Evening everyone.
My missus is looking for a good compact camera. The Ozbargain community as a collective whole would have a better wealth of knowledge than myself. so im after advice and direction.
her budget is $600-800 or so. she is after something that will last a while.
She is basically going to be using it for travelling and what not so probably need to fit in her hand bag.
cheers for the help, we really appreciate it
mark
If you can wait till Feb
Get this Canon PowerShot G1 X
Better ISO performance than the 60D and 7D
http://www.canonrumors.com/2012/01/canon-powershot-g1-x-brie…
drools Damn that sounds really awesome! I currently have a G11 and this sounds miles ahead of that model, and make me want to upgrade! Pity they got rid of the ISO dial. I wonder if it'll still have a flip screen - that was pretty awesome too.
some nice options there guys. suppose she didnt want to wait cause she is going away soon… what should she get right now?
I've seen some humongous female hand bags of late- big enough to fit a DSLR!
For a compact camera, I'd recommend the Canon PowerShot S95 or S100 (if you can find it). Both are very highly rated (many regard them as the top of the range for their category), with the S100 being the sequel to the S95. The biggest problem apparently with S100 though is that the battery life sucks due to the bigger sensor, new image processor, etc.
Otherwise, the S95 is still a good option and falls comfortably within your budget. If your missus is planning on using video a lot, the Sony HX9V (which I've got) records in 1080p fullHD (whilst the S95 records in 720p) and I find has some fun-to-use scene modes.
If she's willing to go larger, the Canon PowerShot G12 (which is the predecessor to the G1 X mentioned above) is also a good camera.
Another alternative within your price range is to go with a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera e.g. the Sony NEX C3- which can be considered a bridge between traditional point-and-shoot compact cameras and full-sized DSLRs. The body of the camera is similarly sized to a regular compact camera, however it has the ability to attach lenses. This is probably more of an option if your missus wants to dabble into photography a bit as it allows significantly more manual control over regular point-and-shoot, however if she just wants to use Auto settings most of the time I'd recommend sticking with the above categories
Can't go past the Sony HX9V. Top camera! Excellent night shots and modes. FULL-HD video recording. Best compact camera I've got. Even took better pics that a friend's DSLR… in some indoor cases..
I highly, highly recommend the cannon SX230. I purchased one recently from amazon, it was 208 delivered, i believe that they are even cheaper now. Tested it thoroughly over the last week, recording a lot of video and heavy metal gigs in low light and the video, photos, audio, everything is absolutely amazing, i have been very impressed by it!