I’ve finally found the perfect compact digital camera for daily use. I have a D-SLR but it is rather big for daily snapshots.
I have to say that it is quite tricky to find a camera that fits my tiny student budget and at the same time capable of capturing quality pictures.
My first attempt: Samsung EC-ES70. Bought it at Future Shop for around $120. To be honest, it was a horrible camera. The built quality is very cheap and comparable to a toy. Picture quality is awful. Images have a lot of noise even at the lowest ISO. I returned it the next day.
My second attempt: Sony DSC-W310. Bought it at Future Shop for around $120 as well. Built quality is decent. Feels a lot better than the Samsung ES70. Picture quality is also better than the ES70. The images do not have a lot of noise but the color and contract tend to create a “depressing” tone.
My third attempt: Canon SD1400 IS. Bought it at Black’s Photography at around $190 after a price match (Retail is around $250). It is a very compact camera. Smaller and thinner than the Samsung ES70 and Sony W310. Built quality is very solid. The 14.1 Megapixel sensor produces very sharp and clean images up to ISO 800. Thanks to its Optical Stabilization system, taking indoor pictures without using flash is possible. The other two cameras have digital image stabilization, which is rather useless. The SD1400 can also capture 720P HD video. Video quality is so-so but I don’t plan on taking a lot of videos anyway. Overall, it is very impressive camera for the price. If you want to get a decent compact digital camera with a reasonable price, this one is highly recommended.
Pictures I took with the Canon SD1400 IS:
Cool! My sister got one in PINK and she loves it! Great picture quality!
Yes. Small size and good quality pictures. Definitely a good purchase!