Which compact to buy? I want manual controls and decent video capture.

[bananabar]

I have a Nikon D80 but now want a good point-and-shoot digital compact to use day-to-day. I'd be very grateful for any suggestions or opinions (I've come to MR cos it's the only forum I really know and use, so apologies for the non-Mac related subject).

I'd like it to be as compact as is realistically possible but would still like good quality, full manual control (PASM ideally), ability to shoot RAW (ideally to SD card), prefer as wide a lens as I can get and I'd like to be able to shoot good quality video. I'd also like 3:2 ratio.

I'll gladly spend up to £500 (about $850) so please, I'd love to hear your suggestions, experiences, ideas and comments...

Thanks to all.

 

[bananabar]

By the way, the Panasonic Lumix LX3 ticked most of the boxes, but the zoom ratio was a bit pathetic, so I decided against it for now...

 

[bananabar]

No-one has any ideas??

 

[wheelhot]

I thought the Canon G9 or G10 should be able to do what you want.

Oh yea, well this is the photography section of the forum

 

[bananabar]

Oh yea, well this is the photography section of the forum

That's ok isn't it?

 

[PCMacUser]

It's tricky to give a good answer to this question without doing a huge amount of research - there are just too many compact digitals on the market at the moment.

Ask about SLRs and it's a different story...

 

[bananabar]

It's tricky to give a good answer to this question without doing a huge amount of research - there are just too many compact digitals on the market at the moment.

Ask about SLRs and it's a different story...

I was hoping someone would have already done the research and purchased a compact they were happy with.

 

[wheelhot]

That's ok isn't it?

Yeah

 

[ftaok]

I have a Nikon D80 but now want a good point-and-shoot digital compact to use day-to-day. I'd be very grateful for any suggestions or opinions (I've come to MR cos it's the only forum I really know and use, so apologies for the non-Mac related subject).

I'd like it to be as compact as is realistically possible but would still like good quality, full manual control (PASM ideally), ability to shoot RAW (ideally to SD card), prefer as wide a lens as I can get and I'd like to be able to shoot good quality video. I'd also like 3:2 ratio.

I'll gladly spend up to £500 (about $850) so please, I'd love to hear your suggestions, experiences, ideas and comments...

Thanks to all.

For P&S cams, I like the Canon line(s). However, there's always a tradeoff. Canon's most compact series (digital Elph) do not have manual controls. The bigger ones have manual controls, but aren't as compact. Pretty much all Canon cams have lousy movie modes (my opinion), except for the $2700 5D MkII. Most of the Canons also do not have very wide lenses, although you could get an wide angle adapter.

It really depends on what you prioritize most.

I'm actually thinking about getting a Panasonic TZ-5. It has almost everything I want ... but since it will mainly be for the wife, the manual modes aren't really a necessity. It's got a huge and wide 10x lens (28-280) and a great HD (1280x720) movie mode. And surprisingly, it's pretty compact.

ft

 

[bananabar]

The Nikon P6000 looks good to me...

 

[ChrisA]

No-one has any ideas??

You've already decided against the camera most would recommend based on your usage. You don't want a huge zoom ratio, those lenses are always an optical compromise. Use your feet.

 

[ajpl]

Canon's most compact series (digital Elph) do not have manual controls.

Not any more, one was given manual features. Sadly not the one with the 28 mm wideangle and still no RAW.
Though that can be hacked I seem to recall.

The first thing to do when deciding which compact is wether you want RAW or not. If you do, you have very little choice. Also P+S are usually pretty crap as they have lots of MPs on a teeny sensor and anything over 200ISO is a usually waste of time.
I just got a Ricoh GX200 as my Cano S70 died and it's extremely well designed. Sadly, the fact that anything over 100ISO is awful quality lets it down. It goes up to 1600 ISO. Shockinging poor. I may have gotten a G10 if it had come out a bit sooner and if it had left pixel count where G9 was.

 

[FrankieTDouglas]

I don't own a compact camera, but if I did I would probably buy the Lumix. The g9 isn't bad, either, but something about the Lumix keeps pulling me back to it.