an idea of how much things cost here I've included a few models and their pricing:

Canon Powershot A430 - $190
HP Photosmart M22 Digital Camera - $169
Samsung Digimax S500 - $172
Kodak Digicam C503 - $164
Olympus FE-170 - $214

These are merely just examples to give you an idea of how much we pay for camera's here.

[Photo-John]

That should be plenty of money to get a decent digital camera now. Of the cameras you listed, I'd choose the Canon or the Olympus. I believe they both have the best combination of image quality, performance, and features. Both HP and the Samsung Digimax line generally suffer from poor image quality, and I'm just not familiar enough with the Kodak C-Series cameras. I am a fan of Kodak's super zoom cameras, though. For reference, we have pro reviews for models similar to those you've listed, although none for those exact models. I've personally used Samsung Digimax (2 of them), Canon A-Series (testing the A640 right now), and many Olympus digital cameras. Here's a link to our pro reviews:

Digital Camera Pro Reviews >>

And here are links to specs for the two cameras from your list that I recommended. Of these two, I think I'd choose the Canon, based on Canon's image quality and that I actually liked the quality of 4-megapixel sensors better than 6:

Canon PowerShot A430 Reviews >>
Olympus FE-170 Reviews >>

Unfortunately we don't have any user reviews for either camera. But I'll see if I can round up some people to post reviews. Let us know if you have more questions

[squirrelza]

Thank you for your help! Is there anything else you can think of in my price range that I never mentioned? I will post later with more camera's I can definitely get.

[squirrelza]

Ok, I have about $215 worth of "free" money I can use on 2 websites. I don't mind putting in more cash on top of it, here is what they have:

Kodak C330 + 512MB SD Card + Bag - $184
Kodak EasyShare C533 - $203
HP Photosmart M525 - $206
Olympus FE-170 - $214
Olympus FE-115 - $221
Fujifilm A700 - $238
Kodak EasyShare C360 - $242
Kodak EasyShare Z 700 - $247
HP Photosmart M527 - $263
Olympus SP-320 + 128MB card - $271
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ3 - $277
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS2 - $277
Canon PowerShot A530 - $278
Canon PowerShot A540 - $328
Kodak Z700 Digital Camera + Printer Dock - $330
HP Photosmart R727 - $336
Sony DSC-W30 - $342
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ5 - $350
Casio EX-Z60 - $357
Fujifilm S5600 - $359
Sony DSC W50B - $360
HP Photosmart R827 - $516
Fujifilm V10 - $385
Fujifilm F650 - $385
HP Photosmart R927 - $390
Fujifilm F20 - $398
Olympus U700 + 256MB Card - $406
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2 - $425
Olympus SP510 - $428
Kodak Z612 - $442

Thank you for all your help!

[Photo-John]

From that list, I'd go for one of the Pansonics. All of the current and recent Panasonic Lumix digital cameras have built-in optical image stabilization. That's an invaluable feature which really makes a difference in how many usable photos you get. This is especially true in low light. I noted that you want to take concert photos and that's definitely a low light situation. I think the LZ5 looks like your best bet:

Panasonic Lumix LZ5 Digital Camera Reviews >>

The Casio Exilim EX-Z60 also has image stabilization and I'm a definite fan of their camera design. And we even have a detailed pro review for that camera:

Casio Exilim EX-Z60 Digital Camera Pro Review >>

Of those two cameras, I think I'd choose the Casio. But I think they're probably very comparable. Both companies have excellent camera controls and are very easy to use. Since I haven't used that Panasonic, I can't speak for the image quality. Niether Panasonic or Casio are the best in terms of image quality. But they're both pretty good and I think the camera design and image stabilization are worth giving up a little image quality for. After all, who cares about image quality if your photos are unusable due to blur from camera shake?

[squirrelza]

Thank you for all your hope. I've asked the same question on another forum and the Olympus SP 510 UZ was recommended. What are your thoughts on this camera?

[squirrelza]

So I've narrowed it down to 3, Fujifilm FinePix S6000fd, Olympus SP-510 UZ and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ5

http://www2.dpreview.com/reviews/com...mclz5&show=all

Thoughts?