pocket camera

chrismoore

Question for any pros/serious amateurs- like most other serious photogs here I have a main body (now 5D II) and a backup (my previous 5D). I was wondering how prevalent it is for you to carry around a "pocket camera"/point and shoot either when you're out on assignment, or just out and about without your main gear. I have seen several people reference this and I've read great reviews on the Canon G10 and similar, I'm just not sure in my mind if it's something I need and how it would fit into my hobby. Of course like everybody else there are always times when I wish I had my gear and having a small P&S on hand would fill that gap. Do most of you have a pocket camera you tote around? If so what are your favorite models?
Thanks

chrisjohnson

Fairly serious amateur myself and I carry a G9 sometimes. Very handy

gecko0

i picked up a canon SD880 IS to use as a portable option. i use it for when the SLR is too intrusive or i don't feel like carrying it. it's also a good option when you want tourist type pics taken and you hand the camera to someone nearby...that way they can understand how to use it and can't run off with your main camera.

swintonphoto

I would check out the new Olympus EP1. Looks pretty sweet.

Art Scott

swintonphoto wrote:

I would check out the new Olympus EP1. Looks pretty sweet.

Currently I use a Konica Minolta A2 and I have not found a cam that has it abilities to replace it.....but the EP1 looks like a possibility.......now if I was wanting something for sneakiness......I would go towards MINOX spy cameras

kini62

Of those cameras so far mentioned, only 1 is "pocketable". The Canon SD880.

I bought a Panasonic FX37 for our trip to Boston earlier this year. It's OK. Works pretty well in the daylight.

25-125mm equivalent lens. 25mm came in handy for the city. And it truly fits in a poctet. I can carry it easily in my jeans or shorts front pocket.

That is after all the goal of being "pocketable".

Gene

Qarik

Lumix LX3. Awesome wide angle and best ISO performance in class.

MrBook2

I have a Canon SD 1200 IS for when I don't want to carry my big gun. I have been very pleased with the image quality that such a small camera can deliver.

hgernhardtjr

My current "pocket camera" is a 10mp Sony T-500 ... amazingly good for macro (closest distance about a half an inch, great for bug shots) and un-noticed candid shooting. It has a sharp Zeiss 33-165mm lens (35mm equivalent) and virtually no shuter lag. I did several high-reach, blindly shot cockpit photos at Oshkosh with it this year.

As a bonus, it takes very good 720p video. Connects to TV via HDMI with outstanding video/slide shows if that's your thing. I've used it for many grandbaby candids this past year, saving the big guns (5dMkII, etc.) and lenses for planned portrature or events.

Biggest negative, IMHO: no viewfinder and obviously easily smudged touch screen LCD --- but the LCD is "huge" and bright, covering the whole back.

The cropped macro bee shot below gives you the general idea of how sharp it is.

LongStreet

My G10 is one of my primary "street photography" cameras. As said, it's really not pocketable, though.

My Canon SD790 IS Elph is a constant companion.

chrismoore

Thanks, lots of good choices. The Lumix and Sony T500 look good... took me awhile to find the lens on that Sony! I was trying to do some price comparisons on the Lumix and looks like every place in the world is sold out on backorder. Must be popular.

chrismoore

Qarik wrote:

Lumix LX3. Awesome wide angle and best ISO performance in class.

any comparison to the Lumix DMC-ZS1?

Art Scott

As this LINK shows you cannot get much more pocketable than a Minox DSC- Digital Spy Camera or hideable than a pair of sunglass cam or a belt buckle cam......

Okay so here si a link to a good solid piece of German Ingenuity....... Minox CD155 ...........

AlbertZeroK

We use a Olympus 1030SW which is a waterproof 10MP Wide Angle Camera. Very pocketable and while I thought the 2G limit of the XD cards, I'm not even having an issue with hitting the limit (BTW - you can use an 8G Micro SDHC card with the included adapter.)

The waterproofness is awsome, my girls have taken under water shots with it without issue. I love mine.

chrisdg

Chris - also checkout this recent thread:
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=134278

lots of great discussion about the Lumix LX3 here too. Also, the LX3 is supposedly much better than other Lumix models...likely due to the apparent closer relationship with Leica on that particular model.

It was on backorder for a long time nearly everyone. Then a bunch became available. Got mine a few weeks ago. Interesting to hear they are backordered again.

Qarik

chrisdg wrote:

Chris - also checkout this recent thread:
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=134278

lots of great discussion about the Lumix LX3 here too. Also, the LX3 is supposedly much better than other Lumix models...likely due to the apparent closer relationship with Leica on that particular model.

It was on backorder for a long time nearly everyone. Then a bunch became available. Got mine a few weeks ago. Interesting to hear they are backordered again.

I had to mine overseas fyi.

chrismoore

Qarik wrote:

I had to mine overseas fyi.

Most places are sold out of the LX3S (price range $330-$400) but do stock the LX3K (around $650). At a glance look very similar, but higher price point. I'm sure new batches will come around soon.

chrismoore

chrisdg wrote:

Chris - also checkout this recent thread:
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=134278

lots of great discussion about the Lumix LX3 here too. Also, the LX3 is supposedly much better than other Lumix models...likely due to the apparent closer relationship with Leica on that particular model.

It was on backorder for a long time nearly everyone. Then a bunch became available. Got mine a few weeks ago. Interesting to hear they are backordered again.

Thanks chrisdg and Art for the info. I have done some digging through old threads and the question about pocket cameras does seem to come through 3-4x a year. These forums have such a wealth of information not found elsewhere.

Qarik

chrismoore wrote:

Most places are sold out of the LX3S (price range $330-$400) but do stock the LX3K (around $650). At a glance look very similar, but higher price point. I'm sure new batches will come around soon.

The LX3K is just the black version while the LX3S is the silver. Same camera. Black paint is really expensive I guess

chrismoore

Qarik wrote:

I had to mine overseas fyi.

Are you shooting the lumix in RAW? If so does ACR 5.x recognize the RAW files? My ACR 4 with CS3 does not, although LR2 does. Great, now I have two new cameras that I can't process with ACR 4. Guess I'll be upgrading to CS4, unless CS5 is anywhere on the horizon...

http://cs5.org/?p=136

chrisdg

chrismoore wrote:

Are you shooting the lumix in RAW? If so does ACR 5.x recognize the RAW files? My ACR 4 with CS3 does not, although LR2 does. Great, now I have two new cameras that I can't process with ACR 4. Guess I'll be upgrading to CS4, unless CS5 is anywhere on the horizon...

http://cs5.org/?p=136

Chris - so I take it that you actually bought the LX3??? Congrats.

Back in Nov 2008, ACR v5.2 added support for the LX3 RAW files, so i believe this means that you'll need PS CS4 and/or Lightroom 2.2+ (which you do have):
http://blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjournal/2008/11/camera_raw_52_and_dng_converte.html

As for CS5 being on the horizon...well, who knows that can say? CS4 came out in Oct 2008. Adobe generally releases a new version approx every 18 months, sometimes longer. So that analyst's expectation of CS5 in your link is probably pretty close. Can you wait until April (or May or June or July)???

If you do your initial RAW processing in LR2.2+ (which apparently you already have), and then should you need further editing in PS, it converts the file to PSD or TIFF anyway upon export to Photoshop. Problem solved, no?

ziggy53

You can use the free Adobe DNG converter utility to convert latest camera RAW files into DNG files which an earlier ACR will open.

http://www.adobe.com/products/dng/

chrismoore

chrisdg wrote:

Chris - so I take it that you actually bought the LX3??? Congrats.

Back in Nov 2008, ACR v5.2 added support for the LX3 RAW files, so i believe this means that you'll need PS CS4 and/or Lightroom 2.2+ (which you do have):
http://blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjournal/2008/11/camera_raw_52_and_dng_converte.html

As for CS5 being on the horizon...well, who knows that can say? CS4 came out in Oct 2008. Adobe generally releases a new version approx every 18 months, sometimes longer. So that analyst's expectation of CS5 in your link is probably pretty close. Can you wait until April (or May or June or July)???

If you do your initial RAW processing in LR2.2+ (which apparently you already have), and then should you need further editing in PS, it converts the file to PSD or TIFF anyway upon export to Photoshop. Problem solved, no?

Yup, that's pretty much what I'm doing now-- importing to Lightroom and then editing in CS3 or exporting as .tif. Its only been recently that I've *comfortably* added LR to my workflow and using it instead of ACR (habits are hard to break). It's probably just my own uncomfortable feeling that I can't open an image directly into ACR. At this point with a possible CS5 release 8 months away, I will probably wait. As for the Lumix, so far I love it. There is a little more noise on higher ISO than I was expecting, but then again its hard to compare to my 5DII which is excellent in that regard. I haven't test driven the Lumix very extensively but so far it has lived up to my expectations, and now I have a camera that I can just stash in the center console of my car to have if the opportunity presents itself, which is really what I was looking for in the first place.

L_F_L

As stated, Panasonic DMC-LX3, aka LX3. It's pocketable, though slightly bulging on front jeans pocket.

Pros
- Good, fast (2.0 variable) and wide Leica lens,
- Good high ISO performance
- Fast UI (easy to get used to the joystick)
- Nice HD movie mode, truly usable results.

Cons
- Limited zoom reach (not a major concern for me)

Tip: I did a 10 minute modification on a Ricoh LC-1 cap to turn into into an auto-open lens cap on the LX3 (and also acts as a hood) -- no vignetting at all.

chrismoore

L_F_L wrote:

As stated, Panasonic DMC-LX3, aka LX3. It's pocketable, though slightly bulging on front jeans pocket.

Pros
- Good, fast (2.0 variable) and wide Leica lens,
- Good high ISO performance
- Fast UI (easy to get used to the joystick)
- Nice HD movie mode, truly usable results.

Cons
- Limited zoom reach (not a major concern for me)

Tip: I did a 10 minute modification on a Ricoh LC-1 cap to turn into into an auto-open lens cap on the LX3 (and also acts as a hood) -- no vignetting at all.

I pretty much agree with those points, it is indeed a great camera which serves its purpose well. The only thing I would add/differ is I'm not as thrilled about the higher ISO performance. But then again its hard to make a comparison with a dslr like the mk2 that is known for that. Also, for the last few months I've been shooting most of my landscapes as stitched vertical panos (inspired by marc muench and others)-- most of the time I do this with a pano rig and sometimes handheld in the right circumstances. The lumix produces a lot of parallax throughout its range. This does not truly concern me in the least as that is a project I should reserve for my DSLR anyway.

FlyNavy

+1 on the canon G-9. My wife used her G-9 while I shot my DSLR during our 10 days in Yellowstone and her pics were very good.

Mav

I've been thinking a lot about getting a compact to go with the SLR and was seriously considering the LX3....

But now that I think about it - I want something to carry around whenever I don't really have the space to carry the SLR as well as something to try give me some of the ability of the SLR without needing it... The former requirement leads me to the TZ7/ZS3 - a great zoom (12x) and great video (HD, stereo sound, and auto focus and zoom - which the LX3 doesn't have). The limitations are not quite as good in low light... but the image quality shown here make it look really not that far off the mark, especially when you consider the other benefits. Oh, and it costs a whole lot less.

I think we have a winner