Compact camera – A question for the Hive Mind

Need a new one. My Ricoh R10 has finaly died after 2 years of being owned by me. 😐

So, what is good and what is not?

Canon S95/newer alternative.

Never had an Ixus I wasn’t pleased with. Conversely, haven’t had a compact camera for about 10 years that wasn’t an Ixus, which didn’t immediately disappoint me in some fundamental way.

But these are clearly the words of a fanboi.

I’m an IXUS fan too. Big plus is, it was always with me.

Key question. How much do you want to spend, and what features do you want?

I have an Ixus, a Canon S100, and a Canon 550D

The Ixus is a good compact, you can get them at a good price, but i’ve gotten more and more frustrated with not having much control over the camera compared with a DSLR.

The S100 still fits in my pocket (not too much bigger than the Ixus) but gives me a lot of control for taking the shots i want. Does cost 3-4 times as much as the Ixus though, but you do get this:
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What’s your budget?

Ricoh GRD iv and Panasonic GX1 are currently top of my list.

Both a quite high end though with lots of manual features etc.

Up to about £150.

How about the Canon Powershot SX220 @ £149.95 🙂

I’ve got one & its IMHO the dogz Bollox. I take it biking with me & on other trips the zoom is outstanding & it has a shedload of features. It also shoots HD vid.

Some examples of the pics I have taken

Full shot

using the zoom on the fort

Other shot

I’m very happy with it & wish I’d bought one sooner.

Another vote for Ricoh GRD. Great thing is, apart from all the control, is ease of use – from the interface point of view, and the fact you can do it all comfortably with one hand. And it goes in your pocket easily.

The Ixus is a good compact, you can get them at a good price, but i’ve gotten more and more frustrated with not having much control over the camera compared with a DSLR.

You can get custom firmware for most IXI which adds a lot of functionality. RAW support and such. Google ‘CHDK’.

Bought this in the end.

Panasonic TZ19

The zoom can pick out the nail heads on my shed roof from 80ft.

For other shoppers, how about the new Olympus TG-1? It’s a high end compact with all the advanced features that the Canon S95 and the like have, but it’s tough. As in, waterproof, shock/freeze resistant etc.

Lovely 🙂

Cheers for that HtS, will have to visit Curries after tomorrows ride now 🙄

This is what the zoom can do.

No zoom.

Full optical zoom.

I’ve got a TZ 20 that sits on the shelf because it irritates me so much. Madame persisted going back to the shop for tutorials on how to use it. The seller was very patient and she can now take picture unless it’s bright and sunny (and snowy) in which case the menus are impossible to read. The odds are you’ll accidentally touch one of the buttons when you turn it on and by the time you’ve got out of the menu system the moment will have passed or you’ll have thrown it down the mountain in rage.

I went on holiday recently and wisely left the thing at home. No pictures, excellent memories. The main thing I can remember about my last day out with the TZ in my pocket was how something as insignificant as a camera can spoil a good day in the hills.

I might dig out my old HP. It may be only a quarter of the pixels, eat batteries and take and eternity to click, but at least it has a view finder and takes a picture when you press the button rather than giving you GPS options.

I’ve got a TZ3 I bought in ’07, which has taken thousands of photos, and I’ve recently bought a TZ30, which I’m just getting used to, as it’s got touch-screen tech, and a very different menu system, but so far I’m very impressed with it, and the 20x optical zoom is handy.

The TZ19 hasn’t got as many toys on it as the TZ20 – GPS etc. I didn’t want a touch screen (is the TZ20 a touch screen also?) for fear of accidental mode changes and my kids knackering it up.

The TZ19 has as many buttons as the Ricoh R10 that it replaces and takes better pictures so I think I’ll survive. A agree though, it has more going on than a simple point and shoot but I wanted something closer to our DSLR wannabe that is too bulky to cart about and lacks spontaneity.

I have an Ixus which does a job (lifelong Canon fan too). M-I-L just got some Sony and it is very good – especially at dealing with very low light conditions.

she can now take picture unless it’s bright and sunny

We live in the UK remember 🙂