Requesting Help Buying Camera For My Wife (1 Viewer)

[Museum Pieces]

In 2015 I bought my sister a Sony DSCW830/B 20.1 MP Digital Camera (a black Sony Cybershot). She's liked it okay except it doesn't do well in low light, sometimes the shots come out blurry, and sometimes it won't autofocus, so it won't take a picture until she aims it at something else and then aims it back at her subject. She's not a tech-savvy genius, but she's smart, a quick study.

Anyone have any suggestions in the $300 range? She's going to Scotland to do some hiking and wants something compact to take decent pictures. Any recommendations will be appreciated. (Her cell phone has a crappy camera).

Thanks.

Skylar

 

[Todd Erwin]

I would say take her to a camera shop (if there is still one near you) or a big box retailer like Best Buy and let her try out some cameras. At the very least, she’ll get a good idea how well the camera feels in her hands. Then go from there.

 

[JohnRice]

The blurry low light photo issue is mostly a factor of learning more about photography. Some cameras will handle it better than others, but photos are created with light and if there's not enough of it the camera has to expose the sensor longer, resulting in blurry photos. Cameras can do remarkable things but there are still limitations.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

In 2015 I bought my sister a Sony DSCW830/B 20.1 MP Digital Camera (a black Sony Cybershot). She's liked it okay except it doesn't do well in low light, sometimes the shots come out blurry, and sometimes it won't autofocus, so it won't take a picture until she aims it at something else and then aims it back at her subject. She's not a tech-savvy genius, but she's smart, a quick study.

Anyone have any suggestions in the $300 range? She's going to Scotland to do some hiking and wants something compact to take decent pictures. Any recommendations will be appreciated. (Her cell phone has a crappy camera).

Thanks.

Skylar

How old is her phone? If she's not really into photography and just is looking for a point & shoot solution, maybe instead of looking for a compact camera for her to carry you should consider upgrading her phone to one with a better camera.

 

[David Norman]

The blurry low light photo issue is mostly a factor of learning more about photography. Some cameras will handle it better than others, but photos are created with light and if there's not enough of it the camera has to expose the sensor longer, resulting in blurry photos. Cameras can do remarkable things but there are still limitations.

Possibly, but the way he was describing the other behavior of the camera in the top post sounds like a camera problem -- not focusing properly, long delays, etc. My wife has a decent phone camera, but she prefers using her old Powershot ELPH P&S -- strongly prefers may be the best way to describe it

I agree with going to the store and letting her hold the camera or try a few photos with the Phone at Best Buy

Canon - PowerShot SX740 is a nice all around unit​

Age, size of hands, does she want a flat phone for pocket/purse or some with more of a camera feel with bulges at the grip and lens. That said, even an older smartphone with excellent camera might be useful even if you don't activate the phone part -- one of the supplanted Google Pixel phones. You might be able to get a used phone very cheap or have someone who cycles to new phones every year or two give you one out of their junk drawer

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Beyond what's already said, if she's not already aware, she should stick w/ shooting as close to wideangle end as possible (and certainly should stay away from the telephoto end of the zoom lens) under low-ish light since these superzoom lenses generally let in less light as you zoom toward the telephoto end on top of the fact that you also need faster shutter-speeds (to avoid camera-shake/handling blur) as you zoom in that direction...

She might also need to change settings to allow the camera to increase ISO to allow faster shutter-speeds -- it's possible the camera might not automatically do that by default...

Possibly, but the way he was describing the other behavior of the camera in the top post sounds like a camera problem -- not focusing properly, long delays, etc. My wife has a decent phone camera, but she prefers using her old Powershot P&S (strongly prefers may be the best way to describe it)

It's related even though John might not have been very clear on that. In low enough light, the camera will also have a hard time focusing, which can lead to long delays, etc. Shooting in wideangle might help that somewhat since the aperture can be larger at that, especially w/ such non-pro lenses and AF systems...

_Man_

 

[David Norman]

It's related even though John might not have been very clear on that. In low enough light, the camera will also have a hard time focusing, which can lead to long delays, etc. Shooting in wideangle might help that somewhat since the aperture can be larger at that, especially w/ such non-pro lenses and AF systems...

_Man_

It could be or maybe I misread the post and those latter issues being in more than just the low light situation.

My wife's previous camera (late 90's maybe) started having those issues randomly to the point she'd frequently have to power cycle the camera to get it to work at all.

I also didn't think to ask about price point? The Fuji X100 is a great little camera, but $1400 isn't your normal travel camera.
Even the Canon at $400 may be out of the range of discussion.

 

[Museum Pieces]

Thanks for the comments everybody. I appreciate your time, knowledge and input. I could probably do $400 for her but no more. She doesn't want to get a new phone; that was my first suggestion. I think taking her to a store is a good idea. Also I am looking into the canon 740. Thanks again.

​

 

[JohnRice]

Thanks for the comments everybody. I appreciate your time, knowledge and input. I could probably do $400 for her but no more. She doesn't want to get a new phone; that was my first suggestion. I think taking her to a store is a good idea. Also I am looking into the canon 740. Thanks again.

​

Personally, I'd stay away from the absurd zoom range cameras like the 40x of the 740. Also, I'd suggest something with a shorter wide end of the lens range than the 24mm equivalent of the 740. If there is something with a zoom range more in the area of a 20-500mm equivalent, that's going to be a lot more usable than something that does 24-960mm equivalent. This is especially because the intended use is for travel and scenic photos. She does NOT need a 960mm equivalent lens, but something wider than 24mm, definitely.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Woah!!! I didn't look before, but that Canon 740 actually goes 40x (optical) zoom all the way to 960mm equiv on the tele end???

That's just asking for trouble on such a compact camera (w/ no OVF/EVF) me thinks...

Yeah, if it's gonna have a particularly substantial zoom range, then going wider would definitely be more useful than going longer... although I'm guessing that might be require a more bulky lens (w/out further compromising quality)...

Anyway, if you could find something w/ much more modest zoom range (in the say 5-10x range capping at say circa 150-200mm equiv on the long end), but actually better/brighter optics, that would likely be best me thinks...

Also, if she doesn't already use any mono/tripod/support gadget, might be good to consider getting and using a modest one, if feasible, as that would help w/ the camera shake/handling blur...

_Man_

 

[sfyalek]

Thanks for the comments everybody. I appreciate your time, knowledge and input. I could probably do $400 for her but no more. She doesn't want to get a new phone; that was my first suggestion. I think taking her to a store is a good idea. Also I am looking into the canon 740. Thanks again.

​

Camera taking good photos based on 2 things, light and sensor. The rule of thumb is getting a camera with large aperture, F2-F2.8. The smaller the number means more light can get into the camera. For example, Panasonic Lumix FZ280, the aperture is F2.8-F6.3. When the camera is 28mm wide angle, the max. aperture is F2.8 but you will only get up to F6.3 aperture when the lens are extended to 400mm. In order to compensate the loss of light, the camera needs to slow down the shutter speed. When the shutter speed goes down to slower than 1/15 seconds, you will more likely to get the blur image due to the shaking of your hands. It is time to put the camera on a tripod.
The price of the camera is proportional to the size of sensor. The larger the sensor can pick up more signals than the smaller peers so it can get focus faster and more accurate colors.

I think you should buy the camera base on your budget. Understand the limitation of your camera and have fun. When your wife wants to expand her knowledge and technique, she can take a class at your community college. Then, she can invest more on her camera.

The Panasonic camera I mentioned earlier is actually a very nice camera and I think it is in your price range. Or you can consider to invest on Olympus OM-D Mark II Mirrorless Camera. Mirrorless camera is much lighter than the DSLR and also have interchangeable lens. If your wife will eventually want to expand the range of the gear, she just need to buy a higher quality lens instead of the whole camera. A lot camera manufacturers sell bundle with a very attractive price for the entry level camera. Check out bhphotovideo.com for the price.