Can you suggest a digital point-and -shoot with manual mode or aperture priority (for depth-of-field effects)?
I’d like a reasonably small camera (because “the best camera is the one that you use) and a reasonable price (up to $300?).
We have a new baby and lots of family around the U.S. and the world asking for a steady stream of pictures!
Please offer specific model suggestions.
Thanks.
I own a few Nikon DSLR’s and I’d buy the Canon Powershot A630 or A640 for myself. These cameras have the larger 1/1.8″ (5.2 mm x 7.2 mm) sensor that is nearly double the sensor size you find in many point and shoot cameras and this translates into better image quality. They allow fully automatic use or total user control and offer several stages in between. The only significant difference between these cameras is that the A630 is 8 MP and the A640 is 10 MP.
A good reason to look to these cameras is that they DO offer manual mode and aperture priority and they have a larger sensor, which is going to make it slightly easier to throw the background out of focus. This is a problem on any point-and-shoot digital camera, because of the small size of the sensors, but at least these cameras have a slight advantage with the larger sensors.
If you’re going to spend up to $230, look at a Canon Powershot A630. My brother has had his A630 for about a year and it’s a very nice camera. You can get it at B&H Photo (available through Yahoo! Shopping) for $192.
If you can go to $300, look at the 10 MP Canon Powershot A640. This is an excellent camera. It sells for $260 and you can add a very nice memory card for under $40.
For either camera, buy a 1 or 2 GB Sandisk Ultra II or Extreme III card. You will NEED the increased capacity and write speed to fully realize the benefits of your camera. The Ultra II would be excellent, but if you are really into video, you might prefer the faster Extreme III. These cards cost from about $25-45 at B&H and several other outlets.
A630: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/a630.html
Also: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_a630.asp (Read owner opinions)
A640: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/a640.html
Also: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona640/
(I’m sorry for the duplicate links that follow, but I want you to see specific pages.)
Go here http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona640/ where you can either read the whole review or just go to http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona640/page17.asp to see samples.
You have to click through the gallery from picture number 1 to the end. Image 8 shows a bit of background Bokeh at 52mm equiv @f/3.2. Image 14 is just a little bit “defocused” in the background. Most of the images are quite sharp from near to far distances and there is a reason for that which I will explain.
While we speak in terms of the 35 mm equivalency of digital lenses, don’t forget that the digital sensors are usually smaller than a full-format 35 mm frame. The A640 still has one of the largest point and shoot sensors, but it’s only 7.2 mm wide and 5.3 mm high. The lens required to cover that angle of view is an ACTUAL 7.3-29.2 mm lens. At these focal lengths, the background is going to almost always be in pretty sharp focus. In other words, if you WANT to defocus the background, you are going to have to work pretty hard at it. You would have to zoom to the longer end of the lens and set the aperture open as wide as it will go.
See also http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/a640.html and go to http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/a640_samples.html for some sample images.
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