Canon elph cameras????

[Sherry Thoeny]

My mother is looking to get a new camera for backpacking. We were looking at an canon elph series at sams club. It is this one:
http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=prod4960018&navAction=

The price in the store is actually 209.00, so it is less than the online price.

Any opinions on this camera. Is it good value for the money? I know it is not a high end camera, but this is about as much as she is willing to spend. In fact she is not convinced she wants to go quite that high. She definately wants optical zoom. That is why she is looking at this one, it has 8 times optical zoom.

Any other cameras in that price range or less you think might work. Her biggest priority is optical zoom and size, and of course it needs to take good pictures.

The camera she has been using is a kodak easyshare dx7590. I know it is not a high end camera either, but she has been very happy with it. She wants a camera to take pictures as good as it does, but in a much smaller package.

I appreciate any advice you can give us. Thank you, Sherry

Forgot to add our trips are rarely more than 2 nights. So I am guessing battery life is not a huge issue. But hey what do I know. That is why I am here:)

[Tony Wong]

Sherry,

I have been using Canon Digital Elphs for about 9 years now.

S230 3.2 Mexapixel camera and when that broke, the S880 IS, which is about 2-3 years old now.

I have literally posted hundreds of photos of my trips under the photo gallery area of BPL and the camera you are looking at is better than mine.

The negatives of the camera is that there is not a view finder, which is not a big deal in my eyes, and that the low light performance is going to be limit. However all pocket cameras in the price range you are looking at will have that issue.

My guess is that one battery will get you 350-450 photos or more, assuming she is not using the flash.

Carrying an extra battery would be a good idea, just in case.

Plus, to preserve the battery, she might want to keep the battery warm at night by sleeping with it or wrapping the camera and extra battery in some extra clothing on chilly nights.

To make up for the inherent limitations of the small sensor in the camera, I would recommend investing in something like Photoshop Elements, which is a cheaper and watered down version of Photoshop.

I use it to clean up my photos and make up for the limitations of what the camera can do….bringing out color and contrast with the software to better capture her memory of what it was like when she was there.

Prepare for her to buy an additional SD memory card as what they give you is of little use.

A 8 Gig card will give her plenty of space for photos and some video.

If you think she is going to go crazy taking videos, go for a 16 gig card and extra batteries….as video using more power and drains the batteries faster.

Hope this helps.

-Tony

[Franco Darioli]

Nice package. good specs at the price and the guys at Steve's digicam like it
http://www.steves-digicams.com/camera-reviews/canon/powershot-elph-310-hs/steves-conclusion-162.html
expect around 200 shots per battery charge. Another battery will be less than an ounce and not many dollars…
Franco

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