Cameras, cameras everywhere.

August 10, 2011 11:04 AM

Cameras like the Canon SD780IS but newer? Basically: Tiny and really good quality for its size. HD Video a bonus. I don't mind the lack of zoom.

I broke mine last year and I really miss having a camera. I'm open to the possibility of switching to Nikon.

I would buy a SD780IS again but I haven't been able to find it for a decent price around here.

posted by Memo to Technology (9 answers total)

I'm very happy with my Canon Powershot S90 (now S95). It's a bit more prosumer than the SD780IS: a few more manual settings. You can ignore those if you want and just enjoy the fantastic image quality. Or if you want to save a few bucks, buy whatever is Canon's current Digital ELPH form-factor. Canon's site lists eight of them, probably more similar than different. dpreview is a good place to research teh differences.
posted by Nelson at 11:35 AM on August 10, 2011

The successor to the SD 780 is probably the Canon ELPH 300 HS though in terms of image quality at the "super compact" size the "prosumer" Powershot s95 is probably the best on the market today. It is very slightly larger than your old canon but in return comes with proper manual controls as well as more serious features like a larger sensor for low-light performance and raw image support that make it significantly more capable. If you are only interested in pointing and shooting those features might not be interesting to you though.
posted by Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory at 11:36 AM on August 10, 2011

Response by poster: Sadly the S95 is not available around here. I saw it a few months ago but it seems to have disappeared.
posted by Memo at 11:41 AM on August 10, 2011

Response by poster: Aaaand... I just found it but it's too expensive, almost double of what the 300 HS costs and I can't really afford it.
posted by Memo at 11:44 AM on August 10, 2011

One other option you might consider is holding off on buying a new camera until/when you decide to buy a new mobile phone. The camera's in most smartphones are probably "good enough" nowadays for most of the situations in which you might use a simple point and shoot. If that would be "good enough" for your camera needs it might well be a better deal in the long term to update your phone when your current contract runs out / pay early termination - than to buy a camera like the Canon Elph, which imo is even at $200 overpriced for what is essentially "meh" technology.

In particular, because of the numerous apps available the iPhone camera has already become the most popular camera on flickr & there is almost certainly a new iPhone coming in september, which will be smaller, have an updated camera and hold its value better than a point and shoot camera like the canon elph, as well as being a phone.
posted by Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory at 12:13 PM on August 10, 2011

Best answer: I just picked up a 300HS to be my carry camera, and after some tinkering with onboard settings I'm pretty happy with it. For example, this image has not been retouched in any way. It's tiny and battery life seems good. I paid $225 for it from Beach Camera via Amazon.
posted by workerant at 1:11 PM on August 10, 2011

Best answer: I also just picked up the ELPH 300 HS, and I am very happy with it as well. Shockingly good images, and some very cool shooting modes (faux tilt-shift, high-speed burst shooting, super-slo-mo video). If that is too expensive, I was strongly considering the ELPH 100 HS, which can be had for under $200.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:27 PM on August 10, 2011

Nthing the 300HS. We just upgraded to that model b/c of the HD video and we are very pleased with it.
posted by gnutron at 9:23 PM on August 10, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks everyone, I got a 300HS. Now to wait for CHDK to get ported!
posted by Memo at 7:02 PM on August 14, 2011