Easy and Compact Cameras for Travel

[Traveller]

Hey all

I currently have a 3 year old digital camera that sorely needs to be replaced (it was just a cheapie after I broker my decent one).

I am after something that is:

Compact. I want to be able to put it in my pocket.
Point and click. While it can have fancy setting I just want to be able to take a photo without mucking around.
Image stabilisation. My old camera had optical stabilisation and it took great photos almost all the time. My current one and others I've seen without it often take blurry photos which you can't see in the preview screen.
Either take standard batteries or be able to buy an inexpensive backup battery pack. I hate not being able to take photos because my battery is dead and I may not be able to recharge it for a few days.
Ideally take SD cards as I already have a few high capacity ones.
Not too expensive. $300 would be my limit.


Any suggestions?

[EverNothing]

G'day Traveller. :)

I personally recommend most new digital models from either Kodak, Samsung or Canon. They're all well known photography brands but more importantly very dependable when it comes to taking a perfect shot. What you should look for when shopping is something with a high megapixel resolution, a deep optical zoom lens and a camera which enables blur free shooting from accidental shaking.

Who was the manufacturer of your older, "decent" camera?

I recently purchased the Canon PowerShot A1000IS over the christmas break for my trip to Fiji and it's turned out to be the best, pocket-sized camera i've ever bought in my life. It has an auto-fixed mode which essentially saves you the hassle of manually zooming on objects yourself and features night display for easy viewing in low light. I picked it up from Harvey Norman for roughly $175.

Browse around the shops or online and you'll pick up a decent bargain somewhere, mate. Good luck.

[Traveller]

Who was the manufacturer of your older, "decent" camera?

I recently purchased the Canon PowerShot A1000IS over the christmas break for my trip to Fiji and it's turned out to be the best, pocket-sized camera i've ever bought in my life. It has an auto-fixed mode which essentially saves you the hassle of manually zooming on objects yourself and features night display for easy viewing in low light. I picked it up from Harvey Norman for roughly $175.

Thanks EverNothing.

It was a Canon but can't remember the exact model number.

That PowerShot looks good. I remember that they were very bulky but seem to have come down in size over the last couple of years. Its got everything I could want and a nice price tag.

[EverNothing]

Aye. This little gem is anything but bulky.

With the emergance of mobile phones with cameras over the past, few years; particularly the Apple iPhone (coolest portable gadget ever), digital camera manufactures have had to really stay relevant in order to surive in the market. It's great news for us consumers because the price of D.C.'s is at an all-time low so there's really no excuse not to currently own one in this day and age.

Another model I suggest is the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W230 Digital Camera - 12.1 Megapixel. My flatmate has one and he absolutely loves it. He purchased it for around $200 at David Jones last year.

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/562/sonyw230.gif