BootsnAll Travel Community

I'm trying to pick out a digital camera for my RTW. My parents want to get it for me. Right now I'm leaning towards the Casio - EXILIM 8.1MP. Does anyone have an opinion?

I want something small that has a descent zoom, the ability to buy extra memory cards, includes a rechargeable battery, has anti shake, and if possible is water proof.

I know nothing about digital camera's so any advice would be welcomed.

Peronally I favor Canon and Nikon. I have a Canon SD900 but the new SD950is is cool. Nothing against your opinion to Casio but Casio performance is always sluggish. Take a look at Cnet.
Canon SD950 review vs others

not expert at cameras, but here are a few things you may want to consider. i am currently looking for that ideal point and shoot camera for my extended trip as well.

*most* people will be satisfied with a camera in the 6-10 megapixel range. the best value right now is point and shoot in the 8 megapixel range (more mp doesn't always translate into a better, cleaner picture). most have at least a 3x zoom. the more you zoom, generally the picture quality starts to degrade. virtually all cameras allow you to buy extra memory cards. most use proprietary rechargeable batteries, although some use the more common AA variety. AA batteries are generally not the way to go unless you are gonna be stuck for extended periods of time without being to plug into a wall to recharge. most all have some form of anti-shake (this is very helpful for smaller pos cameras). a very small subset of cameras are waterproof. some manufacturers sell underwater kits for some of their cameras. generally, you will sacrifice quality of the camera if wanting to buy an already waterproof camera. this last point is the one you will have to consider more carefully because it may seriously restrict the models of cameras you are looking at.

i am currently looking at getting either the canon g9 (around $550), but it is a bit bulkier than the ultra compact ones, though has great manual control, or the panasonic lumix fx100/fx55 (around $330), which is very compact, has a leica lense, though manual controls are somewhat restricted. several of the 8mp canon cameras are pretty solid. all this depends on how much you want to spend, how small you want the camera to be, what features are truely important to you. i suggest you go to your local retailer and physically hold and play around with alot of the models they have. you'll get a better idea of what size/shape camera feels most comfortable in your hand. hope that helps.

almost any of the current cameras will take a very good picture. What you are buying is a set of controls and features you can understand and use. And really, for 99% of travel uses, less is more. The biggest feature to check on is battery life - you want long battery life.

My personal favorite are Canons. Excellent photos, sensible controls, long battery life. The "A" series even take AA batteries, very simple.

I also recommend the six to seven megapixel range. 6MP will print out up to an 8x10 beautifully. You only need more than 6MP if you plan to print poster size prints. And if all you do is look at them on a computer screen, 2 to 3MP is plenty, but no one makes those anymore. Viewing a bunch of 8-10MP pictures on your screen is just a ridiculous waste of hard drive space.

So, those are the simple parameters to look for. Now go to a camera store and play with different cameras and find one that is comfortable in your hands and has controls that make sense to you.

good luck!

capt steve, most of the 6mp cameras are at least a year old, meaning they generally don't have the latest processsors in them (such as the digic III for the canons). the reason i recommended the 8mp cameras is that they tend to incorporate very useful features that the 6 mp cameras do not have. 6mp cameras were fine six to eight months ago, but now the sweet spot is 8mp. but in the end you are correct, most current cameras will take good pictures if we understand how they work. it's just that i would rather it use the most current processor and anti-shake technology because those things have improved tremendously in the past year.

good points nh, you seem pretty sharp for one who started his first post with "i'm not an expert at cameras."

however my experience is that trying to cram 8 to 10 MP onto the super tiny sensors in point-and-shoot cameras usually results in lower picture quality than the same camera with 5 to 6 MP.

And yes, I have noticed a huge improvement in picture quality from my first digital camera in 1999 to the one's made today -- but honestly, Digic II versus Digic III? I think they've reached a point where the average eye will not be able to tell the difference.

To me image quality is the #1 thing to look for in a camera. Followed closely by battery life, speed, and features/controls - pretty much in that order. And the latest model is not always the best. Seriously, they churn out so many models to keep people shopping and buying - most of it is really not necessary.

So there's my counterpoint, for what it's worth.

the primary benefit of getting digic iii vs ii is that it is supposed to be a more efficient processor, meaning one can get a boost in the number of shots taken.

i just ordered the panasonic fx100, with two extra cheapie batteries. as long as i keep the iso down to 200, it should take good pics. i opted NOT to get the canon g9 because i don't think i'll ever use most of the manual controls, nor attempt to interchange lenses out when i'm travelling.

i too hope that they put in bigger/better sensors in the cameras. the race for more megapixels with crappy sensors makes no sense! if kathryn is still around, i apologize for hijacking the thread. most of the canon models in the 5-8 megapixel range should do you fine. useful features are the anti-shake. the face recognition stuff that is hyped right now i personally didn't find as useful. if you're concerned with battery life, get a couple of extra aftermarket batteries and you should be able to fill up a 4gb card without recharging. and thanks steve for your input.

I have a Canon SD500 right now. It's 2 years old but it's been around the world and back a few times and has been GREAT. I just recently stepped it up a bit and ordered a Canon s5 IS. I'll be receiving that pretty soon, so I can't say much about it yet. I really think highly of Canon.

Another one to consider might be the new Olympus point and shoot. I can't remember the name or model, exactly. Sounds like an ideal travel camera - waterproof, shock resistant, and lots of other rugged features. It doesn't take the same SD cards as many others, but I might consider it for all those times and trips that promise to be extra wet or punishing.

I have a Canon A700 and I'm quite happy with it. That particular model doesn't have a waterproof case made for it but most of the similar ones do. The cases cost a fair bit though :/

Anyway, I chose the A700 because it's small but has 6 x optical zoom (ie more than the usual 3x) but doesn't cost too much either. It also has a view finder which I like because it's good in really bright light when it's hard to see the screen (though it's a damn good screen so that's not often) and also you can steady the camera against your face if you're having trouble keeping it still.

It doesn't have a stabiliser type function, but I've never found that it needs one. Like most Canon's the full auto mode works great for most uses, but this one also has a lot to play with in terms of semi-auto and totally manual functions. The movies work nicely too

This website is good for decent reviews (and as far as I can tell they're not trying to sell you anything so they seem pretty unbiased.

I'm certainly no expert, but these are the points I would consider:
Digital zoom means nothing - it's the same as cropping on the computer later (ie you lose resolution).
Optical zoom is 'real zoom' and is nice, but if you have lots of MP to play with you can always crop and blow-up the pic on the computer later (maybe not so much if you're trying to quickly dump the pics at an internet cafe though).
Water-proof = $$$ so do you really need it? Or would a waterproof disposable do you?
AA vs small - cameras that use AAs will always be a little bit bigger than those that don't (assuming you're talking compacts) but if you're traveling to places where a powerpoint might be hard to come by, buying replacement AAs might be a better option. On the other hand, AAs can mean a longer recycle time for the flash (the only complaint I have about my A700).
Go with a brand that has a good reputation - you don't want it dying on you mid-trip!

I'll stop procrastinating now and go do some work.

I always found my Kodak V570 a great pocket-camera. Beware it is NOT really good for zooming though. The neat feature however, is the wide angle lens, which is unusual for pocket cameras. It is great for capturing everything instantly and for panorama pictures.
The camera actually has two lenses - one for wide angle use and one for zoom use (I should mention that I wasn´t particularly impressed by the zoom). It should be around 300USD in the US.

Now, for zoom purposes I use the Canon 400D with an 18-200mm Sigma lens which offers great zoom options. Bear in mind that this camera is much more expensive than the one previously mentioned.
In my opinion a combination of a DSLR with a good zoom and the Kodak V570 wide-angle snap camera in your pocket, is ideal. It saves you the hassle of packing a wide angle lens for your larger camera - it sure is a lot easier to just pull your V570 camera out of your pocket and capture that panorama shot right-away. (Unfortunately, my own Kodak V570 is currently broken and needs repair or replacement).
Hope that wasn´t entirely unhelpful

I will second the recommendation for the dpreview.com site. It's too much information for most but you can always jump to the conclusion (like me) for a decent summary.

IMO, this is what to look for:

• Quick start up time
• Fast focusing
• Good low light performance
• Image stabilization of some kind
• Normal AA or AAA batteries (then get yourself recharables and a charger)
• Something durable
• Comfortable in your hands

Most of this is subjective and it will require you to read the reviews. I would highly caution you about looking for long zoom lenses. Unless you're very patient I think long zooms are a bad idea for most. Having a 10x or 12x zoom built in sounds great but the reality it it's really hard to hold the camera steady enough to get a good shot even in bright sunlight. I rarely use a zoom anymore and I find that I have a better success rate now, which I think is mainly because I've eliminated many situations where I have to be very still.

I am a huge camera junkie but loved film... before coming on this trip realized i needed to go digital. I spent weeks looking into cameras, weighing the pros and cons, testing them out for hours in the store, reading every review possible. I went up to nyc and got to b&h. I decided on the cannon g9 (it was hard for me to give up my nikon). It was the best choice i could have made.... It has everything you want in a camera, and is just as good in auto mode as it is in manual. It really is the perfect camera for a beginner or pro looking for something a bit smaller to carry around. Have been traveling for almost a month now, and do not regret my decision for a minute, in fact, every travel that takes a look at my camera falls in love with it! This camera will NOT disappoint!

In the digital realm, and not really being a camera junkie, I rue the day I dumped my old digital into a river. It took pictures immediately and even had a triple shot feature, with a half a second delay. This other one requires the subject to stand still for a second at a time which bites the bag, if you'll pardon my Dutch.

I roux the day I got sauced. After that, everything else was gravy.

You probably already bought a camera but here's some info on the Casio...

I have a Casio Exilim SD600... it's the squarish blue one. I love this little camera! It's about the size of a stack of credit cards so you never feel like it's a burden and it performs really well (for an ultra compact). Most pictures come out great and the movie features are really useful (you can edit and crop movies from the camera). The size was the main reason I bought it since I thought that the best quality picture you can get is worthless if you didnt want to bring your camera along to take it.

That being said, I do have some complaints:
Sometimes the camera takes a long time to focus and take a picture (esp. in low light conditions).
The buttons are pretty small and I have fat fingers.
It came with a cradle instead of just chords for hooking it up to a computer or charging. This is great for home but its kind of bulky for a backpack.

I would recommend the camera though... it's a nifty little device.

I third the dpreview site- extremely helpful!

I have also heard wonderful things about Canon Powershot range- I am in the market for a new camera myself and am likely going to get one of those.

I have played around with the exilims and they are just TOO thin- like I feel I can't hold on it well enough (especially if you want to take a picture with 1 hand). Read the reviews for the exilims, the picture quality (comparatively to other cameras with similar megapixels, etc.) seems not to be as good as Canons. But I'm sure for amateur uses we wouldn't really be able to tell the difference.

I have the sony DSC-T50S and it is amazing. ( see here on amazon) Its got a lovely large touch screen on the back and is SO easy to use. Very quick to use, excellent pictures / videos. Also has a good protective shell which is quite good if you;re using it all the time.

Memory cards are very cheap as well... I bought a 1GB card for about $40 and can get at least 500 pics (if not more)

I've just been researching cameras too, i opted for a Canon powershot in the end as its got a stack of great reviews, but one other camera I was looking at that sounds great for travel is the Olympus Stylus 790SW.

Apparantly it produces decent, but not amazing shots, but it is waterproof to a depth of ten feet, it's drop proof, dust proof and snow proof - which is why it sounds like a great camera to survive a RTW trip.