Best Point And Shoot Camera Under $125

Thanks for the help people...I didn't even have to start a new thread!

Well, I happened across this thread, because your post put it at the top of the page.

Here's some considerations for you: P&S cameras with coins represent a level of compromise ranging from significant to impossible. Some are never going to do well at coin imaging, and others (almost all the others) require very specific lighting and technique to get where you want them to go. It's a frustrating process, especially for a beginner who knows relatively little about the nuts and bolts of photography.

The whole purpose of the more expensive, bespoke rigs you see discussed here is to broaden that sweet spot. In addition to creating higher-quality images, they're far easier to use to create those images. And the only compromise is that you need to learn the fundamentals of photography in general, which is mechanical in nature and not artistic - anyone can learn these things. Just something to think about.

My usual advice to someone interested in P&S shooting is to find an older, used model. It's counterintuitive, but you want fewer megapixels (far less noisy than today's 15MP+ sensors). You want a specific Macro function and a minimum focusing distance of under 2". You want a shorter zoom, not a longer - longer zoom lenses in P&S cameras represent optical compromises which usually show up in lesser Macro capability; the average P&S user simply doesn't care about Macro and they build them to the demographic. You want as much manual control as possible - maybe the thing will take good coin images on full Automatic, but you can't plan on it. And in order to appropriately leverage those manual controls, you need the same level of knowledge that the more expensive rigs require.

You can expect to need to place the camera no more than 4" from the subject, probably closer. This seriously compromises lighting options, one of the major shortcomings of a P&S.

With all that said, if your only purpose is to create full-face images for a Registry Set, you might not do too badly with a P&S. Heck, an iPhone is capable of amazing quality for imaging of this type - have a look here:

https://goccf.com/t/160092

More than happy to help with any questions this post might have created in your mind.

sturmgrenadier
For your purpose I would suggest you take a
very close look at the Canon Powershot G series.
A G7,G8, G9 or G10 not a later model.
This little camera has Live View shooting capability.
(The only P&S to have this feature, to my knowledge)


Plus it's quite a good little carry round camera.

It depends on the camera model. Saying that Nikon has better color contrast than Canon is like saying Fords get better gas mileage than Chevys.