Point and Shoots cameras...

[Rifleman1776]

We went through disappointing experiences with several brands of P&S cameras I bought for my wife and daughter. Problems stopped when I finally bought Nikon CoolPix. Their various models all seem to share a Nikon dedication to quality.
And, you are right. A photograph taken with a small P&S is a far superior picture to one not taken at all because you left the big guns behind.
As I sit here, visiting my son's home, his Nkon D200, with motor drive and some huge zoom lens, is setting behind me not being used. It takes a weightlifter to pick the thing up. And, he and the wife are on vacation on a tropical island. The camera is here. I sure wouldn't carry it around.
Go for the mini and enjoy.

 

[sincere]

lower resolution, flash range, continuous shooting, things that are not so unimportant, especially the continuous shooting..

Yes they are unimportant to the P&S market....

* flash range is improved in the G11 over the G10. If your intention is flash photography then you should be shot if you are not taking advantage of the hotshoe).

* Mpixels are not so important once you get into the 10+ range. 99% of the photos are printed at 4x6, 5x7, 8x10.. 14mpixel is way overkill. If you start going into the typical "more resolution to crop" debate, you are now ignoring the fact that the smallish lenses on these P&S cameras will not resolve enough anyways. The market aim for these cameras are not photographers aiming to print poster sized pictures nor a significant amount of cropping.

* Lower pixel density usually translates to lower signal to noise ratio at the sensor. This translates to superior high ISO performance. High noise at even ISO 400 has been the biggest most annoying aspect of using P&S cameras....

* continuous shooting. G11 is faster than the G10. For the typical P&S photographer, continuous drive is not so important as the shutter lag. From what I can tell, the G11 improves on the G10 in this respect.

* G11 also brought back the swivel LCD screen. One of the features that set apart the G-series from all cameras was the integrated swivel rotating LCD paired with the optical viewfinder. This was the case from G1 through the G6.


If you apply the features that are important to DSLR users to that of the P&S market, you will fail to understand that the markets are different. The thorn of P&S shooters has always been IQ, high ISO performance, and shutter lag. I think the G11 improves on the G10 in these aspects. The issue here is that the typical consumer doesn't understand and simply look at the mpixel count as a measure in overall quality and performance. Simply put.. it is a marketing nightmare.

Thanks for the info but do yourself a favor and keep your assumptions about me or my interests to yourself and stick with the facts.

Maybe you didnt mean anything by it but you really came off very arrogant, like someone who loves to listen to himself talk.

 

[mdruziak]

Guys, i am looking for the same thing, also because i get tired of shooting concerts and security telling me that after the first 3 songs its over because i have a DSLR (assuming i am press) whereas everyone with their point and shoot can go on..

I have a G11. While it is no DSLR, it can be pretty decent for concert photography:

ISO 1600 is decent as long as you use a noise reduction program like Noiseware to do some clean up.

Mark

 

[sincere]

Guys, i am looking for the same thing, also because i get tired of shooting concerts and security telling me that after the first 3 songs its over because i have a DSLR (assuming i am press) whereas everyone with their point and shoot can go on..

I have a G11. While it is no DSLR, it can be pretty decent for concert photography:

ISO 1600 is decent as long as you use a noise reduction program like Noiseware to do some clean up.

Mark

Nice! Is the G11 lens-interchangeable? I saw that a few of the "better" p&s cameras had the option to do so.

 

[bigtwinky]

Nice! Is the G11 lens-interchangeable? I saw that a few of the "better" p&s cameras had the option to do so.

to my knowledge, it does not have interchangeable lenses

Canon PowerShot G11 digital camera specifications: Digital Photography Review

 

[accphotography]

The Memory Stick vs. SD card thing doesn't bother me a bit as I don't own a single SD card. My computer has a slot for MS cards as well so no complaint there.

And, you are right. A photograph taken with a small P&S is a far superior picture to one not taken at all because you left the big guns behind.
As I sit here, visiting my son's home, his Nkon D200, with motor drive and some huge zoom lens, is setting behind me not being used. It takes a weightlifter to pick the thing up. And, he and the wife are on vacation on a tropical island. The camera is here. I sure wouldn't carry it around.
Go for the mini and enjoy.

Thank you! This is PRECISELY what I mean. All of my family and friends flipped out when I told them I was shopping for a P&S. They said "you won't like it", "you'll be mad at the quality", "you wont' think it's good enough for you", etc. I can not seem to get it through their heads that a CRUDDY photo of something cool is better than NO photo at all!!

However I have actually been quite impressed with the photos I've seen my friends taking with their little P&Ss and I guarantee they didn't go through the amount of trouble I'm going through to make sure I have the best one I can afford. I feel pretty sure I will be pretty happy with whatever I choose for the need it fills.


Direct comparing stats (on DPReview) of all of the cameras I was considering... has me pretty much decided on the Sony CyberShot W220. Some of it's features just dwarf the features of "sister" cameras. I went to Best Buy and played around with everything they had and the ones that impressed me the most, in hand, were the Sonys. My first digital was a Sony Mavica (that recorded onto a 3.5" floppy disk... I know, what's that, right? LOL) so I'm a bit partial to them anyway as that IS the camera that got me into photography to begin with. I had someone recommend the W290 or even the W230 over the W220, but there are some specific features that the W220 has that NO other camera in the price range does, including it's successors. So, unless something else happens to sway me, I think that's where I'm headed.

Oh and one other thing I like about the Sonys (tell me if this is not smart of me) is that they use a rechargeable battery as opposed to Canon's use of AAs. I HATE AAs, even rechargeable ones. I'd much rather have a battery similar to those in my DSLRs. Thoughts?

I'll be sure to post pics as soon as I get and we'll all see what we think. :mrgreen:

Thanks so much for the help!!

 

[usayit]

Thanks for the info but do yourself a favor and keep your assumptions about me or my interests to yourself and stick with the facts.

Maybe you didnt mean anything by it but you really came off very arrogant, like someone who loves to listen to himself talk.

touchy touchy... what's with this recently here??? Probably worse than I have ever observed in the past 5 years. nothing like that was being assumed... :er:

 

[FmrVette]

I'm looking to buy a PaS camera to keep with me all the time. So, I'm looking for a small PaS that has excellent quality, hopefully some color and hopefully on a budget.

On that note, what are the best PaS cameras available that are still portable and fun?

Thanks!!

ACC

Tongue firmly in cheek, I've had this link on my computer for this oft-asked question:

The Online Photographer: How To Choose a Digital Point-and-Shoot

But seriously, the best camera in the world is the one in your hand when the photo is there to be taken. I have a Canon G9; a bit heavy for a P&S, but it has a usable viewfinder, shoots RAW, has fully manual control as well as a Program modes, and a couple of user programmable modes. I've got one set to turn off all of the beeps, clicks, pre-focus lights, post click review, etc. - and it's very nice for street shooting. There is NO noise from the camera.

You might want to look at the G series cameras from Canon. Not super cheap, not super light, but they do a fairly good job of capturing the image.

(Truth in advertising - I rarely carry my G9 anymore, I bought a messenger bag, tossed in a D70S body with an 18-125 Sigma lens as my daily carry. The G9 has the (to me) fatal flaw of all P&S - shutter lag. Reminds me, I need to charge the battery in that thing ).

HTH

 

[mdruziak]

The G9 has the (to me) fatal flaw of all P&S - shutter lag. Reminds me, I need to charge the battery in that thing )

FmrVette brings up a good point. I think that any of the current generation digital cameras will give you a decent photo. I had a photo published in a magazine that I took with a $125 Kodak. But all of the point and shoots have tradeoffs when you compare them to DLSRs.

Figure out what features you want, what features you are willing to give up and how you are going to use the camera.

Truth be told, I had to take a lot of pics of the concert to get a few good ones. If I had my DLSR, I would have had a much much higher keeper ratio.

 

[sincere]

Whatabout recording video? Has anyone tried that out?

 

[FmrVette]

Whatabout recording video? Has anyone tried that out?

I plead not guilty...

 

[accphotography]

I will plead guilty. The video aspect was one of the main reasons I wanted one of these cameras. I don't have any way to take video and I was thrilled with the possibility of having a handy way.

I ended up with... *DRUM ROLL PLEASE*






FinePix F70EXR / F75EXR | Fujifilm Global



It's charging right now. I'll post pics as soon as I feel confident pulling the battery off the charger!

Thanks for the advice!!!

 

[mdruziak]

Whatabout recording video? Has anyone tried that out?

Video on the G11 isn't the cameras strong suit.

While the quality of the video is pretty decent, it doesn't have HD. However, he biggest flaw with the G11 video in my opinion, is that Autofocus doesn't work while you are shooting video. What is up with that Canon????

 

[accphotography]

Ok so I finally found the time to put some photos up. Many of these were taken in really low light, out of car windows (actually THROUGH the windows in several cases), etc.

Photos from my Point and Shoot camera

 

[wescobts]

I have an older Nikon 5400 P&S, zoom, built in flash and also shutter and aperture control. I LOVE IT, it is so fun to shoot with, I carry it everywhere and I have gotten some amazing shots. The new model is the 6000, and retails for $500, but I am certain you could find a used one much cheaper.