Best digital camera to take on the mountain

[C2H5OH]

Here is the issue:
I have a Canon PowerShot G3 camera which is great, but too bulky. I plan to get a small digitale camera sometime in January. That would be the camera i'll carry with me everywhere, including while skiing. Potential requirements for new camera in order of importance are:
- good picture quality, 6 mega pix. or greater
- small camera size, pocket size preffered
- low noise up to 400
- 4x or greater optical zoom
- long lasting batteries
- some king of image stabilizer
- movie recording

Any suggestions?

 

[ski_resort_observer]

Here's where everyone tries to convince you that the camera they bought is the one for you. It's like "what is the best ski resort", it's all sujective based on personal prefences. There are a bunch of camera's that would work....here is a link of user reviews that I think would be helpful.
http://www.epinions.com/Digital_Cam...t_6_0_megapixels--prices--camera_size_compact

There are other review sites, go to the library and check Consumer Reports, PC Photo or PC magazine. I have a Kodak Z760, works great and meets all your perameters plus it has a ultr high quality Schneider lens. Arounf 200 bucks. Not as prestigious as having a Nikon or Canon but that saves you money.

 

[ALLSKIING]

Just got the Olympus 750...It looks to meet all your needs.

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1266

 

[RISkier]

The Canon SD800 would seem hit tick most of your boxes. Small, image stabilizer, takes movies. Not sure about noise up to 400. Haven't see many reviews of small camera (with the exception of the Fujis) that do very well in that department. One of the few really small cameras I've seen that offers a 4X optical zoom (about equivalent to a 28-105 zoom). I've read use reviews that complain about corner sharpness at full wide angle; but then pro reviews I've read say it's almost impossible to do a true wide angle to zoom lens in a really small package that doesn't have some comprimises. IDon't know anything about battery life. I don't own one, BTW, but I was looking at cameras a while back. My wife has one of the Casio Exlims with 3X optical. It's very small, light, and portable. Takes very nice movies. Flash isn't great, but that's true of almost all of the really small cameras.

 

[riverc0il]

i learned the hard way that when faced with two cameras at the same price, take quality over size. i no longer care about size, even the largest P&S cameras of today are smaller than the smaller from half a dozen years ago. definitely don't be affraid to go with a slightly larger model to get better quality if price is similar.

 

[C2H5OH]

There are other review sites, go to the library and check Consumer Reports, PC Photo or PC magazine. I have a Kodak Z760, works great and meets all your perameters plus it has a ultr high quality Schneider lens. Arounf 200 bucks. Not as prestigious as having a Nikon or Canon but that saves you money.

Consumer Reports is a good source, thanks for reminding me. I used to check www.dpreview.com, but there are not many small cameras reviewed there

As for Canon digital elph (SD800, etc.) this will prbably be my first choice, since I already own Canon, a bit pricey though.

I will take another look at Olympus 750/740, looks like a very good price for the package.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

Consumer Reports is a good source, thanks for reminding me. I used to check www.dpreview.com, but there are not many small cameras reviewed there

As for Canon digital elph (SD800, etc.) this will prbably be my first choice, since I already own Canon, a bit pricey though.

I will take another look at Olympus 750/740, looks like a very good price for the package.

Here is what people who own the SD800 say
http://www.epinions.com/Canon_PowerShot_SD800_IS_Digital_Camera/display_~reviews

The reason I like the epinions site is that they list 134 cameras with your perameters but start with the highest rated which I find helpful.

 

[Greg]

I have the Canon Powershot A700 and love it. The A710-IS is higher res (7.1 MB), 6X optical and has image stabilization. Two AA's batteries. At around $350, the A710-IS would be my recommendation.

 

[David Metsky]

Consumer Reports is a good source, thanks for reminding me. I used to check www.dpreview.com, but there are not many small cameras reviewed there

Actually, I've been very unimpressed by the CR camera reviews. They don't know much about cameras and their reviews are always out of date by the time they arrive. If you are interested in image quality, their reviews don't have much info. I prefer http://www.dcresource.com for reviews.

As for Canon digital elph (SD800, etc.) this will prbably be my first choice, since I already own Canon, a bit pricey though.

Yes, I use my SD300 on the slopes, and the newer versions are even nicer.

I will take another look at Olympus 750/740, looks like a very good price for the package.

I'm not impressed with the image quality of the Oly waterproof cameras. It does offer a bit of extra security, but I've skied with the SD300 for two seasons, starting the third now, and it has held up well.

-dave-

 

[riverc0il]

I'm not impressed with the image quality of the Oly waterproof cameras. It does offer a bit of extra security, but I've skied with the SD300 for two seasons, starting the third now, and it has held up well.

i had an olympus stylus 600 and thought it took horrible pictures, just bad quality overall. it did not have an optical view finder and the screen broke after only one year of use (one month after the warrenty period, thanks olympus!). it was a gift, so no loss (i now tell people to NEVER buy me technology based gifts) but i upgraded after only two years to a canon power shot and couldn't be happier. canon image and camera quality is excellent. i am not going to make a specific recommendation but just wanted to echo that my experience with that olympus line was less than stellar.

 

[kbroderick]

i had an olympus stylus 600 and thought it took horrible pictures, just bad quality overall. it did not have an optical view finder and ...

Err, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that any P&S on the market has an optical viewfinder.

(I'd be quite interested to hear about one that had an optical viewfinder, because my severe distaste for EVFs is one of the major reasons I don't own a P&S camera.)

 

[riverc0il]

err, just view finder. my bad. as opposed to just a screen.

 

[Grassi21]

I was ignoring this thread and the temptation to spend more money. But, our current camera isn't feeling well at the moment. Since we purchased our Coolpix almost 4 years ago I need to brush up on my dig cam knowledge.

 

[SnowRider]

i gotta kodak Z740 camera. Bulky but puts out with high zoom and decent quality. Lots of modes to. I just put my cam in a locker then go in take it out for 3 runs take tons of pics then lock it up.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

Err, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that any P&S on the market has an optical viewfinder.

(I'd be quite interested to hear about one that had an optical viewfinder, because my severe distaste for EVFs is one of the major reasons I don't own a P&S camera.)

My cheap P&S camera has an OVF as do many others according to PC Photo magazine.

 

[deadheadskier]

I have a Pentax Optio W10 and think its great. The only slight problem I have with it is sometimes in extreme bright light it is a bit difficult to see the image on the LCD display, but other than that, I think its the perfect outdoor dig cam.

6 megapixle
compact size
long lasting battery
3 X zoom
loads of features and settings

and most importantly - WATERPROOF

http://www.pentaximaging.com/produc...a--Optio_W10/reqID--7399568/subsection--optio

 

[C2H5OH]

in the end I'll go for Canon SD800 or sd700, but not now - in April or May for my or wife's birthday.

for now i got myself an LG phone with 1.3mp camera, which is just fine for mountain shots. Very good picture quality for the phone.

 

[David Metsky]

Many P&S cameras have optical viewfinders. The ultra-zoom cameras (anything with 8x or greater) has the EVF because otherwise they'd have to build another large zoom lens for the viewfinder. But cameras with smaller zooms have real optical viewfinders.

-dave-

 

[SkiDork]

Another vote for Canon digital Elph. I got the SD630 from beachcamera.com for $247 and it's great out there.