suggestions for the best travel camera?

I really like Canon. I've owned the Canon sd700 IS and now I've got a Canon sd800 IS as well as a Sony T-Series camera. I use my Canon sd800 IS more than my other one since it's got a wide lens which the sd700 IS has a shorter lens. It is really good for taking shots where you want to capture group pictures, landscapes, statues, buildings. However, the SD700 IS takes better pictures but I think you'd have to be a advanced user to notice the difference.

I would suggest that 3x zoom is inadequate. Last year we used a Panasonic 6X zoom, and have since graduated to a Canon 10x. The size difference is more than made up for by the somewhat larger lens.

Linda, I love my Sony H5 Camera. It has a large lens opening, so pictures inside building, like stained glass windows, always come out great without the flash.
It has automatic settings that are "dumb" proof. YOu pick the picture of the setting - i.e. if you are taking a photo of landscape, you pick the mountain, if you are in really bright light, like at a beach, you pick the beach setting. If you are in a church, or low light, you pick the "twilight" setting. this makes photo taking so easy! It also has a "steady shot" setting, so I don't get blurry photos indoors in low light, or outside when in a hurry!

Bottom line, go to a photography store and talk to someone there that knows cameras. Explain your hesitation, your needs, and I'm sure they can help you pick a camera that suits your needs and skills.

Any of the Canon PowerShot Axxx series will suit your needs. These camera are in the range fo $100 to $200, Just a notch above a straight point and shoot. Uses AA batteries so you don't have to worry about taking a charger with you. Very compact and can slip it in a pocket without a case. Uses a common SD card which are now very cheap. Look for 3x or 4x optical zoom. MegaPixels in the range of 5 to 7 is MORE than adequate for you. Late last year Consumers Report had an extensive evaluation of digital camera in the range of what you are looking for.

Finally comment -- buy a camera with a viewfinder. The viewfinder makes it easier to take pictures in bright light and you are less obvious when taking the picture. Sometimes that is important. The lower priced cameras will not have viewfinders.

I think you will have plenty of choices under $400 especially at Costco.

Like you, I prefer an all-in-one digital camera. Get a big memory plug in (different types for different cameras). You can bring home 700 pictures on one tiny card, sure beats bags of film. I trade the wrist strap for a neck strap and carry it around my neck tucked under my shirt unless I'm taking pictures.

I've had great luck with a Nikon Coolpix camera. Cannon cameras are always good too. I'm hearing great things about Sony's new optics but I haven't tried them. I'm currently using an Olympus but am still deciding how much I like it.

Avoid other brands, they just don't take as good of pictures.

Here are the features you will like:
-A big display on the back. You can review and share your pictures immediately. 2.5" is great!
-At least 3x optical zoom. Digital zoom just focuses on part of the picture.
-At least 3 mega pixels per photo (most are way over that now).

I checked www.Costco.com. There are several Cannons and Nikons for under $200 online. Check it out.

Go Zags! and Cougs too!

Canon Powershot 1000 or 750 is really nice. Small compact and light and good quality/ Easy to use and good in low light w/o flash! get a couple extra mem cards and go for it. And yes -Costco is probably the cheapest.

I'd vote for the Canon A720.

7 megapixels, 6x zoom, anti-shake, SD cards, 2 AA batteries, has a viewfinder.

"Froogle" will find you a reputable source for about $199, or some of the bigbox stores will have it for under $250. If you get lucky, one will have it on sale, and you can take that price to a second store which advertises price matching + 10% less, and get a real deal.

Be sure to get a small case, and extra batteries with a charger.

Costco is the cheapest source for SD cards, it seems.

Consider getting an adapter and screw-on polarizing filter (will set you back about $50) (and require a next-size bigger camera bag) if you want better pictures; you won't use it for most pictures, but it can make a difference for some outdoors.

Get a little tripod, like the "gorilla", and have it in your daypack. Beats trying to prop camera up on folded jacket

Get a package of LCD screen covers and put one on now, before you scratch the display.

Read the manual - before you go.

This is my vote: Panasonic DMC-TZ3. Available at Costco. This little camera is the best. It's small enough to carry around all day, even fits in your pocket. It has a 10x OPTICAL zoom and is 7mp. It has easy read pictures on the menu. Pick one- candlelight, party, sunny, fireworks, whatever,just set the dial and it sets the correct lighting. Also has the anti shake feature. I've had nothing but great pictures from this camera and two of my friends have bought it too. One of the biggest pluses in my opinion is the recovery speed. So many of the cameras have a long delay between shots. This one doesn't, infact you can even set it to a constant shoot which will capture movement in sport, etc. Great camer. Love it.

I used my Canon A620 last year and was very happy with it; compact enough to hide in my front pocket, 2 MB card gives almost limitless memory including video clips. For the same money this year you might get more pixels. The compact size means it uses the small but relatively expensive proprietary battery instead of AAs, (very expensive over there) but by all means get a spare and charge one while you use the other. A little tripod is nice to have. One downside; the flash is a bit hot and tends to wash out face tones in real dark surroundings. There's probably a fix for that and I just haven't found it. Pretty good in available light, on the other hand.

Linda,

It's difficult to recommend "the best and easiest" Camera for close-ups, distance and indoor pictures, and one that will also fit in a Purse. A dSLR will cover most of your criteria, but operation is more complicated and size & weight are definitely an issue. Therefore, some compromises will be necessary.

You might have a look at www.dpreview.com to see whether any of these Cameras will work for you:

• Canon S5-IS

• Canon SX-100 (reliable image quality, but slow flash recycling a problem)

• Canon A720-IS (received the "Highly Recommended" rating)

• Canon G9 (also "Highly Recommended", good feature set!)

• Panasonic DMC-FZ18 (no viewfinder)

• Canon SD-870-IS (very compact but only 3.8x optical zoom)

I'm most familiar with Canon models, so can't offer too many suggestions on other brands.

Your budget should also allow for extra batteries, Memory Cards and a small Case. I'd suggest at least two high capacity Memory Cards.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

I was new with a digital camera when, after much research on travel sites, I decided to get a Canon PowerShot A700 for our trip. Loved it. Two weeks in Europe, about 1500 images, lightweight, easy to learn, fits easily into my small day bag...I took two memory cards and enough AA batteries so that I could replace them every other day. Perfect. Now, I take it everywhere.

Frank,

While it's certainly possible for Memory Cards to fail, I usually travel with larger capacity (4GB) cards for my dSLR due to the fact that I often shoot RAW + JPEG which results in fairly large file sizes. Therefore, I need the capacity.

On longer trips I have the option of a Portable Hard Drive, so can transfer the photos from each card at the end of the day. For shorter trips, I normally just take 4-6 Memory Cards.

I always buy either Lexar (Premium) or SanDisk (Ultimate III or IV) Cards, hoping that these are better quality and perhaps will be more reliable than some of the "budget" brands. So far I haven't had any problems, although I realize there are no guarantees.

Cheers!

I agree with Ken and use the same brands he mentioned. With memory cards being so inexpensive these days its wise to use the highest resolution of which a camera is capable. Not only will it provide a better image, it will provide enough high resolution shots that can be enlarged or cropped and enlarged without losing quality in the enlargement.
Personally, I think anything from a 2gig to 4gig card works well. As Ken mentioned, if you don't have enough space on the cards there are devices you can buy to store the images. If you want to find which card has been tested to work best in a particular camera, check out this website:
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007 It is not totally comprehensive, but it will give you some idea of how cards perform.

I would offer a cautionary note about the high capacity memory card recommendations. Memory cards can fail for no apparent reason. I lost over a hundred photos once when a 256 card died. A couple of weeks ago when traveling with another couple their only card failed. Fortunately they had transfer their pictures to a computer each day so only a day's worth of pictures were lost. But their camera was useless because they could not obtain a replacement card during the trip. My practice now is to carry four, 512 cards. The downside to that is keeping track of four little cards. It is a trade-off. I would hate to have all of my pictures on a 2g card and have it go bad.

I recommend the camera I've been using for the last two years; the Canon A710 IS. It's 6x and 7.1 mega pixels. You can find it for $250-$300. I take my laptop with me and use a 2G SanDisk card. I've never had a problem with cards. It's easy to use and takes great photos and video. It uses 2 AA batteries. Get 4 rechargeable. Use two during the day and charge them at night. It's been to Germany and the World Cup, Hawaii, concerts, and never failed. I couldn't recommend it more highly.

The A710IS is a good camera but it was replaced in January by the A720IS with newer technology and a lower price. For anyone interested:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona720is/

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/518217-REG/Canon_2092B001_Powershot_A720_IS_Digital.html

Actually the A720 IS at 8.0 pixels and about $170 or less is a better value and camera than the 710

I really appreciate all the advice. I looked at the costco web site and found at least 9 Canons between $179 and $379. They have the A720 IS that has been mentioned but they also have the SD 950IS, S5 IS, A650, SD870, SX100, SD850, SD750, and SD100. WOW! Might it be worth the extra $ to get the SD 950 IS? I need to go get a book on digital cameras just to be able to figure out the differences. I've been lazy with my photography education, but no more. I want some clear pictures of those wild Connemara ponies this summer!

Linda, be a little careful. More is not always better. The SD is a different series of camera with much different specifications. The SD 950 is a 12 meg pixel camera with a short optical zoom -- 3.7. And it uses a dedicated Lithium battery. It is more compact because of the battery system. The 12 meg is overkill by about double for the purpose you described. The only advantage to lots of meg is the ability to make huge prints or take a very small portion of the print and make a much better print. For the standard 8x10 or every a 10 x 14 print a six meg is more than adequate. I done 8x10 with a 3.2 meg camera for years, Only a professional trained eye would notice the difference. 12 meg hog more memory and reduces the number of pictures on a card.

4 to 6x is nice zoom ratio. Beyond that the shakes set in even with IS unless using a tripod. For travel purposes you cannot beat a AA battery set up which the A720 has -- no charger and no backup expensive lithium battery.

Linda,

Listen to Frank. Also, more pixels on a small sensor makes for more noise. Noise in digital cameras is the equivalent of graininess with film. You don't want anything more than a 4x-6x zoom with IS..Image Stabilazation. Even at 6x you could get some camera shake if you had an unsteady hand or low light conditions. The camera manufacturers are marketing to the consumer attitude that "more is better". With digital cameras it certainly is not the case. You don't need a book to learn. Go to www.dpreview.com, read and ask questions. KNOW the seller. The one I mentioned, www.bhphotovideo.com is the leading Canon dealer in the country. They alone account for 60% of all Canon equipment sold in the US. And before some jump in to dispute me on the sales figure, please rest assured I'm very confident of that fact. And no, I don't work for BH. DO go to www.dpreview.com. You'll get all the necessary information you need regarding digital cameras.

I think most of the comments were helpful. I bought my Olympus mainly for the 5x optical zoom.

I wouldn't spend money on a case. When traveling a case just identifies your camera as a target for theft.

My neckstrap is a thin freebie (from Spokane's Hoopfest) it keeps the camera handy and tucks away when not in use. Most cameras die from being dropped, so a neckstrap is better than pulling it repeatedly out of a case and more convenient than having a wrist strap constantly around one hand.