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Good point and shoot cameras?


wallwombat

24-Sep-2011
9:08:14 PM

O.K, I've decided that I'm not interested in a GoPro camera. I currently have a cheapo Canon and would like to upgrade to something a little better.

I toyed with the idea of a digital SLR but I doubt I would be willing to cart it with me on a lot of my wanderings. I certainly wouldn't carry one up a climb.

So can anyone recommend a decent point and shoot digital that would be suitable to take on climbs yet still take good shots on the ground?

croxbu01

24-Sep-2011
9:13:47 PM

My Point and shoot is a $80 pentax, it is indestructable and has a wicked 3 fps burst shoot. with that in mind though if your after a better camera you can go with the new olmpus tough ones which are ok, the other thing is you can get micro SLR's which are a fraction larger than your average digital camera but have intensly better image sensors and some can even get attatchments to fit lenses on them.
i can PM you some shots that have been taken with my pentax if you like.


wallwombat

24-Sep-2011
9:17:35 PM

Cool. That would be good.

Those micro SLRs sound interesting.

croxbu01

24-Sep-2011
9:28:52 PM

PM'd You


Robb

24-Sep-2011
9:39:18 PM

i took a canon g12 to africa recently . was awesome. lot smaller and lighter than slr but awesome photos and lots of flexibility with manual settings.

croxbu01

24-Sep-2011
9:40:36 PM

very nice..

Duncan

24-Sep-2011
9:43:48 PM

I'm assuming that "micro SLR" is meant to refer to the micro 4/3 cameras (which technically aren't SLRs, but that's not really important). If you want something you can take on a climb, they're a terrible choice.

If you want a good recommendation, give us a price range.


wallwombat

24-Sep-2011
10:07:53 PM

$200 - $500

Duncan

24-Sep-2011
10:16:52 PM

You're not really narrowing it down. What do you want to be able to do with it? A little bit of video, yes? Does size matter? Is low-light performance important? Do you want to be able to shoot in RAW? Is it just for taking photos to put on Flickr and maybe print now and then, or do you want to blow them up to bill board size?

I'm certainly no expert on P+S cameras, but I recently did some research into a camera to complement my dSLR and ended up with a Canon Ixus 200, because I wanted something small that I could take with me easily. www.dpreview.com will probably be useful, and I guess the Canon S95 may be worth checking out:

http://www.dpreview.com/products/canon/compacts/canon_s95

egosan

24-Sep-2011
10:26:08 PM

Take a good look at the Panasonic DMC-LX5.
I have the LX3 (the previous version) and my sister the LX5.

Great glass, shoots down to f2. Great wide angle for capturing the exposure.
Shoots raw and gives you full manual control through a simple and quick interface.

Fits in a pocket or slings over my shoulder while climbing.


wallwombat

24-Sep-2011
10:30:18 PM

Being able to take it up a climb is important.

Being able to take a bit of video is also important.

Something with a bit of zoom would be good too.

I normally wear clothes when I'm taking photos so I don't care about being able to shoot in RAW.

A view finder would be good.

Besides that, I don't have a clue. That's why I'm asking.

Duncan

24-Sep-2011
10:41:02 PM

Definitely check out the Panasonic Egosan recommended. Also check out the Canon G12 and the Canon S95 I linked to above. All three can be had for less than $500 from eBay (from Hong Kong). All three are nice pieces of kit.


wallwombat

24-Sep-2011
10:43:46 PM

Thanks. I will.


Miguel75

24-Sep-2011
10:58:50 PM

+1 on the Canon Ixus, or Olympus weatherproof (mju?) camera. I have an Ixus and love the features; video & image quality, low light capabilities etc. My mate has an Olympus and I really like how tough it is though don't feel it has the 'polish' of the canon.

gfdonc

24-Sep-2011
11:01:03 PM

Depends how close to DSLR-like quality you want.

For large sensor compacts, check out the Olympus Pen servies, Panasonic GF-3 and its relatives, and the Sony NEX series. Some of these let you change lenses, meaning it's losing some of the convenience advantage over an SLR.

Unfortunately most of the makers haven't yet twigged than a viewfinder is infinitely better outdoors.

I often carry a DSLR with one lens, even when leading. Up until winter I used to carry a Panasonic FT-1, waterproof/shockproof compact with reasonable image quality. Some of the images on my Yosemite trip report are from that.

Unfortunately the definition of 'shockproof' didn't include being dropped 70m from the crux roof on Xanthene, although to Panasonic's credit the remains, when retrieved, were still able to view and take partial images. I'm tempted to replace it with the current model, FT-3, but have been holding on to my $ for the moment.


chossbagger

25-Sep-2011
2:25:16 AM

On 24/09/2011 egosan wrote:
>Take a good look at the Panasonic DMC-LX5.
>I have the LX3 (the previous version) and my sister the LX5.

+1 for the DMC-LX5. Bought one a few months ago and found it's the best compromise between point and shoot and a full featured SLR. It has four different aspect ratios, wide angles to 28mm and a hot shoe flash mount - stuff you don't often find in such a lightweight. Only con is that is does have a lens cap like an SLR that has to be manually removed.. Small price to pay for an awesome camera with Lecia internals.


cruze

25-Sep-2011
6:39:31 AM

I have both the Panasonic DMC-FT1 and DMC-FT3. Subtley, I think that the image quality and size of the FT1 is better but I love the GPS and altimeter functions of the FT3. The altimeter is about as good as a few of my climbing partner's Suunto watches (probably doesn't matter in Australia - everything is pretty flat...) and the GPS means you can plot your images on Google Earth using picasa. Oh, and the camera is more waterproof than the FT1. Both take AVCHD movies which are cool. Image quality not as good as more destructible compacts. Everything is a trade-off.

Damien Gildea

25-Sep-2011
9:42:04 AM

Canon S95 - soon to be replaced by S100 (better grip, better video)
Panasonic LX-5 - not really that compact, but prob best quality
Canon G12 - solid, good with gloves, not pocketable
Canon XS230HS - cheaper than S100, has GPS
Canon Ixus 220HS - small, stylish, slippery

Go waste a day or so over at www.dpreview.com
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/q42010highendcompactgroup/

My girlfriend has one of those orange water-resistant shockproof Panasonics and I think the image quality is poor.

Duncan

25-Sep-2011
12:02:57 PM

On 25/09/2011 Damo666 wrote:
>Canon S95 - soon to be replaced by S100 (better grip, better video)
>Panasonic LX-5 - not really that compact, but prob best quality
>Canon G12 - solid, good with gloves, not pocketable
>Canon XS230HS - cheaper than S100, has GPS
>Canon Ixus 220HS - small, stylish, slippery

You'll almost certainly find what you want out of this list. If the S95 is being replaced, it means you can pick it up for cheap too.

pecheur

25-Sep-2011
1:56:10 PM

On 25/09/2011 Damo666 wrote:
>Canon S95 - soon to be replaced by S100 (better grip, better video)
I have one of these, it's nice, really good low light capabilities for a compact.

>Panasonic LX-5 - not really that compact, but prob best quality
Really good camera, direct competitor to the S95, I probably would have bought this if it was available when I bought my S95.

>Canon G12 - solid, good with gloves, not pocketable
Same sensor as the S95, bigger, more options.

>Canon XS230HS - cheaper than S100, has GPS
Not enough manual options for me, small and GPS is handy at times if you want to work out exactly what part of the mountain you took the pic.

>Canon Ixus 220HS - small, stylish, slippery
Small, cheap, light, slippery, bugger all manual options.
>
>Go waste a day or so over at www.dpreview.com
>http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/q42010highendcompactgroup/
>
>My girlfriend has one of those orange water-resistant shockproof Panasonics
>and I think the image quality is poor.

There are 31 messages in this topic.