point and shoot decisions

[wineandbeach]

I am trying to decide between the Canon ELPH 340 and the Nikon S6800 or even the Canon SX600. Does anyone have suggestions. Also, does the SD card matter and if so any suggestions on what to look for in one?

[pierces]

I am trying to decide between the Canon ELPH 340 and the Nikon S6800 or even the Canon SX600. Does anyone have suggestions. Also, does the SD card matter and if so any suggestions on what to look for in one?

 

The Canon SX Series has always been pretty far up the good chain. The Sony HX sites has come a long ways as well.

 

As for SD, speed on a P&S isn't as important as on a DSLR or an advanced compact but download speed to your computer is a factor to consider. My personal recommendation is: buy the fastest card you can afford from a reputable brand like SanDisk and spend less of your life downloading.

 

Dave

Edited July 16, 2014 by pierces

[peety3]

Also, does the SD card matter and if so any suggestions on what to look for in one?

 

As for SD, speed on a P&S isn't as important as on a DSLR or an advanced compact but download speed to your computer is a factor to consider. My personal recommendation is: buy the fastest card you can afford from a reputable brand like SanDisk and spend less of your life downloading.

 

+1, in multiple ways: don't buy slow cards, as it slows down everything. You might not need the very fastest out there, but get something fast, as it'll affect you for the life of the card. However, don't buy just one card, buy 2-3 cards (at least) so if one card gets full, you have a second card to put in. If one card gets lost, you haven't lost ALL of your pictures. If one card gets corrupted, you can take a deep breath while trying to recover images, knowing that you have others.

 

And with the evolution of all things digital, a fast card today will be a slow card tomorrow. Seven years ago, I bought some 40MB/sec cards that were top-of-the-line, along with some 30MB/sec cards and a few 15MB/sec cards. Now that I'm buying 160MB/sec, all of those older cards are PAINFULLY slow.