For people who think that even the Fuji X10 (see posts below) is too large, for those who prefer a real breastpocket-camera which disappears when it's not needed, I think the brand-new
Canon S100 should hit the spot. Very rarely is so much quality and so many professional options (Shutter- and aperture-priority, RAW capture, etc) placed in such a small body.
I have the Canon S90 which I love. The S100 has slightly longer zoom (5x vx 3.8x), more pixels, 12MP instead of 10MP, and HD video recording.
It hits the Goldielocks spot between an always-there camera like the one built into the best phones like iPhone 4S, and a serious enthusiast's big-compact like the Fuji X10 or the Canon G12. There is very little this camera won't do, although of course for space reasons many settings are banished to menus rather than have dedicated buttons for them.
It's also available in "silver". The photo is from this
review.
... Actually when I heard that the S100 had a longer zoom, I immediately had doubts, this (and the tighter pixels) might affect image quality. And in fact the above-linked review confirms that the
S95 has the edge in pure image quality. And one is likely to
find it cheaper! (It should be said that the PhotographyBlog review disagrees with the image quality assessment, though. I'm sure they're both very good.)
5 comments:
Battery life could be better on the S100 and S95. CIPA rating is 200 shots, which is low compared to other cameras.
Here is a camera people buy so they don't have to carry around extra lenses or lens caps, and Canon makes it so they have to carry around an extra battery? That doesn't make a lot of sense.
I know some people will be able to get by without an extra battery but a lot of people in the various forums do buy and use an extra. I would rather have a camera a little bit bulkier and heavier to hold a bigger battery.
This, to me, is why the S95/S100 win over the X10. Depending on the weather, the X10 can be hard to carry. And it has a lens cap. Those two things get in the way when you shoot a lot.
Battery life? That's not something to worry about. And if you wanted to carry one of the tiny extra batteries, would it really bog you down? Even if 200 shots is all you get, do you take that many a day? If so, get yourself another battery and you'll never worry about it again.
I do like small cameras. I have an obscure model called a Panasonic FX150. It is about a year older than the Canon S80 but is similar in size and does RAW.
I keep thinking about replacing it. The Canon S95 is tempting, but not "better enough" to justify. I like the Olympus EP-L3 images I see but, like the X10,it is much bigger. The EP-L3 might augment my current camera, but wouldn't replace it.
Incidentally, PhotogfraphyBlog website posts downloadable RAW files of the cameras it reviews. I find these very valuable as I can work with them in LIghtroom.
Sorry, I meant S90, not S80.
I was thinking how I’d like a GPS on my cameras, seeing as sometimes cause I’m busy it takes me a few weeks or months to get to processing, and sometimes I just forget where I took photos from around the world. One day I’ll get a GPS one.
Anyways as for the cameras, I’ll ask around, knowing a few photographers and all, and see what they think ;)
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