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Resolved Question

Help us find our ideal modern camera...

Aug 3, 2012 5:22AM PDT

Hey, it's time to go shopping for a new camera. Happy

And I really need advice!!

We've been getting by with the 8MP point and shoot in my Samsung i8910 phone for the last couple of years, and it's actually served us pretty well. But now we have a good idea of what we really want in a camera, and I'm hoping that this year's offerings are going to get us pretty close.

So here are features important to us:

1) good battery life
2) good low light performance (indoor shots without flash, etc)
3) ability to take continous multiple shots (something like 10 fps would be ideal)
4) shoots 1020p video thats not too compressed (so we can grab frames later without too much blur)
5) fast startup time
6) portability - I'm used to something that can fit in a pocket, the celphone camera was ideally handy...

What's NOT too important?
1) Megapixels - the vast majority of our pics end up being 1200 pixels for emailing, etc. We probably dont ever need more than 10mp, to be honest!! For us - 14, 16 mp is just wasting the battery and probably slowing down the shooting...

2) Zoom - a little is OK, but it's not critical for us

3) Manual controls - sometimes we need to adjust exposure, and maybe use spot metering, but we're mostly OK with "point and shoot on full auto"

So... what's the currently available camera that "does it all" - ideally a 10mp camera with great lense, great low-lux sensor, and continous shoot capability, that can also do fullHD video?
And can such a beast comes in a very compact package with great battery life??
Perhaps even one of the new crop of "ruggedized" models ( water-proof, drop-resistant)??

Any and all advice to steer me towards (or away from!) certain models would be greatly appreciated

Discussion is locked

rock_n_roller has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer
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Clarification Request
addendum (can't seem to edit the original post...)
Aug 3, 2012 8:59AM PDT

Budget - $500 or less!

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Clarification Request
little canons looking promising
Aug 4, 2012 5:12AM PDT

I'm looking hard at the Canon PowerShot Elph 310 HS - for a lo-budget (nearly discontinued) camera it has got several good points for us:

1080p video
decent aperture (3.0)
relatively quick continuous hi-res shooting (3.5 FPS)

Anyone have experience with this unit ( or would recommend something better?)

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too late
Aug 5, 2012 6:21AM PDT

all the ELPH 310s are sold locally... but now I'm hot on the track of an IXUS 310 ( elph 500)
Looks like that's going to be the one, since there is a smoking deal on them.
We'll need to have some $$$ left over anyway, to buy the memory card - looks like "fastest available" memory card is the key to good 'burst shooting' performance...

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Extra Battery
Aug 5, 2012 10:40AM PDT

Canon's have comparatively low battery life, so be sure to buy and carry an extra battery or two.

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yep!
Aug 5, 2012 11:31AM PDT

yeah, i even remember that from a few years ago - back when i used to shoot hundreds of 'work' pics a week with my trusty old A95. Always used to have a couple sets in the camera bag!

I'm pleased to see that the ELPH 500 comes equipped with an external battery charger, and definitely will pick up a couple spare batteries Happy

Best Answer

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Very brief response.
Aug 3, 2012 9:28AM PDT

The Canon Elph 300HS is a great point and shoot. It does have a high speed mode that shoots extremely fast frame rate. (I just used it to catch kids diving into pool). Plus very nice 1080p video. It has been recommended by many camera buff sites. Just google it to see the outstanding reviews. I keep it with me in my pocket for those times when the DSLR (Nikon D5100) is just too bulky...like zip-lining in the trees! It is quite thin and compact, more-so that any of the other p/s cameras we were looking at. It pops right in your pocket. I am amazed that they got so much in such a tiny package. Even if you stop looking at the competition, you won't go wrong with this little gem. I have no regrets.
Regards.