Best P&S

[davebmck]

I'm always wishing I had my camera with me on my frequent business trips, but it's not practical to bring my DLSR gear with me. So I want to get a nice P&S that I can throw in my carry on bag.

I'm partial to Canon and I've been looking at the G11, but wondered if some of you had an opinion on whats the best P&S on the market today.

 

[mjhoward]

G11 for canon and P7000 if you want a Nikon. Unless you just want to see really really far... then get the Canon SX30.

 

[robitussin217]

Canon S90 and S95 have faster glass than G11.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

S95, LX5, or if you want something more in the realm of SLR quality, the Olympus E-P1 with a panny or oly pancake on it. I've got the e-p1 with the 17 and it's awesome.

 

[davebmck]

Canon S90 and S95 have faster glass than G11.

I like the S95, but I prefer to have a viewfinder.

 

[mjhoward]

Canon S90 and S95 have faster glass than G11.

Maybe wide open they do. If you're not wide open, the G11/G12 is faster. Its aperature is 4.5 @ 140mm equiv vs. 4.9 @ 105mm equiv on the S95. G11 also has much closer min focus distance for macro, faster shutter, longer focal length, hot shoe, ND Filter, etc.

G11/G12 wins over S90/S95 IMO.

 

[skieur]

The Panasonic LX5 and the Sony HX5V in the smaller point and shoot. The "hybrids" that are hard to define are closer to DSLRs because of a larger processor than the point and shoot and interchangeable lens on what looks like a rangefinder.

skieur

 

[inTempus]

If you want something with outstanding image quality and most of the same features as a DSLR (in terms of settings) then the G12 or P7000 are the ticket. I have a G11 and have taken it to Las Vegas and India in the last few weeks. It's simply an amazing camera for the size. Very feature rich. I will say the S95 shares most of the same functionality as the G12 given it uses the same processor and sensor. It's just smaller and lacks the dedicated controls of the G12 which might not be an issue for you. It also lacks a hotshoe mount which I really like on my G11, I use a 430EXII with mine regularly.

The new Sony NEX-5 is a cool system with the ability to use Sony DSLR A mount lenses. It's super small and has a full 1.6 crop sensor in it! It shoots pretty comfortably up to ISO 6400. I really like the IQ on these but the relatively short battery life keeps me from buying one for now. It also lacks a hotshoe mount and the flash it comes with is rather limiting.

For the money, I say the G12 or P7000. The P7000 has very similar specs to the G12 but actually focuses while shooting video whereas the Canon doesn't.

 

[davebmck]

Thanks for the input guys. G11 ordered last night.

 

[inTempus]

Thanks for the input guys. G11 ordered last night.

I think you'll be extremely happy with it.

My buddy now wants to buy G11 for his wife... he came to this decision this weekend while we were out screwing around. She's relatively new to photography and has a Kodak Easy Share that's really not very good.

I said fine... you can have it. I'm going to pick up a G12 since they're now in stock locally.

This recent development gave me the opportunity to revisit what camera I might want to buy. I've been eyeballing the NEX-5 quite a bit and the S95 would probably be cool too because of its smaller size. But now that I've spent time with the G11 and shot with it quite a bit, I know that the G12 is what I will replace it with.

 

[inTempus]

I picked up my G12 yesterday.

Verdict? It's identical in most regards to the G11. Image quality is identical as are things such as power on time, shutter response time, etc. There are some subtle differences in the finish (the G12 has a rougher texture) and the buttons are marked a little differently. Also, the G12 has a nice thumb rest for your shooting hand which is surprisingly useful. I am digging the two wheels vs. the G11's one. I like being able to adjust Av and Tv on the fly without having to hit a button to transition the back wheel between tasks.

The G12 does have a HDR feature I'll check out later today and it does shoot HD video with stereo. That might prove handy, but unfortunately the G12 still doesn't AF while shooting video (which the P7000 does). I would have bought the P7000 if they had it at my store, but they didn't. I find it interesting that the G12 was announced after the P7000 yet the P7000 still hasn't hit the shelves here locally.

 

[cnutco]

I kinda like my G20sf, although it is a bit snappy. I dropped in a 6" Lone Wolf barrel and that helped alot.

Now, whatever I point and shoot at... I hit!