pbiflyer

I know that there are some dated threads, but technology changes so fast.
I need a couple recommendations as I am headed to B&H.

First, a good, but not outrageously expensive (under $400) P&S that we are going to use in Europe. It would be our primary camera for that trip. So a good zoom and some other nice features would be what I am looking for.

Second, a cheap(under $125 preferably), but decent P&S that I can give the kids (9&11). They are tech savvy, so they need something good, but I don't want to be really bummed when they drop and break it.

All suggestions are welcome.

Mikity

These two recent buyer's guides on DPReview should tell you all you need to know:

• Enthusiast compact camera roundup
  
• Or, if you're looking for something a little smaller: High-end pocketable compacts roundup

whistler814

I am not a pro by any measure.

The somewhat older Canon S110 is a great versatile P&S at a very good price. We use this and an iphone6+ (for when we forget to bring the S110) for most of our pictures.

Your kids might have a lot of fun with a GoPro. They're really easy to use and come with a waterproof housing. Some of the GoPro videos on Youtube are extremely creative and inspiring.

Madone59

Samsung Galaxy Camera!! I love it so much I just bought the big brother the Galaxy NX. Look at my Trip reports - everything was shot on a Samsung Galaxy Camera.

James94

Samsung Galaxy i also like this

jec6613

I'm a Nikon guy, so take the brand preference with a grain of salt.

For the kids, I'd bring along a Nikon S30/S31/S32 series for the kids - waterproof, cheap, pretty reasonable. They can be inexpensive enough to get each of them their own camera.

For myself, I'd take a Coolpix P7800. 1/1.7 sensor and a reasonably fast lens, plus a viewfinder and a lens that reaches out to 200 mm on the long end. Plus, Wi-Fi makes it connected.

chollie

For the kids, what about a refurbished P&S? I've gotten a Panasonic and a Canon (about to get another one), refurbished, and been very happy. I got the Panasonic from B&H, IIRC.

rati

I love canon products , best to use , but i think photography is all depends on how you want to click it the angele of camera lenses and timing of clicking it .

JMN57

I've found the Nikon Coolpix S6800 a pretty good camera.

Prior to that, I had a series of Canon P&S cameras that I generally liked except for the last one I got. That one had a problem with the automatic lens cover (it would easily get jammed partly closed/open). It was such a problem that it drove me away from Canon.

FlyingSky

I'm currently on the market for a camera that is better than my iPhone 6's for multiple upcoming intl trips. Any recommendations for a good P&S? Since I don't really have any advanced photography skills at the moment, not sure if it makes sense for me to get a more advanced camera such as a DSLR or stay with a P&S. So far, I am focused on the Sony RX100 - but there are several different models. Any insight on this? (or, I could get a GoPro, but I guess that fits into another category!)


Thanks!

paperwastage

I just got a RX100 mk1 from bestbuy, open box $250, going to play with it. it's a nobrainer at $250 (mk3 was open box at $520)

you should see steep discounts (mk1 is at $399 new now, mk4 should be coming out soon)

if you want high quality, then a dSLR
if you want high quality+compact, then RX100 / G7X
if you want compact, then iPhone 6/other cheaper P&S

for the rx100 series:
cheap: mk1
if you want hotshoe/more zoom: mk2
if you want built-in EVF/money isn't a problem/faster lens: mk3

fuzz

How about the Panasonic DMC-ZS40? I tried a search but did not find much... It's on sale at Costco for 299.99 with case and 16GB card. They also have the G7x for 649.99 with case and 32 GB card.

I'm still using an OLD Canon Powershot S3IS. I know... I don't use it much because it's so bulky. It did have a huge zoom for then, but I can get all of that now in the Panasonic.

I see great reviews about the Sony RX-100. If I can find a great deal on one of those, that might be great.

We would use it for casual photos and especially with kids, it would be nice.

Thanks!

paperwastage

Panasonic ZS40/TZ60/TZ70 and Sony HX90/WX500 are in the same category of pocketable "Travel Zoom" - ~30x zoom from 24mm to 750mm. They give up quality (1/2.3 smaller sensor) in exchange for being very versatile (useful for landscape/tele shots)

I owned one of the earlier versions of the Panasonic TZ line (2007 TZ3, "only 10x" 28-280mm superzoom back then). Outdoor quality is excellent, indoor is bad.

I'm sure the newer ones have better quality, but they cannot compare to the RX100 for quality (especially indoor/low light).

Short review of HX90 shows that it's pretty good even low-light:
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/threa...-post-55711347

HX90: f/3.5, 1/30, ISO 160, 41/10 mm
RX100 (tried to find something similar -f/4.8, 1/60, ISO 3200):http://www.imaging-resource.com/PROD.../YDSC00007.HTM (click on fullres -> 1 f/stop lower, faster shutter speed = less light = worse conditions.... ISO noise performance is similar even though it's ISO 160 vs ISO 3200)

Basically, figure out what you want, and what you're willing to compromise: (also, look at their predecessor, probably cheaper)

• compact+zoom for outdoor shots, but not best quality: superzoom line (ZS40/HX90)
  
• compact+small+versatile (24mm, 5x 120mm reach), but not best quality: S120
  
• compact+best quality, but not that much zoom (24-70mm 3x or 28-100mm): RX100 line (I/II/III/IV) depending on your budget, G7X
  
• zoom+quality, but bulkier: bridge camera (RX10, LX100, ....) or mirrorless

Kagehitokiri

is there a current 'best' for response time / shutter lag ?

paperwastage

for what? single-point AF, multi-point AF, manual focus, focus-disabled between shots? care about burst mode? lag between shots?

do you care about locking down exposure(lower shutter lag), or full auto (more lag)?

too many variables. many people might mean different things when asking about shutter lag


one way: read reviews. imaging-resource does a very good job testing camera performance, eg: http://www.imaging-resource.com/PROD...x100-iiiA6.HTM

(RX100 III - full auto wide = 0.149. S120 - full auto wide = 0.17... both are very fast.
prefocused, III is faster at 0.011, S120 is slower at 0.095)

best way: go to a camera store and play with each camera