I need a point and shoot camera recommendation

[BF]

Any camera gurus out there?  I need a point and shoot.  

Want to keep the price below $250.......and I think I've got the search narrowed down to either the  Nikon Coolpix s100......or the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX100V.  These.......

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Nikon+-+Coolpix+S100+16+Megapixel+3D+Compact+Camera+-+Black/4145169.p?id=1218456832345&skuId=4145169&st=nikon%20coolpix%20s100&cp=1&lp=2

and.....

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+Cyber-shot+DSC-TX100V+16.2+Megapixel+Compact+Camera+-+Black/3125682.p?id=1218378959221&skuId=3125682&st=sony%20dsc-tx100v&cp=1&lp=1

Any thoughts on these two cameras?  I think I'm leaning towards the Sony, but I'd like to hear from you guys first.  

[gregc]

 Both are great cameras. Sony tends to use their own software for alot of their products, you might want to look into what software comes with the Sony.  I know they have their own software for music, and it is really tough to switch it over to the popular music file in mp3.

[BF]

That is a concern.  I'm not sure how either camera's software works.  I suppose you have to use either camer's software to upload pics and videos to a computer before being able to email them, send to youtube, etc.  

[Grumpy]

I have the coolpix, and love it, real simple menus to use and takes great pictures. 1080p videos with a zoom feature works great also.

[Colin]

The Coolpix are great cameras. Also have a look at the Panasonic Lumix range they produce great shots too. In Europe it is the TZ20 (soon to be replaced by the TZ30) this one is well worth a look and is in your price range. Model number is different in the US though.

[hubcapsc]

I posted some opinions I had a while back...

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,24192.0.html

-Mike

[solo1]

I have a Canon Elph 1100.  Works great for me, good pics, easy to use.  I just bought a Nikon AW100  Cool Pix from Adorama, refurbished, and it's even better since it's waterproof to 33 feet, and more rugged.  It comes with a filter ring so I can use a filter to protect the lens if I want to shoot video from the bike.  The AW100 originally sold for $350, refurbished with warranty for $239.
Both the Elph and the AW will fit in a shirt pocket, both are excellent, and both are capable of HD video.

There's lots of good choices out there

[Fritz The Cat]

I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FP1. It's small and fits easily in my shirt pocket and takes outstanding pics. The quality is the best I've seen in a point and shoot.

It's discontinued but here's current equivalent.

http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/DMC-FP7K

[Atl-Jerry]

When I migrated from my Blackberry to my Iphone 4, I knew it had a camera on it but that was not a deciding factor.  Now I use the IPhone for 99% of my pix and only break out the Canon for long distance shots.  The picture quality is great AND you can talk, text, email and keep an eye on the VRCC board.  I've bought my last P&S.

AJ

[FPG52]

I own the cool pix and like it a lot.  Many optics in this price range are comparable... Ease of use is important... Here are several key points for me
Nikon menu easy to use
Nikon uses standard SD memory card... Easy to find and less expensive than other memory formats
Nikon uses standard AA batteries... I use rechargeable AA but if stuck can buy standard AA anywhere; many other cameras use their "specialty" battery that are expensive...

So battery and memory card for ease of use is important

Good luck
Frank G

[Black Dog]

I've had a Nikon COOLPIX (L20) for a few years now, and I really like it    Knowing how I hate to spend money, I'm sure it was somewhere near $100, but not much over. 

It's is very easy to use, has the features I need (Nice Zoom, timer so I can get in the picture, uses AA batteries, so it will not need to be charged at the time when you really need it, and uses the SD card holding more pictures than you would believe with a 2G card).  The other nice thing is that it is very easy to down load pic's to a PC...

Nikon, good stuff 

Black Dog

[Black Dog]

Wow Frank...  We just about wrote the same review 

Black Dog

[FPG52]

Black dog
Ya just saw that...and we both ride Valks... Gee you wouldn't happen to like tall good looking large breasted women would you? That would be a coincidence!!

[jer0177]

I've never tried a Nikon or Sony, so here's my take.

I've got a Canon S3-IS.  Great camera (when it came out 5+ years ago), but it's big.  It takes SD and AA, so it's pretty standard. 

It was too big to carry around, so I got a Canon SD-750.  Yes, it has a "proprietary" battery, but that battery stays charged FOREVER.  It also takes SD memory.  The best things about this camera are how quickly it is ready to take a picture after you turn it on (about a second or so), the stability compensation - I can't take a blurry picture with it to save my life, and this one has time-lapse video mode, frame every 1 or 2 seconds.  I dropped it in the dog's water bowl, popped out the battery and shook the water out of it, set it on the dashboard for a few hours and it survived.  It eventually ended up with fuzz inside the lens assembly that shows up if zoomed, so it's a backup now.

I replaced it with a Canon SD-1400 mostly because it takes the same battery as the 750, so now I've got extra batteries and chargers.  They upped the pixel rate, and added some more optical zoom for this one (4x), as well as some shooting modes, but I usually use "auto" for most of my stuff.  It's a bit smaller than the 750, and has rounded edges instead of squared.  Again, quick to take a picture from power on and hard to take a bad picture with.  They removed the time lapse option for this one though, but it does HD video.

My $.02.

[Bob E.]

I have a Samsung and it is a piece of crap.  It takes nice pics, but eats batteries for lunch and has a long delay between pushing the button and when it actually takes the pic.  So trying to get any action shots is near impossible.  I really hate it.

I had a Sony Cybershot about 8 years ago and liked it alot better until the display screen went bad. It did come with it's own software, but I could just as easily download pics onto any computer without it.  I used it alot for work and didn't even load the software on my work computer.

[BF]

I had a Sony Cybershot about 8 years ago and liked it alot better until the display screen went bad. It did come with it's own software, but I could just as easily download pics onto any computer without it.  I used it alot for work and didn't even load the software on my work computer.

That's info I need more of.......input on how user friendly the software is.   Nikon vs Sony's software.  I'm still leaning towards the Sony....but the Nikon is scoring points too. 

[cookiedough]

Can't go wrong with either hopefully.  I have a sony a few years old and the software is special to Sony cameras and harder to transfer to other formats, but can be done.  I like the pic quality and ease of use and very fast snap pictures it takes 1 pic and very rapidly do not have to wait 3-4 seconds to take the 2nd pic.  One thing we absolutely love is the 'rapid fire' mode where you can take very quick 2-10 pics or more in rapid fire sequence by just holding the button down and the speed is amazing especially for sporting events trying to capture that perfect moment and the quality of those rapid fire pics is awesome and amazing no blurring.  If the sony or nikon or others interested in has the rapid fire mode, it is worth it in my opinion just for that feature.  Just make sure you have a huge SD card for rapid fire pics one right after the other.

[hubcapsc]

I had a Sony Cybershot about 8 years ago and liked it alot better until the display screen went bad. It did come with it's own software, but I could just as easily download pics onto any computer without it.  I used it alot for work and didn't even load the software on my work computer.

That's info I need more of.......input on how user friendly the software is.   Nikon vs Sony's software.  I'm still leaning towards the Sony....but the Nikon is scoring points too. 

I've never loaded any camera software.

I just jamb the camera's usb connector onto my laptop, and the laptop sees the camera as a new disk.

I copy the pictures from the camera to some meaningfully-named new directory in my laptop's
PICTURES folder, and then delete all the pictures from the camera.

I Edit the pictures as needed with paint (or windows-movie-maker if it is a video).

Drag any desired ones over to a window that plops them into a directory on the web server, now they're
on the web...

I guess there must be reasons to use proprietary camera software, but I don't know what they are...
some cameras produce videos that aren't compatible with windows-movie-maker might be a reason, but
people who have crappy old slow computers without much memory (like me) don't do much video editing...

-Mike

[hager the horrible]

I have the Sony cyber shot wife takes pics from the bike while moving @  highway speeds does a. Great job on video as well and even i can use it best camera for the money in my opinion

[bassman]

http://focus-camera.store.buy.com/

[Mr Whiskey]

Sugar uses the Cool Pic. Takes just as good pic's as my Cannon A540 (which was an expensive B-day gift).
Don't worry about software for upload/downloading pic's. Get yourself a card reader at any office supply store. Got mine at Office Max for about $5. Put camera memory card in it and place in usb port. Lets you drag-n-drop pic's, vid's, anything from & to the camera card. They make universal readers for a little more money, will read any kind of card.
Hope this helps, peace Whiskey.

[F6MoRider]

Ref the camera's software question/comments:

If you already have a preferred software for manipulation of your pictutres on your PC, you can access most digital cameras data (pictures) once connected, typically USB, to your windows PC where you can continue to use your preferred software.

Plug the camera in and, once recognized, you can access the data using Windows Explorer where you can copy, delete and even perform minor adjustments (like rotate and save) on the camera's file.  Move them to a local data store (hard drive) and use your preferred software and manipulate to your heart's content.

I'd also want to consider the water-proof and shock-proof features in addition to price.  Never know when you may get wet when riding.

[Valkahuna]

Both are great choices. I've typically bought and owned Sony, and the downloading of pics was never a problem.

Now I just carry my iPhone. The 4S takes great pictures, and since I have to carry a phone anyways, I am never without either one. Works for me. YRMV.

[dragon_slayer_129]

I like my kodak playsport camera/video camera.  It shoots 1080HD video and also 5MP pictures and it's waterproof as well.  The waterproof feature is nice for on the bike.  The camera doesn't shoot to bad of pictures in decent light (doesn't have a flash) and the video is pretty good as well.  Granted mine is an older version (zx3 model) and there is a newer model out now (zx5) that has a few improvements over the older model like I have.  I gave just over a 100 bucks for it about a year ago.......you can get a good deal on them from amazon or ebay.

More info on the camera:
http://topratedcamcorders.org/kodak-playsport/

You can see the camera mounted on the RAM mount in this pic:


A video shot with the camera mounted on a RAM mount on the bars (video res was set at the lowest setting so file size wouldn't be to large to upload with my crappy connection):

Warp Speed Mr Zulu.......Passing with the Valkyrie !!	powered by Aeva

Dragon Slayer 129

[sugerbear]

+1 on the usb adaptor or card reader built into laptop. either is MUCH faster and doesn't use cameras  battery. my panasonic tz3 is a 7.3 megapixil. fits in the shirt pocket. large enough for my large hands. takes great pics. video is so/so. i have a 4 gig card so i can take about 1000 pics before it's full. no need to take my laptop on vacation. charge last most of the day, taking lots of pics. charge it at night along with my cell phone.
i have blown up pics to 10 by 12 and they look fine.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

I use a Sony CyberShot cost about $100.00 and its tough I've had it for years and can't count the licks it's took on motorcycle rides .

[Toledo Mark]

Warp Speed Mr Zulu.......Passing with the Valkyrie !!

Dragon Slayer 129

River Rd between Grand Rapids and Waterville.  I have riden that road many times.