Which P&S?

[gilpen123]

With the current pocketable or at least jackettable (pun) digital P&S which one would you prefer. You can post in the thread why you like it. I in particular want a minimal shutter lag, good lowlight capability and wide dynamic range. I know I'm "asking for the cake and eat it too" but which would come closest to this. I have the Canon S90 and LX3 which are good in these aspects but have not tried the DP2, GRDIII, Fuji, etc.

 

[sebastel]

i used a GRD, until some dust settled on the sensor. sending in to service ... result: not repairable, no spare parts available, put it on the junkyard.

i'll NEVER buy ricoh again.

with the lumixes i had (LX1, LX3) there was never a problem with dust (same usage conditions and even longer in use than the GRD).

cannot comment on the other ones.

nowadays, i'm a happy user of the olympus E-P1 (compact enough for my purposes).

 

[gilpen123]

Yes the P&S I have are still being used and may not be changed but I'm just curious about the other P&S as to what it can do with regards to the criteria in the post. The S90 was a gift thus I have 2 P&S now.

 

[thegman]

I have a DP1, it's a great camera, but the lens is f/4 and it only goes to 800 ISO. DP2 I know improves on the speed on the lens, but if I had my time again I'd probably go for the GRIII for it's f/1.9 lens. My brother used to have a GX200, it worked great but the image quality was fairly poor, maybe the GRIII differs in this aspect though.

 

[Vobluda]

Dust cleaning from GRD sensor is simple DIY.
Take out the battery and card and use vacuum cleaner on full power at the battery compartment. At your own risk🙂
I have a one dust particle visible on my GRDII at f9 and now it is gone. I can place pictures but that is probably for another thread.

i used a GRD, until some dust settled on the sensor. sending in to service ... result: not repairable, no spare parts available, put it on the junkyard.

i'll NEVER buy ricoh again.

with the lumixes i had (LX1, LX3) there was never a problem with dust (same usage conditions and even longer in use than the GRD).

cannot comment on the other ones.

nowadays, i'm a happy user of the olympus E-P1 (compact enough for my purposes).

 

[sevo]

Fuji Silvi

 

[gilpen123]

Isn't Fuji Silvi a film P&S?

 

[newspaperguy]

I plugged the S90, not because I have one,
but because I've had great results from a
Canon A590IS and my G5.

 

[jsrockit]

Sounds like you need to step up to a Panasonic GF-1 w/ 20mm lens. You already have two of the best small sensor P&S cameras.

 

[gilpen123]

Hmmm maybe an Oly EP2 and a Panny 20 1.7......

 

[gilpen123]

Lx3 is leading obviously many will buy the LX3 than the DLux 4 because of price.

 

[kuvvy]

I sold my LX3 quite soon after getting my GRDIII even though I've taken lots of shots with it and liked the camera generally. The GRD with it's smaller size and pocketability simply pushed the LX3 into second place. I also shoot a G11 now instead of a DSLR.

 

[BillBingham2]

A lot depends upon how tight your pants are! I look at it as a pocket camera if I can put it into a dress shirt pocket. All of the GR line (Film and Digital) fit in loose fitting dress pant pockets better than the old Pocket 60 from Kodak.

You are right Fred, the old Slim line from Casio was very pocketable but the GR line is much sturdier.

B2

 

[sebastel]

Dust cleaning from GRD sensor is simple DIY.
Take out the battery and card and use vacuum cleaner on full power at the battery compartment. At your own risk🙂

tried that, no help.
anyway, i find the construction a bit odd - very rugged on the outside, but in order to clean the sensor, the official service wants to exchange the sensor/lens module.

anyway, i'm happy now without ricoh.

 

[Doug]

I must be a throwback to an earlier age, as my p&s is a black Canon ELPH Jr with a fixed 26mm f/2.8 lens... and it shoots APS film. 😱

It is very small and pocketable, but I usually carry it in the Canon leather pouch made for it, on my belt.

 

[raydm6]

Canon S90

Canon S90

The S90. My avatar was shot with it (plus a little post-processing).

 

[Jamie Pillers]

Not there YET.

Not there YET.

I have the S90 now. For a small sensor camera it is certainly one of the best out there. But for ergonomics (hold-ability, ease of control) DEFINITELY the GR-D III is far and away the best. Ricoh figured it out perfectly. The S90 grip area is too small, as are most of the others as well... I've used the LX-3, DLux3, GRD II, and the Fuji.

In addition the command ring on the back of the S90 is VERY easy to move unnoticed, thus changing some setting without you realizing it. If you get the S90, think about getting Richard Franiec's little 'bumper' ring that installs around the S90's control ring and prevents most inadvertent movement.

In the end however, none of these small sensor cameras can touch micro 4/3 or APS-C sensor-ed cameras, especially when you start talking about dynamic range and low-light abilities. Check out the dxomark.com site to look at tests of these small sensors and compare them to any other larger sensored camera. Its quite amazing how far apart their capabilities are.

So, we're not there YET. But the developments of the micro 4/3 cameras, and Samsung's first attempt at a small camera with big (APS-C) sensor is heartening. 🙂 Many of us are following those developments... waiting for the perfect small street shooter with capabilities approaching our beloved RFs. 🙄

 

[semilog]

Ricoh GR-1 + Neopan 400.

 

[Ducky]

Fuji J10. Tiny thing that takes a nice clean photo.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

This week it's a $10 Olympus Stylus loaded with Kodak Ultramax 400.

Chris