Decent P&S for daughter

<p>My daughter will be spending the fall in Coppenhagen for study abroad, lucky devil.<br>

She needs to take an optional course & was thinking of photojournalism, since she will have nice sights to shoot.<br>

Don't want to go DSLR, unless I replace my D50 body & give her mine.<br>

So which is the best GOOD Nikon P&S out there, poss used, for $200-$300?<br>

Thanks</p>

<p>If they're still available, the Nikon P50 was a sweet little p&s.</p>

<p>The new 620 is incredible and even better is the 630 but more bucks.</p>

<p>If you can find it, get either a P5100 or the one-step-back P5000.</p>

<p>You will find all of these remarkable cameras.</p>

<p>Conni</p>

<p>My son went to japan in a student exchange program. We got a P&S and he broke it while playing tennis.. I suggest that you get her one of those Tough cameras from Olympus or the Panasonic Lumix FT1/TS1. Unfortunatly Nikon dont make these kinds of cameras...</p>

<p>I love Nikon DSLRs, but when it comes to P&S cameras, look at Canon first.</p>

<p>The new L100 looks like a pretty decent camera for the price. Very versatile 15x optical zoom with VR.</p>

<p>http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/601943-REG/Nikon_26170_Coolpix_L100_Digital_Camera.html</p>

 

<p>Your daughter is entering adult professional life soon, and certainly a better choice would be a DSLR camera. Just for fun a P&S is all she may need.</p>

<p>I agree that Canon P&S are generally better than Nikon P&S, perhaps I had them all from both sides and never really satisfied with P&S. Recently I got quite dissatisfied with the latest from Canon SD990 IS (14.7 MP P&S) when comparing to 4 years old Nikon D50 (6MP DSLR) pictures.</p>

<p>None of the P&S cameras comes close yet for use in professional and demanding applications.</p>

<p>As a moderator here, I would like to remind everybody that Gary Hamilton is asking for P&S advices in this thread. Please try to stay on topic as much as possible. I have deleted a bunch of off-topic responses that led to tangential debates.</p>

<p>Photo.net has a Mom, Dad and Grad shopping guide where there is a P&S section: <a href="http://www.photo.net/gift-guides/2009-moms-dads-grads-gift-guide/point-and-shoot-cameras">http://www.photo.net/gift-guides/2009-moms-dads-grads-gift-guide/point-and-shoot-cameras</a><br>

But there are obviously many many other choices.</p>

<p>If you haven't used one of the higher end Nikon P&S cameras you really don't know how stunningly good they are now. Nikon has well surpassed Canon now but people are still judging them on the past. The P5000, P5100 and P6000 have aperture, shutter and manual modes as well as program. New models have VR built in. The night view is the same as a military night scope and the camera adjusts to the dark based on what it 'sees' if it is in that mode.</p>

<p>Used with the same thoughtfulness used with dSLRs, they perform with exceptional ability.</p>

<p>Don't judge today's Nikon P&Ss with those from 3 or more years ago. They aren't remotely related. </p>

<p>The cheaper models are less good but still far better than others in their price range.</p>

<p>Conni</p>

<p><em>"I love Nikon DSLRs, but when it comes to P&S cameras, look at Canon first"</em></p>

<p>yeah right Peter, Canon the noise machines. I too would advice a Nikon P5100. Great little (non-RAW) P&S. Bought it for my wife last year and occasionaly use it myself. Given your pricerange you would get a brandnew one at that.</p>

<p>oh and you can tell her Copenhagen is a great place</p><div></div>

<p>I think it cannot be generalized in a brand`s choice. There are good and bad Canons, better and worst than their Panasonic or Sony competitors... I suppose that it could happen too with the Nikons.<br>

Assuming that there are thousands of models, it seems pretty difficult to me to find the best product in the market.<br>

Also, what works for others, could not be enough for some. I`d say that as a genera rule, the bigger the camera (sensor) the better image quality in a moderate pixel count. Don`t expect anything outstanding from the smaller models.<br>

I hated my two Nikon P&S up to the point that I promised myself no to buy one of them agaim... switched to the best in date, lower noised Canon, reviewed and scored as the best quality by specialized sites and found that my sister`s cheaper Leicasonic is noticeably sharper, with lower noise levels and higher number of pixels.<br>

Good luck...</p>

<p>You might consider the Kodak line of P&S. the first digital camera my wife used was a Kodak, it was a very nice little camera and held up to abuse well. For between $200 to $400 (the Z series) you can get a 8 to 14mp camera and i think most of them have Schneider-Kreuznach lenses. My wife loved this camera and I was impressed with the quality.</p>

 

<p>A canon sd--- But really, for a photojournalism class she'd be better off with a nikon d50 which you can get used or refurbished for 200-300 and plus you're already familiar with it and can lend her a lens</p>

<p>I have to second Peter Hamm's advice, as it is the advice I give anyone in person. I personally like the A series of Canons. Look for the biggest sensor, not necessarily the highest pixel count, but of course we all know that. It is especially nice that they use AA batteries too. One of those, plus a handful of AA NiMH and a charger and she is set.</p>

<p>By the way, I ignored my advice recently, and bought a Nikon P&S for my youngest. Exactly 12 months and two weeks after I bought it, it died, on its own, for no reason. Ugh.</p>

<p>I really like the images I get from my Canon PowerShot SD780 IS. The camera achieves auto focus very quickly, and once focus is locked in, there is very little in the way of shutter lag. </p>

<p>One issue no one else has mentioned is video recording capability. If your daughter will use the camera in a photojournalism course, she may need video capability, depending upon how with the times the course is presented. Photojournalism in this day and age includes still images AND video for (at least) web based applications. She certainly will not need any fancy video capabilities, but basic video recording, preferably in HD, is an indispensible tool for the modern day photojournalist. You may want to consider whatever is to be the successor to the G10, though it will be way out of your price range, it should be a PJ student's dream come true. The Canon PowerShot SD780 IS provides an HD video option.</p>

<p>Sorry, I am not familiar with Nikon products. I've been a very satisfied Canon customer since 1987.</p>

<p>Michael J Hoffman</p>

<p>I am a huge fan of Nikon and love my D90, but.... When my daughter needed a P&S I did a bunch of research looking at Nikon/Canon/Sony and wound up with a Panasonic Lumix TZ5 for around $200. Great value for the image quality, good range starting at 28mm, stabilized, fantastic video, nice bright LCD, good user interface. Really felt it was more of a complete package and better value than the other companies had to offer. Opened my eyes to the LX3 which I later bought and is a truly fine tool with an amazing lens if you wanted to nump up the budget.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>btw, beautiful picture, Ton!</p>

<p>Michael J Hoffman</p>

<p>ton, was that shot with the p5100?</p>

<p> Another vote for Panasonic LX3, very high quality camera. It's nice to have 10x zoom (I still have Panasonic FZ10) but LX3 delivers :) </p>

<p><em>"ton, was that shot with the p5100?"</em></p>

<p>No, this was shot with a Coolpix 5700</p>

<p>Canon G10. But if she is anything like my daughter, it won't matter a lot because she will break it or lose it within a few months. If she is planning on an elective in photojournalism, anything less than a DSLR is likely to be inadequate. But most young women don't want to carry anything that won't easily slip into a purse. So she will want a P&S anyway, even is she gets a DSLR as well. The G10 allows some manual control and has a hotshoe, which puts it into a different league compared with most DSLR's.</p>

<p>Dave</p>

<p> </p>

<p>the p5100 also has a hotshoe connector and some manual controls. combined with the nikon sb-400, it would make a nice kit. flash is often the weak link on P&S--well, that and purple fringing/high-ISO noise/distortion at wide FLs--but that set up would allow for bounce flash on-camera, or off-camera flash with a sync cord in a very small package. the 5100's form factor is noticeably smaller than the g10, which makes it much more purse-able, if one cares about such things. it's also less expensive, though overall the g10 is a better (and bigger) camera.</p>

<p>for a beginner, though, the p5100 might be the better call, especially if she plans on building a nikon system with a DSLR down the line. she can switch flashes in-between one system and the other.</p>

<p>Even though I see myself as a Nikonian, I cannot say that I find the Nikon P&S good enough. However, a Canon G10 (or older if used), might be what you are looking for. It is a good P&S, and many PJ's are using them as a backup to their heavier machinery. Picture quality is excellent.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I love Nikon DSLRs, but when it comes to P&S cameras, look at Canon first.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Agreed. I'm a Nikon shooter, but I think thier P&S cameras are crap.</p>

<p>If you want something with more manual control, find her a G9, or fork out a little extra and go for a G10. They are amazing cameras.</p>

<p>On the other hand, if she wants something smaller, check out Casio's line of cameras. Some of thier new point and shoots are great and very compact too. Casio is probably more into the $200-300 price range.</p>