A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Shoot?

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Currently, I have a Canon Rebel XSi, and an Olympus Stylus 9000. I love the Rebel, and I don't really like the Olympus - it's an upgrade from my old Olympus Stylus 1010 which I loved and no longer have. The 9000 just doesn't seem to take as good photos and the only thing I like about it is that it has a 5x zoom.

So....I'm thinking of selling that and replacing it with a higher end P&S. I'll always have my DSLR but sometimes it's just not as convenient. Can be any brand (I have both xD and SD memory cards), but it has to have a fairly large zoom. I take all sorts of pics from fast-moving puppies/kitties to gems to landscapes and portraits, so it has to be fairly versatile.

I'd like it to have more advanced features, even if it ends up being a bit bulkier than the consumer P&S cameras out there.

So any suggestions?

Thank you all!

 

[Octavia]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

I have (and love) a Panasonic Lumix FZ-28. I'm sure there's a newer model by now, but it has an 18x zoom and it takes really great photos. It's not the best in low light, but it's not half bad either (nothing really compares in low light once you're used to a DSLR). It's not pocket-sized, but it fits in most of my handbags. I really think of it as a "DLSR-lite," since it's pretty small and you have tons of control and a huge zoom without having to mess with changing lenses.

 

[Liane]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

I have no suggestions to make but I wanted to say THANK YOU BEG for making this thread, as I too need a new camera and would like to get one that can take decent pictures of my collection for PS.

I am woefully ignorant about cameras. I don't even know how much I should be expecting to spend on this sort of thing. If people could post general price ranges with their suggestions that would be awesome. (Ideally, I'd like to spend less than $500 for my own, but I don't know what's reasonable and that might be too much or too little for a decent model.)

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

Octavia - thanks! Ooh 18x zoom. You know, my Olympus is only a 10x zoom but it makes such a difference. I noticed it a lot in Costa Rica - I can't ever go back to a regular 3x zoom now. Unfortunately, my Olympus' pictures (color, focus) aren't that great for taking pics of my kittens or my gems, so there goes like 70% of my pictures.....

Liane - yay I'm glad I'm not the only one! I can and have done my research but I have serious issues when there are too many choices. I get paralyzed by indecision, and thus, I turn to the savvy PSers.

I spent about $300 on my P&S, about $600 on my DSLR. My DSLR is a consumer-friendly, non-pro, beginning model though and it only came with one kit lens. I subsequently got another (prime) lens - the Canon Nifty Fifty which is great and only about $100.

The prosumer models of P&S cameras I've been looking at look like they're around the $400-500 range (like the Canon G11 or G12, which I've heard are pretty nice).

For the DSLRs, it's really the lenses that end up racking up big bills I think - there's a Tamron lens I've had my eye on for a year now that's $400 on its own!

Ah so that leads me to - for this prosumer P&S, I'd prefer not to have interchangeable lenses.

Edited for accuracy - I forgot my P&S is a 10x, not a 5x

 

[PinkTower]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

I am also looking. Did you see Mrs. Flintstone's photos? She said she used a Sony Cyber shot pocket camera. Those photos are better than professional quality.

We got a Nikon DSLR this year, but with that kind of quality from a point and shoot, the convenience would be wonderful.

 

[cellentani]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

Wow, I'm looking for a new camera too! I currently use a Canon SD1000, and even though it's at least a couple years old, I still love it for all the customizable settings. It only has a 3x optical zoom, but honestly, it's my go-to camera for all my macro jewelry shots. Every photo I've ever posted on PS is taken with this camera. I'm trying to find something with a more sophisticated image sensor, so I'm not sure if I'll end up with a new P&S. DH has a Canon SD1200IS, and the features are basically the same as mine, except for the addition of image stabilization. He thinks the video is fairly decent, fwiw, but he bought it based on the compact size and picture quality.

 

[yssie]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

I just got myself a canon S95. I was debating between that and the Lumix lx5, chose the canon because - like you BEG I'll always have my DSLR (well, I would if DH ever gets moving on it ) and I wanted something I could quite literally slip into my (tight girl's-jeans!) pocket. The G series was just tooo unweildy - kinda useless if you have a DSLR, IMO

I have to say I LOVE this camera - it has the most manual control of any P&S I've ever used, big sensor, shoots raw, the picture quality is fantastic even in low light w/o needing to bump ISO into useless graininess. Some presets are actually *useful* and easy to access in a hurry, camera turns on/off quickly and the flash recharges shockingly quickly. No fiddling w/ lenses but zoom isn't that great though, and the battery stinks..

if you're looking for a very, very good *actually pocketable* P&S that will work where you can't lug the DSLR I definitely recommend looking into it. It's not a DSLR substitute though - I don't think any P&S will ever match up!


ETA: I don't work for canon, I swear!

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

We have a panasonic Lumix camera which We are happy with.

A quick PSA though, whatever brand you end up with be mindful on the colour you buy. Ours is a turquoise blue colour and the last lot of diamond photos I took all look like they have SBF from the reflection

 

[cellentani]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

Yssie, what program do you use to convert your RAW files to JPEGS? Thanks for your review - I'm checking out that model now...

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

Thanks guys!

Yssie, I'm really tempted by the S95; the only thing that's holding me back is that it's zoom is really limited, especially compared to what I'm used to. I know nothing will match a DSLR, but the zoom thing is my sticking point I really like the G11 for that, but it's so much bulkier - ugh. I hope I'm not looking for a camera that doesn't exist.

HOT - I giggled when I read that about your blue camera!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

I'm liking both the Panasonic ZS7 for it's zoom and compactness - Link - and the Nikon P7000 which is a bit bigger and has less zoom but great photo quality - Link. What do you guys think?

 

[iheartscience]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

My dad has the Canon G12 and he RAVES about it. He was just trying to get me to buy the hubs one for Xmas today, actually! The pictures it takes are phenomenal-just as good as his DSLR, and he has whatever the newest fanciest Canon DSLR is, too.

 

[Rae~]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

Another vote for the Canon "G" range... I am just waiting for my old P&S to die so I can justify buying myself one! My sister bought the G10 on my recommendation and loves it.

I prefer Nikon for dSLRs, but love Canon's higher-end P&D range.

 

[yssie]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

cellentani - I'm no pro I use canon's Digital Photo Professional software that's included w/the camera, open and mass export to Photoshop as .tiff. I don't actually do any editing w/ DPP though it has some capabilities. Upside - no iffy third-party programmes or workarounds, downside - TIFF files are gigantic!

Last time I checked (early October) Adobe hadn't released support for this camera yet, but that could've changed by now..




BEG - The panasonic - looks like a good camera *for what it's designed for*.. okay, I could be blithering about stuff you already know and have thought of so forgive if that's the case! Here's the thing that stuck out to me though: the max aperture is v. small compared to even run of the mill P&Ss. For someone who chooses a specialty camera designed for zoom work, the first implication is that that person is not going to be using the camera for its macro, portraiture, etc. - the nature of the work requires that everything be in focus over a loooong depth range, so it's fine. But, this means that the camera is unable to handle specifying a short depth of field, should you ever want to use it that way.

The second implication is that the person will be primarily using a tripod, so the camera will be held steady, so a smaller aperture is sufficient as the tripod allows you to reduce shutter speed enough to compensate. But, should you ever want to get a quick picture in low light, or a picture in low light without a tripod, you'll either have blurry/overly dark pics or have to put up with a certain amount of graininess as in low light with a small aperture *something* has to give, and in this case it'll be ISO.. and even then there's really only so much the best camera can do with a slower lens.

So - if you're going to be using this camera primarily for its zoom capabilities in daylight conditions, it's a great bet - the wide angle lens will be v useful for landscapes where you don't really care about any distortion. But if you're looking for a more versatile camera it's not so hot - that same lens will 'exaggerate' depth, for lack of better wording, in regular photos - including people's appendages, ask me how I know Unless you are specifically looking for a camera for landscapes or something, of the two I prefer the Nikon. I think it will let you shoot a wider variety of pics without ripping your hair out!


ETA: I gotta say it. Since they're not exactly putting a $800 lens in a $400 camera, they need to stop trying to capitalise on the fact that they use ::gasp:: a famed and gloried Leica lense

 

[Sundial]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

Okay I am mostly a lurker these days, but this thread is right up my alley. Here are my experiences for what they are worth. I bought a Panasonic TZ5 with 10X zoom, but was very disappointed with the picture quality when zooming and the LCD screen was very hard to see in direct sunlight. Then I went to a Canon G11 because I thought I had to have an optical viewfinder. While this is an excellent all round camera with amazing capabilities, I take most of my photos while traveling and I found the G11 to be a bit bulky and heavy to carry around my neck. I passed it on to my son though and he is really happy with it. I now have the Canon S95. I recently took it on a trip to Europe and I absolutely love it. While it does not have tremendous zoom it does offer fantastic pictures in a variety of shooting conditions, amazing low light performance, an LCD screen that is easy to view, and a lot of advance features in a small compact easy to carry size. I don't own a DSLR but I know many who do have found this camera to be a good compliment to their larger cameras.

 

[davi_el_mejor]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

This one Kodak EasyShare z981

If I were allowed to have a new camera, this is the one I would buy

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

Sorry if I'm skipping people - I need to head out soon but I wanted to post first!

Thing and Rae - the G series looks so great! Uggh I'm tempted. Thing, I think your dad and I would get along just by talking about new techy toys!

Rae - which P&S do you use now?

Yssie - thanks for the great info! You know, I'm feeling so conflicted. On one hand, I like the features and quality of the G series and the Nikon. After using the DSLR it's hard to go back to a regular P&S for a lot of my photos - it just gets frustrating, but of course the DSLR isn't practical to just carry around on a night out or something. The Panasonic gets to me because of size - but then again, it's not like I ever put a camera in a pocket. It'll always be in my purse.

I'm honestly envisioning a camera that's good enough that when I go snowboarding this winter I can tote it along (NOT on the snowboard don't worry) to take some great winter landscape pics, but also small enough that I can take it out with me when my BFFs and I go to Vegas in Jan. and I can take pictures when we're out.

Sundial - I'm super glad you came out of lurking for this thread! Please tell me more! I'm concerned about the exact same issue with the G11 or the Nikon P7000 - that they may be too big/bulky for traveling, which is where I take a lot of my pictures. On the flip side, I do want those pictures to be fantastic, and those cameras would do that.

The S95 would be perfect for me, EXCEPT for the pesky zoom issue. Unfortunately that's my one sticking point - I need a good zoom, especially as I haven't invested in a telephoto lens for my DSLR yet.

Davi - that's a cool camera! I like the features a lot - unfortunately, same bulk issue. And all these good cameras are fairly expensive (at least for me) so I want to make the right choice What do you currently use?

 

[davi_el_mejor]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

I have a kodak easyshare v1073.

Definitely not enough zoom for you, and my biggest gripe is that you have to use the touch screen for everything. Ironically, the touch screen is what made me want the camera l

But the Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon lense is the shizzzz. It takes beautiful crisp pictures.

 

[Blackpaw]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

I have (and love) a Panasonic Lumix FZ-28. I'm sure there's a newer model by now, but it has an 18x zoom and it takes really great photos. It's not the best in low light, but it's not half bad either (nothing really compares in low light once you're used to a DSLR). It's not pocket-sized, but it fits in most of my handbags. I really think of it as a "DLSR-lite," since it's pretty small and you have tons of control and a huge zoom without having to mess with changing lenses.

I have this one too, its fantastic - we took it through africa and the middle east and it handled safari shots and blinding sunlight very well when we need to replace it (had it for 3.5years) i will definitely go for another lumix...

 

[Sundial]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

BEG unfortunately there is no perfect camera. There is some kind of compromise necessary with any point and shoot. You have to determine your own priorities and I think it is important to go see and handle any camera that you are considering. For me the small size and terrific low light capabilities of the S95 were more important than extra zoom. On my recent trip I never really missed it. The Canon G series really doesn't have that much more zoom and while some might not find it that big to me it was like having a brick around my neck when I was hiking this past summer. There are plenty of good choices. You just have to choose what is best for you.

 

[cellentani]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

Since several of us are looking for new cameras but have differing criteria, I'd like to suggest snapsort.com. It's the best comparison site I've seen so far, with fairly technical information (but it's not intimidating).

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

Cellentani, thanks for the suggestion! Snapsort is really helpful.

Sundial - agreed. It's about trade-offs. I'd be willing to trade off size as long as it's still significantly smaller than my DSLR (and I don't want interchangeable lenses for this one).

Right now I'm torn between the G11 and the Nikon P7000....too many decisions!

Davi - darn about the zoom. It looks really cool. I actually really love the Panasonic P&S I posted earlier just because it tags your photos via GPS. That's kind of cool - I mean, I'll go and manually tag them later anyway but sometimes I forget where some pics were taken (like ones on the road!).

Blackpaw - good to know! The problem is I want this camera to do SO many things - I think I have unrealistic expectations. It needs to be good at landscapes so high zoom but also motion (because of traveling and taking pet pics). I want a good macro feature because of gems. It needs to be fairly portable though it doesn't have to be super small like a compact - just portable enough that it's convenient for traveling when I don't want to lug around my DSLR and lenses. Daylight shooting is most important but it needs to do fairly well in low-light because it'll be my main camera. Aggggh.

 

[rosetta]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

i want the camera which will allow me to take macro shots of diamonds without blurring. Which one would that be?

 

[kelpie]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

I hear wonderful things about the panasonic lumix. I did a lot of research and put it on my wishlist. DH decided to get me a much more expensive DSLR though. What can you do? My mom loves hers.

 

[Karl_K]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

there is no one best camera the best system is 2 cameras.

Canon s90/s95 for everyday carry and something larger with a longer zoom for dedicated photo shoots.
Something like a canon sx30is or a dslr

http://www.dpreview.com/news/1009/10091411sx30is.asp

I love my s90 for indoor and wide angle landscape shooting.

 

[yssie]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

i want the camera which will allow me to take macro shots of diamonds without blurring. Which one would that be?

Any old P&S (w/ some sort of optical image stabilization if you don't want to use a tripod) will suffice. You don't need extreme macro for this - unless it's going to part time photographing fruit fly anatomy or something.

This is all about setup and lighting and knowing how to best use whatever camera you've got - something I for one am still figuring out

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

i want the camera which will allow me to take macro shots of diamonds without blurring. Which one would that be?

Any old P&S (w/ some sort of optical image stabilization if you don't want to use a tripod) will suffice. You don't need extreme macro for this - unless it's going to part time photographing fruit fly anatomy or something.

This is all about setup and lighting and knowing how to best use whatever camera you've got - something I for one am still figuring out

What Yssie said.

Natural light makes things easier, as does a steady hand or a tripod or a flat surface to set the camera on. Do you use the macro (or on some cameras the super macro) mode when you shoot jewelry? If not, try it, and if you have been using it, find a place to steady your hand/camera on or buy a tripod.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

I hear wonderful things about the panasonic lumix. I did a lot of research and put it on my wishlist. DH decided to get me a much more expensive DSLR though. What can you do? My mom loves hers.

Darn! Don't you just hate it when your DH decides to get you something EVEN MORE expensive??? Which one did he get you?

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

there is no one best camera the best system is 2 cameras.

Canon s90/s95 for everyday carry and something larger with a longer zoom for dedicated photo shoots.
Something like a canon sx30is or a dslr

http://www.dpreview.com/news/1009/10091411sx30is.asp

I love my s90 for indoor and wide angle landscape shooting.

The Sx30is looks great, but possibly too bulky for me. I WISH the S90/95 had a longer zoom - if not for that, it would be perfect for me.

I'm leaning in the direction of the P7000 but I'm still not sure if I should get that over the G11. Sigh.

I definitely agree that a two camera system works best - I love my DSLR and it's so hard to use a P&S after that!

 

[Rae~]

Re: A Camera Thread: What is the Best Prosumer Point and Sho

B.E.G. - I have a four-and-a-half year old Canon IXUS 750, but I believe it was branded the 'Canon PowerShot 'in the US. Here's a link: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canonsd550/

It's not too bad really, but if I were buying again now I would firstly have to update my knowledge but would probably still buy a Canon G series one, mainly because the sensor size (or rather, pixel density vs effective pixels) was reasonable (from memory) compared to some of the other P&Ss I was looking at, at the time.

Re the size of the G series - that was the hardest part for my sister to decide on since she was very used to the tiny size of her older P&S (no idea what brand/model) and she was concerned about the G10 being too big and she'd end up not taking it places. Size is definitely something to consider, as obviously everyone has different tolerance levels. Since I'm fairly used to carting my D200+lens around, size/weight aren't an issue for me, heh! Plus I see the gain in picture quality to be worth the "suffering". But you should definitely consider whether you're happy with the size/weight, and whether you don't mind carrying the camera separately vs being able to slip it into your (compact) fancy dinner purse, for example.

If you are used to using a dSLR then be sure you check that the cameras you are considering (and forgive me if I am telling you how to suck eggs here! ) have the ability to control the flash independently... that is something I saw on many of the P&S cameras - no control. Being able to set things like ISO, Aperture etc manually is great. It's all well and good to say that you prefer to leave it on Auto, and for convenience that's what I'd do too - but there are often situations where the lighting completely screws up the settings (strong backlight etc) and then, it's great to be able to just switch settings to still get a decent pic.

The only final recommendation that I have is that you cough up for an extra battery as well. It's just something I swear by - you never have to worry about picking up your camera and seeing the dreaded red battery light come on after just 5 shots! Just in case that's something you hadn't considered doing.

Good luck!