Ask Engadget: Best small camera (with good video) under $600?
By Darren Murph 
posted May 8th 2009 12:44AM
posted May 8th 2009 12:44AM
We know, you were hoping to just glance over today's hottest articles in the world of consumer electronics, and along comes this: something that actually asks a little of you. Trust us, it'll be alright, and hey -- after you've replied, you can send in a question of your own to ask at engadget dawt com. "The family and I are headed to Walt Disney World in June for the first time. I have a Canon Digital Rebel and a Canon GL1, but really do not want to haul either or both of them to the Magic Kingdom with us. So, the question is: what is the best camera that does great stills and video and is super small? Under 600 bones preferably. Thanks!"
No Rich, thank you for making us all envious. Be sure to take the advice that'll surely flow in comments below and send us picture postcards while waiting in line to ride the Tower of Terror for the forty-third time. (Seriously, do not miss Tower of Terror.)
Ultra cheap Casios
They are genius on Video.
I agree, there are a lot of Casios that should fit your needs that aren't too expensive. If you are looking to spend a little more, though, check out the Canon Powershots. I have an older model and its fantastic. The pictures are great and the video is pretty good too. Some of the newer ones (SD970 i think?) even take HD video and have HDMI out.
Just got the Canon SD970IS (=IXUS 990IS) and it's wonderful. The 720p h.264 video looks fantastic, much better than miniDV camcorder, and you can load it straight to Youtube/FlickrPro/Smugmug. It has optical (motors in the lens) stabilization, so the video isn't shaky, although the cam is so small/light that it is easy to pan too quickly, so you have to be mindful of how fast you move your hand around.
Still performance is almost above what most people could wish for in a pocket cam. From off to ready-to-shoot in 1.5 seconds. You can put something half an inch from the lens and it'll come out in focus - put that photo on a big monitor and it's almost a low-power microscope. 12Mpixel = 16x20" max recommended print. It's full of little niceties like how it auto-rotates the picture you're viewing when you tilt the cam (like the iPhone does).
Our last cam is 6 years old, 4Mpixel and 320x240 video, we were still satisfied with it until getting this Canon with the hopes it'd save us from needing to buy a camcorder. It has done that and then some. The screen's 4x as big and it's several times faster. It's so much more fun to use that I'm carrying it around and taking random candids again. As to pocketability, it's barely bigger than my cellphone, although it's much denser and weighs maybe twice the phone. Still comfortable in a pocket, easy to carry. We're thrilled with it and recommend it highly.
The Canon SD970 and SD960 are basically the same camera except the SD960 lens is more wide (28mm-112mm) and the SD970 is more on the telephoto side (37mm-185mm). As I am using more wide angle for family picture, inside the car and close range shot, I got the SD960. Its also better for landscape. Amateur wildlife photographer would prefer the SD970 obvioulsy OR a nice 500mm f2.8 2000$ lens of course.
I've picked up the Canon SD960/IXUS 110 a few weeks ago and am very pleased with it. The previous posts re: SD970 and 960 describe much of the specs on this camera. I find the photos to be excellent and I really like the macro mode on this one.
It also doubles up as an great HD camcorder producing great quality 720p of h.264 videos.
You can see some samples here http://vimeo.com/3682534 and here http://vimeo.com/4380816.
I also like its distinct design that stands apart from the common blocky style of most others.
For $330 I highly recommend it.
Bobsley: Please send me the link to the 500mm f/2.8 for $2,000. I will buy it! :)
If you're looking for something smaller that's similar, I have had the Canon Powershot SD780 IS for awhile and it's GREAT! First, it's tiny, and can fit in your pocket, and second, the stills look great, lots of shooting modes, and the great ISO 3200 mode for ridiculously easy low-light. And in terms of video, it shoots in HD 720p at 30 fps, and the image stabilizer makes your shots look steady all the time, and it's only $279 I think. Good luck and have fun!
Panasonic LX3 hands down. Great Leica lense and HD video.
http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/shop/Cameras-Camcorders/Digital-Cameras/Lumix-Digital-Cameras/model.DMC-ZS3S_11002_7000000000000005702
I for one would go for the Lumix TZ5. Shoots pretty decent 720p at 30fps. And photos are great as with all Limuxes. I personally have a LX3.
I also have the LX3 and I love it. As a photographer, I love all the manual controls but as a person that just wants a fun camera in my pocket, I am amazed at the "auto" modes which so far really work out very well.
Some will complain that the camera is a big (for a compact), but if you look at why the camera is bigger than most compact and you will realize that this thing is all lens! That is a good thing. It has great low light results.
For those that want to remind us about the FujiFilm f31fd, which I do have. this is the first camera I am happy to replace it with (even if the LX3 only goes to 60mm). If I need more camera, I break out my 1Ds2 and get to work.
M
i'm going to have to go with the TZ5 as well. I currently have an FZ28 (basically the same thing, just more zoom and more pixels), and the photos are awesome, and the video quality is awesome. the audio in the videos is pretty crappy though. i hope the tz5 isn't plagued with that.
Definitely a Panasonic Lumix. I also have an FZ28 and it performs fantastically. The TZ series are reasonably priced, quite small, with really superb Leica lenses and a surprisising amount of zoom, I had one with me on holiday and it worked flawlessly
i have had a Panasonic Lumix FX100 (or something of that model) for three years now. while in college, trying to get all the great pics at parties and bars, it gives the best pictures. it is very quick to turn on to get those momentary pics and the pics always look AMAZING!! i always get so many complements about how good the pics look from my camera.
i definitely recommend some type of Panasonic Lumix. they have only gotten better since then!!!
Yeah, I'm on board with the TZ-5 too. I picked one up in October for a trip to Zion NP. 10x zoom, wide-angle lens, large LCD display, image stabilization, a ton of presets from self portrait to landscape, takes SD cards, even has an optional (though fairly pricey) waterproof enclosure for trips to the beach and underwater photos. The camera itself isn't the smallest, but it fits in my pocket without a problem. I haven't really played with the video mode, so I'll leave others to chime in on that. I picked mine up at Amazon for about $220. They tossed in a free 4GB class 6 SD card, and used the card savings to buy a spare battery. Very pleased with it.
I had a Lumix DMC-Z1 and the video quality was good, despite not having video zoom, but the picture quality was amazing. My GF has the Kodak Z1285 and it takes awesome pictures and full 1080 video at about $179 but the even better camera IMO is the Kodak Easyshare Z1012IS (10.1MP, 12x Optical Zoom, full 1080 HD Video and HD picture mode with up to 6400ISO and very fast shutter speed) at $249 IMO, one of the best DC that is not a DSLR.
I had the exact same question last year when we were planning on going to Disney World for the first time. I ended up buying a TZ5 when it came out for that trip. It has been great. So great, that my mom bought one afterwards because of the quality of the pics and video. The 10x optical zoom is what sold me on it considering it would also fit in a shirt pocket. It was nice to carry it around rather than my DSLR...
cool seeing all this unonimous replies, just ordered my mom a tz5 (tz7 and lx3 were too expensive) and im really looking forward to testing ist out. besides all the camera-qualities, it imho is also great looking. not like all these "toys" coming out these days.
TZ 5 for under $200 at Costco, with a case and a 2gb sd card. I've only had it for a few months but it has some of the best pictures I've seen. Much better than friends with far more expensive digital cameras. Go for it.
+1
Panasonic is simply making the best P&S cameras on the market right now. I read about every review going on mine (FZ18) before I bought it and every time it came out ahead of everything else. The LX3 is one of the most praised P&S cameras of all time.
I've heard the sound is lousy on the Panasonic, and since audio is probably somewhat important to those taking videos, I can't help but wonder if major points should be taken off for that problem. Other than audio quality, it sounds like a nice camera at a good price.
Personally
Canon PowerShot SX110 IS Black 9.0 MP 3.0" 230K LCD 10X Optical Zoom Digital Camera
I must warn everyone looking at doing video with their (still-pic) DC: check whether you can ZOOM during video recording, and also record sound. I switched from being a lifelong Nikon user to Canon to get the S1-IS for it's 10x zoom, optical image stabilizer, and it's ability to record video WITH ZOOM. *NO* other camera at that time could zoom during video, AFAIK. Due in part to Canon's silent ultrasonic zoom motor. Some cameras of the time didn't record sound with the video, either. Zoom-during-video has slowly crept in, but IS NOT universal. Many might say zooming during video is a bad artistic practice, but given the recycle time to stop, flush the video (buffer) to card, zoom, and restart, you'll miss things - just keep recording while zooming, and edit out later if you don't like it. Anyhow, from what I remember, some of the older camera models mentioned in this thread cannot zoom while recording the video - just check before buying if it's important to you. I posted this as a reply to someone suggesting the Canon SX-110 (IS) because that's what I'd buy if my S1-IS broke; I'm a big-zoom user.
The Panasonic DMC-ZS3 (TZ7 intn'l) supports zooming while filming, 720p, and has a 10x optical lens.
Its about 3 and is fantastic for both
The Z400 comes with intelligent night shot which
takes multi night shots and generate a low-noise version.
Very nice shot.
Or go for the Canon G10 if it wasn't your daughter who's holding the cam
I'm very happy with my SD1100, but if I were in your shoes I think I'd pick up the G10. It's in your price range, has a nice sturdy body and all the manual features you are used to. PLUS you are already a canon guy why would you want to learn a new firmware system?
Olympus makes an amazing compact for under 600, i have the older 770sw but im pretty sure the newer 10 mp model is under 600, and with the 2 gig xd card i can take over 500 high rez photos and over an hour of video. Its waterproof to 30 meters, crush proof, shockproof, freezeproof (comes in handy in Alaska) has good image stabilization, and is very user friendly
Dang, Apple doesn't make anything that shoots video. Meh, "the iPhone!"
I almost made it through the comments without seeing a mention of the iPhone.
You ruined it.
Please sir, burn in hell...
Sorry, I meant for this to be a stab at iPhone fanboys. I think it came across as though I am endorsing the iPhone. My bad...
All the MacBooks can record video. He failz...
Some engadget readers need to work on their sarcasm detectors. Why is this low ranked?
"Why is this low ranked?"
It's just badly formulated.
"Some engadget readers need to work on their sarcasm detectors. Why is this low ranked?"
probably also because regular readers are sick to the back teeth of apple trolls, positive or negative.
"Some engadget readers need to work on their sarcasm detectors. Why is this low ranked?"
You need to work on your sarcasm detectors. They weren't being serious while burying his rank.
Greg: Shockingly, it turns out that Apple is not a camera company and doesn't actually make any cameras.
Less stupid comments please, thanks.
Wow. This is really funny. You all think that I am endorsing Apple as a "camera company". HA! This is great. Makes my day.
Canon SD960 IS... im searching the same thing since 4 days and its the one really stand out. Same amazing quality as the popular SD880 IS but with a new slick interface and HD video.
Its the best HD video I saw for a compact P&S.
You can compare side by side any camera at this link (french text, sorry, but quite easy to manage) - very very helpful site.
http://www.lesnumeriques.com/duels.php?ty=1&ma1=1&mo1=661&p1=4653&ma2=1&mo2=616&p2=4093&ph=14
By europeen names of course... the SD960 become the Ixus 110 IS.
I can't vouch for the SD960 itself, but having spent a week at Disney World back in December and took my SD850, which worked great, it'll make your life a lot easier to have something pocketable, since you'll probably already be hauling around all sorts of stuff anyway (especially if you're with your family) it's one lwss thing to worry about. You also don't need to worry about where to put it when you go on rides that way (with the possible exception of Splash Mountain or the other water rides.)
definitely from the EOS line
He already have a rebel and said he dont wanna carry it around. Point and Shoot is the key here.
my Sony CyberShot T700 is pretty beastly. it takes great pictures.. no HD video, but its still great quality non the less.. its very thin and it has a huge touch screen for navigation.... not to mention it has 4 GB of built in memory. i love it.. it runs for about 399 but i was lucky enough to get one from circuit city befor they closed and i got it for 239!
The new version of Sony T700, the T900 has 720p HD recording with zoom and stereo mics built in
I've actually been shopping for the same thing (small digicam, 720p video), and this is my list so far:
Panasonic FX48/FX560/ZS3
Canon SD960IS
My other 2 requirements are a wide-angle lens and image stabilization. I'm still trying to find out which of these have zoom and IS that work in movie mode as well.
The FX48 look very nice, it have better zoom range than the SD960 IS but the image quality is a bit softer and too warm. The HD codec of the FX48 is more compressed too... you can see some artefacts (mpeg2 vs ACVHD (h264)). But damn, its really the 25mm wide angle who set that camera apart. If you need really wide shots, the FX48 is perfect.
Here the SD960 and FX48 side by side.
http://www.lesnumeriques.com/duels.php?ty=1&ma1=1&mo1=661&p1=4653&ma2=60&mo2=673&p2=4876&ph=14
I bought an FX40/48 [model number depends what country you buy it in, but I believe it's the same camera] a couple of weeks ago and I'm pleased so far. I haven't tried the video so I can't say whether it is what the questioner needs. I also haven't properly studied the still image quality yet. Battery life looks good despite the tiny battery.
The thing that made me choose this camera is the wide-angle lens (25mm equiv; most "wide" zooms are 28mm). On my old film SLR I had a 24-85mm zoom and it was great for mountain landscapes and architecture - and the annual "whole family around the Christmas dinner table" shot. That this compact goes nearly as wide is incredible.
It is also very small and light. There are a few smaller, lighter cameras out there but another 20g isn't going to make much difference; you can comfortably put this one in a shirt pocket.
It seems to me that it has better-designed controls than some of the other cameras that I have used, though the main "mode" switch has rotated accidentally a couple of times.
If size is less important to you, I'd suggest looking at this camera's "big brothers" - sorry, I'm too lazy to look up the model numbers but they should be easy to find. There seem to be at least two that also have the 25mm wide zoom, and have larger screens and a few more features. In particular, one has a switch for the aspect ratio above the lens (at 25mm you'll often want to select the 16:9 mode, and on the FX40/48 that's a menu option). That one also has full manual exposure modes.
None of these Lumixes have an optical viewfinder, which is something I miss as a long-time SLR user. There are a few IXUSes that do have an optical viewfinder, and they are even smaller and lighter, but they don't have the wide-angle zoom. I didn't find the LCD viewfinder very easy to use in sunlight, but I have no reason to think it's any worse than any other one; if you live somewhere sunny you might want to compare its brightness with some others.