Best reasonably priced Canon Powershot?

C

crazedpuffer

New member
I'd prefer a slim one so it can fit in my pocket and I can take it with me just about where ever I go. It will mostly be used for taking pictures of fish (some very small fish) and just general picture taking. Any suggestions?
 
Hi, new to the forum and fish tanks, just bought 55 gal for SW coral tank - good friend of mine is very knowledgable and talked me into it.

Anyway, I took a look at your links - I just bought a Canon not to long ago and love it, it's a bit overkill for a point and shoot, but I'm a camera nut - it's the G9, has an incredible macro and some additional features as well (ability to mount external flash, lenses, etc)

Not sure about the macro on the 2 cameras you listed, but noticed they minimum focus at 1.2", whereas the G9 and also the PowerShot A650 IS focus as close as .4" I took a pic of a quarter and it filled the screen, plus they are 12 megapixels. Highly recommend these cameras. Also, they do not take accessory lenses from what I could tell in the specs.

I would take a look at them and this place bhphoto, they are the real deal and usually have fair prices. Easier to do comparisons there vs canon website.

Powershot A650 IS

Here's a link to some pics of my friend's tank I took just messing around - with proper lighting and less beers, I would feel confident I could capture the fish with no motion blur.

G9 test pics

They're compressed for web, the originals are much larger, croppable, blow-up-able(?)

Hope this helps,
 
You might also want to add the Powershot A720 IS to that list. You can save a lot of $$$ and it takes good pics. Very good for macros as well
 
also anytime you buy from an online vendor. if the price seems to good to be true. it probably is. google the websites name and type in review after it. it can save you a ton of headaches and money.

and personally on those two cameras they arent my style(i have never owned a slimline camera so dont take my word on it ) but!. i would go with the a650 / 720 or if you got $$$ the g9..... !!
 
I might be able to get a discount on the G9 actually so right now thats lookin pretty good.
Do the G9 and A720 have lenses that could be added on for improved pictures or no?
 
I have a Cannon SD600 that is prety good and I use it to take pictures of my tank and fish it does not have the ability to add lenses but its still a nice camera I got for around $200. Hear are some pictures I took with it and I don't know much about photography, so I would imagine if you got a slightly better or bigger model you could do well with it.
 
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Yes, the G9 and 720 both have ability to add lenses, filters, etc. They require an "accessory tube" that mounts around the lens, that you can buy from Canon, but I would recommend this other one from Lensmate - it's metal vs Canpn's plastic one, and looks cooler too.

Lensmate adapter

Canon makes wide angles and closeup lenses that can be added to that. Plus there's another company, maybe lensmate, that makes them too. I haven't bought any of those yet, but I'm sure you could google around and see what people think.

The nice thing is you can add filters, like polarizers, warming filters, etc.
 
No real big difference betwwen the two. They both use the same processor. The a650 has 12MP vs. 8, has a flip out screen instead of fixed which could be a very useful thig. The 650 also uses 4 aa's instead of 2. From all the reviews those seem to be the only distinguishable differences.
 
I got an A710IS several months ago, but haven't had much of a chance to use it. I got it mostly for taking my reef tank pictures and have had a hard time focusing on objects. I got the camera for its overall good reviews (at the time) and macro capabiliities. I shoot mostly in auto mode and maybe this is the problem. I have 2 other Olympus cameras (D-500 and C-5050) and taking a picture of an object from about 20 inches, the pictures have come out great. With this camera, I'm having some problems locking the focus on.

This was my first Cannon and maybe I just didn't figure things out. I liked my Olympus's since I could just point and shoot and get good pics.
 
I'd check out the specs on the others, but I know for certain the G9 has manual focus capabilities - which woudl only be useful in macro when mounted to a tripod.

One thing to note: I didn't buy this camera to take pics of my tank, I bought it for other photography purposes and was quite impressed later when I played around with the macro.

The macro works great with good light, manual settings, and on objects about 1/2 inch to about 6 or 8 inches behind the glass - further back than that and it's macr function isn't really macro anymore and it can't focus. You have to put it back in standard mode, step back, and zoom in.

In other words, if you want tight macros of small objects further back than that, you probably won't be very happy. If you put the camera in a water-tight housing (and they do make them for these cameras) and submerge it into the tank, you'd probably get some good pics, although it sounds pretty difficult and you'd probably scare your fish away.
 
Yeah the camera is mainly for general picture taking and some shots of my fish and tanks.
Hows the SX100IS?
My dad is partial to that one because it has 10x optical zoom, and we can get a discount on it.
 
What kind of discount are you getting on this model? Have you considered the S5is? If zoom is a main concern this one has 12x and a viewfinder as well as the flip and twist LCD.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11402296#post11402296 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by crazedpuffer
Yeah the camera is mainly for general picture taking and some shots of my fish and tanks.
Hows the SX100IS?
My dad is partial to that one because it has 10x optical zoom, and we can get a discount on it.
Click to expand...

I ordered the SX100IS. It should be here this week. I'll let you know how it is.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11408240#post11408240 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sixfins
What kind of discount are you getting on this model? Have you considered the S5is? If zoom is a main concern this one has 12x and a viewfinder as well as the flip and twist LCD.
Click to expand...
I honestly don't know yet but it looks like thats the one I'm getting. My aunts boyfriend works at PC Richards so I can get any camera there for a good discount.
 
I just bought a canon a720is from office depot for $179.00 that was by far the best price around and I believe they are still on sale. I just ordered some lenses for it and should have them by Christmas. Got the lens adaptor, tele converter and a Hoya close-up set. I believe the sx100is does not take lenses. I took some pics of the tank for the first time the other day and thought they turned out good. Still need to play around with it though. I can probably post some pics if anyone wants to see them.
 
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