Question About Cameras

[rlipps]

I know there are several great photographers here on 9B and I am looking to buy my wife a new camera for Christmas. She's mainly wanting to use it to take pictures of the kids, but if I could get her something I could borrow to take some good pics at the Rock Show, then that would just be an added bonus, lol. Would like to spend around $300 or $400, but that figure isn't set in stone. Any help and advice from you guys would be greatly appreciated, I really enjoying all the pictures posted on here and trust your advice.

[beantownbubba]

I know there are several great photographers here on 9B and I am looking to buy my wife a new camera for Christmas. She's mainly wanting to use it to take pictures of the kids, but if I could get her something I could borrow to take some good pics at the Rock Show, then that would just be an added bonus, lol. Would like to spend around $300 or $400, but that figure isn't set in stone. Any help and advice from you guys would be greatly appreciated, I really enjoying all the pictures posted on here and trust your advice.

Maybe it was on 9B, but i'm pretty sure it was on here that there's a pretty lengthy camera advice thread.

[rlipps]

Thanks BTB, I found it. I should have searched for it before starting a new thread.

[bovine knievel]

If you want to take the camera to shows and be able to shoot under low light conditions, and given your price range, you should look for a point-and-shoot with manual override functions. Most venues frown on flash photography, so you need to be able to control shutter speed, allowing you to let more light in. Being able to control the ISO manually will help tremendously too. The really great thing about the point-and-shoots in your price range is you can capture HD video. Get yourself the biggest memory card you can, this will allow you to shoot long videos without running out of space. Another thing that you might consider, get the highest number for optical zoom, most cameras have both optical and digital zoom functionality. More info on optical v digital zoom http://www.photoxels.com/digital-photography-tutorials/optical-digital-zoom/

good luck

[Clams]

I have a little Canon Elph point and shoot. Was about $250 a couple of years ago. Love it.

I also like getting close-outs of last year's model. You can save a lot of money and usually the technology isn't all that different.

Whichever one you settle on, shop around. There are always great deals out there.

[tinnitus photography]

i don't know much about them but the Fuji models have a good reputation for performing in low light (ie, pretty clean shots using high ISO). BK nailed the basics. you can also check out resources like dpreview.com or photography-on-the.net (Canon-centric).