So I've got a Canon A510 and it's pretty decent. Bought it 3 or 4 years ago and it's not bad, but I picked the wrong feature set (well, maybe was the right feature set at the time, but the wrong one now) and I'm thinking about getting a new model. Here's the things important to me, just wondering if anyone has some suggestions:
1) Battery life. I'd like to not only take a lot of photos, but have a long standby time. Internal battery charged via USB for bonus points. (I used to be a strict AA's only guy, but I'll keep my A510 for a backup, and my wife has a cheap Polaroid digicam, so there's much less need for concern that'll my battery will die and I'll be stranded).
2) Time to first photo. Power up time, shutter lag, autofocus, flash recharge time, etc. This is important to me now that I have a baby and the A510 fails me here.
3) Optical image stabilization. I hate photos with flashes since I feel like it makes all the colors really cold and harsh. I'd much rather take a longer exposure when possible than use a flash, so optical image stabilization is a big one.
4) Exposure bracketing and motor drive speed. Sometimes doing a bracketed photo can help with my no-flash desires, so this is important, and a reasonably fast motor drive is great with kids.
5) Video. I have an OK digital camcorder, but I'd like something that can act as a backup for it. The video on my A510 is pretty poor, I'd like something that shoots VGA @ 30fps and a decent bitrate, if possible. Decent sound would be a bonus.
So, any suggestions based on the above?
Thanks.
1) Battery life. I'd like to not only take a lot of photos, but have a long standby time. Internal battery charged via USB for bonus points. (I used to be a strict AA's only guy, but I'll keep my A510 for a backup, and my wife has a cheap Polaroid digicam, so there's much less need for concern that'll my battery will die and I'll be stranded).
2) Time to first photo. Power up time, shutter lag, autofocus, flash recharge time, etc. This is important to me now that I have a baby and the A510 fails me here.
3) Optical image stabilization. I hate photos with flashes since I feel like it makes all the colors really cold and harsh. I'd much rather take a longer exposure when possible than use a flash, so optical image stabilization is a big one.
4) Exposure bracketing and motor drive speed. Sometimes doing a bracketed photo can help with my no-flash desires, so this is important, and a reasonably fast motor drive is great with kids.
5) Video. I have an OK digital camcorder, but I'd like something that can act as a backup for it. The video on my A510 is pretty poor, I'd like something that shoots VGA @ 30fps and a decent bitrate, if possible. Decent sound would be a bonus.
So, any suggestions based on the above?
Thanks.