The best under $250 digital camera

I am a long time photographer, and I have being doing digital photography since its inception.

I have used a lot of SLR cameras including Nikon & Leica.  Since I switched to digital most of my cameras have been Nikon with a small Sony and a couple of Panasonic cameras.  My kids have favored small Canon cameras.

I take a lot of pictures in demanding conditions, and I expect a lot from my cameras,  My Nikon D50 has been a workhorse for several years. 

A couple of years ago a bought a compact wide angle Panasonic Lumix camera.  It has been a great camera with the excepton that it takes a while to focus.

Recently my pocket camera, a Nikon S9 died.  I did not want to spend a lot of money, but I wanted wide angle and as much zoom as I could get.

I ended up buying a Pansonic Lumix DMC ZS-1 from Amazon for $240 before shipping.

The camera has 10.1 megapixels and 12X optical zoom plus 25mm wide angle capability.  I have used it hard, and I am very pleased.  I have done a number of interesting pictures with it, including the one in this post.

Because of its compact size it is my default camera these days.

I found it to be reliable and fast to focus.  I have used the camera to take pictures one handed while driving my skiff.

I even recorded a video while sitting in a pew in our church.  The camera was hand held with no tripod and no external microphone.

This one minute clip of the musical group Southern Grace is a testament to the camera's video capabilities.

I just posted another hand held video. This time it is a thunderstorm that struck our area this afternoon.

I am looking forward to doing some video with a tripod.

I did not buy the camera for its video capabilities but they are certainly a bonus.

The zoom feature which allowed me to get this great picture of a Willet this weekend in Atlantic Beach is enough to make me happy.

I read a lot of reviews before I bought the camera, but none of them gave me a true idea of the versatility of the camera.

Usually if I have to pick one camera, it is the ZS-1.  I can fish and still have it in my pocket.

It just does a great job.  This web page has samples of other photos that I have done with the camera.

This camera is hard to beat for the money. The fast focus, ultra zoom capabilities, wide angle lens, and video capability might make it the best real estate camera there is for the money.

I would definitely rather drag this camera on a trip rather than a DSLR.  If you are going to take it on a trip, I would buy a second battery.

Comments

[Kumud Ajmani]

Thanks for the review - I also have a Nikon D60 but ever since I bought the Panasonic FX-37 (mainly for the 25mm wide-angle capability and its 720p video capability), the D60 is being barely used. I do miss the fast speed of the D60 sometimes when I am shooting kids, but the FX-37 goes everywhere with me!

[Tim O'Loughlin]

Same deal for me, my Olympus E510 gets less use because the ZS1 is nearly as good and all the intelligent features grab an automatically good picture is most circumstances.

[Tom]

Thanks for the review. I'm getting ready to purchase an new camera and will keep you review in mind when buying time actually gets here.

[mag]

Thank you so much for sharing the pictures and videos> you have helped me with my decision to buy a great camera.

[mag]

some one said this camera takes the worst pictures indoors and the manual features are no good.What is your take on that?

[ocracokewaves]

I am a Realtor and take plenty of pictures with it inside. You can judge for yourself since many of these pictures were taken with it, both inside and out.

http://coastalnc.org/165hadnotfarmroadslideshow/

It is not a perfect camera, but the only limitations that I have found are taking pictures which require a very quick focus like trying to capture a crashing wave on the beach or a very busy toddler. For those shots I use a faster Nikon DLSR, but I cannot put one of those in my pocket like I can the Lumix.

For what you are paying you get a lot of camera. I don't use any of the manual features so I cannot comment on their utility.

[Maria]

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