New camera advice

Camera Gear, How-To, Questions
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Roy
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New camera advice

Post by Roy » March 14th, 2014, 6:33 am

I currently own this camera had at least five years I think :shock:
0627_CanonSX100-IS_450_0.jpg
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They a have new one now with 12 megapixels.

And I was looking at this Panasonic.
L2ltYWdlcy9wcm9kdWN0L21haW4vUy0wMTk2NTl4MjAwMC5qcGc=_H_SW700.jpg
Right now I use my 10 megapixel HD phone and most the times the photos are better than the power shot.

My question, is it worth buying the new Cannon or the Panasonic? Will photos be a lot better than the old Power Shot?

I like a bigger camera my hands are large and the phone gets tricky for me the PowerShot really was a nice fit for me.

I cant afford an SLR my budget is three hundred max any other camera that like these someone could recommend?

Just looking to take clearer sharper photos. I guess I could go back to the AE1 or Pentax 35 mil collecting dust in my closet :D
Last edited by Roy on March 14th, 2014, 6:44 am, edited 2 times in total.
The downhill of the mind is harder than the uphill of the body. - Yuichiro Miura

hikin_mike1960
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Re: New camera advice

Post by hikin_mike1960 » March 14th, 2014, 6:43 am

The powershots are nice cameras and have owned a couple of them in the past. They did a go job! Have you put your hands on them already? If not go try them out. Also, google them on line and ask for the top rated ones and compare. I know I was surprised that my camera phone is now 13 mpixs but it takes a bit for it to process. Good luck.
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jdemott
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Re: New camera advice

Post by jdemott » March 14th, 2014, 8:53 am

My question, is it worth buying the new Cannon or the Panasonic? Will photos be a lot better than the old Power Shot?
It depends what you want to do with the photos. Are you unhappy with your camera now? Current cameras are definitely better than 5 year old cameras, but how do you weigh how much it is worth to you? More megapixels probably aren't a meaningful difference unless you want to make big prints. New cameras have longer zoom range (something like Powershot SX280 has 20X zoom) and generally have faster autofocus and better low light performance. Image stabilization keeps getting better to reduce camera shake. The software and image processing on all cameras keeps getting better, a little bit each year, so photos look better (better color and exposure). But I have lots of photos I took five years ago that I still like... a new camera won't make a bad photo into a good one and and a decent older camera can still take photos as good as ever.

Current smart phone cameras are getting pretty good at some things--good color, good for close-ups, easy to use. Not so good if you want to zoom in or take photos in low light or with wide variation of lighting conditions.

Canon Powershot are generally very good cameras...I've had good luck with them. But definitely go to the camera store and try them and see what works for you. Shutterbug stores seem pretty knowledgeable and helpful.

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kepPNW
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Re: New camera advice

Post by kepPNW » March 14th, 2014, 9:01 am

What model(s) are you considering, specifically? Can't tell what that Panasonic is from the photo.

I'll say this, I really like the Leica glass on the Lumix line, but the JPG compression algorithm used by Cannon is superior. That becomes most noticeable when you zoom in >80% or so. If you're only using them to view on a monitor, and aren't doing severe cropping, you'll never see it.

Agree on megapixels - meaningless sales gimmick. Look most closely at optical zoom and image stabilization. Without those, frustration ensues.
Karl
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rainrunner
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Re: New camera advice

Post by rainrunner » March 14th, 2014, 11:53 am

What about a Canon point and shoot that can shoot in RAW?

PowerShot_S110
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jdemott
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Re: New camera advice

Post by jdemott » March 14th, 2014, 4:10 pm

What about a Canon point and shoot that can shoot in RAW?
That is a good choice also. I actually have an earlier model of the same camera (S95), and the only reason I didn't recommend it above is I assumed that Roy was interested in a longer zoom range based on his current camera.

In addition to shooting in RAW mode, the S110 (and S120) have larger sensors than most compact cameras, yielding lower noise levels and better image quality.

forestkeeper
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Re: New camera advice

Post by forestkeeper » March 14th, 2014, 7:24 pm

:) Hey Tom. Your 5 year old Canon should be just fine. When I'm just hiking and not using my Sony DSLR, I either use my 5 year old Canon SX150 IS (which is similar to yours),
canonsx150.jpg
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or if I'm shooting birds or wildlife I shoot with a Fujifilm Finepix s8300.
fujifilm_finepixs8300.jpg
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This is a bridge camera, about the same size as a DSLR, with a zoom of 24mm - 1000mm. Both cameras just shoot JPEG. Don't get RAW unless you want to spend lots of time on your computer using Photoshop, Lightroom or other photo editors to convert raw files to jpeg, in order to being able to download your photos.

I also shoot film with a 30+ year old Minolta Maxxum XT si SLR, which takes excellent full frame pics, a 30+ year old Pentax IQ 140 fully auto compact film camera, and a 30+ year old Minolta Maxxum ST si SLR, so age doesn't matter.

Hope that helps! ;)

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the hiking nurse
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Re: New camera advice

Post by the hiking nurse » March 14th, 2014, 7:54 pm

I'm really happy with my Nikon aw100. 16megapixels, waterproof, shockproof, and freeze proof. It only has a 5x optical zoom, but takes pretty good pictures in most conditions. It is small and fits in the waistband pockets of all of my packs. The pictures are definitely not DSLR quality but they are pretty good. It is small, convenient, and has GPS so you can geotag your pictures. It is also reasonably priced at around 220 bucks (depending on your definition of reasonable)...

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Roy
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Re: New camera advice

Post by Roy » March 14th, 2014, 10:11 pm

jdemott wrote:

It depends what you want to do with the photos. Are you unhappy with your camera now? Current cameras are definitely better than 5 year old cameras, but how do you weigh how much it is worth to you? More megapixels probably aren't a meaningful difference unless you want to make big prints. New cameras have longer zoom range (something like Powershot SX280 has 20X zoom) and generally have faster autofocus and better low light performance. Image stabilization keeps getting better to reduce camera shake. The software and image processing on all cameras keeps getting better, a little bit each year, so photos look better (better color and exposure). But I have lots of photos I took five years ago that I still like... a new camera won't make a bad photo into a good one and and a decent older camera can still take photos as good as ever.
Canon Powershot are generally very good cameras...I've had good luck with them. But definitely go to the camera store and try them and see what works for you. Shutterbug stores seem pretty knowledgeable and helpful.
Maybe I'm just being to picky I see a lot of pictures on this site that just seem more colorful and clearer than the ones I take. I always think pictures I take are not that good. I just download the pictures and never do anything to them with a computer.


Taken with the Power Shot in 2009 on top of the South Sister.

Image



Last summer the summit of Mt McLaughlin with my phone.

Image


And this week with my phone.

Image


I cant fault the Power Shot its never failed me and I like that it uses 2 double A batteries so you carry a little box of four extras. Maybe I should just be happy with what I have and play around enhancing them on the computer.

And if I get serious get a a DSLR.




.
The downhill of the mind is harder than the uphill of the body. - Yuichiro Miura

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kepPNW
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Re: New camera advice

Post by kepPNW » March 15th, 2014, 5:28 am

Roy wrote:Maybe I should just be happy with what I have and play around enhancing them on the computer.
You can certainly do some easy enhancements just bumping the contrast and balancing the light/shadow areas a bit. Easy to overdo, especially with saturation, but a little can definitely go a long way. :)
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

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