Camera Labs

Hi
I am after a top quality camera for top quality pictures without the X many pixels or X many optical zooms fuss but simply to capture perfect images of my kids.
I have narrowed my search down to Canon PowerShot S5 IS but I went to Canon’s website and had two cameras compared side by side.

The G7:- Auto, Program AE, Shutter priority AE, Aperture priority AE, Manual, Custom (2 modes), Stitch Assist, Movie, Special Scene (Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Sports, Night Snapshot, Kids Pets, Indoor, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Aquarium, Underwater, ISO 3200¹, Color Accent, Color Swap)

The S5 IS:- Auto, Program AE, Shutter priority AE, Aperture priority AE, Manual, Custom, Portrait, Landscape, Night Snapshot, Sports, Stitch Assist, Movie, Special Scene (Indoor, Night Scene, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Aquarium, Color Accent, Color Swap), Super Macro

My question is why does one camera have “Kids Pets” mode and the other does not?
Please help as I only have 6 days before I go on my holiday.

I wouldn't place too much importance on the number and type of scene presets. What does a 'pet' mode do anyway?! The important ones are things like portrait, landscape and night, as these allow you to quickly get the camera to optimise its settings for certain types of subjects.

Remember all the scene modes are doing are adjusting the aperture, shutter, sensitivity etc and you can do all of that manually.

So I'd go for the camera you actually prefer in terms of features, price and handling.

Gordon

Gordon

Thank you very much for your reply.
You may have been asked this but here goes again - Apart from SLRs and if money / size does not matter, which camera would you advise is best to get for taking pictures of kids.

I chose the Canon Powershot A640 but have just read another review where it says it is good but on a Shutter Lag Comparison Table it does not look too good - eg it takes 0.42 of a second to take a picture.

I am really sorry for all these questions. Recently my wife has been going over all our digital pictures I have been taking so she can creat a book of photos for the kids and has found most of the pictures are blurry. I have been using a Pentax Optio 550 from about three years ago.

Regards
Camerax
London

I assume the Optio 550 did not have an image stabilization!?
Next camera: go for one with IS. Whether you buy a P&S or a DSLR!
Other reason for blur is too long shutter speeds because you cannot rise the ISO as high as is needed, because noise will otherwise rise it's ugly head. That is clearly a reason to buy a DSLR:
- It's faster
- It can use higher ISO at available light scenes (very important with "speeding" kids)
So I'd suggest (as you mentioned again "money doesn't matter"), go for a real DSLR with a super-zoom (which lets you close in your kids plus capture the whole scene in secods without having to change lenses (very anoying if you loose that particular shot due to swapping lenses (plus the dust-risk!)
So everybody here in the forum knows whats coming next: I'd suggest the Nikon 18-200mm VR (=stabilized) superzoom plus an appropriate body - like the D80 - if you want to invest ~1400EUR in something that makes fun and great pictures!

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Hi tombomba2

I have three kids and when we go out I spend a lot of energy looking after them and I honestly would not have the strength to carry an SLR. I know they are light but its having to look after them and all the bits. With a compact it can just be turned off and be thrown in the bag without too much worries.

I only want a compact for now and maybe when the kids are a bit older I will splash out on a 4k camera. By the way I am not super rich, it is just that my kids are growing so fast and I just want to take loads of photos of them and also one or two of the wife!

Gordon said "Remember all the scene modes are doing are adjusting the aperture, shutter, sensitivity etc and you can do all of that manually."

If that is the case why do they not mention it for all the cameras?

By "they", camerax, you mean the manufacturers I assume!?
They want to differentiate their offering to the max from their nearest competitor and this is why we have the megapixel-race and the feature-race.
Honestly, not much of that is useful for you, me and aunt Trudi!
But I know, it's sometimes hard to focus on the basics:
- What has the cam to combat shake? (Go for "real IS" not just cranking up the ISO to get faster shutter-speeds and producing lots of noise!)
- How good is the cam/noise in available light? (forget about quality pics with a P&S in low light, but available light is already a challenge to P&S!)
- Does is focus properly and fast enough? (an out of focus picture cannot be saved!)
- Does it expose right in most cases without fiddling with too many options.
The latter is esp. important with P&S as they don't have the same leeway to correct bad exposure with post-processing as DSLRs.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Hi Camerax, if you want a camera which responds quickly and performs well in low light, then you have to get a DSLR.

See this article:

http://www.cameralabs.com/features/DSLR ... DSLR.shtml

You don't have to worry about any extra bits though - if you're worried, just buy a DSLR with the kit lens and leave it at that. Then there's no extra bits.

If you want a small and light model, I'd recommend the Olympus E-410, or maybe the E-510 if you'd also like built-in stabilisation.

Gordon

The D40(x) + kit lens is also a small and high quality package!
Just get your hands around it, before you decide that this is too bulky

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Gents

You have helped me a lot and also confused me a lot . The more reviews I read the more it make sense not to buy a camera as one review will say this is excellent and another one will rubbish the same camera.

Anyway I like camearlabs.com and had a look at your Best Buys section and you mention FujiFilm after investigating further I decided I would buy a FujiFilm FinePix F47fd which I have done half an hour ago.

Online at Dixons it costs £149.99 with free delivery in 5-7 days but not guaranteed. This would not do as I need one soon as on Monday I am off to Mauritius. I went to my local Currys and they were selling it for £179.99 but after I mentioned the price Dixons’ were selling they sold it to me for £169.99.

I will write a review soon and show you my pictures once I find a good site to upload them.

Gordon – Thank you very much and I have clicked on a lot of you ads – more money for you LOL.

Tombomba2 – Thank you and do you not sleep?

Regards

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About me…
I have three boys. One is 5 years old and the second is 3 years old that can never keep still and when you say “guys look here, let me take a nice photo” they somehow translate it to mean “run in different directions and do not look at dad”. Last but not least I have a four months old baby.
When we go out my wife looks after the tiny baby and I am in charge of the other two.
I also take with me a camcorder and two or three bags for the kids.

My previous camera was bought a few years ago and it was top of the range Pentax Optio 550 costing around £300 to £500 (I forget easily). Anyway, with the Optio I have taken millions of pictures and all blurry. I have never looked into why but now I am interested in taking better pictures.

Now when I say better pictures I simply mean ones that are not blurry.

I can afford a DSLR but it is not practical for the moment.
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Zzzzzzzzz, eh, what? Ah yes: I never sleep!
Good luck with your new gear!
And always remember, how CameraLabs help/confused you
Zzzzzzzzz...

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Cheers Camerax, good luck with your new camera. I've not tested that one myself, so I'm looking forward to hearing what you think after your trip.

Glad we could be of help!

Gordon

PS - and thanks for the clicks!