July 2010
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Feb
	1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

Best cameras for $300

Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 6:48 am

In 2001, I conducted a search for the best camera with a street price under $300. Ive repeated the experiment every year since.

Wow, have things changed.

Back in 2001, every camera on the market had an eyepiece viewfinder; today, almost none do. Back then, all $300 cameras ran on AA batteries; today, they all use rechargeables.

Then, you got a whopping 1.3 or 2.2 megapixels; now, 12 or 14 is standard. Then, some cameras could actually zoom wow! up to 2X. Now, shirt-pocket cams with 10X or 12X zooms arent unusual.

Its time to ask the question once again: How much camera can $300 buy me?

Below, reviews of nine answers to that question. Most are amazingly small, attractive, competent little machines with 12 megapixels, 3-inch screens and hi-def video capture.

All have image stabilization and face recognition, for sharper, better exposed shots. The Panasonic, Fujifilm, Canon and Casio models have unusually wide-angle lenses for capturing vistas but can also zoom in 10X or even 12X. (Theres usually some distortion at the corners at the widest view, but thats a small price to pay for this kind of versatility.)

But small, cheap cameras still saddle you with shutter lag (the delay after you press the button), low-light compromises (blur or grainy noise), and blown-out highlights (bright areas of pure white, with no detail). If you want a camera without those bummers, buy a bigger, more expensive interchangeable-lens model.

Canon Powershot Sd980 ($280 street)
Sleek, squished-capsule shape. Canons first touch screen. Drag a finger or tap to flip through photos, magnify them, focus off-center. Can tilt the camera various ways to trigger certain functions, too. Other highlights: a glorious wide-angle lens, OK picture quality, high-definition video. Quick circuitry; minimal start-up time and shutter lag.

Real drag: The 3-inch screen is shaped like a hi-def movie, so when youre shooting stills, you get black bars on either side, so the usable screen is much smaller. Touch screens eat up battery; only 240 shots a charge on this one.

Casio Exilim Zoom EX-H10 ($262)
Another quirky, breakout camera from Casio. Best parts: wide-angle, 10X zoom, astonishing 1,000-shot battery three times the norm.

Has 38 presets not just Sunset, Beach and Portrait, but all kinds of crazy special effects. Multi-Motion Image places several copies of your moving subject (ski jumper, skateboarder, whatever) against a single background. Dynamic Photo mode is hard to use, but very cool: cuts your subject out of one photo, places against background of a completely different photo, a la greenscreen, for a still composite photo or short movie.

Fujifilm FinePix F70EXR ($197)
Low light is always a small-camera bugaboo.

Cheap little sensors produce blur or grain, indoor or after sunset. But F70EXR has largest sensor of the batch (.5 inches), and in EXR mode, can combine the light from two adjacent pixels on that sensor. Result: clearer, more colorful low-light photo (at half resolution, 5 megapixels instead of 10).

Zooms quickly, though noisily, while shooting video; cant shoot hi-def. Overall, wonderful, sharp pix. But camera takes time to learn.

Kodak EasyShare Z950 ($183)
Kodaks traditional niche strikes again: design clarity. Important controls on top and they light up. Price: $183, a steal for a camera with 10X zoom, full manual controls and hi-def video.

Zooming while filming is another small-camera problem.

On the Fuji, audio track picks up zooming noise; on the Samsung, audio cuts out completely while zooming; on the Panasonic, zooming is incredibly slow to avoid noise. But Kodak zooms nice and fast and almost silently (though it blurs in and out of focus while zooming).

Downsides: Its big, bulky and very slow. Pictures are only average. Have to charge battery in the camera (so cant keep a spare charging).

Nikon Cool)ix S8000 ($299)
Just released, so for near term, youll pay list price. Nicely thin, compact 10X zoomer. As with Sony, Samsung and others, can wait to snap automatically when subject smiles. Like Casio and others, can apply a fake-looking smear to skin tones to minimize blotches, wrinkles.

Hi-def video with stereo sound and dedicated Movie button is a plus, but cant zoom.

Amazing-looking screen. Photos generally excellent, except when the autofocus misses.

Olympus Stylus 7000 ($184)
Super-light, very cheap 7X zoom. Panorama mode stitches consecutive frames together automatically as you swing your arm. Illuminated controls: nice. HDMI jack for showing photos in hi-def on a TV.

Lots of bad news, though: No hi-def video, no zooming while filming, horrific shutter lag, no autofocus lamp for low light, a nonstandard USB cable to get the photos off. And still with the nonstandard memory cards (XD or MicroSD)? Get with it, Olympus!

Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 ($244)
The camera that wants to be a camcorder. 12X zoom, usable during filming (which is pristine hi-def); stereo audio; dedicated Start/Stop button for video. (Caution: Factory setting uses weird format AVCHD Lite that few video-editing programs can handle. Motion JPEG format available instead, but lower quality and 16-minute clip maximum.)

Homely software ALL CAPS MENUS, anyone? but clear.

Terrific screen (super-high-res, like the Nikons). Doesnt just recognize faces recognizes particular faces, which you can name (Uncle Stu) but doesnt do much with that information.

Pictures are excellent, but screen doesnt brighten up as necessary, as rivals do making it very hard to compose shots in low light.

Samsung DualView TL225 ($274)
Crazy amount of tech in this one. Small, secondary screen on the front. Nearly invisible in sunlight, but great for self-portraits, for counting down to the self-timer snap, and even for holding attention of children (the camera can play a little cartoon on that screen).

Main screen is the biggest on the market, at 3.5 inches. Smooth, responsive touch screen: draw an X for Delete, swipe across for Next Picture, tap to change settings like flash. Tilt or shake the camera to trigger playback functions, too.

Bummers: Have to charge battery inside camera; have to transfer the photos using bizarro nonstandard cable; movie audio cuts out completely, weirdly, while you zoom; requires a cell phone memory card (MicroSD).

Also, touch screen does a real number on battery life (180 shots). Camera is too flash-happy.

But very good photos.

Sony Cyber-Shot W290 ($180)
Least expensive camera here, but few other virtues.

Buttons tiny and cramped. Have to zoom by holding down buttons, rather than turning a ring around the shutter button.

Shoots hi-def, but cant zoom while filming.

The first with an auto-fire-when-subject-smiles mode but a dedicated shutter button on top just for that feature? Really?

The top 3 (plus 1)
As the ridiculous megapixel race winds down at last, camera companies are now putting effort into differentiating their cameras and wow, are there some weirdies here, from the two-screened Samsung to the green screen mode of the Casio to the camcorder-wannabe Panasonic.

And if you can choose only one?

Ive got three favorites this year, for different reasons.

The Fujifilm F70EXR is superior in low light (and has that 10X zoom).

The Panasonic Lumix SZ3 takes great hi-def movies (12X zoom). (The Nikon S8000 is extremely similar, but costs much more.)

The Samsung DualView TL225 zooms only 4.6X, but offers that huge touch screen and the amazingly handy small front screen.

The Kodak EasyShare Z950 gets an honorable mention. It doesnt quite match the big boys photo quality, but what you get for $183 is amazing.)

Oh and for the price and pocketability, all three of this years winners take very good photos. Thats always a nice feature to have in a camera.