Which point and shoot camera should I buy, if any?

March 23, 2019 4:07 PM

Somewhat inspired by this question, I'm wondering which digital camera I should buy, if any, to supplement my phone camera. I would use this camera for closeup / macro situations, relatively long telephoto shots, and low-light shots.

Obviously I'm a good deal less sophisticated than the posters in that previous question, since I'd almost certainly go with a point and shoot rather than anything with swappable lenses, whether dSLR or mirrorless or whatever. But is it still worth pursuing such a camera?

For most purposes, I'm honestly satisfied with my phone camera - casual portraits, landscapes, museum photography, that kind of thing. But I've kept a point and shoot handy for certain situations, especially nature photography, whether close up or far away. For example, I want to take a macro photo of this flower right here or a zoomed photo of that bird in the tree 100 feet away. Also, phones tend to suck for low light photography like pictures of a volcano or some friends around a campfire.

What's the latest point and shoot camera that's good for these situations? My current point and shoot camera is 12 years old. It's a Lumix with a nice Leica lens and 10x optical zoom, but in a recent shoot I realized it's actually not good at all for low light photos. Per the previous linked question, I just realized that sensors and firmware have probably improved a lot in the last 12 years, but I don't know what to look for. Is it all about sensor size, or are there other qualities of sensor to look for? This is the main reason I'm asking a new question instead of reviewing old ones BTW; I feel like digital camera technology is still changing quickly enough that it's worth asking again.

I wouldn't, like, refuse to consider anything other than point and shoot, but realistically that's probably what I'll end up with. My budget is something like $400; that's not a strict limit but I'm not going to spend $600 for example. What should I buy, if anything? As implied throughout, I'm also open to advice that I just shouldn't bother. But I would be willing to invest a few hundred bucks if it's worthwhile. Thanks!

posted by Joey Buttafoucault to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (8 answers total)

I bought this camera last year and I like it. I did some research beforehand and I decided to go with this one because I've liked the Panasonic/Lumix cameras before and I liked the long zoom on it. I've been really happy with it. I haven't used it in that low of light but it's done really well in a variety of circumstances. It can do more than just a point-and-shoot, which I appreciate, but that's what 95% of the time I'm using it for (mostly because I'm lazy).

I found Digital Photography Review to be a good resource (among other sites). They have a best cameras under $500 list that may be a good starting point for you. Another good search term is "bridge cameras."

(The one I ended up buying was on some list, although it wasn't the top rated one. None of the negatives were dealbreakers for me, and since I liked my former Panasonic/Lumix, I knew I'd be comfortable with the way it shot. I'm not telling you to buy that one specifically, just what my thought process was.)
posted by darksong at 4:29 PM on March 23, 2019 [1 favorite]

+1 for Lumix models. I've had 4 different ones over the years. All were perfect for my needs.
posted by humboldt32 at 6:51 PM on March 23, 2019 [1 favorite]

I've found a useful technique for wading through all the cameras out there is to read a bunch of the best cameras lists, create a shortlist, and then cross-check against sample photos, usually on the Photography Blog site. There isn't a direct relationship between a camera being technically good and it producing the type of image you want/ expect, so narrow it down, and then see if you like what you see (I'm guessing what you'll find though is that some cameras will do maybe two out of your three criteria well, but it might be a long shot - ha!- to get all three and you might have to compromise to two). For me I recently bought used Fujifilm X20, which is 6 years old and also rippingly good, so I wouldn't automatically discount older cameras either.
posted by 7 Minutes of Madness at 7:45 PM on March 23, 2019 [1 favorite]

I have a Lumix and love it; it’s my third in a row. My wife has a DSLR and lenses and whatnot but I just take pictures.

There’s a web site that might be useful for narrowing your choices in one-to-one comparisons, especially because you can probably compare them against your current device: http://snapsort.com
posted by wenestvedt at 7:23 AM on March 24, 2019 [1 favorite]

Like 7 Minutes of Madness above, I have a Fujifilm x20 and it is indeed great. I love its macro capabilities.
posted by The Deej at 1:03 PM on March 24, 2019

I'm delighted with the refurbished Canon PowerShot SX730 I bought a few months ago. It's an easy-to-use point-and-shoot with a 40x optical zoom, which is high enough to reveal many details invisible to the naked human eye, and indeed to surpass inexpensive binoculars. I bought it for a cruise, and it was super fun to hear people wondering about, say, what some distant, barely-discernible ship was, and to take my little point-and-shoot out of my pocket, zoom in, and quickly take a clear image of the distant ship's name and flag. It feels like cheating, since you normally need a more expensive and difficult-to-use camera to get shots like that. (I'm not a camera person, so point-and-shoot was all I was willing to consider.) As you say, phone cameras are good enough nowadays that a standalone camera needs to differentiate itself somehow to be worth buying, and a high zoom lens is a lot of fun, plus allows you to take pictures that would be impossible with a phone.

I bought the camera after coveting my spouse's older SX720 for a while. The SX730 improves on the SX720 by including a tiltable screen for selfies, which is pretty nifty. There's also a SX740 out now, which adds 4K video.

The SX730 has a good macro mode. As for low light, it's OK but not the greatest. I've heard a tripod helps a lot for low light, but I don't have one.
posted by Syllepsis at 10:36 PM on March 24, 2019

Most standalone cameras with a zoom will do telephoto. Low light=good or big sensor.

Read these reviews - dpreview in general is pretty strong.
posted by lalochezia at 7:53 AM on March 25, 2019

Seconding Syllepsis - I have an old Canon PowerShot that I really, really like. I've used it extensively for maximum optical zoom (architectural details, mostly), and it's fabulous for that. (I have a tripod, but I never, ever use it, because most of my photography is just when I'm out walking around, and I don't have the tripod with me.)
posted by kristi at 1:20 PM on March 28, 2019