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General discussion

Buying Advice- Cameras under $160

Nov 21, 2011 4:30AM PST

I'm looking to buy a digital camera and need some help. There are some specific features I would like to have which are:
long zoom 7x or higher optical zoom
usb charging for convenience
720p hd video
preferably no touch screen
under $160

I've found that this is fairly hard to find under the $160 price point. My main question is with 720p video would it be better to get one with mpeg4 h.264 rather than motion jpeg? I am not really sure what the big difference is although I've read that mpeg4 is better for size and quality.

The three cameras I was looking at were the Samsung pl210 which has motion jpeg, the Nikon s6100 which has a touch screen, and the Kodak m583 which fully meets my criteria.

As far as brands go, what do you guys recommend. I tend to think that Nikon has the best quality and that is why I am leaning towards it but am not sure. Recommendations?

Discussion is locked

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Camera Choice
Nov 22, 2011 5:19AM PST

The Samsung PL210 and the Nikon S6100 have touch screen LCDs

That leaves the Kodak M583.

In the under $160 price range with a 8 MP zoom (approx), there are not many choices.
The Kodak M583 is about as good as you can find.
Go for it.

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Nov 22, 2011 10:51AM PST

Yeah, you're right, there really are not that many options. Do you know how motion jpeg and mp4 h.264 compare? I would like to shoot some video with it.

The pl210 is not touch screen btw, at least according to amazon.

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Follow-Up
Nov 22, 2011 11:29PM PST