twice recently i have been in the mourne mountains looking at stunning views , with no camera ! does anyone have any suggestions for a small idiot proof camera – heres the catch – with a photo quality approaching an SLR !

Moon on a stick request I reckon

Panasonic LX3 seems to get good reviews for image quality, but from what iv’e read and heard nothing gets that close to DSLR quality

Was debating getting a Canon G5, but it seems that the quest for more millions of pixies just causes image problems with a small sensor

Think I will stick with my cheapo Canon A720 and accept the compromise

Good luck with your search and I could be talking absolute bollocks which someone better informed will surely correct me on

yeah , thanks tijuana . i don`t know much about cameras , but i did think this maybe a tall order . anyway . maybe some are better than others

Ricoh Caplio GX100 is the dogs as far as I’m concerned. I used to have a G5 which was OK, but shutter lag used to really get on my bits. The G9 gets good reviews, but I am very happy with the GX100.

But TBH unless you want RAW and/or work in low light, and/or want all the manual controls, then you will struggle to beat a basic Ixus IMHO – got one of them too 🙂

The Paansonic Lumix with the Lecia lens are very good and pretty cheap too.

Ricoh GR-D II is amazing. I have had the GR-D for a couple of years and the only thing I wish I couls change is the slow write time for RAW images…which the GR-D II addresses!

Only downer is the fixed (28mm equiv) lens so if you are a zoom-fanatic you might not like it but for landscapes, candids, street photography etc.its great and the quality is top. I used mine for all the shots in the HimaChal article in STW #41 (Feb 08)

SSP

I have a Panasonic LX2. Easily pocketable. Image quality is excellent – providing you are shooting at lower ISOs. The latest model is even better and has a good lens. Check out the review on dpreview.com. Yes a DSLR will have a bigger chip – so ‘better’, but if it’s a question of a camera you can easily carry with you then the Lumix is the one to go for – probably has the edge on Canon’s G10.

It’s not necessarily idiot-proof. If you want image quality then you need to shoot RAW rather than jpeg and be prepared to do some work tweaking.

I meant Canon G10 not G5 in my reply,told you I might be talking bollocks

Sigma DP1 or DP2 is worth a look. It has a DSLR sized sensor.

SSP – do you have the pictures online anywhere?

Sigma DP1 and 2 do have a big sensor and I did look at getting one but they are soooooo slooooooow even shooting JPEGs. RAW performance is a joke. Turn on time is slack too.

I had high hopes for them and the cash waiting, shame they need to tweak it a little to keep up with the GR-D’s / G10 of the world.

SSP

Geoffj, have a look here: MTB Himachal 2007

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That is a small version of the 3M RAW picture…great way to wake up! Let me know if you want full size versions of any of those.

SSP

Sigma DP1 and 2 do have a big sensor and I did look at getting one but they are soooooo slooooooow even shooting JPEGs. RAW performance is a joke. Turn on time is slack too.

I had high hopes for them and the cash waiting, shame they need to tweak it a little to keep up with the GR-D’s / G10 of the world.
That’s a shame the image quality of the DP1 is visibily better, I was waiting for the DP2 to be released, assuming it addressed the shortcomings.

Images in review here

Ricoh GX100.

More here (also from Himachal Pradesh)

thanks everyone for your input