P&S Camera Advice

ChrisJ

I need to get a new P&S Camera for our Lab. Good macro capabilty is highly desired. My budget is $500, and I don't feel limited to any specific manufacturer.

Anything exceptional on the market right now? Or would any Canon PowerShot with IS be sufficient?

Awais Yaqub

I have read reviews of canon 12x and sony 12x (h5) i think both recomended H5 including dpreview you must read in review section
Infect my dad bought H5 for macros and i asked a lot beofre buying it,it do superb macros and Closeup filter can be used (58mm).Comes with adapter and hood canon don't
Fits in 500$
Well i dont know bit about canons never used it once did and found hard to use as i am 2 year old sony boy

Macro insects you can see camera info all recent are with H5
http://awais.smugmug.com/gallery/988631
more other images can be seen in my homepage

ChrisJ

Awais Yaqub wrote:

I have read reviews of canon 12x and sony 12x (h5) i think both recomended H5 including dpreview you must read in review section
Infect my dad bought H5 for macros and i asked a lot beofre buying it,it do superb macros and Closeup filter can be used (58mm).Comes with adapter and hood canon don't
Fits in 500$
Well i dont know bit about canons never used it once did and found hard to use as i am 2 year old sony boy

Macro insects you can see camera info all recent are with H5
http://awais.smugmug.com/gallery/988631
more other images can be seen in my homepage

Great stuff, Awais. I've seen most of those shots posted here! I still have my old Sony DSC-P7, my first digital camera and it still takes good pictures. So I definitely won't rule out Sony.

I'll take a closer look at the H5. Thanks for the info!

Red Bull

Do you have a preferred size? If you are looking for a very small one, I highly recommend the Canon Powershot SD700 IS. Great camera, has IS, and has a very good macro mode. (focuses down to 3cm from the subject)

If you don't mind something a bit bigger, I'd spring for a Powershot S3 IS. IS, 12x zoom, plenty of MP, nice size, and flip out LCD.

ChrisJ

Red Bull wrote:

Do you have a preferred size?

I'm not set on size... smaller is nice, since the camera may go on some airplanes.

3cm is is pretty darned close, definitely more than adequate... I don't really think a flip-out LCD will be that useful to us, and just something else that could break.

Do any of the newer P&S cameras still support RAW? Neither the G7 or Sony H5 do...

The other feature that has been useful in the past is built-in time lapse? This feature was on our old Kodak 2 MP, does it exist in new cameras?

Art Scott

Will they let you procure from Ebay....there have been lots of KM A2's in the very recent past ...shoots raw has equiv of 28 to 200mm lens, 1:1 macro ability...with anti shke turned on : hand holdable for a couple of seconds...I have new ones on EBay as well as the A200 (newest of KM's A series)....A2 was *mp and I am guessing the A200 is the same...where as the A1 was (I beleive) 5MP.....not a shirt pocket camera but it will fit nicely into a coat pocket.

Here is one that looks great on EBAY

firedancing4life

I'm enjoying my Fujifilm F30.

Great manual features. Excellent ISO options...including the first P&S to have ISO 3200. It's quite noisy at 3200...but IMO, a noisy pictures is better than a blurry picture. ISO 800 rivals Canon powershots from what I've read and seen on dpreview.com.

I got mine for a little over 300 on Beach Camera.

ChrisJ

I went and physically looked at cameras yesterday, and I think the bigger P&S's are out (Sony H5, Canon S3). Just too bulky. The Canon A630 was a nice compromise size-wise, so I'll look for something in its dimensions.

I didn't see any Konicas there, and they had one Fuji, but I hadn't read about the F30 before I went.

Oh, and I can not buy of E-bay, Art... :nah

Thanks for all the suggestions! Keep 'em coming... It's definitely helped me narrow it down.