Bulk & quality vs. portability and "having a camera"

[cfusionpm]

I only carry my 50D when I'm planning to be out shooting. It's got a big battery grip and other than the 50mm, none of the lenses are small or light. I use my phone if I need to take any quick snapshots.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

And it's technically not a DSLR. No mirror.

yeah, but the dslr quality is there..

Like with a Canon GX(X) series P&S? It can't change lenses but I've seen some shots with lighting setups where you wouldn't ever be able to tell the difference unless you read the EXIF or the person who took the picture told you.

ehhh...... maybe if you're at iso 80, looking for noise....

but it's damn near impossible to get any sort of shallow DOF on a point and shoot unless you're really close into your subject and/or zoomed out all the way.

 

[Dominantly]

I almost always have my DSLR with me. I've found that when I don't have it, I miss some of the best shots. My backup is my iPhone, lol.

:thumbup:same here

 

[PJL]

I recently went on a backpacking trip and carried both a 35mm SLR and a digital P&S; some of the best shots of the trip were taken with the P&S and were just as nice blown up to 11x14 as the SLR shots.

 

[patrickt]

I always carry my camera when I leave my apartment. Like others, some of my favorite photos were "targets of opportunity".

 

[davebmck]

When I travel for business, I like to carry a P&S. It's too much trouble to carry all my SLR gear, but I like to be able to capture those unexpected opportunities.

 

[Melesse]

I'm currently struggling with this question myself.

I'm considering getting an S90 or G11 to take with me on business trips (I travel for work) and for daily carry. I frequently find that there are times where I wish I had a camera, but wasn't carrying my DSLR due to bulk. I usually take the DSLR with me on business trips, but it makes me nervous when it spends a lot of time in the hotel room.

On the other hand, I had a P&S for years through college and after that I hardly ever used. That's what is currently holding me back. All those years with a camera in my pocket and I took....maybe a hundred pictures with it. Of course, that was before I decided to pick up photography as a hobby, so I would probably use it more now, assuming I got a good P&S. Meh. So conflicted!

I guess the real question is how much money I'm going to spend on a P&S. I'd like a companion camera for when I don't have my DSLR. I don't mind dropping a hundred on one, but then am I going to be disappointed in the pictures it takes? If I spend $400 on a nicer one, how disappointed will I be if I don't use it constantly?

Mel​

 

[Overread]

I fit into the last bracket of choice but could easily fit into the first and second if my gear and situations allowed.

At present the widest aperture I have (on a good lens) is 70mm which is far too long for most family trips, outings and other events - so where as I would take my camera more places like on such trips, I find that I don't simply as it just gets in the way more than not.
If I got my self a nice 24-105mm lens and a small shoulder bag I could quite happily carry that setup all day when out with friends and such - small enough not to get in the way and light enough not to be draining over the course of the day. It's also a single lens so no need to flit about changing glass and such (yah its the power of the SLR, but honestly unless you are out and about on your own others don't tend to give you lens changing time)

The second block I would happily move into as well since a good bridge camera with a good optical zoom is very versatile and even good enough for grabshots of wildlife and animals which a lighter single lens setup (as described above) fails upon.

So at present the camera tends to come out only when I know I will get a chance to shoot - yes this does mean I miss shots, but be honest unless you have a camera bolted to your eye you are always going to miss shots - just be happy to get a chance to see them in the first place (and carry a pair of binoculars as well )

 

[Jeremy Z]

Melesse - Go with the S90. It is so much more capable than mass market point & shoots. It has a lot of the features of an SLR, but the portability of a small P&S.

The G11 has maybe a slightly better lens: longer zoom, slightly faster over the range. But then you're back into something bulky again, and you'll find that you won't carry it if you're not sure.

For this type of camera, you have to accept that you'll either carry it a lot and use it infrequently, or not carry it and eventually regret it.

I carry the S90 in a small Lowepro case. Most of the time, it is in my courier bag that I take to work. On day trips, I put on the shoulder strap and carry it that way.

One thing I've found that makes either of these cameras more versatile than my previous P&S cameras is the optical image stabilizer. I rarely use flash any more indoors. With a steady hand, 1/6 s is hand-holdable on this camera. No more having to choose from super-noisy by sharp and blown out and no depth with direct flash.

I assume that since you're here, you know a good bit more about photography than the average person. Spend that money on the S90 and I bet you find the SLR stays at home most of the time. I love my SLR and its superior image quality, but after a while, I had to admit that I'm just not committed enough to carry it around all the time.

Here are a couple more shots from my S90. None of the indoor ones used flash. The white balance was fine, I just prefer B&W a lot of the time.

 

[TheSolicitor]

I carry a CoolPix P&S with me all the time (i.e. in the bag I take to school). It's light, it's easy to use, and if anyone wants to take some pictures at an event and I'm behind the DSLR, I can throw my P&S their way and let them take some other pictures. It's unfortunately gotten to the point that people are disappointed if I don't bring my camera with me to parties, out to eat, or to various events, so I bring the DSLR with me everywhere I go, more often than not.

On the contrary, if I'm going somewhere in the car, I'll throw the Gorilla-Pod in the car, with my DSLR with a few different lenses just in case I have the chance to shoot something or someone.