Can I have it all?

[rocketeer]

I'm looking for a camera that will take care of my kids birthday parties in both jpg and mpg formats that will also take good macro reef shots.

Can any of the cameras out there auto focus on a coral in a macro shot?

I've been using a Canon PowerShot S40 and I love it's features but here's one of my problems:

In an auditorium, 50 feet away from the subject, I can't get a good shot. If I use flash, for foreground lights up only. With no flash, I need a long shutter and everything is blurry.

This camera has a small lens. Will cameras with larger lenses like the SLR cameras capture more light and use a shorter shutter?

Jack

[erikharrison]

I think you will probably have a hard time finding one that does video.

"Will cameras with larger lenses like the SLR cameras capture more light and use a shorter shutter?"

I think that would depend on the iris of the camera, and less on the lens, but I could be wrong. There are so many different choices when it comes to lenses it awe-inspiring. They make them for just about any application. I told my gf to just get a regular point and shoot, and she did. Problem was, three months later she wanted a DSLR. Best buy she has made in a long time. Too bad the 300 dollar camera that she had bought prior to that was worth about 100.

Also, with the DSLR, you can get a great zoom lens.... should fix any auditorium issues!

[watson0720]

look at the fujifilms S700, it has 10x zoom, macro and super macro and really good video camera on it, i just got one and absolutely love it!!!

[kaiser]

Olympus SP 560 UZ
18X optical zoom

Normal mode: Wide: 3.9” – infinity (0.1m – infinity), Tele: 47.2” – infinity (1.2m – infinity)
Macro mode: Wide: 3.9” – infinity (0.1m – infinity), Tele: 47.2” – infinity (1.2m – infinity)
Super Macro mode: 0.4" – infinity (1cm – infinity)

[rocketeer]

Well, I ended up with a Canon Powershot S5 IS. It's pretty cool. It even does special effects. Check out my red tang. It focuses within a cm. And a macro lens is available for it too.

Jack

[tony]

great choice, canons are tough to beat

i own an s2-is

[brewercm]

I also have the S3-IS for every day around the house use and really like it's overall capabilities. I took some nice night shots with it while at Disney World a couple of weeks ago and they came out pretty good even cranking the ISO to 800. Still wish I had my DSLR at that moment but it was my last day there and was tired of carrying it around.

[erikharrison]

Still wish I had my DSLR at that moment but it was my last day there and was tired of carrying it around.

It does get old lugging them around!!!