Help Me Out Here Photo Pros!

[Tolak]

With the holidays around the corner cameras are on sale. I have my lovely wife asking me about a couple in a sales ad, both for $150. Having been busy with fish for years I haven't had time to keep up with the digital age, which is moving faster than I can keep up with.

The two choices are; Sony S700, 7.2mp, 3X optical zoom, 2.4" lcd screen, and Canon A560, 7.1mp, 4X optical zoom, 2.5" lcd screen.

My old camera is Sony DSC P-52. 3.2mp, that I paid double what these cameras are going for years ago. The one advantage I can think of is that I may be able to use my 128mb memory stick from the old Sony in the new, though this is no guarantee.

 

[andywg]

Possibly slightly higher in price, but the Fuji F31 (and I believe the F30) is the only compact camera to get the highly recommended award on the DPReview website. It has a lower number of pixels but has a fantastic lens and sensor which means that the pictures come out very good. Added to that is the camera's ability to take photos in low light situations very well, to quote from the aforementioned review:

Given that most 'average' casual snap shooters are likely to use their camera at (dimly lit) social occasions more than at any other time, this is a real, significant advantage; allowing flash-free photography without blur. More serious photographers will welcome a camera that brings the low light capabilities of a compact a step or two closer to those of most digital SLRs.

My best advice would be to check out the DPReview site for cameras you like the look of that are in your price range (and also check what they compare the cameras to) and then go and hold them in the shop and see how easy they are to use. That's how we chose our SLR, we liked the look of both the Canon and the Nikon D80, but holding them in the store the D80 just felt a nicer camera to use and we were more happy using it, so that's what we went with.

Considering how cheap 1 and 2 GB cards are nowadays I wouldn't let the existence of a 128MB card sway your decision.

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

I'm going to say it's pretty much a toss-up. The Canon has a slightly longer zoom, but I don't think it's a deal breaker since the aperture gets smaller on these cameras as you zoom farther in. This means that in questionable lighting you may not even be able to use the longer zoom.

I tend to lean toward Sony in this situation, but the Canon would be just as nice and the Sony preference is a personal one. If you can, the best thing would be to get to the store(s) and handle each of them, see which one has a more logical control layout to you. If you can find the one that is easiest for you to navigate, that's going to be the better camera.

SLC