Digital P&S user out of the closet

[biomed]

I dearly love my CV and FSU cameras, but there are times I want to carry a small digital point and shoot. I find that other than being easy to have in a pocket, a small digital camera is nice for shooting places that I will revisit with my proper cameras - "sort of a screen test". Now I know a lot of RFF members have a digital shoot, so what is your favorite digital P&S and why? The reason I am asking is that I am looking at the available digital P&S cameras on the market.

 

[Kin Lau]

Fuji F10. I just bought used for $100-. The F10 and F30/F31 brothers are the only P&S's with a usable iso 800 mode. I'm quite happy with mine.

 

[andersju]

Ricoh GRD is my favorite in this area. There are some threads about it, like this one.

Small, sturdy, handling unmatched by any other digi compact I've tried (for example, it has two separate dials for shutter/aperture, like a dslr). Contrary to what some claim, it's very good at high ISOs ("film-like" noise - preserves detail instead of smearing things out). LCD can be turned off; also set the camera to "snap mode" (2,5m prefocus) and you have a most excellent stealth camera.

I use it with the CV 28/35 mini-finder, though admittedly I shoot from the hip most of the time, especially in the subway. All the pictures at http://2038.cc/archives/ were taken with the GRD at ISO 800, no noise reduction.

 

[Johnmcd]

IMHO the Ricoh GRD is the closest you will get to the 'rangefinder' experience in a P&S. I use it with the 21/28 V/F and like Anders, set to snap mode. It has a wonderful macro also.

It has a prime 28mm F2.4 that is great for lowlight. That can be widened to a 21 with a very high quality screw in converter. All in a metal body 🙂

Cheers,

John

 

[cjm]

andersju:

Those subway shots are impressive, very nice.

 

[photobizzz]

I use a Samsung NV7. The high ISOs are noisy, so I usually only shoot at 100 or 200 but with the optical stabilization it is not a handicap for me. I particlarly like the interface, touch sensitive buttons and the large optical zoom range. Here is a link to a sample.

Fan Tailed Lizard

 

[jky]

Still use a Canon S70.... set to 8-10ft and ISO 100 & it's all set to go. The shutter lag is pretty good provided it's half pressed/focused. That new Canon G9 is looking awfully good...

 

[IGMeanwell]

Fuji F series

The F11 for the price are excellent if you can find them

The F30/F31fd; very good but again hard to find

The F40 and above get into the heavier noise reduction due to their higher megapixel count

The F50 will have CCD shift anti-shake, but all indications so far is that its a little disappointing for the F series

 

[SteveM(PA)]

still using my canon s230, mostly for movies. I like the big (compared to newer ones) built-in zooming finder. 3.2 fighting megapixels, which I later PS to hell (sometimes).

 

[antiquark]

Canon A620/30/40, the articulated LCD is useful for so many situations.

 

[biomed]

Has anyone used a Panasonic DMC-TZ3? I have the opportunity to buy a new one for $200.

 

[kshapero]

I'm still using my Pentax Optio 750z

It has the articulating LCD so I can shot from the waist. At 100-200 it is very sharp. OS would be nice. I am looking at the Canon A650 IS. It has it all as far as I can tell.

 

[Silva Lining]

I like my PanaLeica LX1 mainly for its 16:9 persepective. The quality is good at 80ISO and the little Leica zoom is great for a go anywhere camera.

 

[NickTrop]

Pansonic Lumix FZ1. There's a "hack" out there that gives it both aperture priority or shutter priority making it "technically" an FZ2 (which was only released in Japan.)

Why do I like it?

1. Because it has a 12X optical zoom with image stabilization, which equates to a 420 focal length in 35. That would be a "monster" lens. Plus, it maintains its f2.8 max ap throughout the zoom range. The camera is nice and compact and light. It's full range in 35mm focal lengths is 35mm on the wide end to 420 on the telephoto end. And its "Leica" lens maintains its f2.8 brightness throughout the range.

This gives me something that I can't get in the film world - a camera I can hold in my hand were I can use a "monster zoom" without a tripod, handheld and has a fast lens. The capabilities of compact super zoom cameras with image stabilization represent the /only/ genuine "hands down" advantage of digital over film cameras IMO. But when I don't need that kind of zoom, I shoot film.

2. This is one of the few digital cameras that doesn't have a strong infrared blocker and you can shoot IR photos with it using a Hoya R72.

 

[zuikologist]

Canon G1 - bulky but with good battery life, a flip out screen, real manual / aperture priority / shutter priority. But mainly I bought it for the wide end of its zoom range, which is 35mm f2.0. The wide aperture helps with very noisy ISO beyond ISO 200. Sadly it now has an obvious dead or hot pixel so it is mostly used for b&w.

 

[RML]

I recently got me a Minox DCC Leica M3 Plus. 🙂

It's crap, I can tell you, but fun.

I've posted some of ther esults on my blogs:

Review and photos: http://shardsofphotography.blogspot.com/2007/09/minox-dcc-leica-m3-plus-review.html

Another photo: http://shardsofphotography2.blogspot.com/search?q=minox

 

[KEH]

Leica D-Lux 3 for pocketable uses. There's a couple of threads about it. One example:

Cheers,
Kirk

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

I want a Ricoh GRD but it's almost two years old now and I keep hoping for a GRD 2 to come out that will hopefully address the slow RAW write speed of the GRD.

I would not have my hopes up for a GRD 2. The Caplio GX100 is essentially intended to be the GRD replacement. It shoot raw -- and reportedly writes it much faster than the GRD -- and has a fast (F2.5 - F4.4) 3x zoom lens starting from 24 mm FF equivalent. Even Ricoh has to play the zoom game to some degree, if they wish to make profit with their cameras.

If I had the money the Ricoh GX100 would be the digital P&S for me. Since I don't, I use the Canon A series cameras, which are pretty good for the price.

 

[szekiat]

depending on your use, i'd consider a oly5050. U can get one of those for $100+ these days and it's got lots of features and a 1.8 lens. Its usable even at iso400 (max) and i've seen lots of great work with it, well as far as web publishing goes anyway. Saw some of Majoli's prints recently in a gallery and i was quite impressed too....

some of my more humble stuff here:

http://www.zoto.com/site/#USR.szekiat:😛AG.lightbox::ORD.date_uploaded:😀IR.desc::LIM.80::OFF.0::TUN.uh%20music%20society%20@%20southwark%20cathedral

http://szekiat.t35.com/street/spd2007/

 

[Pherdinand]

i have a super-idiotproof (i.e. automatic with almost no control at all) olympus.
I got it as a present.
I did not even bother to buy a memory card for it..it has 24MB internal 😀

You know why i like it?
It can focus to 2 bloody centimeters and take an image. And a very good image. It really really is good for macro. I rarely shoot macro but happens sometimes.
And i also can take stupid camera-and-coffee shots with it 😉