Like the title says, I could be looking to get a much newer compact camera, to replace my old HP M407 (4.1Mp). The old one has a really poor Macro focal length of 4” min :_( . Also the video is a not so hot MPEG - 320 x 240 - 30 fps. Those are probably to two things that irritate most about the old one, well other than the two AA battery requirement. A rechargeable li-ion battery would be great too!
So no dslr rec’s, even used, just don’t want to pack around a full sized camera. I’ve run thru the “flashlight photography” thread, and there are some truly spectacular macro shots in that, but don’t see myself in that league.
Of course, if someone wants to back up their rec’s with pic and/or video links, all the better.
A Nikon coolpix S7000 seems to tick all the boxes and is my max budget of $150 on sale? It has a 0.4” (1cm) min Macro focus and a 1080P 30fps video. Not stuck on Nikon per se.
That Nikon does appear to pack a lot of features for the price. Are you looking to get more for the same money or just something comparable for less? You can get a refurb Canon Powershot SX600 HS for about $50 less. You can also step up to the SX700 with 30x zoom and still spend less. I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with the Nikon, but being “budget” minded, I tend to look for the comparable less costly version of things. I personally just got a refurb Powershot SX400 IS from the Canon store for only $50 and it looked brand new, apart from the plain box.
…and I’ve been very happy with it, except that the buttons on the back are small, flush, and smooth making them difficult to navigate without looking. They would likely be difficult to use if you have larger hands.
Mine is a 16MP, and takes surprisingly good pictures. This camera has taken a couple of hard falls, one from a decent height onto an asphalt parking lot, and the second, from a table onto a hard floor (courtesy of a curious cat) and still works, with just minor cosmetic damage to the casing.
Mine takes 720P video with fair quality, is fast to power-on for the first shot. It’s not a power-photography camera, as manual controls are minimal. It has a lot of tacked-on features such as on-the-fly color replacement, an option to capture photos in b/w with only a selected color captured, etc… One fun option is an enhanced saturation mode; it makes all of your photos look like a calendar page…
I’ve taken it on a couple of trips and have been very happy with it.
kuoh:
I would say “about” the same features as the Coolpix 7000 for less money is the direction I’m looking. Factory refurb is probably O.K., the Canon SX600 looks good, although the min Macro focus is 2in. is lacking.
keltex78:
Canon PowerShot ELPH 130 has a Macro with 0.4in min focus, good. Do you have a Macro shot to share? The movie could be O.K. at 720p?, don’t anticipate using this as much as the macro. Also $50 from the canon store, which seems like a good deal.
Appreciate the replies, it’s going to take some time reviewing the specs, and decide what is meaningful in real world applications. Keep the suggestions coming.
I’m happy with my Nikon 1 and according to this, the S7000 is even better.
Note: $146.95 sale ongoing at Amazon. Use your Chase Freedom (10% cash back) or Discover card (5% cash back), assuming you signed up for this quarter’s qualifying categories.
Sorry, but you missed out on yesterday’s Eb*tes 10% Green Monday cash back on Amazon, that would have been over and above the 10% credit card cash back offers.
A different way to back in to “value” is to see what are holding their values used.
I picked up a second Nikon p5100 (because I like it so much) it was billed as the pro back up camera. It is sort of old, but you know it is still better then I am. I do wish it would shoot RAW but you cant have it all (where would you put it?).
Thanks for the suggestions, always good to see the full range of options out there. I had noticed that there is another step up from the coolpix S7000 or equivalents. So hadn’t really thought too much about an advanced or higher end compact due to the cost. Used camera could be kinda be tricky, unless there was some sort of guarantee, like a refurbished.
