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2003 HOLIDAY SHOPPING GUIDE PART 2 As we pointed out in Part 1 of this Guide, the 2003 Holiday Shopping Season is already here and all indications are that a new record number of digital camera will be sold especially between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Most consumers are considering getting a new digital camera to fit specific needs, as we see a continued movement away from film cameras to digital. This year there will be more digital cameras sold then film cameras and we are talking about Millions folks. As we have mentioned, being one of the major Digital Camera web sites with an opportunity to test most of the new cameras out there, we have been looking at cameras all year and we now have an opportunity to provide you with some of our thoughts regarding your potential holiday purchases.
In this, Part 2 of our 2003 Holiday Shopping Guide, we set out to discuss another very popular type of camera, the compact point & shoot style digital camera which has a 4 or 5 megapixel CCD for even higher quality resolution images, which will especially assist those who want to on occasion print their photos at 5 by 7 inch, 8 by 10 inch and even 11 by 14 inches. This category of camera differs from our Part I cameras which had 3 megapixels and a price of under $300, as obviously moving up one or two megapixels in image resolution is going to result in some increase in camera prices. However, the other factors/features remain essentially the same, and thus we are still talking about a camera which is small, compact, easy to use and take along at all times, and therefore is what would still be best described as point and shoot style cameras. As we move into the 4 and 5 megapixel cameras there are other high end prosumer style fixed lens cameras for advanced photographers which rival the newer DSLR cameras, however those usually have much bigger bodies, they are heavier, have bigger lenses and zoom factors, have a lot more manual settings and advanced features, and thus cost a lot more money. We will discuss those more advanced 4 and 5 megapixel cameras in another part of this guide in the next week, but for now in this Part 2, we keep our focus on the more family oriented, more compact, less complicated and less expensive Point and Shoot style cameras.
There are a few threshold considerations to keep in mind however as we balance the additional costs of the extra megapixel or two with the pros and cons that occur as a result of having more megapixels under the hood. As we mentioned above, with the higher resolution you can see some improvement in prints, but not really at 4 by 6 inch or smaller, and for Internet purposes, once resized to screen sizes, you generally cannot tell later if a picture came from a 3 vs a 4 or 5 megapixel camera. In those situations users would be spending more money for no practical purpose or gain. We can see some slight improvement in our prints at 5 by 7 inch, but most consumers will not. It is at 8 by 10 inch and larger that you will be especially glad to have spent the extra $100.00 or so to go up in resolution.
In addition, for those who will be needing to do a lot of cropping, you will have more room to do so with the extra megapixel and not degrade image quality too much. Cropping is essentially post shot zooming (and re-framing), allowing you to make a subject appear closer and re-positioned after the fact by throwing away part of the picture and the related pixels. So on the positive side, that extra money will get you a camera that can make better looking prints especially at larger sizes and you can do more cropping even if the prints will be smaller or destined for the web or e-mail only. However, there is one other potential negative factor besides the extra cost in getting a higher resolution camera in this category. In many situations with these smaller point and shoot cameras, in order to keep them small, the additional megapixel or two of resolution has been crammed into the same physical sized CCD. This often allows re-use of the same body & lens which are designed to match the specific size and dimensions of the CCDs, but the actual light sensors themselves, the million and millions of them, have to be individually smaller to a degree, so they all fit in the same space of the CCD. This can result in some slight increase in noise levels as less light reaches each individual sensor. How big a factor this is really depends from model to model, but generally speaking, for most family uses the potential increase in noise is very slight and for most will not be noticeable.
The only other slight factor is to keep in mind is that 4 and 5 megapixel image files will be somewhat bigger in size, using up your memory cards just a bit faster. You will generally be able to fit more 3 megapixel images on the same sized memory card compared to 4 and 5 megapixel images. In other words, you may need to buy a little bit bigger card, or more cards to handle the extra resolution and size. If money is tight this is potentially a bigger factor, but we would take a higher resolution camera and adjust for this slight factor by buying one more card.
Overall, if we were offered a choice of cameras for free, one being a 3 megapixel camera on the one hand, and one being a 4 or 5 megapixel camera on the other, we would take the higher resolution camera almost every time, especially if its between the same manufacturers two models. We think noise issues for family photo needs are a minimal issue, as most prints and/or Web resized images simply will not show the noise that theoretically can be seen when an image is looked at full size or enlarged in a program such as Photoshop by a highly critical eye. In addition, it is possible that some 4 megapixel cameras you may consider below will actually have less noise then really cheap alternative 3 megapixel cameras that are out there to also consider. As we have stated above, the fact that 4 and 5 megapixel cameras will use up your memory cards a bit faster is a factor, but memory prices are now much more reasonable and so buying an extra card for $50 dollars or less should still be affordable for most (or something to give as a gift at the next gift giving opportunity). You can also just make it a point to quickly transfer all picture shoots/sessions to your computer to free up your memory cards. Remember, you can always immediately delete bad pictures to free up memory space, and one main reason you are now going digital is you do not need to keep buying costly film or pay for developing. With all those considerations in mind, let us now look at our specific camera picks in this point and shoot style 4 and 5 megapixel camera category.
1. Once again, as we did in part I we are going to start out with a very solid contender from Canon, which is essentially only different from the 3 megapixel Canon Powershot A70 Digital Camera we highly recommended, by the fact it has one megapixel more. The newer 4 megapixel Canon Powershot A80 has the same body, size, weight, features, everything, except for now you are getting a 4 megapixel camera for about $100.00 more. The Canon A80 is currently selling at around $399.99 and offers the same performance and quality found in the Canon A70. The extra approximate one megapixel of resolution is occurring by adding all those sensors to the same sized CCD however Canon has done a great job in keeping noise levels about equal. This was not really the case with last year's S30 and S45, as many felt the 3 megapixel S30 was a better performer and value for the money compared with the similar S45 which really only offers the extra megapixel.
This year we have been very impressed with the image results from the Canon Powershot A80 camera and feel it does offer benefits in the extra resolution with little downside. Once again the A80 is a wonderful performer in a wide variety of family type shooting, and it provides very sharp images & excellent colors from a high quality 3X optical zoom lens. Furthermore, it also uses four AA batteries and we found it to take nearly 200 shots per set of batteries, a performance that is again second to none in this group of cameras. We liked the 3X optical zoom as it is the same one we liked so much in the A70 we discuss in Part 1. We do strongly recommend that you select a camera with at least a 3X zoom lens for good flexibility in framing your shots. Another major plus for the Canon A80 is its ability to connect directly with several major printers including a nice portable unit from Canon for top-notch 4 by 6 inch prints. The only slight concerns about the A80 like we had for the A70 are its design makes it a bit more difficult to fit into tight pant pockets, as it is not exactly square like some others, having the hand grip stick out some. The pocket ability is not bad, and it fits in purses just fine. However, there are some who will want to look at our other choices below for that reason alone. Now the grip is great for when you take pictures, so it really is a trade off, and a decision you will have to make. Like most of the point and shoot cameras out there, the A80 does have the usual tendency to have some red-eye creep into flash shots, although there is a built-in red-eye reduction which helps a lot, and as many of you know, most major software aimed at new users now includes auto red-eye removal features. The A80 uses Compact Flash memory cards and can work with a host of Canon accessories. While we are repeating a lot of our comments about the A70 here, one thing we forgot to mention and something that may be important especially to those of you who are willing to spend some extra money, is the fact that both the A70 and A80 cameras offer Manual Exposure Controls. We did not mention that in Part 1 in part as an oversight, but also we did not want to scare people away who only want a simple point and shoot camera. Both the A70 and A80 are simple to use and can operate in full Auto mode. However, for those who are moving up a bit on the experience level, there are manual exposure controls which we found to be a very nice perk in these Canon cameras. Overall, the Canon A80 rates very highly, and it is a camera you should definitely look at and consider in this category.
2. While we are talking about Canon cameras, there is another excellent choice for those who want to trade some of the manual features of the A80 for a smaller, more compact 4 megapixel Canon Powershot S400 Digital Elph camera. The S400 is a much more compact camera yet it still offers a 3X optical zoom lens, the Canon Digic fast processor for fast shot to shot times and little shutter lag, along with many other benefits, and it has very similar image quality results. Now there are a few tradeoffs of course, as you will not have the same long lasting batter results, the battery is a Canon specific rechargeable battery instead of the easy to find anywhere AA batteries used in the A80, the smaller camera is awkward in big big hands, and you will have to pay around $50 dollars more at a price of around $449. Still, the S400 is a very attractive looking camera which is very sleek and easy to put in your pocket and take with you. We still favour the image quality of the A80 ever so slightly, and the red-eye issues with these smaller cameras remains, but this is a camera which shares most of the same technology as the A80 and thus you will get good exposures, wonderful colors and fairly sharp images that are great for family uses. The Canon S400 will also hook up to many Canon printers directly just like the A80 and it will function very easily as a simple to use point and shoot camera.
3. One other Canon camera that is fairly new on the scene is the small Canon Powershot S10 camera. Once again this camera features a 4 megapixel CCD however it has no optical zoom lens, instead it is fixed at a 39mm angle. In addition the Powershot S10 uses the newer and smaller SD format of memory cards and comes in several different colors, such as black, bronze and silver. The S10 shares many of the internal hardware of the above cameras, so it can produce nice results, but we just prefer strongly having an optical zoom lens. The Canon S10 sells for around $349.
4. Another highly recommended choice in this category is the Sony DSC-P92 camera. This camera is a point and shoot style 5 megapixel camera with a 3X optical zoom lens which uses commonly found AA size batteries. Sony does not make a 4 megapixel camera. The P92 is much like the 3 megapixel P72 in its style and features, with the main exception being the additional 2 megapixel resolution and a price increase to $379.99. It is light weight and fits very nicely into a pocket or purse, although it is slightly thicker then its sister camera, the Sony DSC- P10, selling at $449, which is also a 5 megapixel, 3X optical zoom camera but thinner by use of a special thinner rechargeable battery and about 3 ounces lighter. The P10 is also a bit better build and has appears a little more compact and sleeker. Both Sony models fit a bit easier into the pants pocket, with the P10 being much smaller then the Canon A80, and yet not as small as the Canon S400.
The Sony cameras as most of you know use their own Memory Stick cards to store images on, an issue some people had some problems years ago when prices were higher. We have already mentioned before that we are pleased to see that Memory Stick prices have come down considerably and thus we do not see this as a valid concern any longer. In addition these new P model now accept the Memory Stick Pro (which are somewhat expensive still), which have capacity above 128MB up to 1 Gig, with somewhat faster speeds (but they do not take full advantage yet of the Pro speed capabilities) and they can allow use of Sony's higher resolution Movie modes.
While battery performance once again was not quite as good as the Canon A80 in large part because it only uses two AA batteries and the Canon A80 uses 4, it was acceptable, allowing over 100 shots per charge. The P92 is also a bit lighter due to the fact that it does use 2 less AA batteries but not by much. The image quality was very similar in both the P92 and P10, being well above average and very comparable to the Canon A80. The extra megapixel does help with 8 by 10 inch prints especially. We once again obtained very nice web shots and 5 by 7 images from all of the cameras we have mentioned so far and now with these 5 megapixel model, the 8 by 10s really come out very very nice. Sony does have slightly different colors, with saturation a bit stronger then the Canon, however many users like this look, and for prints it results in very colorful pictures many have come to really like.
Many of you are also aware that Sony is still currently the number one digital camera seller by volume, and most of those sales come in this point and shoot category including the P92. However, Canon is coming on strong and you can see why. The two companies are competing head to head in these popular models. Both have a AA battery version camera that is somewhat bigger then their own versions with thinner special rechargeable batteries at about $50 dollars more. Sony has attempted to stay at the top by offering an extra megapixel in the same price range, although Canon does offer a new 5 megapixel S50 camera but it is bigger then the Sony cameras and cost $499. We are now talking a $200 leap over the 3 megapixel cameras we discussed in part 1, and the camera is bigger, heavier and more complicated as it does offer full manual controls (neither Sony has full controls found in the Canon A80 or S50), although it is still a compact camera. The choice so far has boiled down to first deciding if you want to have the easier to find AA batteries at the cost of some size and weight increase, or to pay just a bit more and get a slimmer, sleeker camera using a special rechargeable battery which we will highly suggest to you, you will need to buy a 2nd back-up for, especially if you are doing any travelling.
5. Next we have the Nikon Coolpix 4300 which features a 4 megapixel CCD and a nice sharp 3X optical zoom lens. This camera came out a year ago and is missing just a few of the scene modes and features of the newer Nikon Coolpix 3100 (3 megapixel camera). It still has 12 pre-set scene modes for many hard to shoot situations. Although it is slightly bigger then the 3100 and costs $100 dollars more at $399, it is still an excellent performer. We found the Nikon 4300 to be a very fast shot taker. There was very little shutter lag time, and the images were very sharp and colorful. We used this camera for 2 months and took thousands of pictures that came out great! We even found the Macro mode to be just fantastic. The Coolpix 4300 is not as small as the Canon S400, but like the Canon camera it uses Compact Flash memory cards, while again the Sony uses Memory Stick and Memory Stick Pro cards. The overall image quality of the Nikon 4300 is just as good as the Canon A80 and we even found the Color Saturation levels to be slightly higher on the Nikon compared with both the Canon cameras and the Sony cameras. The main drawback to the Coolpix 4300 compared with the Canon A80 is the lack of full manual controls. The Coolpix 4300 remains a very compact camera, it fits fairly well into a pocket beating the Canon A80 in size and weight (but again not the Canon S400) and is similar in portability to the Sony P10, which has an extra Megapixel. The Nikon 4300 can accept with special step-down rings, a number of really great accessory lenses including a wide-angle lens and a 2X telephoto lens which we found to be of very high quality. The Nikon Coolpix 4300 does use a special Nikon Lithium Ion Battery (supplied), which is a fairly good performer, but like the Sony P10, it only lasts about 100 shots compared to our findings of nearly 200 shots per set of 4 AA batteries in the Canon A80. Overall the build of the Nikon 4300 a bit more plastic and it is more similar to the A80 and P92 cameras, which is a bit less in appearance and quality compared to the Canon S400 and Sony P10 cameras mentioned above.
6. Finally, we also are really impressed with the very new Konica-Minolta G300 camera. This is a compact 5 megapixel camera with a 3X optical zoom lens and uses the small SD memory cards as well as Sony's regular Memory Sticks. The Minolta G300 comes in at $399 and offers some really great picture results. We were very pleased with the results we have seen from this little compact camera which weighs in at just 7 ounces and is the only camera in this category which has the unique dual memory slot option. In addition, like the Canon A80, the Minolta G300 has full manual controls for exposure settings and a host of image adjustment controls such as saturation, contrast and sharpness (5 levels). The G300 has a really fast start-up time and the shutter lag time is excellent. Just point, shoot and click, and you get really high quality 5 megapixel images that are as good if not better then the Canon A80 and contain one extra megapixel. The G300 also has a fairly good continuous capture mode which can keep shooting until the memory runs out, although the speed is not up there with the more expensive prosumer cameras. Like the Canon cameras, the Minolta G300 has the ability to shoot at ISO 50, which helps when lighting is good to keep the noise levels very low. Overall, the Minolta G300 is a great competitor to the above cameras and is one that should be highly considered. For those who want to go a little cheaper, but in a bit bigger and heavier camera there is also the Minolta F-300 camera, with 5 megapixels and very good results at a price of $349.
Well, that should be enough choices for now in this category. Stay tuned as next week we will explore more advanced 4 & 5 megapixel prosumer models such as the Sony V1, the Canon G5 and the Nikon 5400. As you know, we do have an affiliation relationship with Ritz Cameras Online, and so while we do provide our recommendations from among many cameras, not all of the cameras are on sale with Ritz. We do hope you will at least check out our links to Ritz where you will see many of the cameras mentioned above on sale. Here is the link to Ritz.
Please help this site by using our links and buying from Ritz Online directly from our links this year! RITZ OFFERS AFTER X-MAS IN STORE EXCHANGES AT OVER 1,000 STORES IN THE USA!
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