Is there such a thing as a good P&S compact camera?

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Gazza_UK

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Me again...... :D

Over the years I have had more cameras then I care to remember and never seem to be satisfied.

But after wasting many £'s it would seem a chunky camera is defo not for me. So really looking for a decent compact camera which ticks most of the list below.

Excellent image quality out of the camera

Good macro capability

At least 5x zoom

Some form of latest intelligent feature for ISO, scene etc.

The Fuji F70EXR soon to be replaced by F80RXR seems to get good magazine and user reviews.

Then there is the F200EXR which is now only £149 at Amazon and has received no end of awards.

Recently released is the Panasonic ZX3 which has mixed reviews. But I have had several Panasonic cameras and quite like them.

I think the Panasonic is 3cm Macro and Fuji is 5cm.

Most of my pics are of the kids out and about and scenery, animals etc, along with the items I stick on eBay.

I had the TZ7 but sold it in the end as it was just too chunky, even though it produced some fantastic out of camera shots. Just trying to sell a FZ38 as its just too big for me, but has a great 1cm macro on it.

Is there anything good from Canon, as they normally do excellent out of camera IQ. I know there is the S90, but its got basic zoom... however IQ is supposed to be right up there.

Any pointers/suggestions would be very much appreciated.
 
My other half has the Canon IXUS 95 IS (althou its in pink) cracking little P&S - Near on thought of selling my gear & getting one - :nono: not in pink though :lol:

If she can handle it then I'd imagine anyone can.... Just my 2p opinions worth... Oppps sorry - its a only a 3x zoom...
 
A TZ7 is too chunky? :cuckoo:

I think maybe you're after a GF1 or similar - it's at least a compromise in both quality and size.

You aren't going to get SLR quality in something the size of an IXUS, though - it's just a fact of life, something you're going to have to deal with I'm afraid! You either want a piece of kit which delivers proper good images, or a piece of kit which is tiny, or compromise.
 
trencheel303 said:
A TZ7 is too chunky? :cuckoo:

I think maybe you're after a GF1 or similar - it's at least a compromise in both quality and size.

You aren't going to get SLR quality in something the size of an IXUS, though - it's just a fact of life, something you're going to have to deal with I'm afraid! You either want a piece of kit which delivers proper good images, or a piece of kit which is tiny, or compromise.
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Trust me I'm not a cuckoo (yet) on the TZ7, just my personal opinion :D

Not bothered about SLR IQ, as that's a route I will never venture down. Just something that will produce the best picture possible out of the camera :thumbs:

Just had a look at the GF1 and that's way too expensive... but thanks for pointing it out.
 
Trig's said:
My other half has the Canon IXUS 95 IS (althou its in pink) cracking little P&S - Near on thought of selling my gear & getting one - :nono: not in pink though :lol:

If she can handle it then I'd imagine anyone can.... Just my 2p opinions worth... Oppps sorry - its a only a 3x zoom...
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Thanks for the input, will have a look into that one too.

EDIT: Hmmm over a year since release but gets some cracking reviews.... that's put a spanner in the works now.
 
The Canon Ixus range are definitely worth a look..always get good user feedback & do very well in the "official" review too. The wife has the Ixus 80 & it's excellent

Simon
 
My god how stupid am I... I've had a Canon Ixus 950 IS before and took some cracking spider shots in my back garden with it.

No idea why I got rid of it :cuckoo: see I'm defo cuckoo now :lol:

Is there a more up-to-date Ixus now with the new bells and whistles?

IMG_0455.jpg
 
^That is very nice...
 
Hmmm the Ricoh CX3 is now looking a firm favourite at the moment.

1cm macro, excellent IQ and 10x zoom :thumbs:
 
Beware of large zooms, it will detriment image quality somewhat.
 
I had a Canon IXUS 500 which was brilliant until it died. It was tiny but used the same memory cards, had a lithium ion battery and produced decent images. If I was to buy another p&s I would certainly look at another one.
 
I have just bought a canon s90 which I'm very pleased with. I would also recommend the Lumix LX3. The s90 has the same innards as the G11 but at a much smaller compact size. It also does RAW which the TZ7 does not.

I'm taking the s90 on me hols tomorrow to see what it can really do! Check out this s90 - Lumix LX3 comparrison vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWVLG7AC91Y

Few image examples from my s90:

Church:


B&W:


Macro:
s90_Macro_800pix.jpg
 
Very nice pics there from the S90, thanks for sharing them. Were they out of camera or have you PP after?

Appreciate comments on large zoom and makes me think I should just go for pure image quality. But pics from the F70EXR/F200EXR and Ricoh CX3 over on Trusted Reviews look very good indeed.... and the S90 is just another league it would seem.
 
postcardcv said:
I've read a lot of good things about the Fuji's too, I'm hoping to get an F70 in the next week or so (been offered a secondhand one at a good price). Once I've got my hands on it I'll post some feedback and samples, unless you've already bought a camera by then!
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Much appreciated.
 
Another vote for the Canon Ixus range,have had the 400 Ixus and then the last one which i still use is the 900ti but there is a newer model the Ixus 990 IS
 
Gazza_UK said:
Very nice pics there from the S90, thanks for sharing them. Were they out of camera or have you PP after?

Appreciate comments on large zoom and makes me think I should just go for pure image quality. But pics from the F70EXR/F200EXR and Ricoh CX3 over on Trusted Reviews look very good indeed.... and the S90 is just another league it would seem.
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The colour image of the church had a little pp but not much at all. The B&W was through Silver efex pro and the pencil again was just a little pp. I bought mine for £288 free delivery new from a company on ebay. So far i am really chuffed with it. It has a great feature of a control ring around the lens which can be programmed to change aperture, shutter speed, ISO, exposure, white balance and manual focus. The lens is f2.0 - f4.9 so pretty fast! There are plenty of really good movies on youtube so check them out. Also it feels small and great in the hand. A joy to use!

Another macro but this was straight out the camera with no pp:
 
The lens is f2.0 - f4.9 so pretty fast!
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Going a little off topic (as I am thinking of getting a decent compact for when I dont want to lug around the D300), I thought I read somewhere that these f numbers are not the same as on DSLRs - i.e. looking back through some old pics of mine taken on a compact, some are f2.8 and they look nothing like a pic on the d300 at f2.8 - make sense?

Ken Rockwell (who sometimes talks sense, and often rubbish) really rates the S90 and I hear the G11 is good as well.
 
Gazza_UK said:
Very nice pics there from the S90, thanks for sharing them. Were they out of camera or have you PP after?

Appreciate comments on large zoom and makes me think I should just go for pure image quality. But pics from the F70EXR/F200EXR and Ricoh CX3 over on Trusted Reviews look very good indeed.... and the S90 is just another league it would seem.
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Was playing with a CX3 myself and it doesn't have any manual control, unlike the S90 / LX3.
 
Thanks for all the feedback so far, very much appreciated.

The S90 really does produce excellent pictures... the downside is basic 3x zoom. It states its only 5cm macro, but those pics from Andy are very impressive.

Its a quandry now that's for certain :thinking:

Canon S90
Ricoh CX3
Fuji F80EXR
Fuji F200EXR
Panasonic ZX3
 
justinitus said:
Was playing with a CX3 myself and it doesn't have any manual control, unlike the S90 / LX3.
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I understand some of the terminology but not much, so manual control is not that much of a priority/concern for me. Whatever camera I go with will be in auto most of the time.
 
Gazza_UK said:
I understand some of the terminology but not much, so manual control is not that much of a priority/concern for me. Whatever camera I go with will be in auto most of the time.
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Well, in that case the CX3 might fit the bill, it's pretty darn nice :love:
 
Gazza_UK said:
My god how stupid am I... I've had a Canon Ixus 950 IS before and took some cracking spider shots in my back garden with it.

No idea why I got rid of it :cuckoo: see I'm defo cuckoo now :lol:

Is there a more up-to-date Ixus now with the new bells and whistles?

IMG_0455.jpg
Click to expand...

That is very nice macro. Did you crop this and did you use any accessories? I didn't think compact could simply get that.
 
cambsno said:
I thought I read somewhere that these f numbers are not the same as on DSLRs - i.e. looking back through some old pics of mine taken on a compact, some are f2.8 and they look nothing like a pic on the d300 at f2.8 - make sense?
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That's only because the DOF on compacts is so much larger than even APS-C DSLRs because of the tiny sensor and hence also tiny focal lengths.

On a compact pretty much everything from 1 metre in front of you and beyond is at infinity focus. On a DSLR obviously it is much finer than that, with long lenses you can be looking easily at 50 feet or more until your focus becomes infinity.
 
Gazza_UK said:
My god how stupid am I... I've had a Canon Ixus 950 IS before and took some cracking spider shots in my back garden with it.

No idea why I got rid of it :cuckoo: see I'm defo cuckoo now :lol:

Is there a more up-to-date Ixus now with the new bells and whistles?

IMG_0455.jpg
Click to expand...

Hi

have just bought a Canon 980is only messed around with it,hope I get as good a shot as yours when I use it properly.

Regards:).
 
daugirdas said:
That is very nice macro. Did you crop this and did you use any accessories? I didn't think compact could simply get that.
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It was taken quite a while ago. I have quite few pics of the spider taken with the 950IS. I remember pointing the camera as close as possible to the spider. So the picture might be slightly cropped, but not by much.
 
I have spent the last 90 minutes or so reading up on the S90 (neglected girlfriend not happy mind you).

One thing that crops up all the time is the barrel distortion and that it needs correcting after in Canon software.
 
ChrisJ_SLH said:
Another :plusone: for the S90, I picked one up of Kerso recently as it does one thing really well that my 5D2 can't, namely fits in my pocket.

Image quality for its size is surprisingly good and the manual control modes are a real bonus.
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Would it be overkill for a point and shoot stuck in auto mode all the time?

Also what is the issue with barrel distortion many users and reviews talk about?
 
I haven't noticed anything excessive for its nature on mine but a quick google would suggest that some aren't happy with the barrel distortion results at the wide end when shooting raw.

It would appear that the camera corrects the jpg automatically, so you wouldn't have the issue in auto mode.

There's a good explanation of what is going on here
 
Weird thing - Nobody's noticed the Canon G10 or G11. Depending on your budget, I would go for a new or secondhand one of them. Fantastic Image Quality, great IQ and almost DSLR like handling. I love it to bits! I don't own one, but one of my friend's does. They are very happy with it, and when I used it for a while, I really liked it too.

Great camera!
 
bartoszwozniak said:
Weird thing - Nobody's noticed the Canon G10 or G11. Depending on your budget, I would go for a new or secondhand one of them. Fantastic Image Quality, great IQ and almost DSLR like handling. I love it to bits! I don't own one, but one of my friend's does. They are very happy with it, and when I used it for a while, I really liked it too.

Great camera!
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That takes me back to a chunky camera though, which is what I'm trying to avoid. But both do get fantastic reviews.

Looking for some something very compact and easy to fit in my pocket.

Although the TZ7 was reasonable... but when in its case it was a nightmare. I know I'm a fussy so and so :D
 
ChrisJ_SLH said:
I haven't noticed anything excessive for its nature on mine but a quick google would suggest that some aren't happy with the barrel distortion results at the wide end when shooting raw.

It would appear that the camera corrects the jpg automatically, so you wouldn't have the issue in auto mode.

There's a good explanation of what is going on here
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Thanks for that :thumbs:
 
Gazza_UK said:
That takes me back to a chunky camera though, which is what I'm trying to avoid. But both do get fantastic reviews.

Looking for some something very compact and easy to fit in my pocket.

Although the TZ7 was reasonable... but when in its case it was a nightmare. I know I'm a fussy so and so :D
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That was the reason I went for the S90, it is so damn small while still giving you the option of P, Av, Tv and M and RAW shooting if you want and good IQ for the size of the lens.

We've also got a Ixus 950IS but the shutter lag drives me insane. The handling and controls are so much nicer on the S90 and the Digic IV processor makes the menus and such fly along. (Still makes me chuckle to think that it has the same Digic as my 5D2!).

The only criticism I have of the S90 so far is the pop-up flash which pops-up where my left fore-finger naturally falls when holding it. I'm getting used to it now but it was irritating at first.
 
I have a Sony W90 which has worked well for me for about three years, I only got my D SLR fairly recently because I wanted a bit more than the P & S can give.
 
vote for canon ixus range. i have a 80IS very good. Sister has 85IS very impressed with it.
 
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