I want to get a good digital camera because we are expecting a new
kid in the family. I was thinking Sony P150. What do u guys
recommend? I'm relatively new to digital world. I had a Canon S100
2.1 Mp and it worked fine for me but now I want more.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Size, photo quality matters
for me.
Let me state that I own a Pana FX-7. In case you don't know, some reveiwers and users think its the most detailed optics pocket camera.
I don't think the P150 will disappoint you. And its one of the best pocket camera available on the market. Knowing you're happy with your S100, the P150 can have no obvious things that don't exceed the existing quality or speed.
Since you are askinga Sony in the Canon forum, you will not be truly expecting simple praises of the P150. And in fact all machines in these miniaturised categlory are far from excellent. They are good, having various strengthes and weeknesses. But the present models from the major brands like Canon or Sony can't possibly let you down.
Here people tend to suggest you the bigger Canons. They are heavier and bulkier. But none, stress NONE, are good P&S cameras. The slow focus and night-blinded auto focus are just teasing at today's standard, or the Sony standard. I am not saying they can't take good pictures though. They produce excellent pictures. But what good is it to have all those missed oppurtuneties with a P&S?
Canon has a popular model that is even smaller than yoru S100 and P150. That's the SD300. Check this out. Its a very well accepted camera. And its the very few Canon that is recommended for P&S with children pics since its focus is much much better than all Canon digicam line up. Its 2" LCD is also a good thing to look at when framing.
But I will suggest you to also check the S10 and S20. They are better in terms of image sharpness and even more poirtable than the SD300!
Sony is about to release a 2" LCD version of P150. Its called P200. You may wish to wait for this new comer if you have your mind fixed at the P150.
I do not recommend you to check the FX-7, which I own. Its a great slim camera, with IS feature. But that is not the best tool to freeze actions of hyper active kids. IS will make your exposure time longer than high ISO under dim light. That means motion blurr is more vulnberable.
Pentax has a slim 5x camera and Ricoh has 4/5 MP slim cameras that provide 28mm eqv wide angles. I do not recommend them unless you have specific requirements on zoom range and wide angles. I don't talk about them because I do not have a solution or detail enough testing with them as to how to make them perform the best P&S job. You make want to try your luck with their talk forums here.
Lastly, Casio Z50/55 are also great choices. I have some nice impressions with them. But I have personal reservations of teh Casio made reliability and afetr sales service over here at the pacific rim. Though I do not recmmmend them, my reasons shouldn't be your concern.
I would strongly advice you not to go too big with the P&S camera. Portability is very important for such snap cams. May be when your kids grow up, you should upgrade to better camers and bigger lense. At their infant and kid stage, you have a lot more other things to take care of when going out. Just keep the camera small and handy, and 99% available to capture all the nice moments.
