I’ve been shopping around for a new digital camera (point and shoot) and narrowed my choices down to the following; Canon SX10 IS, and the Nikon P90. Both cameras are considered “super zooms” since they are at 20x and 24x optical zoom respectively. Neither camera does not support HD or HDMI connections. However, I am having a problem making a decision on which one to get.
Canon SX10 IS:
The Canon has a 20x optical zoom, 10 MP (mega pixels), can use SDHC memory cards, records movies at a maximum resolution of 640×480 with stereo (file is saved as MOV format),can use the optical zoom while recording movies, MovieSnap (lets you take a high resolution picture while recording a movie, can shoot 1.4 fps in 3 MP while in sports mode, ISO 1600, uses SD/SDHC, MultiMediaCard, MMC Plus Card, HC MMC Plus Card, and a 2.5″ Vari-Angle LCD which rotates 270 degrees.
Nikon P90:
The P90 has a 24x optical zoom, 12.1 MP, can use SDHC memory cards, records movies at an unknown resolution in mono (file is saved as something format), can not use the optical zoom while recording movies (only digital zoom is available), can shoot up to 15 fps in 3 MP while in sports mode, ISO 6400 capability at 3 MP, has approx 47 MB internal memory, uses SD/SDHC memory cards, and 3″ Vari-Abgle LCD which can tilt upward 90 degrees and downward 45 degrees.
On Friday June 5th I stopped at Cameras Etc to asked about the Nikon P90. Dan the salesman said it is a great camera but they are out of stock. He really liked the 24x optical zoom and the 12.1 MP. When I asked about some other models, he said they were OK, but fell short of the P90. Dan checked with his manager to see when the P90 will be in, and I have to wait until Wednesday or Thursday to see it.
On Sunday June 7th, I went to Best Buy to check out each camera. Max the salesman from the camera department was awesome. he let me borrow a SD memory card, plug it into the Canon and let me take a bunch of pictures and movies. After shooting, I put the card in a PC at the Computer Department so I can upload the files to my Dropbox account so I can view them on my home PC.
We tried to get the Nikon to work after installing the SD card, but for some reason the camera would not work (yikes!!) Could be just a fluke.
The pictures from the SX10 IS look great, too bad my subject (me) could look better. The color looked natural, it didn’t look over saturated, and the brief movie I took looked nice. According to VLC and Totem Movie player, the movie was recorded in stereo at 640×480. The file was huge at 18.7 MB for a 14 second video. I guess I can get a smaller file size if I change the resolution down to 320×240.
I hope Dan will let me shoot some pictures with the P90 and send them to my Dropbox so I can compare with the SX10 IS.
ratedmaxpower 