Digital Camera

I've had a lot of free time because I'm off work with this broken pelvis. Let me tell you, I have found insane ways to waste time. Such as reading about digital cameras online. If I have an afternoon to waste, I can read about digital cameras and BOOM 3 hours gone, just like that.

Anyhow...I've been reading a lot. I also went to Best Buy, Radioshack, a local store called Talls Cameras, Costco, and Target checking out cameras. The easiest thing to do when looking at cameras and reading online reviews is to get caught up in the minutiae. When I set out, I was pretty sure I wanted a Canon because I've been impressed when using Canons owned by friends. Canon also has a pretty good reputation for making quality cameras. Quality is actually on the top of my list, though it would be nice to save some money, I want a camera that is going to last. Of all the cameras I've seen, the Canons appear to be far and away the most sturdily built. I've been impressed with some Panasonic and Nikon models as far as picture quality and features go, but they all seem so shoddily built it is astounding.

The reason I am even in the market for a new camera is because my previous Nikon s550 bit the bullet. The lens would stop opening on startup and the camera would give a "Lens Error" message; the camera became non-functional. This was on a 2 year old camera that has been treated well. I'm hoping that buying quality from the outset will help avoid this problem.

So I've been looking at a few of the Canon point and shoots, specifically the s90, sd3500, sd1400, and sd780. Despite the price range of $180 to $430, the reviews for the cameras individually are remarkably similar. When reading reviews in general, you have the basic users who have only owned basic cameras; these folks love whatever they bought because it is fancier than their previous camera. Then there is the subset of people who are camera savvy and understand the limitations of buying a point and shoot camera; these folks seemed to write the most reasonable reviews, factoring in value and function to provide an overall summary of the camera's quality. Then another subset of folks who are camera savvy and are shocked that the $180 point and shoot had fewer picture setting controls and produced inferior pictures to their $800 DSLR; these folks tended to give the $400 camera 1 star reviews.

In all my research, I've learned something new (actually I think I read about this a couple of years ago, but I just didn't care too much about it at the time). This is old news to serious digital camera users. What I learned is called the "Megapixel Myth." Generally, folks perceive a digital camera's megapixels as the measure of quality (along with Zoom, LCD size, and various other features, but generally the number of megapixels is the poor man's way of judging a camera's value). I've learned that this is highly inaccurate. The bottom line for judging a camera's value is really the quality of image it produces. And it turns out the increasing megapixels does not necessarily increase image quality. The issue ends up being more related to the size of sensor onto which the pixels are mounted.

-For Example: a camera with 14 MP on a 1 inch sensor, where the pixels are not crowded or decreased in size to allow 14MP to fit, will often produce a better image than a camera with 18 MP on the same size sensor.

So when comparing cameras, megapixels have really become obsolete. The specification to look at is really sensor size; which unfortunately is not often listed on manufacturer websites. The manufacturers are apparently more interested in perpetuating the "Megapixel Myth" and increasing sales than giving useful data. This last bit is probably really because the public has gotten so used to linking megapixel count with quality. It would be economic suicide to develop cameras with better sensors and lower pixel counts and expect the public to realize that these cameras produce better images. It would be suicide to do it suddenly anyhow, it seems that the industry is slowly drifting away from megapixels as evidenced by Canon's G11: it's a 10 MP top of the line point and shoot which sells for $500.

As I was saying, when reading about digital cameras it is easy to get caught up in the minutiae. For instance, I was seriously looking at the Canon s90, which is expensive at $430. It has a large image sensor and lots of image setting adjustments for high end camera users. It really looked like a sweet camera...and I wanted it. I had to take a step back, however, and drift back to reality. The real reason I want to get a camera is to be able to have something in my pocket to take basic pictures. The s90 would fit the bill, but so would all the other cameras I've listed above, and those at half the price. The other issue is that as cameras get more expensive, they get minimally larger. So the camera at $180 is super tiny, while the s90 at $430 actually gets to the point where it would likely be uncomfortable to just throw into a pocket and go (unless I was wearing cargo pants). So this just defeats the purpose. The other issue is that this camera is going to be going everywhere, it might get bumped, dropped, or even absolutely destroyed. I do not want to spend $430 on a camera that is too big and might get busted. Another thought about these cameras is that in general, with good lighting, the cheap camera will take picture that rivals the picture from the expensive camera. I can't justify spending twice the cash to have the camera with the fancy features that will take some pictures better sometimes. The s90 did look sweet though.

So from the the list of cameras above, the only striking difference that matters to me is the image sensor size. And the only camera with the larger image sensor it the s90. I've ruled that camera out (unfortunately). The rest of the cameras have very slight differences in MP, zoom, lens angle, and picture adjustment options. And all the Canons appear solidly built and have good reviews online regarding build quality.

So in the end (as it usually does), the debate has come down to price. The sd780 is only $180 at Costco, and they throw in a 2GB SD card which save me 10 bucks. I'm going to pick one up tomorrow.