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Canon's various PowerShot models: any opinions or recs between them? - Page 2

post #16 of 29
3/4/08 at 2:26am
I just bought a Canon G9 - which is a little more money and bigger - but an amazing camera. I also have a Lumix - one of the Panasonic's with the Lecia lenses. I think they are way, way better than the small Canon's, the glass is amazing and the lens is super-duper wide.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35 is a good one. It comes in other colors, you can match it to your car.
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post #17 of 29
3/4/08 at 2:34am
To be honest, and I know I've developed somewhat of an anti-Canon reputation on here, I think you'd be better off looking to a brand without high name recognition. Generally speaking, my favorite P&S cameras have been from Casio, Panasonic and Samsung, all three of them give you really excellent cameras. What really matters to me in a small P&S is ease of use. Is it quick, does it focus fast, and how's the white balance and ISO? In all of these cases, Casio really does the job well. I use an SLR when I want to take photos, but if I want automatic settings and features and menu systems that function smoothly with no confusion, the three brands I mentioned tend to beat out the competition. In P&S cameras, image quality is pretty much irrelevant because none of them are going to give you any good depth of field, the distortion is pretty bad and they generally focus/function slowly. So when you throw your expectations away in regard to those features (although the Exilim cameras do quite well in terms of image quality when compared with other P&S cameras), Casio, at least in my experience, blows the other options out of the water.
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post #18 of 29
3/4/08 at 2:39am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by farfisa23 View Post
I just bought a Canon G9 - which is a little more money and bigger - but an amazing camera. I also have a Lumix - one of the Panasonic's with the Lecia lenses. I think they are way, way better than the small Canon's, the glass is amazing and the lens is super-duper wide.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35 is a good one. It comes in other colors, you can match it to your car.

Funny, I got my mom a Lumix a year or two ago for Mother's Day because it seemed easy to use. In my experience with it, I liked it alot: intuitive interface, good pictures to my novice eye. I'm no expert though, so that's why I'm asking you all . From what I've gathered, its more enrty-level than the Canons, which seem to be regarded as more bang-for-the-buck. Anybody else have input on these?

FWIW, a quick google search tells me that the Lumix model released 1 year ago went down to 28mm and had 10x optical zoom. I don't know if these specs are like "Super180s" (i.e. impressive-sounding to the uninitiated, but ultimately signifying nothing)?
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post #19 of 29
3/4/08 at 2:41am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian SD View Post
To be honest, and I know I've developed somewhat of an anti-Canon reputation on here, I think you'd be better off looking to a brand without high name recognition.

Do you have any particular models in mind, Brian?
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post #20 of 29
3/4/08 at 2:58am
Casio sucks for image quality, in my experience. They have tiny little sensors and the pictures are almost always way noisy and soft. I would much rather have a Samsung or Panasonic over any Casio.
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post #21 of 29
3/4/08 at 5:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joel_Cairo View Post
Do you have any particular models in mind, Brian?

I was doing some research on the subject and it seems my recommendation is a bit outdated. I loved my old Casio EX-Z750 when it was the newest model, but it appears Casio has dipped a bit in terms of quality.

Checking out DPReview, it appears their favorite compact camera is in fact a Canon - the SD850. I'd quickly give my endorsement to that camp, because DP review consistentlty gives the best reviews for digicams.
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post #22 of 29
3/4/08 at 4:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joel_Cairo View Post

FWIW, a quick google search tells me that the Lumix model released 1 year ago went down to 28mm and had 10x optical zoom. I don't know if these specs are like "Super180s" (i.e. impressive-sounding to the uninitiated, but ultimately signifying nothing)?

They really are impressive being that wide. You have to multiply the lens by .03 to get the true focal length so 28 isn't really 28. I'd rather have a really wide angle than a super zoom. For my money - and your's JC - the Lumix is best value on the market.

Except for the Canon G9 - which rocks - but is GIANT!
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post #23 of 29
3/4/08 at 5:14pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by farfisa23 View Post
They really are impressive being that wide. You have to multiply the lens by .03 to get the true focal length so 28 isn't really 28. I'd rather have a really wide angle than a super zoom. For my money - and your's JC - the Lumix is best value on the market.

I just went to Best Buy and tried out all the Canons in question, as well as the newest Lumix they had there. I liked the Lumix just as much as I remember liking the earlier generation, but even on the little LCD, the image quality just wasn't up to the Canons. The sales dude, who really seemed to know his stuff, confirmed my suspicion that while the Leica lens is superior to the Canon lens, the rest of the guts in the Panasonic are of a lesser order than the Canons. Still, I almost got it just because I liked the shape & the feel & the interface, but in the end I picked the Canon sd870.
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post #24 of 29
3/4/08 at 8:22pm
I'm not sure if you want to spend this much, but I wish instead of buying my $400 Canon a couple of years ago I had spent $500 on a Nikon D40. A DSLR is a big step up if you can afford the difference and it gets you to the land of quality lenses (kit lens often included).
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post #25 of 29
3/5/08 at 12:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Artisan Fan View Post
I'm not sure if you want to spend this much, but I wish instead of buying my $400 Canon a couple of years ago I had spent $500 on a Nikon D40. A DSLR is a big step up if you can afford the difference and it gets you to the land of quality lenses (kit lens often included).

you're comparing apples to oranges. a person simply isn't going to take an slr with them everywhere they go, have it in their glovebox, purse, shirt pocket, etc...

it's not a question of one or the other. if you had bought that nikon d40, you'd be shopping around later for a p&s because of all the shoots you missed when you didn't have the d40 with you.
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post #26 of 29
3/5/08 at 5:56am
the G9 I love that camera. Its beautiful, great weight and feel to it, awesome pictures, fast, etc.
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post #27 of 29
3/5/08 at 12:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by matadorpoeta View Post
you're comparing apples to oranges. a person simply isn't going to take an slr with them everywhere they go, have it in their glovebox, purse, shirt pocket, etc...

it's not a question of one or the other. if you had bought that nikon d40, you'd be shopping around later for a p&s because of all the shoots you missed when you didn't have the d40 with you.

The OP did not specify compactness and the D40 is fairly small anyway as DSLRs go. I was offering up some experience so that Joel would not regret the decision later on once he recognized the P&S weaknesses.
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post #28 of 29
3/5/08 at 3:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian SD View Post
To be honest, and I know I've developed somewhat of an anti-Canon reputation on here, I think you'd be better off looking to a brand without high name recognition.
I don't know. Canon's A and SD-series point and shoots have just been consistently above average for a long time, so they are an easy recommendation.

For a contrarian point of view, slightly older Fuji's (such as the F10, F20, and I think F30) are the ticket if you do a lot of interior shooting - they have some of the better low-light sensors of any point and shoots.
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post #29 of 29
3/5/08 at 3:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Artisan Fan View Post
The OP did not specify compactness and the D40 is fairly small anyway as DSLRs go. I was offering up some experience so that Joel would not regret the decision later on once he recognized the P&S weaknesses.
He didn't specify compactness, but given that he was looking only at the SD-line, I think we could presume compactness.

In an ideal world, having both is very nice. I had an older SD-something to carry around, as well as a D80, but the SD broke.
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