Search For The Best Point And Shoot Camera Under 200 Dollars

Characteristics To Look For In The Best Camera Under 200 Dollars

There are many different categories of point and shoot cameras available in the market. If you are looking at purchasing a brand new camera for a budget within around 200 dollars, you would be looking at basic point and shoot camera models available in the market. In this range the cameras are more designed targeting the beginner level photographer who is not looking for much fancy features. Therefore the cameras tend to come in compact easy to use designs with a good range of auto modes to help select the best settings for the given condition.

A common mistake many camera buyers tend to make is to focus too much on the megapixel count of the camera. In such compact designs, even the best point and shoot camera under 200 dollars would be equipped with a small sized sensor. These sensors cannot effectively accommodate high megapixel counts as it would then create image noise in higher ISO settings.

What makes the best camera under 200 dollars stand out over a smartphone camera is its ability to offer optical zoom. Digital zoom may offer longer zoom ranges but its quality is not even close to that which you could achieve from optical zoom. In most cameras offering over 5x optical zoom, the camera would come equipped with the optical image stabilization feature which reduces effects of camera shake resulting in blurring of images.

Next you should focus on the image quality of the LCD display. Some point and shoot cameras on the cheaper end tend to have low quality LCD lenses which are not very clear under bright sunlight. Try to find a camera model which has sharp and saturated display quality under bright light. Also it is recommended to get a camera with a screen size of at least 3 inches to be able to view photos with ease and also be able to navigate through settings.

Examples Of The Best Point And Shoot Cameras Under 200 Dollars

In relation to the criteria described above and other performance features, the following point and shoot cameras can be identified as the top 5 best compact cameras currently available under 200 dollars. As it can be seen, this category is dominated by the leading camera manufacturer brands who have been able to hold a strong position in the market up-to-date.

• Canon PowerShot ELPH 110 HS
• Fujifilm FinePix XP50
• Fujifilm FinePix S4200
• Nikon Coolpix S6300
• Panasonic Lumix SZ1