Choosing a compact camera

McDuff · Jan 20, 2013

[h=5]Hey guys.

I'm going to be buying a compact camera. But I'm not sure what one to go with. I'm looking mostly at the fujifilm finepix, Canncon powershot and the Sony cyber-shot. The Fujifilm is winning out at the moment with the 20x optical zoom but what are every bodies thoughts on compact cameras and which to choose?[/h]
I shall be using it for basic art shots. A few animal shots (mostly NZ native birds) and some macro work.

usayit · Jan 20, 2013

Since you mentioned NZ native birds, I am going to mention the Panasonic FZ200 which has some amateur bird shooters talking...

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 Review: Digital Photography Review

Its significant because of its 25-600mm (equiv FOV) optical zoom that is f/2.8 max aperture throughout the range.

McDuff · Jan 20, 2013

So after pages and pages of cameras and reviews I have cut it down so far to three potential candidates.

Cannon Powershot SX260
Fujifilm Finepix F770
Cannon Powershot G15

Now the G15 has nowhere near the zoom of the others but will be better for night street photography. Its a damn tough decision to make.

bigtwinky · Jan 20, 2013

You can rarely find one camera that does it all, so you have to chose. The G15 is a pretty sweet camera that can give awesome pro level results, but like you said, lack of zoom.

[FONT=arial, sans-serif]The Canon Powershot SX50HS seems pretty nice. Really sweet zoom, electronic viewfinder... not too expensive. The image quality is probably not as nice as the G15 though.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, sans-serif]If you have the budget and want a really funky camera, the Fuji X100 is damn fun to play with. No zoom, but really nice images and very well built.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, sans-serif]You can also look at the interchangeable lens cameras (I believe they are also referred to as the Micro 4/3 cameras), that are fairly compact, give good results, and allow you to put on different lenses for different purposes. Something like the Sony NEX. I have only used one once, dont know much about them, but others speak fairly well of them.[/FONT]

nycphotography · Jan 20, 2013

McDuff said:
So after pages and pages of cameras and reviews I have cut it down so far to three potential candidates.

Cannon Powershot SX260
Fujifilm Finepix F770
Cannon Powershot G15

Now the G15 has nowhere near the zoom of the others but will be better for night street photography. Its a damn tough decision to make.

Street, the G15 or the Lumix LX7. You trade less reach for much better optics, bigger sensor, and w/ the LX7 a faster (wider) aperture lens.

For birds you'll want to go the other way... a superzoom.

On the downside, the two use cases (street and birds/wildlife) are pretty much mutually exclusive in compact cameras.

But on the upside, you can get two compacts, (one for each use) for less than even ONE lens to do one use in the full frame DSLR world.

McDuff · Jan 21, 2013

Yeah that's what I thought. I think for know, due to cost I'll lean towards the SX260 and learn to cope for now. Will be a good learning experiance. I just fear the night shots with it

nycphotography · Jan 21, 2013

lust looked at the SX260.... for "photography" as opposed to taking pictures, you'd be a lot better off with a camera with manual controls and less zoom. A used LX5 or G12 for $200.

McDuff · Jan 21, 2013

Gahhh...they don't make this easy do they. Not enough experience to fully know what I'm looking at. I think a trip to a camera shop is in order fro some hands on play. Sadly most here arn't photographers and just retail clerks or pretentious and don't 'talk' to the 'newbie'.

usayit · Jan 21, 2013

The other two choices are not in the same league as the Powershot G15. The G15 is intended for a very different (more demanding) market of photographers. Its layout, size, features, and very fast optic was intended to make a consumer who is normally comfortable with higher end DSLR+optics still feel at home with the G15's smaller package.

It shares a lot of capabilities with its much smaller brother, the S110. What the S110 gains in being smaller, it looses in layout and slower optics.

Other cameras that are intended to compete with the G15 are featured in here:

Roundup: Enthusiast Zoom Compact Cameras: Digital Photography Review

The other thing I noticed is that two of the cameras are super-zooms (20x) while the G15 is intended to be a image quality/fast optics focused. Rarely will you find a compact that can do both fairly well. If a long zoom range is what you prefer, I personally would hesitate on a small compact as its difficult to comfortably compose (hold still) with a near 500-600mm focal length. Not mention that the slower f/5.6 max aperture will make it even more difficult. I would much prefer a bridge camera super-zoom which provides a better comfortable grip, often better features, and (most importantly) a better optic. This is specifically why I mentioned the FZ200 in my first post... bridge camera (provides comfortable size and grip) plus f/2.8 max aperture throughout the range.

I'm more of a street and landscape shooter, so of the three you mentioned, the G15 would be my clear and easy choice. I've always been a fan of Canon's G-series (except the G7) as well as Panasonic's LX. Both have good high end features, good sensor, and good optics.

bigtwinky · Jan 21, 2013

Honestly? Dont fret so much about a point and shoot. Sure, get something good, manual controls is a great tip if you want to go further. But if you are getting into the photo thing, you'll be upgrading that p&s to a dslr
soon enough

McDuff · Jan 21, 2013

So after a few days of reading reviews and articles and your guys advice and working out what I will shoot mostly, I'm now veering away from compacts and more to rangefinders and smaller micro four third cameras.

I went into some camera shops today but none had anything on my short list so I couldn't get any hands on experience with them so a trip into Wellington is in order I think. One shop did however give me a brochure on the Fujifilm XF1 which seems a nice camera and only slightly over what my thought budget was.

usayit · Jan 22, 2013

A good place to continue this discussion direction would be in the mirror-less forum as many of us (including me) who shoot with mirror-less would probably overlook this thread given its title is "Choosing a compact camera". I would suggest starting a thread there. Micro 4/3 bodies for example can be had for under $200USD all the way up to $1300USD and the same is true for lenses. I will be also helpful to indicate your budget.

The only "real" digital rangefinders currently made are the Leica M9, M, Monochrom. All else do not use a rangefinder mechanism for focusing and are more along the lines of mirror-less.