*gasp* Point and Shoot rec?

[youbettago]

I know, I know.. point and shoot... I'm looking for a new digi for my Realtor Mom, to use to shoot interior photos and outside landscapes of her listings. She's been using a six year old Kodak even after I've tried to throw it in the trash.

I need at least a 24mm lens on this to get wider shots inside. The only other requirement is a date stamp. She needs simple so adding them later in post is not an option. I'm not up on the p&s scene lately. Any recommendations are highly appreciated! Like to stay around or under $350 if possible.

Thanks!

Amanda

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Amanda,

Welcome to the CiC forums from me.

I have a DSLR and have bought both a bridge camera and a P&S since, for specific purposes, so there's no shame in the question

I was looking at P&S size cameras last November (2011), so I'm a bit out of date now.
I suspect most will do what you want.

I got a Canon S100, which is nice and small, but must break your budget because I wanted manual control and RAW capability - the latter is clearly not something your mom needs, but it does 24mm and I'm fairly sure it can date stamp too.

You don't say how much photographic knowledge your Mom has - i.e. could she benefit from manual/semi-auto control by taking charge of aperture, iso and shutter speed selection, or will she just use scene modes? This will influence what is suggested too.

I'm sure others will chip in with ideas.

All the best,

[HMW12]

You may want to look at some of the Sony cameras that have the panorama sweep mode. I have one that I keep in my purse cause it's nice and tiny but the IQ is not spectacular - 14 MP on such a small sensor. The other one to look at may be a Panasonic LX series ( I think that's the one) as it is supposed to handle lower light really well though it may be out of your price range. I would think that even with the wider angle if shooting interior shots and relying on the in camera flash you may have some issues.

[Andrew1]

There are so many options available to you it would be hard to pick just one. Ergonomics or just what feels good in your hands even comes up in similar discussions about DSLR's. In my family there are at least a dozen P&S and every one is treated just that way. P&S. No adjusting or playing with controls. If your mom is that way then that eliminated a lot of considerations. One aspect I would suggest you pay attention to for a realtor is the power of the flash. Many of the really small P&S have flash ranges below 4 yards. She will need somewhat more than that for her average sale so it would be an important factor in her liking to use the camera. You might look at something like the Nikon P510 or Canon G12.

[Manfred M]

It sounds like just about any entry level P&S will do. It sounds like that is the level of technology your mother is comfortable with. These tend to have limited wide angle capabilities and calling the electronic flash built into them "underpowered" would be an understatement, so indoor shots are going to be a bit of pain.

I suggest you head down to your local camera or big-box store and find out what is on sale. It sounds like pretty well anything would do, so you could save yourself a bit of money. I've had P&S camera from most of the majors, an find that the Canons, Nikons and Sonys tend to be overpriced versus the competition. I've had some great luck with the Panasonics, from a durability and value standpoint, but haven't bought one lately, so I don't know if they are still as good as they were.

[FrankMi]

Hi Amanda, I never thought I would be saying this, particularly not on a photography forum, but a recent experience is forcing me to rethink the options available. My wife is a Realtor and I usually take the pictures for her but we may now have a much easier option.

Take a look at this link: Project 52 by Frank Miller

These images were taken wide-angle inside a building with available light on a cell phone! I may be out of a job because my wife can easily do this as the only camera control she needs to use is to zoom from wide-angle to telephoto. Everything else is controlled by the cell phone. Couldn't be any easier than that and your mom likely already has a cell phone. The one I am using is an HTC EVO 4G so it is fairly new. I'm not sure how older cell phones would fare.

Hope this helps!

[Dave Humphries]

I never thought I would be saying this, particularly not on a photography forum
~
These images were taken wide-angle inside a building with available light on a cell phone!

Right, that's it: you're banned Frank, until you wash your mouth out with something that tastes nasty
There are limits you know!

... But if you scroll down to posts 252 in your thread, you'll see I am joking above

Being more serious, from my limited experience, I agree that the use of flash for indoor shots is a no-no, only the furniture close to the camera will be lit, the rest will be darkness.

I'd suggesting bracing and using a slower shutter speed, but I wonder how she has been using the ancient Kodak?

Cheers,

[FrankMi]

Right, that's it: you're banned Frank, until you wash your mouth out with something that tastes nasty
There are limits you know!

LOL! You mean like Scotch or Bourbon?

There is a reason I put on my asbestos underwear before I posted these heretical observations!

[Dave Humphries]

LOL! You mean like Scotch or Bourbon?

Yes, that's exactly what I had in mind

[Andrew1]

You might also follow the lead of some actual users. Google 'indoor photo realtor' and you'll find lots of info.

[jcuknz]

I think the modern cellphone ...i-pods and later .. have effectively replaced the P&S as a camera type... the main problem is the position of the trigger in my older phone but I saw a couple being used yesterday where just a gentle touch of a button on the large screen took the photo ... 'I phones' I gather from my offspring who use them. They seem to have a very wide view too.