USVI-On-Line

Maybe I should have asked this on the OT forum, but I am in the market for a point and shoot, pocket size camera for my daughter to take on her upcoming trip to France and Spain. I have an alterior motive, since I will "borrow" it on my next trip to STJ in Aug. She would like to be able to take good shots of subjects that are far away, hence she needs a good zoom capability. Of course good color and picture quality are a given. Her other request is that it not have a long lag time after the button is pushed.

I have a Nikon D40 which I love, but sometimes I don't want to lug it around and just want something small I can toss in a purse. I'd also like to keep the cost around 350. or less.

I would sure appreciate any recomendations from all you camera experts!

I have a Sony Cybershot DSC-W50 that I love. It is small enough to fit in my purse or pocket, so is very convenient. And, per your ulterior motive, there is an underwater housing available for the DSC series that I had great success with on my last trip. The camera is easy to use, the rechargeable battery has a decent capacity compared to batteries of other cameras I have owned, and in addition to auto, it has several exposure settings (including video capability) that are easy to set on the fly. I recommend both the camera and the housing.

Thanks! Can you tell me what kind of zoom it has? I had not even thought of underwater housing capability. One more thing to add to the list.

My Panasonic Lumix LX2 is what I bought when I got tired of lugging an Olympus 5060WZ or Cannon S3 around. 10MP, Leica lens, and full manual controls (or Auto point and shoot mode) in a very, very small package. 4X optical zoom might be less than you are looking for, but honestly, without a tripod, more than that is overkill. My Cannon Poweshot S3 has a 12X optical zoom, and my hand isn't steady enough to use even half of that without blurring. Not great for low light, but overall, a great travel camera with an amazing feature set for it's size. -J

Oh yeah... I forgot the best part. You can set the camera's aspect ratio to 16:9 (the same as a widescreen tv) for true panorama shots.

I dont think any of the real small "subcompact" slim pocket sized point n shoots have more than a 3x zoom - cant fit the optical elements in there.
The Canon A720 would be something to consider. Not as compact as some, but 6x zoom which gives it really good range, image stabilization, and a good ergonomic design. Takes common AA batteries so its easy to have/find and swap in some spares - important when out and about or forget to recharge.
The A series of Powershots have been well rated for a long time and take great pix for a point n shoot. The A series have had underwater cases in the past - assume this might too, check with Canon website.
Review starts here:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona720is/
conclusion here
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona720is/page12.asp

cypressgirl wrote:Thanks! Can you tell me what kind of zoom it has? I had not even thought of underwater housing capability. One more thing to add to the list.

The W50 has a 3X optical zoom ratio (operated by the standard pull-tab switch on the top right-hand side). I believe some of the other Cybershot models have greater zoom capability (and one of them even comes in pink!). If you do decide on one of the Cybershots, check to make sure there is a housing available for that particular model if you have your heart set on one - you'll need it if you want to get good shark pics

This Panasonic camera has a lot going for it too - starts out real wide at 28mm and has 10x zoom, so equiv to 280mm. I think an underwater case is available too.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08012 ... tz4tz5.asp

jmq wrote:This Panasonic camera has a lot going for it too - starts out real wide at 28mm and has 10x zoom, so equiv to 280mm. I think an underwater case is available too.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08012 ... tz4tz5.asp

Thanks! I did some internet hunting last night and that's the one I was hoping someone would chime in on. I wasn't sure about the underwater case.