Korean Job Discussion Forums

[skindleshanks]

After spending several thousand on SLR equipment for myself, I need to get a camera for my wife. She's not too picky, but this is what she wants:

MUST HAVE:
--- Near-Zero shutter lag (i.e., when the button is pressed, it should take the picture immediately)
--- be less than $250

(Within the next 3 months I will be in Korea, Canada, and the US, so I'm flexible about where I get it.)

OPTIONAL:
--touch screen on back
--good optical zoom
--image stabilization

There are so many models out there, I have no idea where to start. Any suggestions?

[hagwonnewbie]

s90 has the best reviews I've seen on a point and shoot.

The panasonics are also good. Those are more common.

You could get a cheap canon ixus for under 200 that would take beautiful pictures in the day.

Or get a leica or sigma. Those are the higher end point and shoots. I'm sure there are others. I like to read the reviews on Amazon.

[pkang0202]

If its for your wife, I would concentrate your search on the style/design and ease of use.

I've noticed that women don't like taking their cameras with them. Its heavy and takes up a lot of room in their purse. You would need something really small and lightweight. As for picture quality, most point and shoots are ~12 megapixels or higher now. You really aren't going to tell the difference between one or another.


http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/25117/canon-ixus-130/

The Canon IXUS 130 is a great camera in a small package. The model just beneath that one is the IXUS 105.

If you look at the back of the camera, you can see the controls are very simplistic and easy to use.

I would stay away from Casio's. Casio's have the slimmiest and lightest cameras, but their picture quality leaves a lot to be desired.

[red_devil]

I'd say the Sony DSC-T90 is one of the best for the relatively low price (something like 200,000 KRW).

[itaewonguy]

Canon Ixus... cant go wrong..

[Hindsight]

The Canons are nice. You might want to also consider the Fuji Z700EXR. It's one of a long lineup of new Fuji cameras:

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/pma2010/Fujifilm/

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/673605-REG/Fujifilm_16007397_Z700EXR_12_MP_Digital.html#features

There's no such thing as zero shutter lag on point and shoots. You need to get a semi-pro DSLR for that. What are you taking pictures of?

However, all digital cameras (and virtually all autofocus film cameras) allow prefocussing by pressing the shutter release part way down. Once it has focused (this takes about a half-second), you hold it there until ready, and take the picture. Then the time between pressing the shutter release and the time the picture is taken is generally less than 1/10th of a second. That's about as close as you are going to get. Sorry.

You should get in the habit of using this prefocus technique because it allows you to focus on subjects that aren't in the middle of the photo. With face recognition, though, this has become less necessary.

The latest crop of digital cameras have lots of nice new features. So I would look closely at them, though you might find an older model you like better.

[skindleshanks]

Thanks a lot! I'm leaning heavily towards the Canons...which seem a bit overpriced here, but I'll be in the states by the end of the month, so I'll check them out there.