Buying a camera

[Apac102]

Hi guys. I just broke my old camera and i am looking to buy a new one. Ive heard to stick with either Nikon or Canon brands. Is there any other brand out there that is really good Ive just never heard of? Im looking at the Nikon Coolpix S3, Sony CyberShot DSC-T7 , and the Canon PowerShot A620.

These are the things that i want:
- to stay between a $400-500
- a sleek lil design that i can stick in my pocket and not be blugging out.
- very very very durable
- a good movie camera option on it
- if i have problems with it i don't want to be able not to get it fixed for free or have any hassles.

*Im a beginner with cameras so take that in account.*

So any suggestions is what Im asking...thanks.

[MartijnGizmo]

Some of the features are hard to combine. The Canon Powershot S2 IS for example has a great movie-option with stereo sounds, but is quite big for a compact.

[5vz-fe]

Apac102, try look at some of the Casios / Pentax...they are in pretty good size too :)

Exilim EX-S500 takes 640x480 vid @ 30 frames / sec and also have pretty decent picture quality.

[ae86_16v]

400-500 you could get a pretty good point and shoot. I like the T7 a lot because of its slimness.

I also recommend checking out the Canon SD-Series Powershots. Those are a good compromise between size and features and lense quality.

Check out www.dpreview.com.

Also take a look at this thread.

http://www.motorworld.net/forum/showthread.php?t=33381

[Zot09]

I've been an amateur photographer for the past 4 years, and i've stuck with Canon since the beginning. My first camera was a film Rebel, then I moved up to the 20D about 6 months ago, and I couldn't be happier. You cannot go wrong with a Canon. But with the price range you have, and the fact that you are a beginner, SLR's are out of the question. A good point-and-shoot camera out right now is the Kodak EasyShare Z7590

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=377757&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

I recommended this camera to my dorm-mate last month, and he received it 3 weeks ago, and he couldn't be happier with it. It's a solid camera, 5MP, and it has a 10 X opitcal zoom(never look at the digital zoom when buying a camera, all it is doing is magnifying the picture you already have=shitty quality). It has a focal length of 38mm-380mm(which basically means it can take semi-wide to pretty long distance shots), which is not bad at all. Unlike a lot of point and shoots, you don't have a one or two second lag between the time you click the button, and when the shot is taken. It does have a movie option, and it is a fairly small camera, but you will still have a small bulge in your pockets. The main problem with the camera's you are looking at is that they do not have good zoom at all(usually a 3x optical) which will not get you that close to a subject.

What kind of photography are you planning on taking? How big are you planning on blowing up the pictures? If you are just going to print out 5x7's or 6x8's you do not need a 5mp camera, you could probobly settle with a 3 or 4.

Out of the three camera's you have chosen(the Nikon, Sony, and Canon) I would probobly buy the Canon, then the Nikon, and then the Sony. The Canon has a shutter speed from 15 seconds to 1/2000 of a second, compared to the Nikon which only has a shutter speed of 2 seconds to 1/350th, which is not enough for bright lighting. I've had a few occasions when I had to go all the way up to 1/4000th's of a second when shooting with my 20D. The one thing I don't like about the Canon is that it has a 1.8" screen compared to the Nikon and Sony which both have 2.5". But this difference in screen size gives you a longer battery life, so that isn't bad. There are a few other things the Canon has over the Nikon and Sony, but i'm a bit short on time right now, so I have to cut this short, sorry. I hope this helps.