Recommendations on a new digital camera?

[apocalypse later]

I've got an old Nikon Coolpix L3, but I hate the battery life on it and it is painfully slow (3-4 seconds with no flash, 5-8 seconds with flash). The picture quality is also pretty terrible, but maybe that's just because I suck at photography.

So, any reccomendations on a new camera? I'd like to keep it around the $300 range. I just will be using it for just daily activities--whenever. I'm not a pro photographer and I don't need one of those bulky cameras (which do, by the way, take wonderful pictures) I just need something to point and shoot with. It needs to be fast and it needs to be decent quality pics.

Any reccomendations?

 

[matadorpoeta]

A choice of 15 different Scene modes - 4 with Scene assist - makes it so much easier to achieve desired results in a wide range of everyday situations. Just choose the Scene mode best suited to the subject at hand, and the COOLPIX L2, L3 and L4 automatically select the ideal settings for exactly the picture you had in mind, whether indoor party or outdoor nighttime fireworks display.

your camera has 6MP and a nikon lens, so it can't be that bad. learn to use the scene modes. experiment with them to see which is best for your scene. it's digital-you can erase it later. keep your lens at the widest angle for most situations and keep the camera steady.

 

[kai-wun]

Fuji compacts are among the best IMHO.

 

[hanker565]

I have a Pentax A30 and it gets the job done.

 

[barrytalley3]

I have this sony camera:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/so...ew/index.shtml

It was only $200 and is great for taking pictures at bars et al. because it is so small.

I would read the reviews on the above website as they offer good and unbiased reviews of most cameras.

 

[brimley]

I'm about to pick up a Fuji f31. My biggest complaint about my current digital is that it takes horrible low-light and indoor shots. The Fuji is supposed to be in its own class for such purposes.

 

[phooi]

Originally Posted by nyf

I'm about to pick up a Fuji f31. My biggest complaint about my current digital is that it takes horrible low-light and indoor shots. The Fuji is supposed to be in its own class for such purposes.

I have the Fuji F31fd and can tell you it is the best low light compact digital camera you can buy. Nothing in its class can compete (no Canon, Nikon, Pentax, etc.). It is a very unique camera. None of the other Fuji compacts have this capability either. The camera allows you to shoot late into the evenings and indoors without flash which is great if you want candid photos at social gatherings.

The only downside with the camera is that it uses xD memory (similar to SD but is proprietary) and that you get chromatic aberrations (purple fringing between high contrast areas) during sunny days. The latter can be remedied by choosing your shots carefully (look for a little shade, indirect sunlight) and reduce your exposure settings by 1/3.

Good luck!

 

[TheHoff]

I just bought a Panasonic LX2 as a street walking camera because of the manual controls and RAW format available. A 28mm wide angle was essential for the way I like to shoot so the # of cameras on my list was very limited.

I am very jealous of the Fuji f30/31 low light performance and that would've been my choice in that price range as well.

 

[Young Scrappy]

Canon Powershots always worked for me for the non-professional.

 

[robbie]

nikon..*

buy some rechargable batteries and adobe photoshop instead of a new camera.

 

[TheHoff]

I used to shoot with F3s.... but for compact digicams, I don't love Nikon. My Coolpix 950 was inspired for the time but the more recent 4300 I just replaced was a piece of junk compared.

 

[Aries]

Originally Posted by phooi

I have the Fuji F31fd and can tell you it is the best low light compact digital camera you can buy. Nothing in its class can compete (no Canon, Nikon, Pentax, etc.). It is a very unique camera. None of the other Fuji compacts have this capability either. The camera allows you to shoot late into the evenings and indoors without flash which is great if you want candid photos at social gatherings.

The only downside with the camera is that it uses xD memory (similar to SD but is proprietary) and that you get chromatic aberrations (purple fringing between high contrast areas) during sunny days. The latter can be remedied by choosing your shots carefully (look for a little shade, indirect sunlight) and reduce your exposure settings by 1/3.

Good luck!

+1, great camera espescially in low light, also in day light when you learn to tweak it a bit.

 

[ratboycom]

IMHO the L3 was an ok cam but definitely not the greatest.
I would suggest one of the newer cannon powershots (like an A570IS) with a Digic III processor, pretty damn quick with the right memory. I like the features and shots of a lot of Lumix slim cameras but they are SLOW, which is a downside.

 

[ratboycom]

http://cgi.ebay.com/RIcoh-GR-DIGITAL...ayphotohosting If no one bids on this one it would be in your price range. The Rikoh GR Digital is an absolutly awesome small camera (that is it is small with out all the **** on it like in this auction), my homie had one he brought with him from Japan the the pics were beautiful and it can shoot RAW.

 

[j]

I have a Lumix FZ7 and I want a different camera. I'm not sure whether I should just suck it up and get a DSLR or what, but the pics I get from this are pretty sad. I've messed with the different modes, and it's just never that great. My old Nikon Coolpix 4x00 (4300? can't remember) took much better pictures in general, and I was a big fan of the twist/tilt/etc LCD even if it wasn't super high res.