Budget compact shootout finds the best little digicams for your buck

Sure, we all like reading reviews of high-end compact shooters, like the Olympus E-PL1 and Ricoh's transforming GXR, but, when it comes to actually putting down the credit card most folks go with something a bit more... frugal. So, Digital Camera Resource Page has created the 2010 Budget Camera Shootout, which includes eight cameras in the $150 to $180 range with tiny cases and 4 or 5x zoom lenses. Contenders include the Olympus FE-4030, Samsung SL600, and Canon SD1300. It's perhaps no surprise that the PowerShot, long king of the budget roost, comes out on top, but we won't spoil the rest of the rankings, which do include some unexpected performances, and should enable your buying with confidence for this summer's shooting season -- without blowing your budget.

[boxieblue Posted Jun 29th 2010 8:03AM]

it's funny...just yesterday i was reading an article on a wishlist for cameras. Featured prominently on the list was a view-finder...it's missing in all of these cams from what i can see.
just yesterday i went on a trek and wanted to take some pictures. It was so bright that my LCD screen was rendered completely useless...that;s where the view-finder comes to your rescue

[Tes Posted Jun 29th 2010 8:42AM]

@boxieblue

Plus when you're trying to squeeze the last bit of juice from a slowly dying battery, a viewfinder is a Godsend.

[Bongo123 Posted Jun 29th 2010 8:12AM]

at a recent family BBQ in the sun i took a load of pictures & video with the iphone 4 and tbh, i can never see me taking my wee lumix out again, i was impressed as all hell with the quality of shots & video... albiet in ideal conditions

[JamesR Posted Jun 29th 2010 9:47AM]

@Bongo123

This is going to be more and more the case as cell "phones" get better and better cameras. I never take my P&S camera anywhere anymore because of the quality of my phone's camera.

[Atkins Posted Jun 29th 2010 9:52AM]

@JamesR You should try the S90.

[zenzen Posted Jun 29th 2010 11:26AM]

@Bongo123
Thanks for adding "ideal conditions". IMO we're a few generations away from smartphones replacing point&shoots like my lowly Canon SD1200is. How big is the photo sensor in the iphone 4?

[Blackstar Posted Jun 29th 2010 1:15PM]

@Atkins

+1 on that. Don't short yourself on quality for a few bucks. Get the Canon PowerShot S90. Best point and shoot with no compromise on quality of your photography. The lens on it is quite amazing.

[Baconbits Posted Jun 29th 2010 8:19AM]

I kind of question those 12-14megapixels that they all claim. It always seems they take the picture quality of a 4-6 and stretch it out.

[Atkins Posted Jun 29th 2010 8:51AM]

@Baconbits What??

[Rickets187 Posted Jun 29th 2010 9:36AM]

@Baconbits

12MP is slightly by-the-by when you are shipping a camera with a cheap lens; that's most likely why the pictures look like crap.

[theonlysmr Posted Jun 29th 2010 10:21AM]

@Rickets187
ya if the had better lenes they might take better pictures
but... you get what you pay for
i just cant decide between a d5000 or a t1i
anyr suggestions?

[i8urCookies Posted Jun 29th 2010 10:38AM]

@Baconbits
The issue is that more megapixels doesn't equal more quality. cramming that many megapixels in such a small sensor can actually degrade the quality of the image because each pixel sensor is so small, the amount of light each can see and process is limited. Lens optics usually makes more of a difference than total MP do on these small cameras anyway.

I'd take IQ over megapixels anyday. Besides, I rarely shoot over 5mp, anything much more than that on a P&S just wastes space on the SD card (imo of course). Give me less MP and better low light sensitivity please. If you need giant images for poster-sized prints, you probably should be using a DSLR anyway.

[fizzlefist Posted Jun 29th 2010 1:36PM]

@theonlysmr between those two, i'd go with the d5000 for pictures, but if you're planning on shooting video with any kind of regularity, canon wins hands-down right now... i'd actually suggest seeing if you can save up the extra $100-$200 or so for a T2i if you're going that route

[htd Posted Jun 29th 2010 8:33AM]

that fuji xp10 for $140 (including camera bag and 4G SDHC at costco) seems to qualify for this category

[XRX Posted Jun 29th 2010 8:36AM]

cybershot HX5V for me

[Atkins Posted Jun 29th 2010 9:00AM]

@XRX Sony A900 for me!

[LloydChiro Posted Jun 29th 2010 10:06AM]

@Atkins

Hasselblad CFV-39 for me!

[XRX Posted Jun 29th 2010 10:14AM]

@LloydChiro

Hasselblads have ugly design...........not for me..

Sony's cameras look like hero .......

[XRX Posted Jun 29th 2010 10:18AM]

@Atkins
Sure but ace of spades should not be taken out every time.

[Excalibur Posted Jun 29th 2010 8:57AM]

Which of the cameras has the STUPID EU limit of 10 minutes recording time for video? I have owned 8 Casio cams and bam, the latest one, EX-S10 has a vid limit of 10 mins. You then press record again. My imported EX-FS10 has no limit.

The UK gets stuffed over as usual.

[Shalabi Posted Jun 29th 2010 10:23AM]

@Excalibur Why does your facist government limit the recording time on cameras?

[Excalibur Posted Jun 29th 2010 11:38AM]

@Shalabi It's some EU regulation and in order to escape TAX, all cams into the UK (and a few other regions) are limited. DAMN annoying.

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/digitalcameras/0,39029429,49291733,00.htm

[Firehazel Posted Jun 29th 2010 1:16PM]

@Excalibur That's bull... Sucks for your man, I really do have sympathy for you, and all my British Brothers.(I'm American born and raised, but who says I can't have relatives I don't even know?)

[pspitts Posted Jun 29th 2010 9:35AM]

Don't they litter the market with them crap cameras? LOL!
The market is super saturated with cameras. The industry has really fucked themselves.

[NoobsRUs Posted Jun 29th 2010 9:55AM]

iPhone 4

[anotherworld Posted Jun 29th 2010 1:00PM]

@NoobsRUs Iphone 4 can't even make a phone call what makes you think it could take better pictures than a real camera? At least if i hold my lumix anyway i want, it will take pictures...

[LloydChiro Posted Jun 29th 2010 10:11AM]

It's funny to see how much pixel peeping they do for $150 cameras.

Don't use anything over 400 ISO; it won't make good prints!

Imagine that you might actually have some noise on your image. Is the buyer of a $150 camera concerned about ISO noise?

[justmoe1 Posted Jun 29th 2010 10:46AM]

odd you did not include a single canon sx series camera.

[dsstrainer Posted Jun 29th 2010 10:53AM]

$150 to $180? pfft.. Budget is between $79 & $129 these days. Hard to thing my sd450 that I paid $350 for at 4MP is 3 times the price of the newer ones for 12MP

[montusama Posted Jun 29th 2010 11:01AM]

None of these cameras make my interested list because they all lack AA batteries. I think AA NiMH batteries are the best for cameras plus you can switch them out easily without having to buy a backup lithium ion battery from the manufacture.

[anotherworld Posted Jun 29th 2010 12:59PM]

Lumix FTW!!!!!!!!!!!

[fizzlefist Posted Jun 29th 2010 1:33PM]

i picked up an SD1300 during a mother's day sale. Got the camera + canon-branded leather case and a 2 gig PNY SD card for $179.99. Throw in a 4 gig eye-fi and i've been very very happy with it.

[fikhl Posted Jun 29th 2010 3:58PM]

Nokia N8?! :)