New to cameras - recommendation please

[stunning_complexity]

Hi,

I'm planning on buying my first digital camera (yes, behind the times I know, but better late than never!) and I'm looking for some recommendations.

I like the look of both the Ixus 970IS and Ixus 870IS, but can't decide what to go for. There's not a lot of difference in price, but I found the following specs:

Zoom tele (mm) - 970 185mm, 870 112mm
Focus range (cm) - 970 47, 870 50
Macro focus range (cm) - 970 3cm, 870 2cm
Minimum aperture wide - 970 f3.2, 870 f2.8
Minimum aperture tele - 970 f5.7, 870 f5.8

I don't understand the above figures, I've read somewhere that smaller is better, but this is contradicted elsewhere. I'm confused!

I would appreciate greatly any explanations offered!

Thanks,
SC

[_Sim]

Hi SC, welcome to the forum!

Here's what comes to mind from some of the figures you provided and a quick search I did:

The 870 will give you a wider field of view (28mm is wider than the 970's 37mm). The 870's lens is also a bit faster when it's at 28mm meaning that you need less light to get a good exposure. I don't want to get too technical here, but basically faster lenses have a wider maximum aperture which allows more light to reach the sensor.

That said, the 970 can zoom in further allowing you to take photos from farther away. When you're zoomed all the way in, both cameras have very similar maximum apertures so they require almost the same amount of light to take the photo, with the 970 having a slight edge.

I think you need to figure out what kind of photography are you planning to do, and choose the best camera for that.

Hope that helps :)

[stunning_complexity]

Hey Sim,

Many thanks for the speedy reply. Your post definitely makes things clearer! It terms of what type of photograpgy I want, it's really just general stuff like family, places, etc. I don't want to get technical or anything, I just want to be able to point, shoot and take fairly decent pictures :).

I think I'm sold on the 870, but I do like the idea of having better zoom on the 970! Decisions, decisions!

Thanks,
SC

(http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=173115)