Best Point and Shoot

[HD333]

Anyone have an opinion on the best P/S Camera? Looking to replace our Cannon Powershot SD790 with a new camera. We will mostly use this for outdoor shots, skiing, hiking, kids messing around. Quick shutter speed is high on our list of must have features.

So which P/S am I going to buy?

SLR is out of the question as we will never carry it.

 

[David Metsky]

There's no single best P&S camera, since they all have their strengths and weaknesses. I suspect the feature you are looking for a low shutter lag, not quick shutter speed. Shutter lag is the time between pushing the shutter release button and taking the picture. Shutter speed is how long the shutter stays open, and all cameras support the full range of useful shutter speeds. Fortunately, most cameras today have much better shutter lag than in the past but it's still a problem in low light or with fast moving objects (like skiers).

Do you care about having a view finder? Very few cameras today have them and if you want one it severely limits your choices.

Do you care about manual controls? Some P&S cameras give you control over shutter speed, aperture, and focus but most don't.

How much telephoto and wide angle do you need? While most folks concentrate on the multiplier (12x zoom) you really should be looking at the minimum and maximum focal lengths. I have found that getting a better wide angle lens (at least 28mm, 24mm is better) is more important than having more on the telephoto end.

How big a camera do you want? Pocket sized or is larger OK?

My favorites on the market today are:

• the Canon S100 (or S95 on discount) for great image quality and excellent low light performance.
• the Canon G12 if you need an optical view finder and overall excellent image quality
• the Panasonic FZ150 for a large ultrazoom
• the Canon SX230 for a compact ultrazoom

There are many others that are quite good as well. I find that on snow, a viewfinder of any type is very important and that will probably drive my purchase decision. It's unfortunate that there are so few options with view finders.

 

[gpetrics]

I'm a pretty big fan of the Panasonic LX series. I think I have the LX3, and it's been very good for "pointing and shooting." The intelligent auto is out of this world for capturing scenes SMARTLY with zero user input. I hear the LX5 is even better.

Only real con: The camera leaves a good bit to be desired on the "quickness" category if you're trying to get action shots... but if you learn the camera in and out you can game the delay by prefocusing since the function of the pre-focus, and delay to shutter activation is VERY consistent.

here's a few sample shots:

nice macro:

nice wide angle:

overall i find myself using the SLR more, but that's to be expected. When time and/or ease is imperative, this is a pretty good little camera.

 

[Nick]

I've got a Canon S95 which very compact for when I don't want to carry my SLR around. It takes great photos.

They have a newer version coming out that has a built in GPS so it does geolocation as well.

If you wanted something middle of the range and money is no object, the new 4/3 cameras are getting very popular. Supposedly compact size & close to DSLR results.

 

[thetrailboss]

Stick with Canon.

 

[Abubob]

Stick with Canon.

I have seen some great photos on flickr from a Canon G11. Try this link: http://www.flickr.com/cameras/canon/powershot_g11/

A great place to compare digital cameras is http://www.dpreview.com/

Now there's the G12 - http://www.dpreview.com/products/canon/compacts/canon_g12

 

[thetrailboss]

I have seen some great photos on flickr from a Canon G11. Try this link: http://www.flickr.com/cameras/canon/powershot_g11/

A great place to compare digital cameras is http://www.dpreview.com/

Now there's the G12 - http://www.dpreview.com/products/canon/compacts/canon_g12

Yeah, sorry I can't elaborate :lol: My Powershot A570is is still killing it...although I have got to find a place that sells CR1220 batteries :x It is up to 8,000 pictures. My wife's A1000 is up to 1,300 or so and we love them.

My next toy:

The T2i. We don't need all the fancy video stuff on the T3i.

 

[David Metsky]

Now there's the G12 - http://www.dpreview.com/products/canon/compacts/canon_g12

Now? The G12 came out almost 18 months ago. It's a great camera, but it's getting a little long in the tooth. I hope they release an update with better burst mode and better video soon or this drops off the list.

 

[Geoff]

You guys are listing cameras with really slow autofocus / shutter speeds. Canon's autofocus technology in their pocket and compact cameras is not fast like their DSLRs. Pretty much all their cameras are slower than average.

The Nikon Coolpix S8100 has fast autofocus. It's about 200 mSec. The cycle time between shots is also pretty quick. About 1.4 seconds. It has a 10x zoom which gives you a lot of flexibility.

B&H has it for $179.95 with free 2-day shipping. You get the price advantage of buying last year's camera.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/734451-REG/Nikon_26221_CoolPix_S8100_Digital_Point.html

There are also bigger optical zoom models in the S8x00 line for a little more money.

My bitch about the vast majority of pocket cameras is that they lack a viewfinder. I now need f'ing reading glasses and it's a PITA to use a camera that only has the LCD display on the back to see what you're doing. The LCD also washes out in bright sunlight on ski slopes and on the boat.

The Canon PowerShot G12 has an optical viewfinder and takes nice pictures but it does have some drawbacks. Shutter speed is at least 600 mSec. Continuous shooting is quite slow... around 1 frame per second. The optical zoom is only 5x. I think 10x is much more useful. The video clip capability also isn't the greatest.

 

[thetrailboss]

My bitch about the vast majority of pocket cameras is that they lack a viewfinder. I now need f'ing reading glasses and it's a PITA to use a camera that only has the LCD display on the back to see what you're doing. The LCD also washes out in bright sunlight on ski slopes and on the boat.

Yeah, both David Metsky and I were commenting about that.

 

[gladerider]

i've been a huge canon fan for over a decade, until i had sx200is. it didn't last 16 months. it came down with a lense error and i found out that i wasn't alone. i wanted to try something different this time so i picked up a panasonic lumix lx5. what an impressive camera. if you bother to learn the camera, you can get some nice photos, but you do need to know what you are doing. the speed shooting feature is pretty impressive too, but you will take a pretty big hit on image quality. it's not slim like a canon, but you can still carry it around and ski with it unlike a DSLR. you will get nice picture. i have heard good things about canon s95? but as mentioned, i wanted to try something other a canon. so far i am happy with my lx5.

 

[Nick]

Yeah, sorry I can't elaborate :lol: My Powershot A570is is still killing it...although I have got to find a place that sells CR1220 batteries :x It is up to 8,000 pictures. My wife's A1000 is up to 1,300 or so and we love them.

My next toy:

The T2i. We don't need all the fancy video stuff on the T3i.

I've got the T2i. I love it, just wish I was better at videos. Next purchase is a nice flash for it for the indoor photos. The stock one sucks. I upgraded to a 15-85mm lens also which I love. USM focus. But HEAVY

There are some great prices on this now. Just today I saw the T2i with lens, 16gb SD card and a case for $520

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

 

[riverc0il]

Olympus XZ-1 looks great. Serious competition for Canon S95 and Pani LX5.

LX5 has a lens cap manual if that matters.

S95 is the smallest and slimmest of the top line P&S segment.

If you aren't going to use the advanced features, there isn't a whole lot of point to high end P&S (IMO). Its not like you get a massively bigger sensor. For that you could step up to M43 or DSLR. Some M43 are jacket pocketable with a pancake lens. Less convenient but much bigger sensor and good fps rates.

 

[legalskier]

Anyone have an opinion on the best P/S Camera? Looking to replace our Cannon Powershot SD790 with a new camera. We will mostly use this for outdoor shots, skiing, hiking, kids messing around. Quick shutter speed is high on our list of must have features.

So which P/S am I going to buy?

SLR is out of the question as we will never carry it.

Funny you should mention it because I just picked up a Lumix ZS10 at Costco for the ridiculous price of $79. Read a lot of favorable reviews beforehand and, like you, I didn't want to lug around a bulky SLR. Its lens is made by Leica. No viewfinder but I hear they are being phased out, and at this price who cares anyway. Fits right in my pocket.
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMC...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1323829289&sr=1-1

 

[Abubob]

Now? The G12 came out almost 18 months ago. It's a great camera, but it's getting a little long in the tooth. I hope they release an update with better burst mode and better video soon or this drops off the list.

Time got away from me. What can I say?

I wish it was weather proof. The D10 hasn't been updated for two years. I still like the features of the G series.

I don't think you'll find a better burst or continuous mode outside of an SLR.

 

[David Metsky]

I don't think you'll find a better burst or continuous mode outside of an SLR.

Actually, some of the P&S have much better burst modes than DSLRs. The Casio ZR100 shoots 10 MP images at 40fps and can shoot small resolution movies at up to 1000fps. The Nikon S9100 can shoot at up to 120fps for 50 shots.

 

[riverc0il]

Actually, some of the P&S have much better burst modes than DSLRs. The Casio ZR100 shoots 10 MP images at 40fps and can shoot small resolution movies at up to 1000fps. The Nikon S9100 can shoot at up to 120fps for 50 shots.

But many of the full resolution P&S have small buffers (i.e. 10 fps for 10 frames which means 1 second of burst. I'd rather have 5fps for a few seconds. Some you have to wait for the buffer to clear before you can start shooting again which is a major problem at high fps with a small buffer if you start too early, etc.). The highest fps of the P&S have low resolution. Basically, buyer beware on the high fps of P&S cameras. I fell for it once.

 

[Abubob]

Actually, some of the P&S have much better burst modes than DSLRs. The Casio ZR100 shoots 10 MP images at 40fps and can shoot small resolution movies at up to 1000fps. The Nikon S9100 can shoot at up to 120fps for 50 shots.

While I can't verify the Casio's burst ability the Nikon does shoot 9.5 fps. 120 fps is ludicrous!

 

[HD333]

Thanks for the input. I think I am even more confused now.....
Going to look into the Cannon S95 and go from there.

 

[WoodCore]

Funny you should mention it because I just picked up a Lumix ZS10 at Costco for the ridiculous price of $79. Read a lot of favorable reviews beforehand and, like you, I didn't want to lug around a bulky SLR. Its lens is made by Leica. No viewfinder but I hear they are being phased out, and at this price who cares anyway. Fits right in my pocket.
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMC...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1323829289&sr=1-1

Have the same camera and love it!!