Compact Camera Research
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December is a great time to buy electronic items such as digital cameras. My wife had ruined our previous point and shoot (Canon Powershot S50) by dipping it (accidentally, she says) in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic a few months ago. It was time for a replacement. When I started my research, I was amazed at the choice offered.
The S50 is a great camera and I have been very happy with it for the last three years. But it’s a bit bulky and doesn’t take good photos at low light. The highest ISO setting for that camera is 400 and it’s very noisy at that level. But it allowed manual focus, and allowed aperture priority and shutter priority modes. It also took photos in the Canon RAW (CRW) format. I knew soon after I started looking that I couldn’t get all these features in a slim camera. I had to go with something like the new flagship of the Powershot series, the G7, to get all these features (though even it, doesn’t take RAW photographs). The G7 is 43mm thick as opposed to the 42mm for the S50. I wanted something far slimmer. Especially because I also bought a new dSLR.
Read on for my short list and a summary of my research into P & S cameras.
Based on my requirements, the short list I came up with is:
- Canon Powershot SD 700 IS
- Canon Powershot SD 800 IS
- Casio Exilim EX-Z70
- Casio Exilim EX-Z1000
- Fujifilm FinePix F30
- Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01
- Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX07
Click here to see a comparison (PDF) of the features that are important to me. The prices shown are from two online stores, Amazon and Abes of Maine. You might be able to get it cheaper in a local camera or electronics store (I eventually bought mine at Fry’s). The dimensions are shown in millimeters and the weight is in pounds. The LCD size is in inches. You can also see a complete side-by-side comparison here.
The Casios are very thin and sleek and people in general have good opinions but there are issues with high ISO settings and these cameras don’t have Image Stabilization (IS). IS seems to be one of the hottest new features available in low-end cameras.
Both Panasonics have IS in their lenses. The big thing going for the Panasonics is their Leica lenses (even though these are mass-produced in Japan). I think the Panasonics are the best looking cameras in this set. They both have wide angle at 28mm which is great if you want to squeeze more people in for group photos or snap tall buildings.
As for the Fuji, it’s considered the champion of low light photography at this level. It even takes great photos at ISO 3200 and that too without IS! So, if you are Paris Hilton and want to take late night photographs of your new best friend Britney, this would be the camera to carry around. However, the F30 uses xD storage cards that are difficult to find.
After reading everything about these cameras for a month, I finally chose the SD 800. I have been very pleased with my S50 and I know that the Canons won’t disappoint with respect to image quality. Both the SD 700 and SD 800 have built-in IS. Both also have optical viewfinders which is rare these days. This is useful in bright light conditions when the LCD will be washed out.
The SD 700 was the first camera from Canon to have IS. The SD 800 is newer and they must have fixed some of the bugs in the predecessor. The 700 has a 4x zoom but the wide angle is at 35mm whereas the 800 starts at 28mm and has a zoom of 3.8x. Another cool feature of the 800 is its face detection feature. The camera will recognize faces even in photographs and adjusts the auto focus appropriately. Other features in the 800 that won me over, compared to the 700 are:
- higher LCD resolution
- a more powerful flash
- higher ISO mode (1600)
- widescreen 16:9 mode
- DIGIC III image processor (faster focus and shutter response times)
- slightly higher resolution (7.1 vs. 6)
Since getting it, I have been playing with it inside the house and I have to say I’m really impressed with the IS feature. It takes great photos at low light. The noise is perceptible at ISO levels higher than 400 but after running it through Noise Ninja, the images are very usable. I also like how it feels in your hand. I expect to take it out next weekend for a field test.
If you are planning to get this camera, check out the following reviews:
CNET also probably has reviews but I don’t think theirs are that useful.
I’m a huge fan of Canon and currently use the 20D SDLR for my photography. Recently, I’ve been considering a second, more compact camera to carry around with me at all times. Sounds like the SD 800 is the way to go. Thanks for the review.
During my research into dSLRs, I considered the 30D for a bit and then strongly considered the 5D. Ultimately, I went with the Nikon D200. I feel a little bit intimidated by that camera and haven’t played with it as much as the SD 800
The 5D is a phenominal camera. Thanks to the full size sensor, there’s no conversion factor to deal with if you’re using older lenses. On dSLRs, it’s good to read up on basic mechanics and then practicing in Manual mode. I see so many people go out and buy dSLRs and use all the automatic settings and never take full advantage of the capabilities. Their quick shutters are a great selling point though.
On the compact side, I was also pretty disappointed by the panasonic lineup and the noise. Also, the new Samsungs have a great look and feel but they seriously fell short on the inside (trying to correct noise with internal software instead of good sensors).
Hey Anup, care to share any photos taken with your new SD 800 with us? I am looking into getting the Canon 30D which can be had for under a grand with the current rebate promotion. What was your reason for skipping out on the 5D and 30D and going with the Nikon?
I am seriously looking at the Casio Exilim EX-Z1000. I want to try out a few. I am interested in
- taking pictures in the low light without flash (daughter’s concert recitals are all in that scenario)
- Able to take video for 20-30 minutes
- Able to shoot pics without any delay (think of a 6 y.o playing soccer) the truly photo ops are few and far between and camera delays have given me lousy pics)
From your research, any idea which Camera will meet these requirements?
I haven’t yet taken any field photos with the SD 800. I’m also waiting for a new card reader for the SD cards (both my previous cameras used CF cards). I will take some photos with it this weekend and post links next week.
The reason I chose the D200 over the 30D was because the former has more features (or so I was told by people in some forums I posed this question in). The D200 also got high marks from people who owned both that and the 10D/20Ds. Other reasons I went with the Nikon is because of the company’s better lens compatability and the rugged weather resistance of the camera. It feels quite “industrial” in my hands.
As for the 5D, like Matt says, it’s a phenomenal camera. This is the cheapest camera with full-frame support (I read somewhere that Nikon is not looking into ever making a full frame sensor). And of course it has 12.8 MP as opposed to 10.1 for the D200. I strongly considered buying it from Costco as they had $640 in rebates for this kit. But in the end, after talking to the experts at the local Keeble & Shuchat store, I decided to go with the D200. I was told that for most of my needs (travel/landscape/outdoors), the 5D was probably overkill and that my expenses would be much higher when buying accessories. The 5D doesn’t even have a built-in flash. So you would have to carry a bulky external flash around with you. And I really liked that the D200 kit I bought came with the highly rated 18-200mm VR lens. I think this is a good general purpose lens and would suit my needs fine for a while.
I wouldn’t recommend the Z1000 for your needs. It’s not supposed to be good for action photos. You probably need a camera with Image Stabilization. The Panasonics and the Canons have this built-in. The Canons also allow you to take small videos. The face detection feature also might be beneficial to you. I would recommend going to a Ritz/Wolf Camera store or the Keeble & Shuchat store I mentioned before to ask the people there for their recommendations and get a feel for these cameras before buying. The people in these stores (especially the latter) are very knowledgeable and professional and the experience will be much better than say, at Best Buy or Fry’s.
And oh, the 10MP in the Z1000 isn’t really that big of a deal. In fact, I have been told that for smaller cameras, it’s better to go with lower resolutions. Unless you are planning on making 11×17 prints, I don’t think you need more than 6MP.
Hey Anup, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions - it was much appreciated!