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US $23.95
Is the Nikon CoolPix S220 digital camera comparable to a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS15?
I have an HP 6.2 megapixel camera that's 4 years old that I've always liked well enough, but I want to get something a little better/newer. I saw the Nikon CoolPix on Walmart's website, and it's only around $120. I don't have experience with Nikon, but a friend of mine has a Panasonic Lumix that works quite well. The Nikon is 10MP, and the Panasonic is 12MP, so maybe this is the main difference? Thanks in advance.
I'd give the edge to the Panasonic. The zoom range on the panasonic is 5x which is better than the 3x on the Nikon. This means you will get a wider wide angle shot (29mm vs 35mm) and a higher magnification on the telephoto end too (145mm vs 105mm). The Panasonic uses both optical and digital image stabilization while the Nikon only used digital (the cheapest and lesser effective form of image stabilization)
10MP vs 12MP makes virtually no difference at all so that is not important.
Both have nearly a 1 second shutter lag which means the camera does not take a picture until nearly a second after push the shutter button. OK for posed snap shots, but a deal breaker if you are trying to capture a fleeting image.
The Nikon has slightly poorer picture quality than the Panasonic and that is not due to the pixel count, it is due to poorer processing of the image. BTW MP count should rarely be used as a benchmark for picture quality. Most DSLR's with 5MP that will blow a 12MP point and shoot camera away. But what's important to you is probably picture quality of 4x6" prints and computer viewed pictures. Both of these will be completely adequate for this.
If it were up to me and I had to choose between just these two, I'd go for the Panasonic even though it is about $50 more.
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