Canon PowerShot A590 IS - IS on My List

> I Seriously Need a Digital Camera
> Samsung S850 Doesn't Have Image Stabilization
> A Point Made by PCMag About Buying a Digital Camera

I Want This Camera!!

While doing more digging and searching for digital cameras on CNet and PCMag, one camera kept popping up and got great reviews from both sites. The camera is Canon PowerShot A590 IS. Both sites rave about how great the pictures taken by this camera for its price range. Although both sites mention how relatively bulky the camera is and slow shot-to-shot speed, I can live with that.

• AA Batteries - Check
• Zoom > 4x - Check
  
• Image Stabilization - Check
• Takes good pictures in low lights - Check
• MP > 5 - Check (8.0 MP)
• SD memory card - Check

Note:

• Canon's Website
• Canon PowerShot A590 IS Review - CNet.com
• Canon PowerShot A590 IS Review - PCMag
• Canon PowerShot A590 IS Review - DigitalCameraReview
  
• Canon PowerShot A590 IS Review - PC World
  

A Point Made by PCMag About Buying a Digital Camera

> I Seriously Need a Digital Camera
> Samsung S850 Doesn't Have Image Stabilization

"If you don't know an f-stop from a white balance, a digital camera that has lots of modes and manual settings will generally be overkill for your needs, as well as being higher in price and more difficult to use."

It just hit me. They are right. I barely know about f-stop, white balance, shutter speed etc. I read all of them on camera reviews and photography sites yet I don't fully understand them. And here I am thinking of getting Canon PowerShot S3 IS or something like that. Maybe I should just be getting a point-and-shoot camera and move on from there.

Note:

• Digital Cameras: The Essential Buying Guide - PCMag.com
  

Samsung S850 Doesn't Have Image Stabilization

> I Seriously Need a Digital Camera

Apparently the Samsung S850 doesn't have Image Stabilization. According to its website it has Advanced Shake Reduction (ASR) which from my search is not the same as Image Stabilization. But the camera does have some other features I'm looking for.

• AA Batteries - Check
• Zoom > 4x - Check (5x optical zoom)
• Image Stabilization - No
• Takes good pictures in low lights - Check
• MP > 5 - Check (8.1 MP)
• SD memory card - Check

The camera looks good though.

Note:

• Samsung's website
• Samsung S850 Review - CNet.com
  
• Samsung S850 Review - DigitalCameraReview.com
• Samsung S850 Review - DPReview.com

I Seriously Need a Digital Camera

I've never had a digital camera, my brother does but it's no fun to use his because he's using it for business purposes while I want to use it all the time and experiment on things. I've always loved taking pictures and I can't believe that I haven't bought one digital camera since it's even more easier to delete pictures that I don't want.

Found a buying guide at CNET that answers the question: what kind of digital camera is best for me? According to this guide and from my own intuition since I know what I want, I'm a cross between a 'Serious amateur' and a 'Budget buyer'. I don't need a guide to tell me that I don't have enough money. But the guide is rather useful to find out which features you'll need in a camera when you're looking for one.

Right now, I'm not what is called a serious amateur but I want a camera that does something a little bit more than point-and-shoot, just a tiny bit more.

My checklist is:

• AA Batteries
• Zoom > 4x
• Image Stabilization
• Takes good pictures in low lights
• MP > 5
• SD memory card
  

Canon PowerShot S3 IS has always been in my mind but with the budget I'm in right now maybe I should consider Canon PowerShot A590 IS which I heard takes good pictures, or something like Samsung S850 which has the features I can work on and the price seems right.

Need to do a bit more digging.