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I'm looking to get a camera and I was planning on a sub compact or compact. Does anyone know who the best makers and what the best models are? I'd prefer they also be reasonably priced.

Canon, Nikon, Sony are probably the most popular camera manufacturers, and it would be hard to find a bad camera amongst them (relatively speaking). What exactly are you looking for besides size (low light, zoom, video, manual control, etc.), and what do you consider a reasonable price range?

The two I've had on my wishlist for many months are

Casio High-Speed Exilim EX-FC100 9.1 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-inch LCD (Black)

Canon PowerShot SD970IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 3.0-inch LCD (Silver)

$226 and $306 respectively at amazon. Although the casio I'm interested in just for the high speed photography.

Check out http://dpreview.com for a buyer's guide and reviews.

This is what I am looking at ATM. Black Friday sale at Office Max.

http://tgiblackfriday.com/Office-Max/-Kodak-Z950-12-Megapixel-10x-Zoom-Black-Digital-Camera-deal

drifter said:

Canon, Nikon, Sony are probably the most popular camera manufacturers, and it would be hard to find a bad camera amongst them (relatively speaking). What exactly are you looking for besides size (low light, zoom, video, manual control, etc.), and what do you consider a reasonable price range?

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No more than $200, size is the number one thing, most I see in the $150 range at most. I just really wondered if anyone had one they recommended specifically.

I bought a Casio Exilim awhile ago, and it worked great until I broke it

If you go with the Exilim, just make sure you get a hard case for it. I used a fabric pouch, and accidentally pushed the on button while it was in my pocket too many times, causing the lens to try to pop out and then get stuck as it couldn't expand in my pocket. Eventually this caused one of the gears to jam up and I couldn't fix it.

So, as long as you're not being as stupid as I was, the Exilim is a great buy. Reliable, good battery life (mine was an older model, and it was able to RECORD 640x480 video continuously for almost 2 hours before the battery died). The power dock and computer interface are great, and picture quality is very good. That, and it can fit inside a standard deck of cards' box.

The UI and buttons on the back of the camera were also great. The layout was good, and I never had any problems with buttons losing their ability to function. The ONLY drawback (which I don't care about, anyway) is the lack of a viewfinder. That's fine with me, though, because it allows more room to have a bigger screen, and I never used the viewfinders on my older digital equipment, anyway.

I'd prolly go with a Canon SD1200 IS. Solid camera for a good price, it's regularly $199 but there's currently a $20 Canon instant rebate until Nov. 20th. If you'd rather go a little lower, maybe the Canon A1100 IS which runs around $130 with the current Canon instant rebate.

I've also heard good things about the Sony Cybershot DSC-W290, which runs about $200 or so (or you could go for the W220, which is slightly smaller, lighter and cheaper, but has less zoom range and whatnot. It runs around $150-170). One thing, though, is with Sony you have to go with their Memory Stick format, as opposed to the more common SD cards.

I've read some decent reviews of the Samsung SL102, but I think part of that might be due to how much they cost; around $100.

Personally, I would go for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ8K, which goes for $109, but it is a little on the hefty side (for a compact digital camera), so maybe you might not like it.

These prices are all from Amazon, but I'm also going to plug adorama.com. Sometimes you can get a better deal there, and they have a rock solid reputation.

Just saw this today. It might be worth looking through.

cnet's best compact cams of 2009

Oh, one other thing; it's always best to get your hands on a model that you're looking at, if you can. A lot of compact cameras offer pretty similar performance, so the controls and the user interface can make a big difference.

drifter said:

Oh, one other thing; it's always best to get your hands on a model that you're looking at, if you can. A lot of compact cameras offer pretty similar performance, so the controls and the user interface can make a big difference.

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1000x this.

Until you turn it on and take a few pictures, adjust the controls, zoom in and out, you won't be able to tell any of these cameras apart.

Make sure you're happy with the time it takes between turning the camera on, and taking the first picture. Some cameras are dog slow, and you'll find this irritating after you buy it.

Polaroid. Instant pictures all up in this motherfucker.

Take a good look at Casio. It is the happy snap my pro photographer brother recommends and carries. It takes some awesome pics. It also has good specialized, situational camera settings.

I have a 3 year old Panasonic Lumix that I really like. I'm not sure what they are priced now, but it's been a great camera and the battery still holds a pretty good charge after all of these years. Plus, the audio it gets when you record video is pretty good for what it is...good enough that I don't mind using it to record audio clips to post on facebook.

stienman said:

The two I've had on my wishlist for many months are

Casio High-Speed Exilim EX-FC100 9.1 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-inch LCD (Black)

Canon PowerShot SD970IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 3.0-inch LCD (Silver)

$226 and $306 respectively at amazon. Although the casio I'm interested in just for the high speed photography.

Check out http://dpreview.com for a buyer's guide and reviews.

Click to expand...

I love my Casio compact. It's been great for three years now.