Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)
  • DLSR Alternatives?
  • floki
    Free Member

    Getting a bit fed up of lugging a DLSR around when out riding.
    So what are the decent alternatives – that are going to be fast enough to decent ridings pics, with enough control, but also light and compact.

    Canon G12 seems an obvious choice (given that it’ll take my current Canon flash, etc) – but is it going to be fast enough, lack of shutter delay, etc?

    Thoughts please. Thanks.

    5thElefant
    Free Member

    Olympus e-p2 is my choice. Cheap now too.

    Any of the olympus or panasonic m4/3 are worth a look along with the sony nex range. All 3 manufacturers have just released upgraded models so cheap not-quite-as-good last years models are available.

    None are any good for AF tracking of fast moving things though, so you’re limited to pre-focusing. Other than that they’re a good dslr alternative.

    stumpy01
    Full Member

    Nikon have just bought out the P7100.
    Similar class of camera to the G12. The original (P7000) was widely regarded as good in terms of image quality, but very slow & laggy.

    Nikon seem to have listened & sorted out the processing speed, as well as improving picture quality over the original.

    I am trying to decide whether I can justify buying one (as well as a Tamron macro for my SLR and various other bits).
    Other ones I am looking at are:

    Canon S100
    Panasonic Lumix LX-5
    Olympus XZ-1
    Sony HX9V
    Panasonic TZ-20

    I can’t work out whether the P7100 will be too bulky as a replacement for my DSLR to keep with me all the time. I need to get my hands on one & see if the extra buttons & dials are worth the increased size over a more compact camera, like some of the others in my list above.

    I am in the same boat as you, regarding your comment about the G12. The P7100 will also take my Nikon flash, so it seems prudent to go with that, but I am not 100% sure yet.

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    Alphabet
    Full Member

    Same boat here. I had a play with a G12 in a shop today but it felt a bit plasticky and fiddly compared to my Canon SLRs. I thought the size was fine for the features and control you get. I’ll pick up a Nikon P7100 to compare but would rather stick with Canon if possible.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    I’d have an XZ-1 for biking. It has a pretty fast lens which will mean AF will work better under trees and such, and you’ll get faster exposures which will help taking pics of other bikers.

    stumpy01
    Full Member

    molgrips – Member
    I’d have an XZ-1 for biking. It has a pretty fast lens

    Yeah, molgrips – that’s the main reason it’s on my list. Seems a very fast lens for a compact.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Also has a big sensor further improving high ISO. Did you check out the DPR review of it?

    EDIT Actually – I do have a biking specific camera, and it’s an Oly tough. Cos it was cheap, and you can get a holder that straps to your camelbak strap on the outside leaving it completely exposed. You can whip the thing out with one hand, snap and put it back without even having to stop the bike. A bungee stops it falling, and when it gets splattered with mud you just rinse it off. Great example of how ruggedness can actually really improve your photo-taking potential.

    I wouldn’t have it for my only camera though because it really doesn’t have the options that an SLR does. But I can still take my SLR in my camelbak cos I picked a nice small one.

    You’ll not get much smaller in a DSLR (although not technically an SLR) than the Sony A33/35/55 – here’s my A55, albeit pictured beside my Desire HD, which is about as big as a phone gets.

    nickjb
    Free Member

    I’d be wary of some of these compacts as they aren’t that compact. If you aren’t will to take an SLR I suspuct you’d leave one or two of these at home, too. I use a similar system to molgrips; a tough waterproof camera. The quality isn’t brilliant but it gets the shots as I can clip it to the front of my bag and whip it out with one hand (oo-er!) even while riding. You can use the mutli-shot function to minimise issues with shutter lag. Far from ideal but I take it out pretty much every ride and don’t have to worry about it.

    ahwiles
    Free Member

    panasonic lx5: big sensor, f2, wide angle, small camera.

    stumpy01
    Full Member

    molgrips – Member
    Also has a big sensor further improving high ISO. Did you check out the DPR review of it?

    Yeah, I’ve been scanning reviews of various cameras for the last few weeks.
    There are finally some proper reviews of the P7100 and it seems to be getting some decent reviews.

    nickjb – Member
    I’d be wary of some of these compacts as they aren’t that compact. If you aren’t will to take an SLR I suspuct you’d leave one or two of these at home, too. I use a similar system to molgrips; a tough waterproof camera.

    That is my concern with the P7100, to be honest. I want a camera that will fit in a case that I can securely fit to the strap of my rucsack. I can tolerate a bit of bulk, if it is warranted.
    I was at Luton airport last month & the size difference between the Lumix TZ20 & the Canon G12 was quite surprising.

    I did initially consider a waterproof ‘tough’ camera, but they always seem compromised. Picture quality never seems that good, they are often slow & tend to be more ‘auto’.

    No doubt I will still be deciding this time next year…..

    bangaio
    Free Member

    We’ve just got a nikon s9100 to sling in a pocket or bag for times when the slr is to clumpy. Having pretty much a 400mm lense (in 35mm terms) in such a small device is an eye opener (and that’s optical not digital zooming).

    _tom_
    Free Member

    I’ve been really impressed with my Canon S95. I think it has the same sensor as the G12 but the body is much smaller. Also has a faster lens. Still has full manual mode and the video is just about usable. It has a bit of shutter delay but when you get used to it you can get some pretty nice photos. Here are a few action ones I took with mine:

    Very impressive little camera!

    molgrips
    Free Member

    The Oly tough isn’t the best camera I could hope for. Works nicely and has good features except for two issues. One is that you can’t choose where it focuses, which makes macro work hard, and the other is that if you zoom in it won’t focus on things at or near infinity, unless they are really contrasty. Makes framing distant misty mountains quite hard.

    It may be a fault with mine, it was a refurb after all.

    I have no problems taking it along as an incidental camera but then I have a DSLR too. I would not be happy if it was my only camera. I can use the SLR for quality shots on family days or whenever I feel arty.

    EDIT: that’s probably not so fair though.. I’ve never used a modern run-of-the-mill compact snapper so it might be par for the course, I dunno. Reviews suggest it was just like any other small snapper but tough.

    Oh and just to point out – posting great pictures up in web size doesn’t show a good camera, merely a good photographer. To show the camera you need challenging situations and/or 100% crops 🙂

    _tom_
    Free Member

    True molgrips, I suppose it depends where your photos will end up though. For me I doubt any of mine will ever get viewed outside of the web, so web-size pics are a good indicator for me. 100% crops from the camera are a bit fuzzy and I probably wouldn’t want to print anything bigger than A4, maybe A3 at a push.

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)

The topic ‘DLSR Alternatives?’ is closed to new replies.