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Question

Best compact for kids and animals?

Jun 24, 2011 1:40AM PDT

Hello! I am overwhelmed by all of the camera choices. I lost my Canon elph, which I liked but always envied the sharpness and speed of my friends DSLRs. Not in a position to upgrade to DSLR, but would like to upgrade to a compact that can get me closer in terms of shot speed and image quality for capturing candids and still be easy to use and carry around. I'd also like to be able to take video clips and easily upload them. A nice zoom would be great but not if it slows speed way down. Burst mode seems like a plus. Hoping to find a deal under $300 or so.
My list so far: Sony HX5V, Canon SX200 (or 210?), Panasonic ZS7, Sony WX1, Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX700, Nikon Coolpix S9100. But how to choose? Is there another camera that should be on the list?
Thanks a million for any advice!

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Outdoors, no problem
Jun 24, 2011 2:37AM PDT

Any of the cameras on your list is fine; the best buy being the Sony, $200 on Amazon. That said, these will only work outdoors. Indoors none will work anywhere near as well as a DSLR; you can expect blurry and fuzzy pics if you try to use these small cameras indoors on moving kids or animals.

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Sports with small digital camera
Jun 25, 2011 12:04AM PDT

I've been using an Canon SD800 and while I get some outdoor shots by pressing half-way on the shutter first and tracking a running kid. But indoors (basketball) doesn't work. I've found that the video feature is important, so will get HD video on my next camera. I will not use a digital slr, but want a new camera. Question is, knowing that none of the small cameras is perfect, which will work best for those who want to photograph kids playing soccer. Need biggest sensor, more burst capatility, better shot-to-shot speed. It's obviously the holy grail that doesn't yet exist, but what's the best in a small package. (Because a camera only works if I can carry it with me.)
Thanks.

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The current crop
Jun 25, 2011 9:16AM PDT

The best of the current small zooms are the Canon SX230 HS, Nikon S9100, and the Sony HX9V. None have a larger sensor; it is physically not possible to have a larger sensor and a long optical zoom in a small package. All of them have some sort of burst capability, but once you have shot a burst, the camera is not usable for a number of seconds while the camera writes the images to the card. The Nikon has the fastest shot-to-shot times; the Canon the slowest.

For shooting indoor basketball, you are much better off using the camera in HD video mode; the lower resolution and moving image masks the poorer image quality in comparison with a still image.

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Answer
Camera options
Jun 30, 2011 11:58AM PDT

It looks like you already got a great list so the piece of advice that I can share with you is to choose the one that can hold the most memory and work compatibly with the other devices that you have especially if you intend to burn it or to get the pictures printed.

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Answer
look at the aperture
Jun 30, 2011 2:44PM PDT

If your primary purpose is HD video and fast shooting, look at the aperture specs. In the current crop I think the Sony WX1 has the fastest lens (f/2.4 - f/7.1 aperture) at the wide angle but a lesser optical zoom (5x). Another good contender is the Canon SX210 IS which kind of in the middle (its got decent zoom 14x) with a f/3.1 - f/5.9 aperture range ( so a bit slower lens) at the wide angle. If zoom is more important the S9100 is a great choice with its 18x range.