MomShots

I get asked often what point and shoot cameras I recommend. I responded to that question from a friend on FaceBook and after I spent all that time looking at point and shoot cameras online, I thought I would share what I wrote with you.

This was her message:

Hey… I have a question for you….I really want to get a really good point and shoot camera. (not the small ones) Something that is realitivly easy to use but not so complex that I won’t ever use it. Thank you for you help!

So after looking at Nikon and Canon point and shoots online, I started thinking about what I would, as a mother, use a camera for. These are the features that I want: nice video, zoom, fast shutter speed and low light sensitivity. Those are the kinds of things that will make sure that I can take great shots of my kids whenever I need to.

A little compact camera is nice for being able to pull it out of your pocket and shooting a shot or two or being able to shoot a little bit of video, but I think as a mother, a camera that can zoom up very close and can click 120 shots in a minute would win my heart. Plus, I don’t need a camera that I can keep in my pocket. A lot of my pants don’t even have pockets. I do always have my purse with me though so the little larger size would not be an issue for me, as it is not an issue for my friend.

I am going to say right off the bat, that I am a little Nikon biased. I have loved each of my Nikons and have no reason to have any ill feelings toward the brand. That said, I do not have any ill feelings toward Canon or any other brand, I just am more familiar with Nikon. I don’t think I’m saying that Nikon is better, it is just what I am more familiar with.

Personally, I don’t want a teeny compact camera. They can’t keep up with my kids. They just don’t offer continuous shooting the way a larger camera does. You all know what I’m talking about. When you push the button and the camera clicks after your kid moves out of their cute pose. It’s annoying to say the least! Compact cameras are much better then they used to be but they still can’t keep up. It’s just not an option for me. I don’t recommend any of them. Their price is lower, but if you are shooting small children, I promise that you will never be fully happy with your purchase.

If you are still not convinced, this is the Nikon that I like. I think it would be a great camera for older kids who can slow down for a few seconds, it shoots nice video and it does fit in your pocket. If you like that kind of thing. I like pretty much all of the Coolpix line for this, but my favorite is the S4000. It has great low light capabilities and that is helpful when shooting indoors, as we often do.

If you want something that gives you more control, faster shutter speed and better zoom, check out the Nikon P100.

It’s a little slice of awesome. This would be the one for shooting fast moving kids as it can shoot up to 120 frames per second in continuous sports mode or 10 frames per second in other modes. Do you realize how fast that is? That’s insane!

The zoom capabilities on this are amazing. I would use the word insane again but I already used it to describe the shutter speed. It can zoom from 28mm (very wide angle to capture broad vistas or large groups of people) to 678mm (that’s a CRAZY amount of close up). A lens on a DSLR that would zoom that much is as long as my arm and cost $8000, literally. Like this:

Plus if you want to use manual controls you can do that too. But you don’t have to. If you are feeling adventurous or want to learn how to have the utmost control over your images, then go ahead. I love shooting in manual on my DSLR. If you want to you can. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. But there are TONS of auto programs available. It’s pretty exciting actually.

Another feature that is pretty nice is the ability to capture images in low light. The P100 has a really sensitive sensor and can use an ISO of 3200. That just means that its sensor is more sensitive to low light than another camera with a smaller number ISO. The higher the number, the more sensitive to light it will be.

One of the questions I get often is from people wanting to know how to take better photos in their home, under normal lighting situations without using their flash. A camera that is this sensitive to low light would most likely do the job very well. Birthday parties are no longer a challenge with the low light and fast shutter speeds available on this camera.

It also shoots HD video so that’s a bonus, if you’re into that kind of thing. My husband likes those kind of features. I, personally, never remember to shoot video. But I’m goofy like that.

I am so incredibly impressed with this camera. It’s amazing. Beyond amazing. If I wasn’t a DSLR snob, I’d get one. I might have to get one anyway. I want to get one for my mom. I think this is the perfect mom or grandma camera. It would eliminate the frustration of not being able to shoot those adorable grandkids.

So that’s kind of both ends of the spectrum. A nice compact camera that you can stick in your pocket or a way nicer camera that can capture all of your kids crazy antics and help you to see a fly on the nose of an elephant at the zoo. My vote is the P100, but I like bells and whistles.

If you are a Canon fan, they make a comparable camera. It is the Canon G12 and is an amazing camera with bells and whistles similar to the Nikon P100. There are some small differences. The G12 does not have as much low light sensitivity as the P100, as the G12’s ISO only goes to 1600. That’s not bad though. 1600 is still a great amount of low light sensitivity.

In English this means that you will be able to take pictures of your kids next to the Christmas tree more easier with the Nikon P100 than the Canon G12.

The brand new Canon G12 (that I see at Canon.com) has 4 more megapixels then the Nikon P100 (the older version G12 that I am finding on B&H’s site has the same amount). That wouldn’t be a deciding factor for me. 10 megapixels is a ton and the additional megapixels won’t make a difference unless you are going to blow up a photo to a gigantic billboard sized image, you will never, ever, ever know the difference. With 10 you will be able to blow things up to any size that you would normally use and have lovely images.

The biggest difference that I see between the Canon G12 and the Nikon P100 is their amazing zoom capabilities. I am super impressed with the Nikon P100’s abilities of zooming all the way to 670mm, but I’m even more impressed with the Canon G12’s abilities to zoom to 840mm. That’s just insane. Really insane. Certifiably insane. Awesomely insane.

The Canon G12 also has the ability to swivel and pivot the LCD screen in back. The Nikon P100 does not have that feature. Personally, that wouldn’t be a deciding factor for me. I would probably never use that. That’s just me though.

This is a lot of information and probably sounds confusing. In plain speak I will say that if I were going to buy a point and shoot camera today, I would buy the Nikon P100. It would do the job of capturing my kids really well. That is the reason why I have a camera.

If I were a Canon consumer, I would buy the G12.

There are lots of cameras on the market. Lots of great cameras. The options are endless. The options are confusing. If you have a specific question, shoot me an email or leave a comment and I’ll give you my opinion. This is after all, just my opinion.

Addendum:
After I wrote this up, a friend asked me about the Nikon S8100.

It is a nice medium between the Nikon Coolpix 4000 and the Nikon P100. It can shoot up to 10 frames per second, shoot 1080p video and has a really high ISO of 3200 so it can do well in low light situations. It only has a 10x zoom, but that is pretty standard for the compact point and shoots. It also has an interesting night portrait feature. It takes two really quick images and then merges them together to make one. One image is of the subject, using the flash and the other is of the background so the result would be an image where the background looks good and so does the subject. I would like to see how that works in real life, but it might be a fun feature to play around with!
It also comes in some great colors. I like the pretty colors.

I get asked once in a while what point and shoot cameras I recommend.  I love that question and I wish I had an awesome answer for you.  I would love to be in a place where I could review cameras and let you know my thoughts on them but currently no one has sent me any cameras to review.

Hey Nikon! Are you listening?!?

Here’s your chance Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Sony and any other camera manufacturers.  Send me your cameras and I’ll let my readers know the scoop!  

Since I don’t have a lot of experience with various manufactures I can only tell you this:  I love Nikon.  I have loved their point and shoots in the past and I love their DSLRs now.  They always have excellent lenses and cutting edge technology.  

I know people who have loved their Olympus’, Canons, Kodaks, etc. I don’t have any experience with any of these brands for digital cameras. I had a Polaroid film camera and it was a fine little camera. It did the job.

If I were to buy a digital point and shoot to keep in my purse, I would probably choose the Nikon Coolpix S60.  I like the size, I love Nikkor lenses, they claim to have one of the fastest start-up time and shutter speeds around and an added bonus is that I think Ashton Kutcher is kind of cute.

I’m just kidding about that being a reason to buy it, really I am. I’m so NOT that shallow!!!

The S60 has a 3.5″ touch LCD screen on back. I think that’s pretty cool! It has a cool feature where you can touch the subject (on the screen) to lock focus. This sounds like an awesome feature that gives point and shoot users more variety. It also has some fun things like smile detector, a high ISO of 3200 so you can get low light shots and smile timer. Using the touch screen you can write on and edit your photos in camera. Those are some of the reasons why I would consider buying this camera.

For a little more robust point and shoot camera I like the Coolpix L100. It has a VERY fast shutter speed of continuous shooting in sports mode at 13 frames per second. That’s WAYYYY fast! It also has an amazing zoom range simulating a 28mm to 420mm zoom lens. That is a 15 times zoom. The average point and shoot only has a 4 or 5 times zoom. It has a high ISO of 3200 meaning it can be used in low light situations pretty well. It also has all the normal Nikon preset modes that I love on a point and shoot.

I think if I were to choose a camera between the two I would choose the L100 because I like the awesome zoom capacity and super fast continuos shutter speed aspects of this camera very much. When taking pictures of crazy, wild, wiggly, running all over the place kids I think this feature would get used a lot. I would probably always have my camera in sports mode if I used the L100!

These recommendations are solely based off my research online and my past and present experience with Nikon. I don’t have much experience with other brands so obviously my opinion is tainted by that.

What point and shoot camera do you recommend? What have you used in the past? What aspects do you enjoy about your camera? Why did you buy it? Please share your experiences with us here on MomShots so we can all benefit from your knowledge.

I had a great comment on my last post from my talented and beautiful sister. 

I have some advice. For those who are in this to learn as well….what’s a DSLR? I have never heard that before and don’t know what it means. I get the general idea of what your saying in that blog but the terms are on your lvl of learning and I am not…
my 2 cents. 

She makes a really good point.  I have been obsessively focusing on learning about photography that I forget the rest of the world isn’t as obsessed with this stuff. I am throwing out terms that don’t mean a whole lot to the average camera user.  This is a term that I explained a WAY long time ago in an earlier post but I need to remember to keep explaining it every time I post about it.  I need to remember that.  Thanks so much for the reminder!  I really do appreciate it.

So here is my answer to your question (warning - Way more than you really wanted to know…  that’s what you get when you ask an obsessed person!):

SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. The D stands for Digital - DSLR. Single Lens Reflex mean that when you look through the view finder you are seeing exactly what your lens is seeing. You might wonder how this can be because the view finder is above the lens. There are a series of mirrors that bounce the lenses image up to the view finder.

 

On a point and shoot camera there are no mirrors to bounce the image up to your view finder. What you see through your view finder and on your LCD screen will be slightly different than what your lens actually sees.  The viewfinder sees an image that is slightly above and to the left of your lens.  This doesn’t really make that much of a difference when you are taking photos of things that are far away but when you are shooting something close up, you have to compensate for that slightly, if it matters to you.  

An other main difference is the absolute manual control you have over the settings you are using to take a photo.  You can choose to make you photo brighter, darker, capture the action by using a fast shutter speed or blur the action by using a slow shutter speed.  You have the ultimate control over your image and that can be kind of scary and intimidating (at least it was to me - hence the SLRaphpbia).  You can also change your lenses.  This is a huge plus because there are so many lens options to choose from between a macro (super up close) to a telephoto zoom (super far away but you can zoom in and get the image anyway).  

One last benefit of the DSLR that I would like to make, is that they are usually made with a faster processor than digital point and shoot cameras.  I don’t know why this is, perhaps it is just the demand from the professional industry.  But “usually” digital point and shoot cameras have a slower processor and that means when you push the button there is a little bit of a lag from when the photo is actually taken.  My D100 is pretty old and I know that Kristina’s new 30D is way faster than mine.  As technology advances so do the cameras - both digital point and shoot and DSLR.

A point and shoot has many good features.  The ease of use is a great benefit.  It is relatively easy to use; you just point and shoot.  There are so many great preset program modes that benefit the user as well.  There are modes that will help you take photos of people in groups, single people, fireworks, up close (macro), far away (zoom), landscapes, etc.  I know that the new Sony Cybershot has an interesting mode that focuses on people’s smiles.  

Another great point about the point and shoots are that they are usually compact.  Slip them in your pocket or purse and pull them out quickly to capture the action.  

Also, more recent digital point and shoots have a faster processor than their predecessors but they are not using the same processors that they use in the DSLRs.  My sister’s new Sony Cybershot probably has a faster processor than my D100 because mine is such an old camera.  But I would venture to say that it probably isn’t as fast as Kristina’s 30D or even a newer DSLR.  This makes it possible for a DSLR user to do that old click-click-click-click-click that we associate with film cameras.  You can’t really do that with a digital point and shoot.  

(Please, if you contest what I am saying, post a comment.  As I have previously said, my most recent point and shoot is a few years old.  I have not tried more recent cameras.  As budget allows, I would like to try and review some more current digital point and shoots.  Also, if you would like to post a review of a camera, email me.  I would love to hear your thoughts!!!  Momshots at yahoo dot com.)

Anyway… as neat as all these preset modes are, I am drawn to the manual control of the SLR camera.  I found that I rarely used any of the preset modes in my point and shoot.  I posted earlier about my favorite mode - the Sports mode.  That’s about all I consistently used.  Sure, I tried the other modes here and there but I ended up using the same mode over and over.  

I hope that clears up what the difference between DSLR and Point and Shoot is.  I am also not saying that the SLR is better than the point and shoot.  They are different cameras.  I am saying that I personally am really enjoying learning how to use my SLR.  I am enjoying it far more than I ever did my point and shoot cameras.

If you ever want to find some really cool photos by point and shoot users, do a search in Flickr for a specific camera model.  For instance, I just did two Flickr searches one for Sony Cybershot and the other for Nikon Coolpix.  Both searches yielded tons of really artistic and beautiful images.  You can do so many great things with a digital point and shoot.  I think the key is to develop your artistic eye and explore the capabilities of your camera.  That goes for both DSLR and point and shoot!

I found an explanation on the Kodak website about the difference between SLR and point and shoot.  If you want more info, check it out here.

So lately I have been thinking (don’t I seem to start all of my posts with this phrase???)…  I have been thinking about the benefits of a SLR versus the benefits of a point and shoot.  All my life I have been afraid of SLR cameras.  This is a true statement.  Is there a name for that kind of fear?  SLRaphobic?

When I was in my late teens/early 20’s I had a film SLR.  I used it while I traveled through Europe.  Once my backpack was “broken into” and they stole my favorite black sweater but they left the SLR.  Secretly, I was a little sad about that.

I came home from my trip and seriously had about 1 picture that looked halfway in focus.  It was a huge photographic bust.  I longed for my black sweater.

At that time in my life, a point and shoot was exactly the kind of camera I needed.  I needed something that I could just “point” and “shoot”.  I didn’t want to have to think about how my camera worked.  I didn’t even really care what the images looked like.  In reality, I don’t think I really ever developed more than two rolls of film because I just didn’t care.  I enjoyed the act of photographing much more than the finished result.

Part of me is sad about this because the first 4 or so years of my married life are pretty much unphotographically (not a word, I know.) documented.  Then I was introduced to the relatively new technology of a digital camera - still a point and shoot.  But awesome.  An HP Photosmart early edition.  It rocked in all its dinosaurish technological glory.  Finally, I was able to see my photos when I uploaded them to my computer.  I still wasn’t doing anything with them but at least I could see what the photos I took looked like!

After the HP Photosmart came a Nikon Coolpix, edition number unknown, however I think it was 3400 or something like that.  After that came my current Nikon Coolpix 5600.  The thing that I loved about these Nikons was that they had all these cool program modes.  My HP didn’t.  It was too early in history for that.

I never fully took advantage of my program modes but I sure had fun taking lots of pictures.  I loved that there were program mode possibilities.  It made me feel like I could be a good photographer if I just worked on it a little.  I guess I didn’t really ever work on it very much…

My step into the digital SLR (DSLR) world didn’t actually happen until early this year.  Like I said, I was SLRaphobic.  I mention in a previous post about my 2007 Halloween frustration because I didn’t have access to my point and shoot and the Nikon D100 was too scary.  I tried to use the D100 but my photos were too dark and I didn’t have any idea how to make them lighter.

My next experience with that DSLR was at Christmas time.  I dressed my three boys up as three little kings and tried to take a photo to use on a Christmas card.  I overcame my fear and produced an image that was OK for my complete lack of knowledge.  I slowly have been learning more and more about how to use that camera.

I still have my point and shoot - Nikon Coolpix 5600, but officially I call it Uly’s Camera.  The last time I tried to use it I realized it really is broken and isn’t worth the frustration.  It’s way more fun to watch my 4 year old take pictures with it.  I love seeing his results.  He’s an artistic little fellow!

So I guess the point that I want to make in this meandering post is that I am really enjoying using a DSLR.  I am officially unafraid!  Do I get a medal or anything?  I enjoy it way more than I ever did, my point and shoots.  I love the control that I have over the exposure and focus.  I guess truly am a control freak!  I just love being able to tell my camera what I want and have it create that.  I’m not beholden to a preset mode, if I don’t want to be.

Now before you died in the wool point and shoot users turn your back on me, I want to say that I have seen some amazing images that came from a point and shoot.  Also, the newer cameras have some pretty cool technology.  I am just really enjoying this DSLR adventure.  I am having so much more fun using this camera than I ever did with any of our previous cameras.  I am also getting many more results that I like.