Looking for a nice purse camera for not a lot of money

I'd like to take pretty decent photos ( I'm not a pro or anything ) with a
small light weight camera that I can keep in my purse.

I want something better than my Blackberry's camera, yet not super
expensive, heavy or bulky, because it does have to fit the purse.

Something with USB of course, for transferring files to the PC.

Is there anything with a pretty decent lens too?

On Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:34:48 -0600, Sarah Houston
wrote:

I'd like to take pretty decent photos ( I'm not a pro or anything ) with a
small light weight camera that I can keep in my purse.

I want something better than my Blackberry's camera, yet not super
expensive, heavy or bulky, because it does have to fit the purse.

Something with USB of course, for transferring files to the PC.

Is there anything with a pretty decent lens too?

Probably over a hundred fit that description. More detail would be
nice. Many of the newer cameras would do very well.... you can
literally spend from $20 and "up" (as much as you'd care to spend).
New ones are more costly, and the smaller you get (generally) the more
expensive. Browse thru Best Buy, Sam's club, Walmart, etc, then after
you decide which one you want, check out the best price on line.

--
Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

Pre-emptive DSLR-PRO-troll reply. Just to get them all out of the way.



On Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:34:48 -0600, Sarah Houston wrote:

I'd like to take pretty decent photos ( I'm not a pro or anything ) with a
small light weight camera that I can keep in my purse.

Purse? Ditch that little purse, get yourself a decent backpack style camera bag.
Then you can carry a REAL camera! You say you aren't a pro now, but if you buy a
DSLR then you'll automatically be a pro! That's how it works. If you buy an
expensive and heavy and loud camera that scares all the children in the
neighborhood every time that you click that shutter, then you automatically
become part of the "Professional Photographers Association". That's how all pros
get to be pros. Just buy a good DSLR! Read this newsgroup. You'll find out
that's how all of them get to be pros. Your talent as a photographer depends
solely on the price of your camera. That's been proven for 20 years in this
newsgroup, by us PROS!


I want something better than my Blackberry's camera, yet not super
expensive, heavy or bulky, because it does have to fit the purse.

You're limiting yourself. As I said, get rid of that purse and you can carry
something really worth having, a REAL camera! Why be just an amateur with a
purse, when you can be a pro with a backpack and a DSLR?


Something with USB of course, for transferring files to the PC.

Oh, you're going to have to get rid of that PC too if you want a REAL camera.
You'll need a REAL computer too! You'll need a Mac if you want to get into
photography. Then the PROFESSIONAL images from your DSLR can be edited the right
way. You'll do a lot of editing once you get to be a pro by buying a DSLR. It's
the only way to get professional looking photographs, you have to edit all of
them for a long time before you can get them to look right. You can never get a
good image directly from any PRO camera. We DSLR pros have known this for a long
time now. And don't forget, the same applies to your software as it does a
camera. The most expensive, biggest, most bloated, most difficult to navigate
program that you can buy is the only kind that will allow you to be a REAL PRO.
It's all about the money you spend. The more money you spend the better that you
can compose your images in your editor and the better PRO you'll be, because you
can never compose them correctly in the camera. Remember that, that's important
if you want to be a REAL PRO. Buying the DSLR is just the starting point. You're
going to need a good editor to fix every photo that you take from your PRO DSLR.


Is there anything with a pretty decent lens too?

Not for something that's going to fit in a purse. The only really good lenses
all weigh over 10lbs each and start at $700, up to the price of a decent home.
You're going to have to get a backpack if you want to get into photography.

Maybe you could buy a backpack and modify it so it looks like a purse.

:-)

There ... now that I got all of the usual DSLR-PRO-troll's replies out of the
way, maybe someone can provide some REAL help for you.

Until you get some 1:1 help, you can always play with this link

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp

See what shows up in your criteria search.

(I don't have a lot of knowledge about compacts and sub-compacts, but I've seen
some fantastic photography done with them.)

On Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:34:48 -0600, Sarah Houston wrote:

I'd like to take pretty decent photos ( I'm not a pro or anything ) with a
small light weight camera that I can keep in my purse.

I want something better than my Blackberry's camera, yet not super
expensive, heavy or bulky, because it does have to fit the purse.

Something with USB of course, for transferring files to the PC.

Is there anything with a pretty decent lens too?

Have a look at the Canon SD1100, solid little machine with all
the features you describe and lots more. takes top notch pictures.

Irwell wrote:
On Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:34:48 -0600, Sarah Houston wrote:

I'd like to take pretty decent photos ( I'm not a pro or anything ) with a
small light weight camera that I can keep in my purse.

I want something better than my Blackberry's camera, yet not super
expensive, heavy or bulky, because it does have to fit the purse.

Something with USB of course, for transferring files to the PC.

Is there anything with a pretty decent lens too?

Have a look at the Canon SD1100, solid little machine with all
the features you describe and lots more. takes top notch pictures.

Find a decent camera store. You may get useful advice in this group (the
SD110 recommendation is one), but unfortunately we seem to be getting a
lot of irrelevant nonsense lately.
Even if that were not the case, the models out there are competitive and
you need to handle them. Personally, I like an optical finder, but the
type of camera you are looking for doesn't always sport one. I would
give a local Ritz store a try. The department stores like Walmart and
Target will carry a range of models, but don't expect much help. If you
want take a little more time, lookup the models that interest you on
http://www.dpreview.com/ or http://www.steves-digicams.com/.
Good luck, Dave Cohen

Dave Cohen wrote :

Find a decent camera store. You may get useful advice in this group
(the SD110 recommendation is one), but unfortunately we seem to be
getting a lot of irrelevant nonsense lately.
Even if that were not the case, the models out there are competitive
and you need to handle them. Personally, I like an optical finder,
but the type of camera you are looking for doesn't always sport one.
I would give a local Ritz store a try. The department stores like
Walmart and Target will carry a range of models, but don't expect
much help. If you want take a little more time, lookup the models
that interest you on http://www.dpreview.com/ or
http://www.steves-digicams.com/. Good luck, Dave Cohen


Thanks Dave.

I was also looking around amazon and the Cybershot DSCS750 looks nice too.

Charlie Hoffpauir wrote :

On Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:34:48 -0600, Sarah Houston
wrote:

I'd like to take pretty decent photos ( I'm not a pro or anything )
with a small light weight camera that I can keep in my purse.

I want something better than my Blackberry's camera, yet not super
expensive, heavy or bulky, because it does have to fit the purse.

Something with USB of course, for transferring files to the PC.

Is there anything with a pretty decent lens too?

Probably over a hundred fit that description. More detail would be
nice. Many of the newer cameras would do very well.... you can
literally spend from $20 and "up" (as much as you'd care to spend).
New ones are more costly, and the smaller you get (generally) the
more expensive. Browse thru Best Buy, Sam's club, Walmart, etc, then
after you decide which one you want, check out the best price on
line.

Do the ones with Carl Zeiss lenses take much better pictures?

Are they generally a lot more expensive?

On Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:40:08 -0600, Sarah Houston
wrote:

Charlie Hoffpauir wrote :

On Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:34:48 -0600, Sarah Houston
wrote:

I'd like to take pretty decent photos ( I'm not a pro or anything )
with a small light weight camera that I can keep in my purse.

I want something better than my Blackberry's camera, yet not super
expensive, heavy or bulky, because it does have to fit the purse.

Something with USB of course, for transferring files to the PC.

Is there anything with a pretty decent lens too?

Probably over a hundred fit that description. More detail would be
nice. Many of the newer cameras would do very well.... you can
literally spend from $20 and "up" (as much as you'd care to spend).
New ones are more costly, and the smaller you get (generally) the
more expensive. Browse thru Best Buy, Sam's club, Walmart, etc, then
after you decide which one you want, check out the best price on
line.

Do the ones with Carl Zeiss lenses take much better pictures?

Are they generally a lot more expensive?


Carl Zeiss lenses have a great reputation, based on lens designs
"before" computer-aided design became generally available. The new
lenses on name-brand cameras are all very good. For a small
purse-sized ease of use camera, I wouldn't worry about who designed
the lens.

Besides, the lens quality is only one of several factors that
influence the quality of the image. The most important factor is still
what goes on "behind" the camera.

But as someone else mentioned, if image quality is very important to
you, and you are considering large prints, you probably want something
a bit larger than what you're describing. For small prints or viewing
only on-screen, the small compact cameras are ideal.

You really need to decide what factors are important to YOU. For
example, I can't stand the pictures produced with the small in-camera
electronic flash. I must have a camera that supports an external flash
gun that is at least several inches away from the lens. That means a
digital camera with a hot-shoe. virtually none of the ultra-small
camers have this feature... so they are a non-issue as far as I'm
concerned.

--
Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

In rec.photo.marketplace.digital Sarah Houston wrote:
I'd like to take pretty decent photos ( I'm not a pro or anything ) with a
small light weight camera that I can keep in my purse.

You might take a look at Canon's A460. It's cheap, reasonably compact
(purse size, not pocket size), has a 4x zoom, optical viewfinder
and uses standard batteries.

The 16 meg SD card furnished is likely to be a throwaway if you take
any number of pictures in a single session, but that's apt to be the
only serious downside.

The image quality is quite good, Canon's photo management software
may not be the best, but it's good enough for casual work. For
extremes (close up, low light, fast action) there are probably
better cameras, but for ~$100 it's not half bad.



bob prohaska

On Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:29:15 GMT, bob prohaska's usenet account
wrote:

In rec.photo.marketplace.digital Sarah Houston wrote:
I'd like to take pretty decent photos ( I'm not a pro or anything ) with a
small light weight camera that I can keep in my purse.

You might take a look at Canon's A460. It's cheap, reasonably compact
(purse size, not pocket size), has a 4x zoom, optical viewfinder
and uses standard batteries.

The 16 meg SD card furnished is likely to be a throwaway if you take
any number of pictures in a single session, but that's apt to be the
only serious downside.

Ha! I purchased a pocket camera for my son that came with a 32 meg SD
card. Twelve pictures and it was full. I popped for a 1 gig card for
him.



The image quality is quite good, Canon's photo management software
may not be the best, but it's good enough for casual work. For
extremes (close up, low light, fast action) there are probably
better cameras, but for ~$100 it's not half bad.



bob prohaska

--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida