RDY_2_Carve Posted December 20, 2006 Report Share Posted December 20, 2006 Sup all, I've been reading reviews and such till my eyes bleed on ultra-compact digi cams. Was wondering if any of you have one and had any luck with your purchase? Trying to spend < $300USD. Was leaning towards the Canon Powershot SD600 or maybe one of the Panasonic models. Or maybe a Casio model? This is for my wife as I already have a DigiSLR... Thanks in advance for those that reply! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derf Posted December 20, 2006 Report Share Posted December 20, 2006 Check in Consumer Reports, they tested some recently. Consumer Search seems to be a good place to check also: http://www.consumersearch.com/www/photo_and_video/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin A. Posted December 20, 2006 Report Share Posted December 20, 2006 I have a casio Exlim S550, which was replaced by the S600. I'm very happy with it thus far, it takes decent to great pictures, and takes pretty damn good video for it being the size that it is. The video is 640 x whatever MPEG-4 with sound, and they look really good. Right now it's in the repair shop though, due to a mis-mounted faceplate that fell off. Even without the plate, it took great pictures, and took them fast. If you want some full-size examples, I'd be happy to send them to you through Email. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big mario Posted December 20, 2006 Report Share Posted December 20, 2006 I have a sd 400, It is a pretty rockin' little camera, and it'll shoot suprisingly decent video with sound for as small as it is. mario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patmoore Posted December 20, 2006 Report Share Posted December 20, 2006 www.pcworld.com has recommendations but the best unbiased source of info I've found is www.dpreview.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishrising Posted December 21, 2006 Report Share Posted December 21, 2006 I just picked up a Canon SD630, for when I am not carting my Oly E-1 or E-500 and lenses around. This Canon is very compact, takes excellent pics, and 640x480 30fps vids (TV quality). Large display, no viewfinder. I am happy with it. And it literally fits in my front pocket. My keys take up more room than the camera. Dpreview has a wealth of good info if you dig into their forums. I frequent their Olympus SLR forum almost daily, not as fishrising but as Ben Sxxxxxx. Stevesdigicams or something like that has good reviews also... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted December 21, 2006 Report Share Posted December 21, 2006 Consumer reports doesn't know their ass from their elbow when it comes to this stuff. Put down your mouse, and go buy a Canon SD700IS. You'll thank me later. The SD630 has a massive 3" LCD which is awesome, but the SD700IS has a 2.5" LCD and a viewfinder, which you will need to take pics on a bright snowy slope. And it has Image Stabilization, which actually works and is very useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bricky Posted December 21, 2006 Report Share Posted December 21, 2006 Did I miss the point of this thread? I assumed you meant digital video camera? If you really want a small digital video cam, Sony used to make the IP-7. I didn't buy one because it only did 1.0 megapixel stills, but I thought the size would be great for under my Jacket for Helmetcamming. So small they use MicroDV tapes, not MiniDV. Check it out on Ebay for about $200. I enjoy my Sony DVR PC 330. I paid over $1,000, but they are now selling used on Ebay for around $300. My thoughts are as follows: 1. Uses MiniDV tapes. I recently read that the new DVD Cams and Hard Drive Cams have generally poorer video image quality and much shorter recording times than 60 minute MiniDV tape cameras. With a Hard Drive , you would need to drag a laptop computer with you to download the data so you could video again. Really stupid idea. 2. I use it with a Helmetcam occasionally. Unfortunately the A/V connection cable sticks out too much and I am worried about breaking it off inside my jacket while using the Helmetcam. 3. It takes 3.0 Megapixel stills, but the delay for autofocusing, etc. is too slow for action shots. I like the dual use aspects. Unfortunately a high end Digital SLR is necessary for great stills, so that is my next purchase. 4. Tons of other features for the PC330. 5. I'll look into Jack's recommendation of the Canon 700IS. Thanks, Bricky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDY_2_Carve Posted December 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2006 Yeah I was lurking on dpreview.com before I asked the question here. Hence the eyes bleeding part. Between the official reviews and the user reviews I always seem to get overwhelmed when I visit that site! Definately the best site to visit for research though... I ended up with the Canon PowerShot SD600. The SD630 had the larger screen but also lost the viewfinder which sucks. I really wanted to get one of the Canon IS models but they are considerably more expensive than the non-IS versions(>$300USD). Circuit City had the SD600 on sale for $224.99. They also have 1GB SD cards right now for $14.99 after $10.00 rebate so I grabbed one of those, along with a nice case logic case that's barely bigger than the camera. Keep in mind this was for my wife and will be in her purse at all times. I might be able to take it on the mountain here and there but I prefer to use my DigiSLR when taking action shots anyways. Sure it sucks toting a DigiSLR around the mountain, but it's worth it for an hour or two then put it back in the car. You just can't beat a SLR for image quality! For video I have a nice 3CCD Panasonic which is smaller than my DigiSLR so I won't need the wife's camera for that either. And now we won't have to fight over who gets the camera! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave* Posted December 21, 2006 Report Share Posted December 21, 2006 I ended up buying the pentax optio w 10 4 months ago from costco based on a friends recomendation who is an avid photographer ( its what he uses as a back up to his big big camera), the w10 should fit your budget easily. I did shop around but at the time of purchase it had one of the faster response times from pressing the button to taking the pic, important for the action shots and the other big seller for me was size ( its quite small) and the water resistance as about the only time I have a camera on me is ski hill, Less worries about keeping in a wet pocket or dropping in the snow or puddle One of the girls at work has had one for some time and was using it snorkeling with out probs, also doing the infamous timer shot from inside the beer mug with no ill effects, just required a quick rinse post. I have been doing some video clips hanging on to the mini tripod while riding, that turn out quite well, I do need to work on my aim, the forearm on the snow toeside turn with camera about 4 inches off the snow looks pretty cool, I wouldnt try that with something not water tight. Dave* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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