Which digital P&S?

Another vote for the S100. It has become the camera I use the most instead of lugging around my 7D, although they compliment each other nicely. The IQ is great and the low-light performance is really quite impressive up to ISO1600. I like the low-light performance better than on the S90 or S95; I had both before the S100. It really is a superb camera that fits (and often rides) in my jeans pocket.

Andy
 
I have the Canon S90 and it is one great camera. Nice size and good image quality. The S95 and S100 will even be better I think.
 
The Canon S100 is the height of evolution of 1.7'' sensor cameras: bright lens, superb ergonomics (having got rid of the loose dials on previous models and improved the body's finish), moderate price tag, shoots RAW, and is much smaller than any other similar-speced cameras.


There's no such thing as a digital P&S with "good" low light performance, though.
 
The Ricoh GX series could be an option. I had the GX100, which is a great camera with a 24-72 eqiv. zoom. Not impressive at high ISO though. Video isn't too good either. Maybe the GX200 is better in this respect. I sold mine because I don't like zoom lenses and got a used GRD 1, which is great. The out-of-camera jpegs are very, very good. All the later GRD models seem to have some rather heavy-handed noise reduction going on.
 
My girlfriend owns a S95 and I oen a G11. Both fantastic cameras. If you want something to keep in your pocket, the S100 is your best bet. If you want more manual controls instead of a bit more menu digging, the G12 is your better for you, but it won't fit in your pocket.

Either camera has great IQ and you'll be happy with any one of them.

Cheers.
 
Just to confuse you more Jack, I've owned a number of Canon G cameras, the last being the G11 which I recently sold to get the Fuji X10. I also have the Ricoh GRDIV (replacing my GRDIII) which is the more pocketable. Both are great cameras and get plenty use. I've had some 16 x 12 prints done recently from the X10 and they look very good.
Take a look at my Flickr stream and search for X10 and GRD examples and maybe the shots will give you some idea as to the kind of images you want to shoot and what is more suited to your style.
It's a shame we haven't seen you on our RFF Manchester outings as you'd have had a chance to play with them. Good luck with your decision.

Paul
 
"There's no such thing as a digital p&s with "good" low light performance though,"

Relative to p&s cameras of the past, there is. I never felt comfortable shooting at ISO400 or higher with my PowerShots from only 3 or so years ago, but I comfortably shoot my S100 at 800 and often 1600. No, it's nothing like my dslr, but it's quite impressive for such a small sensor. Also the handheld night mode on the latest PowerShots does a pretty good job of allowing handheld night shots. Granted the detail isn't the best but you still get a nice shot that has controlled the noise pretty well. Perhaps I should rephrase and say that the S100 has much better high-ISO performance than previous PowerShots. I can shoot comfortably in situations that require high ISOs to get a good shot with the S100 than my previous PowerShots.
 
My wife loves her Nikon J1. See her images under the forum of the same name. Her RFF name is "Loretta".
 
Take a look at the Samsung EX-1: one of the best lenses ever made for a compact (Scheider 24-72mm f/1.8-2.4), lens stabilization, metal body, swivel AMOLED screen, RAW. I have one and it has replaced my larger sensored digitals, ISO 800 is surprising for a compact, especially if you shoot RAW.

Its downsides are: it's bigger and heavier than most compacts (but much smaller than the Canon Gxx series), video is only VGA, RAW write speed is not exceptional. All the rest is fantastic, it's probably the best RAW compact on the market, and definitely the one with the faster lens.
 
Thank you all! In the end, having played with a number of cameras and spoken to several people, I plumped for what I think is a great deal. I just bought a used Ricoh GXR with 28mm A12 lens for £420 all in.

I really like the feel of the camera and the option of other lenses is appealing. I'll let you know how you get on. Thanks again for your advice.
 
chilohm said:
Thank you all! In the end, having played with a number of cameras and spoken to several people, I plumped for what I think is a great deal. I just bought a used Ricoh GXR with 28mm A12 lens for £420 all in.

I really like the feel of the camera and the option of other lenses is appealing. I'll let you know how you get on. Thanks again for your advice.
Click to expand...

?

no zoom, "great deal", ok.....

hilarious thread
 
Congrats on the GXR with 28mm module. It's a super camera and it has replaced my GRD III for most duties, due to the much richer images and better depth of field control. I still keep the GRD III in my pocket or bag as backup, but the GXR is one of my main cameras now.

If you want a zoom, the S10 module offers a 24-70mm equivalent, although not with the same image quality as the aps-c module. You can find the S10 zooms quite cheap now, too. At base ISO it appears to have even better image quality than the GRD III, which is surprising. The GRD III and S10 module share the same sensor but have a different image processor.
 
I just wanted to say that a GRD with its fast 28mm lens could be a solution if you can live with fixed wide angle - and here you come with GXR and 28mm module :)

There is a good chance that you will love the camera. And should the 28 prove too restricting, there is the A12 50/2.5 which is - based on the images I have seen - pretty amazing as it has lovely bokeh and does great macro shot.

Enjoy the GXR!
 
Thanks again to all the helpful people on this forum. Camera arrived today, and first reactions are that I love it! Image quality seems excellent, and it's really well laid out.

First shot out of the camera (converted to B&W in camera) a narcissistic self-portrait. Not a great photo, but I really like the tone.


Jack by jack_sloan, on Flickr
 
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