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Please suggest a GOOD compact camera

gazfocus

gazfocus

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 3, 2008
1,650
0
Liverpool, UK
Hi

Thanks to the overwhelming suggestions on this forum and another, I have today bought a Nikon D50 dSLR and I am loving it already :)))

However, I am also looking for a compact camera that I can just keep in my pocket or bag so I've always got a camera everywhere I go (I would normally use a camera phone or something, but camera phone quality is rubbish).

I'm not too fussed about Megapixels but obviously has to be in line with current standards, and I would like a camera than has some form of image stabilising/anti shake.

My budget is an absolute maximum of £200.

Thanks
 
gazfocus said:
Hi

Thanks to the overwhelming suggestions on this forum and another, I have today bought a Nikon D50 dSLR and I am loving it already :)))

However, I am also looking for a compact camera that I can just keep in my pocket or bag so I've always got a camera everywhere I go (I would normally use a camera phone or something, but camera phone quality is rubbish).

I'm not too fussed about Megapixels but obviously has to be in line with current standards, and I would like a camera than has some form of image stabilising/anti shake.

My budget is an absolute maximum of £200.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Panasonic Lumix - TZ3 would be well under £200, best compact camera iv'e come across.

You may even be able to get the newer model TZ5 for £200 if you shop around.
 
Is the Lumix TZ the replacement for the Lumix FX?

I have a Lumix FX and its really good.
 
iBecks said:
Panasonic Lumix - TZ3 would be well under £200, best compact camera iv'e come across.

You may even be able to get the newer model TZ5 for £200 if you shop around.
Click to expand...

or their close cousin, the TZ4K. Somehow it's actually cheaper than the TZ3 on amazon (at least in the US).
 
If you've already got a DSLR, I would go for the smallest and most compact one you can get so that you carry it everywhere you go. That's the only downside of a DSLR, its a lot to lug about. Something that is always with you to capture things you would normally miss would, IMHO, fill the gap that you DSLR will leave.
 
I posted this on another thread about compact cameras:
emorydunn said:
Personally I recomend the PowerShot SD1000. I have ahd the camera for about a year and never had a complaint about it.
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=145&modelid=14901

It's a small and compact camera but also has a ton of cool features built in. Oh, and did I mention it's cheap? I didn't, well the " Suggested Retail Price" from Canon's site is $200 (Hey! That's gone down from when I bought it... grr...)

I almost forgot to mention, it has a viewfinder AND a big screen. Something that is getting harder to find in point-and-shoot cameras, I think the viewfinder makes a huge differance.
Click to expand...
 
gazfocus said:
Thanks. I had been looking at Canons (particularly the SD860/870 IS) because of the image stabilization.

I'm suprised no-one's suggested a Sony...are they not as good as Canon?
Click to expand...

Sony (like all mfgs, but even more so) loves to smush tons of megapixels onto tiny sensors that would better fit cell phones. Their P&S's are nothing to write home about.
 
taylorwilsdon said:
Sony (like all mfgs, but even more so) loves to smush tons of megapixels onto tiny sensors that would better fit cell phones. Their P&S's are nothing to write home about.
Click to expand...

That's good to know....I never liked the camera in my Sony Ericcson phone to be honest. Just thought the P&S's would be better quality...I'll look into the Canon cameras then :)

Thanks
 
As a dedicated CANON SLR User I can say----> I love my Olympus 770SW P&S

Not sure what the current model is but the thing is ......

EDIT Current Model is the 1030SW ( added a pic of the 1030SW )

Waterproof
Crushproof
Freeze Proof
Shock Proof


Here is some pics from the web ......
 

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My parents just got the Canon PowerShot A720 IS, which I will go ahead and recommend. At £145 (MSRP), it can be found well within your budget. The IS works phenomenally, as I have set it in Tv to 1/15, and the end result was a sharp photo, handheld with that long of exposure. The Face Detection I have had little time to experiment with, but it seems to work effectivly, maintaining proper exposure on faces. The Digic III image processor leaves the camera with exceptional battery life, considering it requiring only 2 AA's. My parents like the 6x optical zoom, as their previous Fujifilm had only 3x optical. They claim they can notice the effect of the IS specifically at longer zooms, but I can not verify.

Canon PowerShot A720 IS Review
 
Unlike their SLR's Canon compacts aren't actually special.
Click to expand...

Care to delve into that statement a bit further? Without further detail supporting your opinion your post is pretty much thread spam.
 
Most ultracompacts are too automatic for my taste, at most they have scene modes in general. Those with priority and manual modes are very rare.
 
Eraserhead said:
Unlike their SLR's Canon compacts aren't actually special.
Click to expand...

I don't think we can make general statments about brands. Yes, taken as a class Canon compacts are not much better or worse then Olympus, Nikon, Panasonic and so on. But we don't buy classes, we buy just one camera. You have to compare model to model not brand to brand.

It makes little sense to talk about "Canons". But we can say things about the "Canon G9". The OP asked for a "Good" camera so we assume he is looking for top of the line camera as he did not ask for a cheap camera or a small camera. The other one to look at is the Leica "d-lux 3" or the d-lux 2 or the Panasonic verson of either of these. These adn the G9 all have larger sensors than most other compact camera and unlike most other compacts, they all shoot RAW format
 
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Fuji, specifically something like the F50. It is one of the best compacts out there with a reasonable megapixel to sensitivity ratio.

Well within budget too.

David
 
No one mentioned the F31fd, F30, or F20 because he has an S6000fd/S6500fd that he doesn't like.
 
cube said:
No one mentioned the F31fd, F30, or F20 because he has an S6000fd/S6500fd that he doesn't like.
Click to expand...

And?

The S6000fd and S6500fd are bridge cameras - completely different from compacts like the F50fd or F100fd. Also the F20 is relatively weak compared to the F30, F50, or F100.
 
davidjearly said:
And?

The S6000fd and S6500fd are bridge cameras - completely different from compacts like the F50fd or F100fd. Also the F20 is relatively weak compared to the F30, F50, or F100.
Click to expand...

The F20 is just a more automatic F30 w/o ISO 3200. It's not weak.

If he doesn't like the low light performance of the S6500fd/S6500fd, he won't like the F30 (or the similar F31fd or F20) as the improvement is very small.

Later cameras are just weaker.

So there's nothing to recommend.
 
cube said:
The F20 is just a more automatic F30 w/o ISO 3200. It's not weak.
Click to expand...

Yeah, so it is weaker in that it has less advanced features and aimed at a different market from those with an SLR. In any case, I'm not going to argue over semantics with you.

cube said:
If he doesn't like the low light performance of the S6500fd/S6500fd, he won't like the F30 (or the similar F31fd or F20) as the improvement is very small.
Click to expand...

Again, the low light performance from the Fuji's I gave mentioned are better than any other similarly priced compact. To compare it to what you would expect from a camera the size of the bridge models is foolish. Of course it will not perform the same as the D50, but it produces excellent results for a compact.

cube said:
Later cameras are just weaker.
Click to expand...

Wrong. The F50fd has comparable sensitivity performance to the F30/31 and gives better results during daylight.

cube said:
So there's nothing to recommend.
Click to expand...

Actually there is. Any one of the F30/31/50/100 would be perfect for the OP and that is from personal experience. There is a reason that the F30/31/50 have had such favourable reviews.
 
Lumix LX2
10MP
RAW and JPEG
Video
Wide Angle Zoom (starts at 28mm equivalent - a really great feature)
Three formats - up to 16x9
Leica glass - and a big piece of glass at that for a P&S

If you should a lot in dark situations, also consider a Fuji.
 
davidjearly said:
Wrong. The F50fd has comparable sensitivity performance to the F30/31 and gives better results during daylight.

Actually there is. Any one of the F30/31/50/100 would be perfect for the OP and that is from personal experience. There is a reason that the F30/31/50 have had such favourable reviews.
Click to expand...

dpreview's Fuji forum is full of Fuji users complaining than the F50 IQ is worse than the F30.

He also asked with a camera with IS. That rules out the F31fd, F30, and F20 even if he could find one.
 
I've had both the F31 and F50. The F50 is not in the same league. The F31 is more than a stop cleaner hands down. I've tried many side by side tests. The F50 has terrible AE and doesn't have a lens shift IS, but a sensor shift which doesn't work other than for a marketing bullet point. If you want a good Fuji for low light, there is the F40 (Ritz re-brands it as the F45 -- same camera, but nicer finish) which is nearly as clean as the F31 but offers better AWB manners.

If you want a good sunlight camera I suggests either a Canon like the A720, SD850 or the Panasonic TZ4/5. You can't go wrong with Canon or the TZ which has a great lens, 10x zoom, WA, super IS system and is now on par with Canon for image quality (better than the TZ3 was).

BTW, I've owned all the cameras mentioned so I know how they function first hand.
 
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