What camera do you use??

[Gemma]

Can we talk about cameras for a minute?!

At the minute I have a D90 but I've hardly used it in the year I've had it, photography isn't something I want to do anymore so I find myself leaving the D90 at home when I go out and using my iPhone camera as it's small and light so I can slide it in my pocket when I need to.

So I'm thinking of selling the D90 and buying a slightly more expensive point and shoot with some of the money but I'm scared to go for it until I research or get good reviews for a decent P&S, so help me out if you don't use a DSLR!

[cardinalskate]

I just got a dSLR, but the P&S I came from I always loved and would recommend to anyone! It was a Canon PowerShot IS200 (that was top-of-the-line 4 years ago when I bought it, so they probably have newer ones out now).

Good luck finding a good one! They're very handy, that's for sure!

[kim21673]

We have a Canon 1400 IS P&S....it's ok....I really hate using the P&S because I am never happy with the quality of pictures....seem blurry if I zoom too much, hate the flashed look if I am using it inside, seem grainy in low light......I guess I am just spoiled by my DSLR.

I have a Nikon D90 and prefer to use that.

[MamaBee]

I have a Canon G12 and LOVE IT!! It gives me the controls of DSLR, but a lot more compact... it's still bigger than most P&S - but it easily fits in my purse. Also has an HD video on it, which I have found really handy at times.

Here are examples... the first day I got the G12 we say Elmo live... our seats were pretty far away.

with my old point and shoot (canon power shot, a year old)...


and the G12... less than 24 hours old and just learning how to use it...


I'm soo very happy with the G12... can you tell??

[Andrea Gourley]

I've got a panasonic lumix which I love love love! Gemma have you been to John Lewis in Newcastle? They have a good range and salespeople who aren't working on comission and they know their stuff and they let you play around with the cameras for ages without any sales pitch or pressure.

I have a DSLR which sits in its bag in my wardrobe and only ever comes out when I visit a zoo so that I can take shots with my long lens and as you know, there aren't any zoos where we live so you can imagine the use it gets

[heathergw]

I find I'm using my iPhone a lot more than my dSLR... but I do still use the dSLR a ton... I just love the quality too much and I'm always disappointed with the iPhone quality, so I try to only use them for my Project Life pages and not my other scrapbook pages... or shrink them down really really small LOL

[scrapmommaof3]

I have a Nikon 5100 and I love it. I love using the DSLR. But I did see that Nikon just came out with a point and shoot that you can change the lens on. I have no idea if it is any good or not, but it would kinda be like a DSLR but smaller. Just a suggestion.

[coopert]

I use a Canon 50d, but have wanted the G12. I think Nikon makes something comparable. I have seen Ashton Kutcher doing the commercial for it.

[kscwgirl]

I have a Canon Rebel but I haven't touched it in a month or so. I've been using my P&S that I got for Christmas. It is a Fuji finepix JX400

[Lizzy257]

I have a Canon Ixus 200hs. I've had it about a year, and before that, always had Sonys, so it's taken me a while to get used to it! But I'm really happy with it and the results I get with it (given that it's just a p&s!). I would love the Canon G12 though

[navaja77]

I have a Canon Rebel XS and seriously, I lug that thing everywhere with me LOL I just switched to shooting manually so I'm always taking photos for practice. My other camera is my Android phone for daily snapshots and when I don't have my Rebel. I also have Canon Powershot A590IS but I rarely use it as much. It sits in my purse for the occasional use when I have neither my phone (on those rare days) or my Rebel. I get frustrated with the slow shutter when I need to be quick with my 2 year old.

[Gemma]

Originally Posted by Lizzy257

I have a Canon Ixus 200hs. I've had it about a year, and before that, always had Sonys, so it's taken me a while to get used to it! But I'm really happy with it and the results I get with it (given that it's just a p&s!). I would love the Canon G12 though

That's one I was looking at earlier today.

Andrea I'll pop in JL next week as I'm going to town anyway!

[Stacey42]

I have a D40 (been saving to upgrade to a 5100 for two years now, maybe someday...) I love it but it's heavy, bulky & has had almost 30,000 photos taken on it. My folks got me a Nikon Coolpix S3100 for Christmas & I've been carrying it around for a couple months now fairly regularly. I like it well enough but oh I so miss the faster shutter speed of a dSLR. The faster shutter speed was pretty much the sole reason I bought the D40 originally. The photos are nice & sharp with good quality.

[Julie Billingsley]

I have a Rebel, but I just wasn't using it. I've already had one hand surgery and need another, so the weight of it is not good for me. So, my dad got me a an advanced point and shoot camera. I looked at the Canon G12, the Canon S95, and Canon S100. I ended up getting the S100 and I love it, but I probably should have gone with the G12 because it has the articulated screen. If you go to Amazon, you'll see the S100 isn't rated well, but a lot of it is because of diehard s95 users that wanted the s100 to be radically different and worth them upgrading for it. Some even posted bad reviews before the product came out! Well, it's actually pretty much just like the s95 only newer, so people gave it a bunch of bad ratings without real reason. That taught me to not put a lot of stock into Amazon's rating system. Anyway, go to DPreview to check out comparsions. Here and here are two good starts. And I must say that the Canon G1X is getting rave reviews and is being called a compact Rebel replacement. Kind of wish I had waited for it to come out, but it's above my price point.

[carrie1977]

Originally Posted by MamaBee

I have a Canon G12 and LOVE IT!! It gives me the controls of DSLR, but a lot more compact... it's still bigger than most P&S - but it easily fits in my purse. Also has an HD video on it, which I have found really handy at times.

Here are examples... the first day I got the G12 we say Elmo live... our seats were pretty far away.

with my old point and shoot (canon power shot, a year old)...


and the G12... less than 24 hours old and just learning how to use it...


I'm soo very happy with the G12... can you tell??

Wow! What a huge difference!

[carrie1977]

I have a Canon 40D but would love to get a smaller P&S that I can slip in my purse. I'm going to keep an eye on this thread.

[junebug]

for the last almost 6 years i used a Canon Rebel XT. just a few days ago i was finally able to upgrade. i got a Canon Rebel T2i. still not top of the line (was lucky to get that lol) but i'm very happy with having 10 more MP's lol. and i love the kit lens it came with plus i got a zoom lens. I'm giving my mom my old XT and letting her just use my 50mm lens until she gets a lens for it, or i'll just let her keep it and i'll buy another. it was like a $100 lens, i can get one here soon. She's very excited to get my old camera lol.

[sucali]

I had a D90, sold it and have a D7000 now.
But for my daily snapshots I have a Canon S90. Because it's so small it's much easier to take it everywhere...

[ryliesmom]

Honestly my camera phone is my p&s now. I have a Samsung Infuse and it has a pretty good little camera on it. I can even do a custom wb with it. When I got a new phone last year the camera on it was a big factor in what phone I choose. I still have my old Canon Rebel XT that I use for my better camera but for those everyday moments I use my camera phone.

[Sherri Tierney]

I am glad you asked this question. I am totally going to do some studying of the cameras suggested. I LOVE my Nikon D60 and I use it exclusively but there are times I want something small and compact to carry with me. I HATE phone pictures so I rarely use my phone. I am a sucker for a good zoom so whatever I get should have a 10x zoom or more.

[Leontine78]

I have a Canon 450D....and I would hate losing it! In and around the house I only use that one. When we go to something special, it also goes.
And I have a Nikon P&S (which I really hate) in my purse to make normal photos when I am out.

I don't use my Canon daily though...I don't photograph daily also. But I think that will change in my benefits in a few months. And then I want absolutely beautiful photos!

[taracotta7]

I am with Rebecca. I love my Cannon G12. Like REALLY smitten with it. I use it over my DSLR all the time. (I have the Nikon D60) I would HIGHLY recommend it. You still have manual controls and so many options on it. It truly is the best P&S that I have seen and played with.

The best place I have found for reviews on this topic is testfreaks.com and B&H Photo website Those are the two I start at......if I need a little more information, I will go to Best Buy's website and see their reviews of the product also.

[Sherri Tierney]

I just checked out the G12, I wish it had more zoom. 5x isn't really enough for me. I'm a zoom whore.

[dailydwellin]

I have a Nikon D40, but I would love to upgrade to a newer DSLR. I do find that I often don't take it with me because of it's size, though. I would love to get a Nikon Coolpix. In fact one has been sitting in my Amazon wishlist for about a year and my poor husband hasn't picked up on the fact that I really want one .

[adrianka]

I did the DSLR to P&S route and never looked back.

I think the G series by Canon is perfect as a DSLR replacement. They have G12 these days, which is very good, and there's also the new G1X - that one is quite pricey, but the quality should be DSLR-like. These are not exactly pocketable, but they are OK in a handbag (and they are deffo smaller than, let's say, hyperzoom cameras).

Should you want something really pocketable, I'd say Powershot S95 or S100 will do very fine.

All the above are top-quality P&S, all of them quite pricey (S95 the cheapest one and G1X the most expensive one), so it depends on what kind of money you are ready to spend.

However, it also depends on what you like to take pictures of. These cameras don't have much zoom and they don't excel at macro. I find that I don't miss those features though.

I've had a G10 for over 3 years and been most happy with it, and would never go back to a heavy DSLR. But again, this is just me, other people might not see this as their perfect choice.

Like others said, it's best to go to a place where you can HOLD the camera (the way a camera feels is a deciding factor for me) and try it around. I'm a Canon girl, but I think these days most producers do very good top-level P&S cameras.

Good luck!