(No, this isn’t a pro-NRA post. I’m simply referring to those small easy-to-use cameras.)
Unlike a lot of photographers with a carload of cameras, I’m just an old retired guy with rather limited gear. Like a lot of photographers, however, I really hate to go anywhere without a camera. But, I’m not always ambitious enough to carry my DSLR everywhere. So, it’s really nice to have a point-and-shoot.
The first one that I owned was a Canon PowerShot A95. It was actually the first digital camera of any kind that I owned. It was 5 megs with a 3x zoom and had a nice articulated viewfinder that I could use even when holding it above my head.
I was very satisfied with the pictures but it was relatively large. When I finally bought a DSLR I decided that I needed a smaller P&S so I gave the A95 to my wife and went in search of another one. Since I had good luck with my first Canon, I decided to try another one.
Then I bought a Canon PowerShot SD600. This camera was 6 megs with a 3x zoom. It was very compact and easily fit into a shirt or pants pocket. I really liked the size. Unfortunately, I thought that the images were not as good as those from the A95.
Since I usually used my SLR for important photo situations and relegated the SD600 to family snapshots, I convinced myself that it didn’t matter that the images were less-than-stellar.
After almost 7 years of constant usage the A95 has started to misbehave. It still takes photos but the colors are often streaky. Since my wife needed a new camera I gave her the SD600 and started searching for another one. I read reviews in Consumer Reports magazine and on the amazon.com and B&H Photo to narrow my search. Then I read some extensive reviews and compared models on dpreview.com (a great web site for detailed camera and lens reviews).
I finally decided to get a Canon PowerShot S95. It’s a 10 meg model with a 3.8x zoom. It also has image stabilization, which neither of the old models have. When I’ve had some time to play around with it I’ll let you know how reality compares to the reviews.