Best point and shoot camera for WDW

[Bubbie Girl]

This has most likely been asked already somewhere but I will ask again. I have a very nice digitial camera but it is rather large and I am looking to purchase a new one before our next trip to WDW in 2010. I would like a small point and shoot digital that will take both day and night pictures and has some extras like various setting options etc. I love to take pictures and have lots of camera cards for the xd so would like the camera to take that card if possible so I dont have to purchase new ones. Thanks for the help.

[faline]

There are all sorts of point and shoot cameras out there. Even the Digital SLR's generally have point and shoot features. I bought a Sony Cyber-shot not too long ago and, oerall, am quite happy with it. It's small enough that I can easily carry it with me. Sometimes, I would like a longer zoom (mine is only 4x) and for action shots - particularly with kids - it's a little slow. However, the quality of the pics is quite nice. Also, it does not use the type of memory card you would like to use.

[fanofdisney]

We bought a new camera for our last trip, a Canon Power Shot SD880IS. We really like it. A word or caution though these, as well as many newer model point and shoot cameras, are quite small. As mentioned earlier we purchased this camera for this trip. We were 4 days into our trip which was absolutely wonderful thus far and was not only my DH, 2 DS and 1 DD but also my parents, 2 brothers, a sister in law and nephew. Needless to say we had many wonderful moments captured on camera. Well, we were having dinner at Ohana's and it was stolen sometime while we were there.:mad: I had been taking pictures of the kids doing the activities and when I returned to the table had set it down, not put it away, so we figured that must have been when it happened. I checked lost and found every day until we left even calling when we returned and no luck. Needless to say I was devastated.:crying: If the thieves would have at least left the memory card somewhere I could have the pictures I had taken but no luck. At least there were others in our group that had taken pictures but of course I was missing mine. When speaking with lost and found one of the CMs told me that it has become quite common for these small cameras to be taken because they fit so easily in a pocket or slipped into a bag. So be on the lookout. On our next trip I am going to have it on me at all times.

[WidowsSon]

The best is always a bit of a judgment call. Everyone has their favorite this or that. For our trips both Disney and other places we have settled on a Sony N-2 point and shoot camera for the following reasons.

1. 10 megapixel quality, adjustable 3,5 and 10
2. Size of viewing screen a whopping 3 inches
3. Can be viewed in sunlight
4. Rechargeable battery
5. Takes great pics in the various Disney environments, indoors, outdoors shade, rain
6. Has a built in flash
7. Small, fits in a shirt pocket
8. Now cheap, we brought our 1st new over $500 but now on ebay $170
9. Not bad video
10. Case rounded and comfortable

We normally use this camera with a camcorder that can also take good pics. If you’re interested that is a HDR CX7 which was also inexpensive on ebay.

BTW: The used camera/camcorder comes from the fact that I have blow out more then 1 $$$ device for the dumbest reasons. The last $1200 camcorder got completely fried on a boat trip to DTD. A fog, yes a fog came over the boat, created just enough moisture on the device that when I turned it on, gone. Yes I know it should have been put away but having fun with the Kids and my wife I forgot. That was the latest in a string of incidents which I finally accepted as divine province to the eBay gods.

[CleveRocks]

To use the xD card, you're pretty much looking at Olympus or FujiFilm.

All of the small point-and-shoot digital cameras, even the lower end ones, give you the ability to alter settings for day/night, and so on ... plenty of bells and whistles to go around.

Given that they all pretty much give you that decent capability, there's no such thing as a camera that can guarantee you good night pics or good fireworks pics and so on ... that is 100% in the hands and eye of the photographer and has little to do with the camera itself.

That being said, the one biggest criterion in my and my wife's mind is optical zoom ... getting the biggest possible optical zoom in the smallest possible camera. Ignore digital zoom, it's pretty much a worthless statistic.

And unless you're a professional photographer (and if you were you wouldn't be using a point-and-shoot anyway), anything above 6 or 7 megapixels is unnecessary overkill. Even if you enlarge to 8x10 or 16x20, you're not gonna see any real difference between a 6 mp camera and a 10 mp camera. Nothing wrong with getting one with a zillion mp ... all I'm saying is I wouldn't pay a premium to get one with a zillion mp if there is a 7 mp model out there that is cheaper and otherwise has the same features.

I'm not current on cameras, but when we went looking last year, for a point-and-shoot we went with the Olympus that was really skinny but yet had a boatload of optical zoom, the most in its class. I'm sorry I can't recall the model number, but it's probably not current anymore, anyway.

[Tigerinvestigator]

Nikon Coolpix. We have two of them. They are fairly low priced, have incredible zoom and quality. Very easy to use and have limited video capability as well.:thumbsup: