Need an inexpensive point & shoot for eBay...

[Guitarman]

Preferably in the $100 or so price range, give or take about 20 bucks. I have been using my old Fuji S5000 for about 10 years, but it's starting to not like to focus in macro mode anymore. I sell music instruments and related items on eBay, so I need something with a decent macro mode. I will be putting some money back this fall to purchase a more serious camera, but I need something to get me by until then. Doesn't really need much for zoom, just decent glass capable of taking real clear shots in macro in case I want to take a close up of a serial number or something like that. Only retailer in my town without driving about 40 minutes is Walmart. They have a couple Fuji models in this price range, but they also have a Panasonic LS6, which runs on AA batteries, which is a bonus for me since I already have quite a few of them for my old Fuji camera. Any suggestions for cameras in this price range? I haven't really followed what's popular for a couple years.

[city_zen]

Take a look at the Canon ELPH 100 HS. It's going for $ 120 at Amazon and other online retailers. Seems to be the best camera in the sub-$120 segment. Or at least the only one with image stabilization and 3 cm or better macro focusing.

[Guitarman]

I went in Walmart friday evening to tell a customer of mine who works there that I had his guitar repair done, since they don't like you calling employees at our local Walmart, even if you just want to leave them a simple message, and they had brought out a table of clearance cameras. I found a Canon ELPH 300HS marked down to $99.00. It's a lot different than what I was used to using, but it seems to take great pictures, and the price was pretty unbeatable....

[Guitarman]

well, after taking a few more photos with the ELPH 300HS, it's going back to be exchanged for something else. Macro shots look really good, albeit a little soft on the edges, but for what I use it for that's not an issue. What IS an issue is that I cannot take a picture that's not in macro mode without focus being really soft. I took 5 pictures of a friend's truck, 20 feet from my front door of my shop, today, in the sun, and even on a tripod, the focus was so soft that I could barely read the ad he has for his company on the side of his truck. Not acceptable. *sigh*, I thought I had found my camera....

[Guitarman]

Just got back from Walmart, they didn't have another 300HS to exchange for, so I paid the difference after looking at all their cameras again and picked out a Panasonic SZ02. Seems like a very solid camera. I wasn't really looking for a camera with a big zoom, but in the price point I wanted to stay within, this one seemed to instill the most confidence, so we will give this one a shot. It's currently on the charger.... waiting impatiently for it to finish so I can try it out.

[pcake]

i look forward to hearing how it works out for you. i bought a zs20 and had bad luck with it, but others seem to really like it. and it's got great controls and good touch focus hope it works out perfectly for you!

Originally Posted by Guitarman

Just got back from Walmart, they didn't have another 300HS to exchange for, so I paid the difference after looking at all their cameras again and picked out a Panasonic SZ02. Seems like a very solid camera. I wasn't really looking for a camera with a big zoom, but in the price point I wanted to stay within, this one seemed to instill the most confidence, so we will give this one a shot. It's currently on the charger.... waiting impatiently for it to finish so I can try it out.

[Guitarman]

Apparently from what I have been able to dig up, the SZ02 is just an SZ1 that does 1080P video, wheres the SZ1 only does 720P. Those are the only differences I see. I will take a handful of pictures with it a little later and see how it does.