I’m a photo enthusiast who never owned a Camera. I felt that its time to try my hands on a decent Camera. My initial plan was to buy a decent entry level SLR camera. (The idea of buying a digital camera infact never crossed my mind as I had
felt that its still not matured enough to invest my hard earned money). I did a lot of research on which product to go for. I visited many websites, camera shops and consulted with friends who have good knowledge about photography. Somehow
during the course of this time, I came across many reviews about digital cameras, in fact I was pulled into. And everyone suggested that I go for a digital camera as it has more future. Though a little bit hesitant in the beginning I decided to do an U-turn and go for a digital camera.
Then comes the next tough part. Since most of my friends have little idea about digital cameras I had to rely on myself and reviews on the websites to shortlist the best camera suited for me.
Initial shortlisting was not tough as I already have two brands (Nikon & Canon) in my mind. And I’ve also already made up my mind to go for 5 megapixels camera. My next step was to compare a 5 megapixels camera between Nikon (coolpix 5200) and
Canon (Poweshot A95). Initially I was inclined towards Nikon (coolpix 5200) with no obvious reason. I did a lot of research and comparisons between the two products. Both of them have their own pros and cons and it was not easy to seal my decision. Then I put down few points that I look for in a digital camera.
Good picture quality
Ease of handling
Robustness
Features
Value for Money
Still both the products were neck to neck. Atlast, after a month or so, and after bombarding experts from digital camera review websites like https://dpreview.com and steves-digicams.com with lots of questions I decided to go for Canon Powershot A95.
One of the main reason I choose A95 was because it has manual features. This feature is really useful for expert photographer wannabe like me. You can control the aperature priority, shutter priority, and do manual focussing. And it still has all the preset modes like landscape, portrait, night scenes, sports, beach, etc. The good thing about this camera is that it can be used as a point and shoot camera, and at the same time try something artistic on your own with the manual features. I really learnt a lot about photography after using this camera. It is even possible to use lens adapter. In short this camera is a point and shoot camera with an SLR feature. Its easy to operate and the picture quality is Great!! The price is aslo very reasonable.
However it has its downside too. First thing, its a little bit bulky for a point and shoot camera. (But looking back my initial plan was to buy an SLR, so Size was never an issue). Another thing is, it doesn’t come with proprierty battery. It uses 4 AA battery, and this really adds up to its weight. But here also I don’t have a problem. Infact I feel I can hold it more stable with the extra weight. And the AA battery? Its quite conventional. Even if the battery ran out, its very easy to get AA battery anywhere. But use Alkaline batteries only. Normal one get drained out very fast. However, it will be advisible to buy 2 pairs of rechargeable Ni-MH batteries.
A 2500 mAH batteries last quite long.
Another downside is that the picture gets quite noisy at ISO 200 and 400. And there are some visible purple fringes against bright background.
To sum up, I would recommend this camera if you are a photo enthusiast and want to learn the art of photography and not very much bothered with the size and weight. You will still feel comfortable even if you are a first time user. I too was a first time user.