If you only had a $100 budget

Susan Sande

Veteran
Location
Upper left USA
A friend of mine, a nun with little money, had her 6 year old HP digital camera die on her yesterday. She got it as a premium when she bought an HP printer. She has given herself a $100 budget and is looking for a non-interchangeable lens camera with at least 6.1mp. New or used. I told her I'd throw the question out here to see what people suggest!!!

If she had $200 I'd suggest my old favorite Canon G9. What would you say is the best quality camera new or used in the $100 range??? (oh and a donation of a camera for her is completely acceptable!! I can give you more details if needed.)

Thanks!!! :D
 
How close are the two of you? If you're very close, I'd suggest giving her your G9 or selling it to her for $100. Other than that, the choices for a non-interchangeable lens camera aren't great, unless you spot a private sale of something like a used Olympus XZ-1. New cameras in that price range tend to be pretty basic point and shoots. One might be just as well served with a good smartphone. But maybe this link will help:

http://reviews.cnet.com/less-than-$100-digital-cameras/
 
What does your friend like to shoot? Last year I got my brother a Panasonic SZ7 for $100, very small and discreet, sharp but slow lens, 10x (25-250mm) zoom range which offers many compositional possibilities. The only issue is shooting with such a large zoom range can be habit-forming...


:biglaugh:


:tomato2:
 
I'd suggest giving her your G9 or selling it to her for $100.

I sold my G9 for not working/parts only when it died a couple years ago. (power module issues that was going to cost more to have worked on than I'd paid for the camera) And the two 6.1mp Canon's I had sitting in boxes I gave to other friends about 2 years ago. Of course... She'll be traveling to Spain and Portugal next spring for a couple of weeks and was going to use her camera for both travel photos and during her work there. So everything from scenery to people to insides of cathedrals. I'd looked at the CNET article earlier today but knowing that at Serious Compacts we are serious about IQ and other quality features thought I'd try asking here.
 
For $100 I'd look for a Canon A630 or A640 on ebay. Pretty good cameras.

It's a shame she can't up the budget some. I see XZ-1s and Samsung TL500s both going for less than $200 on ebay. Great cameras.
 
What does your friend like to shoot? Last year I got my brother a Panasonic SZ7 for $100, very small and discreet, sharp but slow lens, 10x (25-250mm) zoom range which offers many compositional possibilities.

I'd been at B&H's used website last night and narrowed it down to the SZ7 and the Coolpix S8100 as suggestions.
 
I like Canon PowerShots and would probably just go for the cheapest model that's available right now -- there's several around the $86-87 mark on BH Photo but you could probably find cheaper if you shopped around. It's still going to run rings around the previous camera she had. And she can pocket the difference.

A friend on Facebook has an A2200 which I was quite impressed with -- especially considering you can get them right now for $70 at Adorama.

Check out these sample images from the A2200: http://reviews.cnet.com/2300-6501_7-10008329.html

I'm quite astounded you can get that quality for $70.


My wife had a Samsung P&S -- never again.
 
There is a huge selection mine was £100 in January now much cheaper
I've had more fun with this than any previous digital
 
Canon S95 - I've had lots of use out of ours, very tough, small and very handy, battery lasts for ages and it takes great images
 
I'd suggest exploring the vast riches of KEH.com. This is a very reputable seller of used cameras and their prices usually are good. For example, you can buy Sony V3 (which is an old but awesome camera) in EX+ condition for $75.
 
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