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Suggestions please, compact camera
Hello,.

I am looking to replace my better half's aging DSC-S70. It's actually a very good camera, it takes great shots in the dark or in bright light, and I've had difficulty taking equally good shots with many other cameras. Some of the things we like:.

* Semi-manual focus.

* Taking pictures of people in the dark without the flash. In some restaurants, this works so well that we can do it without a tripod and not get any motion blur, despite the fact that there is no IS on this camera.* Taking pictures of European churches, which are poorly lit, no flash* A bit of zooming.

Even though this is an old camera, I think it has a large sensor and (relatively) low pixel count, so that may be the reason why the dimly lit shots turn out so well..

Things we don't like.

* It's big* It's starting to have some problems (with focusing and with the battery).

A lot of people on these forums post beautiful pictures of bright flower fields taken at ISO 32 or something. While we expect these shots to turn out well with our next camera, I really suspect that any reasonable camera will do just fine for this purpose..

Some features we would like for our next camera:.

* Small.

* As much manual control as possible (particularly focus, flash, and the ability to take short exposures in the dark and produce good photos).

I went through the reviews of all recent cameras (2006-2007) on this site to compare the high ISO shots for small cameras, as well as IS features, etc... But it looks like it's really hard to find an ideal camera. One possibility was to get a DIGIC II Canon and upgrade the firmware to the custom one that has all the extra features, but that really doesn't help with the sensor..

One camera with an outstanding sensor (apparently) is the Fuji F31FD. To my novice eyes, the high ISO shots look almost like an SLR! I am a bit wary of this camera because of the lack of manual features and I just want to make sure that it takes good pictures in all situations (like the sahara at 12 noon.).

What camera would you recommend?.

Sbastien Loisel..

Comments (6)

I should add some information..

First, cost is not an issue. In fact, I was initially very excited about the Ricoh GX100. On paper it looks amazing, with a large CCD and an amazing lens that does 24mm (we tend to like wide angle shots.) We found some reviews of this camera, one in particular was fairly complete, although it's written in japanese. But the crux seemed to be that it was "almost as good" as a GR-Digital..

So then I look at the GRD review on this web site, and was very surprised at how poorly it did. Concretely, even the medium ISO shots seemed to suck. Certainly, they look much less good than the ISO1600 shots of the F31FD..

Sbastien Loisel..

Comment #1

1. Wide angle limits your choices. Best overall such compact is Canon SD800IS (7MP, 3.8x zoom with I.S., sharp lens, good IQ at higher ISOs, although no manual modes)..

2. Otherwise consider Canon G7 (10MP, 6x zoom with I.S. (35-210mm), OVF, good IQ at high ISOs)..

3. If faster focusing is not such a need than Nikon P5000 is great value, albeit less zoom (3.5x)..

4. Personally I would not expect much from a compact P&S as far as noise performance is concerned. Canon's are a bit better than rest (except of course Fuji F31fd) as the noise is of fine grain type which is less offensive..

5. As fas as Ricoh is concerned, I would expect it to perform somewhat similar to other in league (10MP cameras). Its noise should also be of fine grain type as was with GRD. CCD-shift I.S. should also be of help in choosing lower ISO. Results should be acceptable for upto8x10Inch print Upto ISO800 with good exposure..

Loisel wrote:.

So then I look at the GRD review on this web site, and was verysurprised at how poorly it did. Concretely, even the medium ISOshots seemed to suck. Certainly, they look much less good than theISO1600 shots of the F31FD..

Sbastien Loisel.

Regards, Ajayhttp://picasaweb.google.com/ajay0612..

Comment #2

1. Wide angle limits your choices. Best overall such compact isCanon SD800IS (7MP, 3.8x zoom with I.S., sharp lens, good IQ athigher ISOs, although no manual modes)..

Yeah ok but I just looked at the review and the sample pictures, and it really doesn't seem this camera does nearly as well as the F31FD in the dark..

The G7 also seems noisy, is it comparable to F31FD at 1600ISO?.

3. If faster focusing is not such a need than Nikon P5000 is greatvalue, albeit less zoom (3.5x)..

P5000 looks very noisy at ISO 400 and higher..

5. As fas as Ricoh is concerned, I would expect it to performsomewhat similar to other in league (10MP cameras). Its noiseshould also be of fine grain type as was with GRD. CCD-shift I.S.should also be of help in choosing lower ISO. Results should beacceptable for upto8x10Inch print Upto ISO800 with good exposure.loisel wrote:.

That's a good point. How big can I make a print from an F31FD at ISO800, considering there's less noise but also less pixels?.

Sebastien Loisel..

Comment #3

Nothing (compact) touches the F30/F31 in low light. There's no comparison..

Canon G7 and compact noise, and more importantly ISO performance, is nowhere near a match for the F30. I would say even the previous generation of SuperCCD's were arguably better, and certainly not worse..

In general, as you can see from the DPReview tests, it's in a class of it's own. The same sensor is also in the (much larger) S6500..

If wide angle is needed, consider screw in adapters. They don't give the best optical performance, (perhaps), but they are lightweight and do the job. Likewise for pushing zoom beyond 3x..

In terms of manual control. The F30 has P,S and A modes, but no full manual. It also lack bracketing..

I have a Fuji E900. It's a drop from the ISO class of the F30, but I would say still better than the Canons'. It has full manual ( and RAW ) as well as bracketing. The viewfinder is only 0.77x which is quite annoying. It's not through the lens, so you need to allow for this offset when composing..

Also note - the F30 has no optical viewfinder. That's an issue for some people..

The Canon A630/640 came to my attention recently. They do fair enough for noise - better than some recent Canon's I think. Worth checking..

Good luck with the choice..

StephenG.

Fuji S9600Fuji S5200Fuji F30Fuji E900Canon A710ISPCLinuxOS..

Comment #4

Sjgcit wrote:.

Nothing (compact) touches the F30/F31 in low light. There's nocomparison..

OK, good to know..

Sbastien Loisel..

Comment #5

1. Actually when you look at prints at 100% size on monitor, they look noisy. Why? You are looking at 30"x40" size man! Reducing then to an equivalent size of 6MP should make the noise grain still finer and less perceptible..

2. Fuji f31fd's 6MP are coupled with sharp lens, so effectve details captured rivel 7-8MP cameras from other brands. Technically, 7MP's are required for an 8"x10" lab quality print (300dpi). So Fuji should be good enough at that..

3. At ISO 1600, Fuji output has lot of artfacts, and not worthy of prints larger than 5x7". At that size or less, G7, P5000 output should be good too..

4. I suggest you to to print/view at same size (Windows Fax and Photo Viewer will display the pics at approx. 10"x13" when fit to screen on 17" monitor) some identical scene samples from G7, and F31fd (e.g. athttp://www.Imaging-Resource.com under samples tab)..

Loisel wrote:.

That's a good point. How big can I make a print from an F31FD atISO800, considering there's less noise but also less pixels?.

Regards, Ajayhttp://picasaweb.google.com/ajay0612..

Comment #6


This question was taken from a support group/message board and re-posted here so others can learn from it.

 

 

 

 

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