Looking for a pocket camera under $350

I'm helping a family member buy a new digital camera for work. She
does trail work and needs a camera for taking photos out on the trail.

Criteria:

1) Fits easily in a pocket.

2) Optical zoom, lens cover physically a part of camera.

3) Capable of taking good, not blurry, pics in low light, no flash,
while hand held (pics of trails in the woods in the daytime).

4) Macro or closeup setting for taking photos of wildflowers.

5) Has place to attach a leash.

6) Under $350 US

Suggestions?

Thanks!

jc
--

"The nice thing about a mare is you get to ride a lot
of different horses without having to own that many."
~ Eileen Morgan of The Mare's Nest, PA

JC Dill wrote:
I'm helping a family member buy a new digital camera for work. She
does trail work and needs a camera for taking photos out on the trail.

Criteria:

1) Fits easily in a pocket.

2) Optical zoom, lens cover physically a part of camera.

3) Capable of taking good, not blurry, pics in low light, no flash,
while hand held (pics of trails in the woods in the daytime).

4) Macro or closeup setting for taking photos of wildflowers.

5) Has place to attach a leash.

6) Under $350 US

Fujifilm f30 (and successor f31) sounds worth a look.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_.../fuji_f30.html

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilmf31fd/

BugBear

On Wed, 25 Apr 2007 08:16:38 -0700, JC Dill wrote:

I'm helping a family member buy a new digital camera for work. She
does trail work and needs a camera for taking photos out on the trail.

Criteria:

1) Fits easily in a pocket.

2) Optical zoom, lens cover physically a part of camera.

3) Capable of taking good, not blurry, pics in low light, no flash,
while hand held (pics of trails in the woods in the daytime).

4) Macro or closeup setting for taking photos of wildflowers.

5) Has place to attach a leash.

6) Under $350 US

Suggestions?

As many trails can get quite dark even in the daytime, I'd rule
out only considering a small camera that has IS. Instead, I'd
suggest a good, small pocketable camera and either a small,
lightweight tripod, or a hiking stick adapted to function as a
monopod, no matter what type of camera is selected. The tripod
could be much smaller and lighter and more stable than a monopod,
and would also be a great help for taking closeups of wildflowers.
There are some extremely small lightweight tripods that could also
fit in pockets, but I think that they'd be more useful on a tabletop
than out on a trail.

As for personal knowledge, my Canon A620 easily fits in *my*
pockets, but that depends on the pocket, and I'm not thinking "shirt
pocket". It has a D-ring for the included wrist strap (leash?g)
and an integrated, automatic lens cover. Also an optical zoom and
an optical viewfinder. I actually prefer EVFs, but if most of the
shots will be taken outdoors an optical viewfinder is probably
better since EVFs can sometimes be hard to use when bright light is
coming from the wrong direction. Depending on the flower and its
location, an articulated LCD (which the A620 has) could be very
useful for framing and insuring good focusing of close objects.

The A620 produces high quality images that don't have the
noticeable color fringing and flare problems often seen in smaller
cameras. Another nice feature is its ability to take over 1,500
shots per charge, or nearly 1,000 shots from ordinary, cheap
alkaline AA batteries, so it can go for days on the trail without
needing to bring along buckets of batteries. I got mine new for
about $200 as it was being discontinued, but there should be many
other good alternatives between $200 and $350 US.

On Wed, 25 Apr 2007 21:51:56 -0400, ASAAR wrote:

As many trails can get quite dark even in the daytime, I'd rule
out only considering a small camera that has IS. Instead, I'd
suggest a good, small pocketable camera and either a small,
lightweight tripod, or a hiking stick adapted to function as a

Neither of those will work for her work flow.

She's going to be WORKING on the trails. She's mapping out new
trails. Her workflow involves taking measurements, writing them down,
and taking photos, and moving on. She doesn't use a walking stick,
and won't take a tripod (even a small "pocket" tripod). She's not
even using a camera case - the camera is going in a vest pocket.
Using the camera needs to be as fast and easy as possible. These are
documentation photos, not art photos.

As for personal knowledge, my Canon A620 easily fits in *my*
pockets, but that depends on the pocket,

Thanks for this recommendation. In the end I suggested she choose
between the Canon A630 and the A570 IS. She chose the 630, in part
because the flip screen lets her close the screen against the camera
to protect it from scratches.

I considered a Nikon model, but then rejected it when neither the
salesman nor myself could easily figure out how to change the ISO.
This is the one thing she will need to be able to easily do (and
remember how to do it, and TO do it) so that she can get good photos
in the low light of the shaded forest, and then change back to a lower
ISO when out in the sun. Other recommended models were rejected
because they wouldn't stand up to the enviroment (dirt/dust) - e.g.
models where one slides a panel to the side to "turn on" the camera -
we both thought that would get full of grit in a hurry out on the
trail.

Thanks to everyone who posted and emailed their suggestions. All
suggestions were VERY helpful in coming to a decision.

jc

--

"The nice thing about a mare is you get to ride a lot
of different horses without having to own that many."
~ Eileen Morgan of The Mare's Nest, PA