The Perfect Digital Camera

Last week I used a digital point & shoot at work and re-discovered one of the biggest problems with this kind of camera. It is nearly impossible to see the viewing screen when taking pictures in bright daylight. From that experience I concluded that my next digital camera should have a viewer of some sort rather than just the viewing screen that most come with. After spending some time online researching digital cameras with viewers I decided that position is not very practical after all. Other than DSLR’s (which I have already dealt with in earlier posts) I discovered that cameras that come with viewers generally have two things in common. They are big and they are expensive.

Now all things are relative. When I say they are big I mean big for a point & shoot. One of the advantages of a digital point & shoot is that it can be conveniently slipped into purse or pocket and carried around wherever you go so it’s there when you need it. The cameras that come with viewers are all substantially bigger than the ones without. That’s a deal breaker for me. If I’m going to carry a camera that that’s too big to fit in my pocket I might as well bring a DSLR along, or better yet, my SLR. As for the expensive part, again all things are relative but a point & shoot that costs as much a “system camera” or a basic DSLR just doesn’t make much sense to me.

What I am looking for is a good quality inexpensive digital point & shoot camera that I can carry around in my pocket and use to take snap shots for business or pictures pleasure. To me quality means a highly rated camera from a well-established manufacturer with a 10-12 megapixel sensor. Inexpensive means under $300. For business I need the “full automatic” mode so I can concentrate on the task at hand (whatever that might be) instead of photography. For pleasure I need enough features and control to make the camera get those “non-standard” shots that make photography a fun & challenging hobby.

Versatility dictates a zoom range from wide angle to short telephoto and I want a lens fast enough to capture available light shots without a flash. I also want a built in flash to get the shots I can’t get with just the fast kens. That means an f2 or better lens and a pop up flash that’s good out to 15 to 20 feet.

The most important prerequisite for any camera is that the controls have to be intuitive. I have been using the Olympus FE-310 pictured above off and on for over a year now and I still can’t do anything except press the shutter button without having to check the manual first. It’s a great little camera and I have been a lifelong Olympus fan but the menus & controls on this camera just don’t work for me.

That said,  I think I may have found the perfect (almost) digital camera, at least for me. I will tell more about it and reveal which one it is in my next post.