Fast Camera

I was recently looking for a new camera also. My husband did all kinds of research to find a small yet fast camera for me. (He's a bit of a tech geek and sometimes goes a bit overboard on his research lol!) He found the Cannon PowerShot SD1100 IS. It really does a pretty good job and is very easy to use plus it is as small as my cellphone.

when you talk about speed there are 2 things to consider.
1 - shutter delay. this is the time it takes from when you press the button until the picture actually snaps
2 - picture to picture delay. this is the time it takes to write the already snapped pic to the memory

I did a ton of research on this last year, and you can look up the mfg specs to see what the time is for shutter delay and picture delay. I found that Sony seems to have the least amount of shutter delay. So when i snap a picture with my sony it takes it instantly (or just about) rather than missing the moment. The problem with the sony is that the picture quality is not quite as good as with the cannon or nikon cameras. But unless you are printing many 8x10's the picture quality is not noticible onscreen or in 4x6's. Plus my thought is that I would rather capture the moment and have the picture quality be slightly less than to not capture the moment at all bc the camera was too slow!

hope this makes sense...if you have questions feel free to ask!

I did a ton of research on cameras to take pics at my sons baseball games. I wanted something fast (Burst Mode), light, and easy to use. After hours of research, I ended up with a canon powershot. I hate to say it, but you might want to see if you can spend a little more. It killed me to spend a little more, but it was so worth it. I have a super nice camera that takes awesome pictures. A friend of mine has a rebel and OMG it is awesome, but I was too cheap to go that direction.

Here is how you buy a camera:

5x optical/4x digital zoom - You want more optical zoom. It is much better and takes a better picture than digital zoom. Optical zoom means that the actual camera moves to zoom and digital zoom means that it messes with the pixels to zoom in.

3" color TFT-LCD display - display is important to some. I don't care how big the screen is because the picture is going to be the same. I find this feature much less important than the zoom. It is nice to have good menu features, but most people don't know how to use much more than the downloading capability.

Megapixel - the more you can afford the better, but I really put more weight into the optical zoom factor. The more megapixels you get into, the pricier the camera. I believe that anything over a 6 is just fine.

If you plan on taking lots of pics of baby, I would get a memory card. Sometimes if you buy your camera online at best buy or another electronic store, you can get a memory card free. Also, i don't know if you plan on buying a printer or not. I have found that by the time you buy the paper and the ink for the photo printers, it is easier and cheaper to print my pics at Walmart or CVS.

Batteries - VERY IMPORTANT. Make sure that the camera will take regular batteries. Some cheap cameras take weird batteries or eat batteries. I Highly suggest that you buy some rechargeable batteries and a charger. This will save you TONS of money on batteries for your camera!

Use Best Buy and Amazon customer reviews. Read them and see what other people think of the cameras that you are interested in.

Good luck on your camera hunt. I hope I didn't overload you, but I really spent a lot of time researching and it feels good to be able to help someone else out! haha

Hi,

My parents purchased a larger Kodak and my mom keeps missing the picture because the photo is slow to take. She wanted a smaller camera and my Dad bought her a small Kodak and she still misses the picture becuase the delay is fairly long. I have talked to coworkers about it and Kodak has one of the longer delays. My husband said all cameras have a delay that depends on lighting but that Kodak seems to have the longest delays. (He does a lot with photography).
We have a Sony cybershot and then just got a Canon Powershot and both are good. To be honest, we like the features of the Sony cybershot but it has/had (I don't know if it is resolved) a problem with dust getting into the housing. The dust then gets on the sensor when you zoom. Essentially, we are no longer able to zoom with that camera which is why we purchased a new one.
You also might consider the video capabilities of the camera. We take lots of mini videos of the girls which is wonderful! If you like the video idea, just watch the format. They come in different types and it depends on your abilities and what you want to do with them.
The Kodak is a good camera but it is very frustrating to my mom when she tries to take pictures of the girls. They are just moving too fast and usually the moment is over by the time the picture is taken.
Good luck!!

I don't know *much* about this, but if you get a camera that has the capability of making use of the HIGH-SPEED cards, they take the pictures much faster. I have a Fuji Finepix that can use the regular SD card or the HIGH-SPEED SD card and when I use the high-speed card, it is tons quicker. There is a website with a lot of information about comparing different kinds of cameras called Steve's Digicams. www.steves-digicams.com If you narrow your search down to two or three models, you can do comparisons and they have reviewes and can lead you to places where your camera can be ordered for the best price. I just checked a 10 megapixel Fuji Finepix is under $130, with 12x optical zoom and uses the high speed card. It does NOT have to have the high speed card and the high speed cards are more expensive, but they are also quicker.

My sister has an Olympus camera which is similar to my Fuji in size and capabilities and one of her features is the ability to shoot a bunch of pictures in a row, like a fashion model photographer. She takes pictures for her church and oftentimes she needs a pic of a special speaker or something and she wants it while he's speaking and also doesn't want to be obvious out shooting. She can do that without a flash and get 10-15 shots in a row and it's likely that ONE of them will turn out to work for their web site. My sister and I just went to Italy together last month and there were times she got better pictures than I because of this feature, but there were times I got better pictures than her because of the Fuji's capability to do super macro, which I really like.

Both of these camera's I'm talking about are larger types of cameras...sometimes called mid-size cameras. Definitely not those huge SLRs...but also definitely not those little bitty things that you can easily slip into a pocket or purse.

I would also recommend going to a store and feeling the camera and taking some trial shots with it before you make your final decision. I thought I wanted an Olympus like my sister until I actually held one at HH Gregg and for me, it just didn't feel right...I had a hard time focusing, it didn't seem natural. So, when you settle on a style you're really interested in, make sure you actually get to see and hold one of that STYLE... somewhere, but if you buy it online, it's MUCH cheaper.

Sometimes when you buy the camera you can get a good deal on a high speed card at that time.

Other pluses about the SD card-- they are readily available world-wide.

These cameras also use AA batteries which are readily available world-wide. (I bought a few sets of rechargable nickle metal hydride ones and they last can last easiliy through a day of sight-seeing and 300+ picture taking.)

My daughter and son-in-law bought a little Sony on their honeymoon and they LOVE it and get great pictures from it...and it's about the size of a credit card (I'm exaggerating, but not much) It's really probably about the size of my RAZR cell phone... it is LITTLE and it's easy to take with them and the whole back is the viewer.

Our other daughter has a digital SLR Nikon that is HUGE...but takes FANTASTIC pictures.

All these cameras have different features...you have to figure out what's most important to you.

Also, REMEMBER that the prices will come down and the features will get more advanced..it's the nature of technology. My Fuji cost about $200 almost 2 years ago...now a similar one is four models later and $70 cheaper.

Also remember that as much as you think you can plan to have a camera for your children growing up...your needs may change, the manufacturers may come out with something that you like better, it could get lost or broken... the important thing is to buy SOMETHING and start taking pictures!!! And don't forget to back them up on your computer--put them on CDs or on an external hard drive.

I sure hope this helps. Good luck.

Sony and Canon seems to be the fastest and most reliable on the market. Part of my decision making was 1) what kind of batteries does it take? I thnk Sony requires only it's own (expensive) ones. 2) what will you use it the most for? Movies? baby photos or sports that require a quick shutter speed? family photos that you will enlarge? All those uses may guide you to a specific camera model or a brand. You are going to find pros and cons for any make and model. The info. other gave is very very helpful.
I helped a friend shop for a new camera as a surprise for her husband. Those "use" questions helped her decide which model was best for her family's usage.
FYI: I have a website you can check out when you are ready to turn those photo memories into albums: www.mycmsite.com/mindynemoff Go to "digital" area and get 20 free prints! My business is to inspire others to capture, share, celebrate and preserve their life stories. By giving my customers personalized service, and offering guaranteed high quality photo-safe products I am helping them create keepsake albums that will be cherished by future generations. I offer time-saving tips & tricks to organize, prioritize and complete scrapbooks and memory albums while learning & having a good time.

I have owned 2 Sony Cyber Shots, the one I have now is a big one, but both took excellent pictures. It takes better pictures than the Kodak, but what you must do on these and all digital camera'a is read the book. Both of My Camera's had different settings, this one has 10 different settings for lighting and how the shutter goes off. you can set the shutter form tri-pod delay to no delay, Me I am not much of a read directions first, so I have to turn the settings knob, to make sure before I start I get the correct shutter speed & light setting. It also makes digital movies. The first one was a 5X 3x zoom, and this one is 10x with a 15 x zoom, and both of them take great pictures, sadly my first one was stolen, and the second one we are using it was a gift from me & My husband to one another for our 29th wedding aniversary. For Christmas we got our daughter a fugi through BEST BUY, and it takes really good pictures. But I still prefer the Cybershot. Go to Best Buy site & compare the different models, contact me & I can show you pictures taken by my daughters & both of mine. I owned several other's, and I am sticking with the Cybershot.

most of the time the speed of the camera also has to do with the battery, is it fully charged, etc. When I am waiting (kids moving...) to take a picture I push the button in half way then it is focused and ready.