Canon S95 vs. Canon S100

[Rambo]

Alright, P&S it is. Is the S100 a big enough upgrade over the S95 to warrant the increased price?

 

[acidboy]

brah, have you looked at micro 4/3's?

 

[aizan]

you'd only save $20-40 with the s95. if you want a p&s, get the s100.

but at that price range, i'd look at the panasonic gf2 or olympus e-p2 kits. previous generation, great deals.

 

[Rambo]

Those look pretty enormous for P&S cameras. That thing couldn't fit in my pocket, could it?

 

[impolyt_one]

A friend has the Panasonic, it's too big for a pocket but they make some fun leather cases for it and stuff. It'd be easier to tote than a full SLR. He takes some really gorgeous photos with it, but I've only seen arts-y images from that camera. I might be more inclined to buy an S100 unless you want to look back on your trip through the eyes of a beatnik forever.

 

[indesertum]



he speaks the common man's language. the grant peterson of cameras. highly polarizing, but makes sense on some levels. i obsess over comparing moire patterns on a 100% crop studio shot, but that is a pursuit for its own sake, and does not matter much in the real world.

i was kidding. ken rockwell is aiight in my book. dude can be an idiot sometimes, but in general he calls it like he sees it

Any M 4/3 or a Sony Nex would be good. pretty simple to use even without knowledge of cameras and it'll fit into blazer pockets

that's what i said

Those look pretty enormous for P&S cameras. That thing couldn't fit in my pocket, could it?

they're not meant to be pocketable, but a more portable versions of dSLRs. they give you the portability of small P&S (canon s100 whatever), a larger hefty size to take stable shots, image quality of dSLRs, in some cases interchangeable lenses so you can take a variety of shots.

seriously go for the sony nex 5

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/SonyNex5Nex3

thing is a beauty



it has all the functionality of a dSLR and almost the portability of a point and shoot and it's in your price range

 

[Kai]

The Sony NEX system has nice camera bodies, but the lenses are gargantuan. Having huge lenses on a small body sort of negates the weight/bulk benefit of a compact camera.


The Olympus Micro 4/3 are a better option in my book. The lenses are much smaller, and the older bodies (E-p2 for example) are heavily discounted right now. There's a ton of really nice lenses in the micro 4/3 range from both Olympus and Panasonic. The Olympus cameras have image stabilization built into the camera body, so you don't have to worry about non-stabilized lenses.

http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-E-PL1...BRJO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331756468&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-Inter...B0OU/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1331756468&sr=8-8

http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-Inter...B0MM/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1331756468&sr=8-9

http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-Third...M4/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1331756468&sr=8-10



I took my Olympus Micro 4/3 outfit on a European family trip last summer. Size was great. Can fit the camera with mounted lens, and two spare lenses is a small pouch:

This one: http://www.rei.com/product/794355/mountainsmith-zoom-camera-case-small

For a little more space and a lot more style, the small Saddleback gadget bag will hold the camera, 3 lenses, flash, and some other accessories in a very compact package.

http://www.saddlebackleather.com/Gadget-Bag.html?sc=8&category=1288




That said, a micro 4/3 camera isn't a pocket camera. If pocketability is important, it's hard to go wrong with a Canon S100. The Panasonic LX5 is also a great pocket camera.

 

[the shah]



The Sony NEX system has nice camera bodies, but the lenses are gargantuan. Having huge lenses on a small body sort of negates the weight/bulk benefit of a compact camera.


The Olympus Micro 4/3 are a better option in my book.

The Panasonic LX5 is also a great pocket camera.

i was thinking this before, but I've since reversed my opinion for several reasons. the NEX system uses an APC-S sensor which is larger than a four thirds sensor. The NEX system did initially suffer from having such a small selection of lenses but it helps prevent lens hording which is generally a pitfall of going for interchangeable systems. And now the release of the Carl Zeiss 1.8/24 for the NEX makes it quite a nice option and great travel focal length



The manual focusing on an NEX is quite luxurious, with the Peking mode available to all systems after the firmware update. The NEX-7 also has a viewfinder built in which makes it quite nice. Manual focusing on even a Panasonic G3 with the electronic viewfinder of highest quality was not as easy in comparison.

And finally, the NEX system, paired with Leica M mount lenses (Voigtlander makes great glass that is a bit more affordable than aspehrical car-downpayment-Leica glass) looks and performs fantastically
A Flickr group dedicated to NEX + M mount : http://www.flickr.com/groups/1448246@N24/

That said, the LX-5 is not a bad pocketable option, though I suspect the 1.8 lens of the oly xz-1 might be better suited to shooting in bright conditions

 

[Kai]



i was thinking this before, but I've since reversed my opinion for several reasons. the NEX system uses an APC-S sensor which is larger than a four thirds sensor. The NEX system did initially suffer from having such a small selection of lenses but it helps prevent lens hording which is generally a pitfall of going for interchangeable systems. And now the release of the Carl Zeiss 1.8/24 for the NEX makes it quite a nice option and great travel focal length

That Carl Zeiss lens is the one I was thinking of when I stated that the NEX system lenses are too big. That Zeiss lens is 3 times the size of the micro 4/3 equivalent.

Put the Zeiss lens on a NEX7 body, and the combination is no smaller than a DSLR. As for the differences between the APS-c and m4/3 sensor: Can anyone really tell the difference in actual use?

I can't. Even on a bunch of the "pixel peeping" review sites, I can't really tell much difference at all. I've seen terrific pictures taken with both types, and I'd be willing to bet that the next generation m4/3 sensor in the OM-D line makes the 2 almost indistinguishable. I've got a bunch of 20x30 prints on my wall. All taken with either m4/3 or a LX-3 or LX-5 pocket camera. No issues with image quality even at that size of prints.

I have no doubt that the NEX7 is a great camera. It's just not particularly compact, once you factor in the lenses, and I think you don't have to sacrifice excellent image quality for a much more compact system.

 

[the shah]

I'd say the larger sensor benefits kick in at high ISO / low-light settings. Also with trickery like depth of field. Then the use of manual focus lenses, well, a larger sensor means only 1.5x crop factor vs 2x , so a 50mm is 35mm-equiv to 75mm vs becoming full on tele- at 100mm equiv ... i don't think you should also compare either system to a P&S like LX-3/5 (which is fine for what it is)

This is just a stunning combination, though




I guess it comes down to aesthetics at this point, and I'm no longer being helpful to OP so I'll just leave with this: T2i/D3100 are fine options and can be had for good prices. You can't go wrong with any higher-end m4/3 or NEX system, and if true portability is your preference then the S100/LX5/XZ-1 are great options as well. Best bet is to get your hands on any number of these and see which works for you. Personally I like the NEX system paired with M mount lenses and I find it rather nice from an aesthetic point of view as well as performance capabilities. Best of luck and be sure to share any work the Photography thread

 

[Rambo]

Fixed the thread title. Now I'm looking at the Canon S95 vs. the S100. Any opinions? Or other suggestions in the same class?

 

[aizan]



I'd say the larger sensor benefits kick in at high ISO / low-light settings.

also dynamic range, tonality, raw headroom, bit depth, etc. at all isos.

 

[the shah]

^ yes, well there's all that too

Fixed the thread title. Now I'm looking at the Canon S95 vs. the S100. Any opinions? Or other suggestions in the same class?

i recently saw the s95 for 220 on amazon which is great deal. if it's above 300 then i'd say throw the extra for the s100

 

[Rambo]



if it's above 300 then i'd say throw the extra for the s100

Why?

 

[the shah]



Why?

Upgraded in most departments. larger range of focal length, so you can zoom more and get wider shots too, you can get closer to your subjects (macro at 3cm), full HD 1080 video recording now vs 720 on the s95, and seems like the processor and sensor are newer.

here's a side-by-side comparison of them : http://www.dpreview.com/products/compare/side-by-side?products=canon_s100&products=canon_s95

if none of these mean anything to you you're probably fine with the s95. it's still quite a nice camera.