Recommendations for enthusiast P&S?

fullofpaint · November 9, 2011

So I do most of my shooting with my 5D but I'd really like to pick up something a little smaller I can keep with me most of the time for those day to day kind of shots. Just looking for recommendations for something small enough to carry with me in a bag or pocket most of the time. I've played with the Canon G11 but it seems a little too bulky for what I want. The Sony NEX-5N seems right in line with what I might like but I haven't gotten to check one out in person yet. Any other recommendations?

kdog · November 9, 2011

The Canon S95 or S100 are a no-brainer for you. Same sensor as the G11/G12 series (I think that's still correct), shoots RAW, manual controls, bracketing, true pocket camera size, etc, etc. I just looked, and you can buy an S95 on Amazon for $283 now. :wow

divamum · November 10, 2011

s95 for sure. It's made of pure AWESOME and I can't say enough good things about mine.

keithinmelbourne · November 10, 2011

The new Fuji X10 looks as though its going to be a winner, although it looks a bit bulky.

fullofpaint · November 10, 2011

I completely forgot about the S95! That is probably right up my alley.

ThatCanonGuy · November 10, 2011

The S95 is old

The S95 was great, but the S100 looks to be even better.

kdog · November 10, 2011

I'm still on the S90 which works fine for my needs. I'll probably upgrade it when the S400 comes out. :giggle

Zerodog · November 11, 2011

kdog wrote: »

I'm still on the S90 which works fine for my needs. I'll probably upgrade it when the S400 comes out. :giggle

Right there with you. I really like my s90. So s95/s100 would be a very solid choice for a camera that will fit in your pocket and yield some very impressive shots. It also has a killer waterproof housing for not a ton of money. It lives in there when I am on vacation.

divamum · November 11, 2011

For myself, I waited for the s95 (I was about to buy the s90 right around the time the s95 was announced) simply because I'm a sucker for the faux tilt-shift "miniature" mode (absolutely love it, as you can see here) but, while the features in the s100 are I'm sure fine, I don't find myself lusting after them. The s95 does absolutely everything I want in a point in shoot. In fact, I'd say it's the ONLY point and shoot that has ever satisfied 100% and where I don't look at the pictures and think, "Meh. Wish I'd had a dSLR with me." In fact, in that link above, almost ALL the shots were taken with the s95 - I only used the 7d a couple of times the entire trip and it spent most of the time in the bag.

Found this comparison chart at dpreview:

Compared to Powershot S95 - key differences

The S100 is in effect a whole new camera compared to the S95; almost every key feature has been upgraded or updated:

24-120mm (equivalent) lens range, F2.0-5.9, built-in neutral density filter
12.1 MP 1/1.7" Canon CMOS sensor
DIGIC 5 image processor
ISO 80-6400
2.3 fps continuous shooting (9.6 fps for 8 frames in High-Speed burst mode)
Full HD (1080p24) movie recording; H.264 compression, MOV format
Optical zoom in movie mode
Super slow motion movie recording (640 x 480 @ 120fps, 320 x 240 @ 240 fps)
Direct movie record button
Built-in GPS unit with image tagging and logger functions

I will say that until there are a lot of reviews out on the street (I can only find previews, not "I used the camera" reviews, and it seems like it's not even in full production yet since it's backordered at most places) "Entirely new or upgraded" isn't necessarily a good thing in this case since IMO the s90/95 got everything just about perfect already! The new features will need to match the *quality* of the existing ones, even as they extend capabilities. I'll be interested to see what sort of "real world" responses the upgraded s100 gets (particularly from people who've used the previous generations).

Partisan · November 17, 2011

I was in your position and I decided on a Panasonic rugged camera. I can toss it into any bag, ski jacket pocket, take it out in the rain, give it to kids and generally not worry about it. I find it gets used a lot because its so easy. I made a fun little video with it the first week I had it. You can check it out here if you want - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z1ElpgTorA

rpcrowe · November 17, 2011

This is of course my own personal opinion but, there is no way on this earth that I would ever select a camera without an eye-level viewfinder. I absolutely hate live view! I would quit photoraphy rather than work with a camera without an eye level viewfinder...

zoomer · November 17, 2011

Love my S90, imagine the S95 would be even more of a good thing.

divamum · November 17, 2011

rpcrowe wrote: »

This is of course my own personal opinion but, there is no way on this earth that I would ever select a camera without an eye-level viewfinder. I absolutely hate live view! I would quit photoraphy rather than work with a camera without an eye level viewfinder...

I too prefer a viewfinder, but there aren't that many cameras out there that have them any more, and none as small as the s95, afaik.

You do get used to it.

SamirD · November 24, 2011

I have to use these exclusively since I can't afford the more expensive gear. I like some of the Panasonic line, and just bumped into this killer deal on the FZ47:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16830180458

It's not exactly compact, but pretty capable for something in a not-so-bulky package (think of all the lenses necessary to carry on the 5D). I'd grab one if I could afford it. I'm actually tempted to not repair some of my existing cameras and pick this one instead.

Recommendations for enthusiast P&S?

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