eMarkLee

My friend Curtan recently asked me this question and so I reviewed the field to see what Point and Shoot cameras I would buy with my money. I had done such a review back in January but since then my eyes have been opened to a a different camera on the field by Panasonic!! Yes, the company that makes your microwave and nose-hair trimmer.

It basically came down to two cameras:

1. PowerShot SD800 IS

Canon SD800 IS full frontal

Back of SD800

I’ve always been a fan of Canon Point and Shoots as they always take excellent pictures with a fair amount of manual control. The problem is that they are expensive and limited in what they give you comparative to its competitors.

The SD800 gives you the equivalent of a 28-105mm focal length on film cameras. This is actually pretty good on the wide end(28mm), which allows you to “back up” and get more into your picture. It also has Image Stabilization, which is pretty much crucial for low light and action shots. All in all this is a great camera that takes great pictures…albeit more expensive for what you get.

2. Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3

Panasonic makes my battery, my DVD player, my TV, my microwave, my toilet paper holder, and my electric foot massager(it hurts so good). I’ve never considered Panasonic as a player in the digital camera space…until my friend Jeah introduced me to his Lumix a couple of months ago. The feature set is amazing: IS, 10x Zoom!, 3 inch display (size isn’t everything), and a 28 – 280 mm equivalent lens. At first look you notice the big and radical 3-inch display. When you combine that with the 10x zoom and 848 x 480 (16:9) video with the 28mm wide angle, this is really the ultimate in terms of features. All in a relatively small body. You’ll look like you’re happy to see Girls Gone Wild if you actually put it in a pocket, but it’s small enough.

Which one?
All things said, the Canon is a safe choice. I have not thoroughly reviewed the picture quality and compared them but the feature set on the Panasonic is just absolutely fantastic (Brit talk). The Canon would probably take slightly better pictures with better exposure, controls, and saturation. The Panasonic would give you more flexibility and a bigger screen.

I am hereby declaring my departure from my viewpoint to stick with Canon point and shoot cameras and recommending the Panasonic Lumix for its value! Oh, and you should also get their nose-hair trimmer for proper personal hair management.