New camera within 10K Budget

[rajagopal87]

So, I have finally decided to buy a digital camera. The following are my requirements. Digitians please suggest something suitable.

PURPOSE: The main usage of the camera will be to capture friends and family during trips, events, outings.. Everyday photography of people.. Should be usable by my not so techy mom&dad and my young sister. 95% of the times to shoot people only and pictures only(not videos). In short I need a simple camera which can take good pictures without meddling with too many settings. Panorama mode and good low light photography will be a great plus..

Resolution : 8 MP min will do.
Optical Zoom : 5x minimum (10x will be great)
Image stabilisation : Compulsory
Display LCD : 2.7" or more
Brand: No specific preference
Budget : 5k to 10k or even more (I know its too wide but I am willing to shell a little more if its worth it!)
Video Recording : 720p 30fps will do
Auto panorama sweep mode will be a great addition.

Recently I went to a sony store with my friend n personally handled, w610, w620, w630 and wx50. Of these, nothing impressed me except wx50. It was great but I felt 11.5k was a bit too much. Since it was sony, i believe equivalent models in other stables will cost less.. Still it was excellent IMO. I was simply taken away by it...! Anyway I am waiting for your valuable suggestions...

 

[nac]

If you want sweep panorama, I think only Sony cameras have that feature. Panasonic cameras have panorama feature but not sweep (I think). The frills like HDR, panorama, 3D and all comes mostly with Sony and Panasonic.

Check these two...
IXUS 115 (If you can find one)
IXUS 220 - Probably the best IQ under 10k

 

[rajagopal87]

Thank you nac for your suggestions. Any idea how the IXUS 220 compares with wx50 ? Specs wise both looks almost the same.. and price wise also there isnt much difference... What about image quality?

 

[nac]

WX50 is a new one, I don't see any reviews... As I said, image quality (IQ) of IXUS probably the best under 10k.

 

[rajagopal87]

Think most probably i will go with the wx50.. I just cant get it off my minds! Lets see...

 

[nac]

^ It's like a "love at first sight"

Good choice...

 

[5fusion]

Think most probably i will go with the wx50.. I just cant get it off my minds! Lets see...

just get it eyes closed..i have one and its absolutely amazing..best in its budget. the pics are sharp n clear & best thing is full HD with 60fps . videos are excellently clear,smooth n crisp however u need to pan around slowly so as to keep its crispness. doesnt get out of focus in zooming while recording.
theres nothing better than this in its price plus its Ultracompact dimensions are an icing on the cake

 

[AcceleratorX]

Go for the Sony DSC-WX7. It's the same as the WX50 but has lower ISO range upto 3200 compared to the WX50 which can do upto ISO 12800. As you may know, ISO ranges above 1600 are anyway pretty useless for a compact camera as noise will destroy the image and in case of Sony the noise reduction kicks in and blurs the image way too much at ISO 2000 and above.

The WX7 costs 10.5K approx. and produces brilliant images and is otherwise the same hardware as the DSC-WX50 (almost). The Superior Auto mode with the night shot is brilliant, I have never ever taken better night pictures with a compact camera before. I had first hand experience with the DSC-W690, DSC-WX50, DSC-WX7 and Panasonic Lumix SZ1 and the Panasonic is pretty good too, but didn't "wow" me like the Sony models did. As for the DSC-W690: Good zoom, good photos but doesn't work very well for taking a night shot/low-light when compared to the WX7/WX50. Panasonic is OK in this regard.

If you can settle for a 5x zoom then look no further and get the Sony DSC-WX7.

Originally I had the WX7 but managed to exchange it for the WX50. Both cameras produce brilliant, sharp images: if you want I can post examples here. The images are reasonable clear with minimal noise right up to ISO 1600 and I have never, ever seen a compact camera that performs so well at night without flash. One thing I must tell you is that at 100% zoom you will see edge distortions in the JPEG images since the camera relies on its BIONZ image processor to enhance details at high ISOs. However, unzoomed it looks perfect. And both models record video with stereo audio.

 

[rajagopal87]

Thank you all guys... for your valuable suggestions. I finally bought a wx50 (got a great deal also.. 9700 in ebay! ) and its awesome...! and AcceleratorX, i bought the camera before reading your post, otherwise i wouldve checked out wx7 also. Anyways i think like nac said, it was love at first sight!