Which compact 5MP camera?
Discussion
I have narrowed it down to the ones I like.
Anyone got/used one or more of these and have useful comments?
Pentax Optio S50 £170
(only 1.8" screen, but has all the rest for a good price)
Pentax Optio S5i £227
(only 1.8" screen but as above with even more, plus its the smallest)
Casio Exilim EX-Z55 £245
(as above with 2.5" screen but has no AV-out)
Panasonic DMC-FX7 £270 (with Image stabiliser!)
(Just slightly bigger but still compact and all of the above plus image stabiliser)
All have a Pentax lens apart from the Panasonic which has a Lecia with image stabiliser (hence price).
Important things are:
-Size: Small as useably possible.
-Screen size: The bigger the better.
-at least 3x optical zoom
-movie mode with sound (30Fps or similar quality)
-lens quality
-No poor quality brands
I have considered some others too (Canons, Sonys etc) but they all had something I didn't like. If you can suggest one you think I may have missed Id like to hear it.
BTW: Im aware of all the camera review websites thankyou.
(This is different to my previous post. I have now sorted the other camera thanks)
>>> Edited by DustyC on Thursday 16th December 09:11
Anyone got/used one or more of these and have useful comments?
Pentax Optio S50 £170
(only 1.8" screen, but has all the rest for a good price)
Pentax Optio S5i £227
(only 1.8" screen but as above with even more, plus its the smallest)
Casio Exilim EX-Z55 £245
(as above with 2.5" screen but has no AV-out)
Panasonic DMC-FX7 £270 (with Image stabiliser!)
(Just slightly bigger but still compact and all of the above plus image stabiliser)
All have a Pentax lens apart from the Panasonic which has a Lecia with image stabiliser (hence price).
Important things are:
-Size: Small as useably possible.
-Screen size: The bigger the better.
-at least 3x optical zoom
-movie mode with sound (30Fps or similar quality)
-lens quality
-No poor quality brands
I have considered some others too (Canons, Sonys etc) but they all had something I didn't like. If you can suggest one you think I may have missed Id like to hear it.
BTW: Im aware of all the camera review websites thankyou.
(This is different to my previous post. I have now sorted the other camera thanks)
>>> Edited by DustyC on Thursday 16th December 09:11
The image stabiliser of the Panasonic could be useful - plus it's a little different from the others.
I'm sure you'll get good results from all of them, so it's really down to you. If you can think of two more, you can make another 'Dusty Die of Decision' (which is better than dying of indecision
)
I'm sure you'll get good results from all of them, so it's really down to you. If you can think of two more, you can make another 'Dusty Die of Decision' (which is better than dying of indecision
)I did have another 4 so could make an 8 sided die!
others were
Sony DSC1, T1 and T3
Casio Z50 (which I may still get).
Got all excited about IS on the Panasonic after reading the excellent Panasonic website. But then I read Steves Digicams excellent review with tests and the IS didn't really prove all that worth while. So it could be a lot of extra money for novel gadget.
Casio Z55 looks good and for about £40 cheaper the Z50 seems even better (only difference is the screen size. 2.5" against 2").
So that means I won;t need a die but just a coin to toss!
Now then, which coin should I use....
I want to buy this Camera before the week is out.
others were
Sony DSC1, T1 and T3
Casio Z50 (which I may still get).
Got all excited about IS on the Panasonic after reading the excellent Panasonic website. But then I read Steves Digicams excellent review with tests and the IS didn't really prove all that worth while. So it could be a lot of extra money for novel gadget.
Casio Z55 looks good and for about £40 cheaper the Z50 seems even better (only difference is the screen size. 2.5" against 2").
So that means I won;t need a die but just a coin to toss!
Now then, which coin should I use....
I want to buy this Camera before the week is out.
tuscan_v8 said:
What about Canon IXUS i5 ?
5.4 Million pixels
6.5x digital zoom
ISO 50/100/200/400
>> Edited by tuscan_v8 on Thursday 16th December 10:09
Thanks but it has no Optical zoom and only a 1.5" screen.
I want at least 3X optical zoom and large screen.
(1.8" minimum but the bigger the better. Most I have selected have a 2.5" screen).
Don't know much about this but the spec do look good
Olympus C-60z
Fuji FinePix E550
Fuji certainly look good - www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilme550/
>> Edited by tuscan_v8 on Thursday 16th December 10:23
Olympus C-60z
Fuji FinePix E550
Fuji certainly look good - www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilme550/
>> Edited by tuscan_v8 on Thursday 16th December 10:23
I was just about to say " you dont relaly know my and my researching do you?"
But...that Olympus looks pretty good! Now my decisions are a tad harder again!
Its a close price to the Casio Z50 which has a 2" screen compared with the Oly's 1.8" but the Oly has 6MP compared to 5 on the Casio.
The Fuji is too bulky though. Need a "shirt pocket" sized camera.
And no, I don't want to buy bigger shirts!
Edited to add: Thanks Tuscan V8.
>> Edited by DustyC on Thursday 16th December 10:32
But...that Olympus looks pretty good! Now my decisions are a tad harder again!
Its a close price to the Casio Z50 which has a 2" screen compared with the Oly's 1.8" but the Oly has 6MP compared to 5 on the Casio.
The Fuji is too bulky though. Need a "shirt pocket" sized camera.
And no, I don't want to buy bigger shirts!
Edited to add: Thanks Tuscan V8.
>> Edited by DustyC on Thursday 16th December 10:32
ehasler said:
Canon Ixus 40? It's only 4MP, but not much difference to 5MP, and seems to fit all your other criteria.
I was previously considering this but then the low res for the price put me off a bit.
I might add that to the spread sheet though and see how it scores.
Wish I could show you all the spreadsheet and scoring system. You'd have a bloody good laugh at it! Its mighty impressive with 88 rows of info on each camera!
I did one for sports cars when looking too. It was excellent with good pics to make the decision even harder! The Griff wasnt even on the spreadsheet!
(BTW: For those that don't know I took a while choosing the Griff. Was a different situ really though since it cost half my annual salary. I enjoying the banter though
).DustyC said:I don't think there's much difference really - I've got a G3, which is 4MP and the image quality is actually better then the G5 which is 5MP as the larger pixels give less noise. Not sure how the Ixus 40 compares to the other 5MP cameras in terms of image quality, but you can look at test images on dpreview.com and see for yourself.
Canon Ixus 40? It's only 4MP, but not much difference to 5MP, and seems to fit all your other criteria.
I was previously considering this but then the low res for the price put me off a bit.
What are you looking to do with the images? 4MP will be plenty for printing at A4, and will even print at A3 if you so desire!
Have you considered the 300D?
ehasler said:
Have you considered the 300D?
No, whats that then?
Don't even go there!
I asked about difference between MPs earlier and the only good answer for getting more was you get that much more frame to play with.
IE with a higher res when shooting a moving subject you can be compose the shot fairly central and be zoomed and and then zoom in on Photoshop.
With a lower res you'd have to be more precise with your composition.
But Im sure 4mp would be enough too for a P&S camera.
DustyC said:
But Im sure 4mp would be enough too for a P&S camera.
Spot on. I'm amazed that Canon has 5.5Mp but no optical zoom - clearly aimed at 'measurebators'!
The downside of more pixels, unless you're in DSLR-land, is reduced sensitivuty to light = slower shutter speeds = more risk of camera shake.
FWIW.
Depends what you want to use it for - just the same as when choosing an SLR type camera.
I have a Pentax S5i.
Brilliantly small. I carry mine in my shirt pocket.
Good shots, the pre-progammed settings may not be worth using for snaps frankly but it has some interesting features which are useful.
It also has pretty fast start up (especially if not charging the flash) and fast reaction to pressing the shutter button - which is not always the case I understand.
Pentax S50
Don't have one of those but my daughter has an S40 - 4MP and the previous model of the S50.
Now she is getting used to it she is getting some great snaps consistently. Not quite as responsive as the S5i BUT the S5i is more responsive than the S4i that preceded it so I imagine the same may be true of the S40/S50 relationship.
Very pocketable but not quite shirt pocket size really. On the other hand it can use ordinary AA batteries.
Not much to say about any ot the others except that the Sony T1, which looked very attractive but VERY expensive back in April/May at launch time, seems to have been the subject of some very mixed reviews. At 500 quid the criticisms were probably justified. At half that price maybe its good points come to the fore.
Nice looking piece of kit though. Also recently replaced in the model range? Boy do thing move fast out there ...
Depends what you want to use it for - just the same as when choosing an SLR type camera.
I have a Pentax S5i.
Brilliantly small. I carry mine in my shirt pocket.
Good shots, the pre-progammed settings may not be worth using for snaps frankly but it has some interesting features which are useful.
It also has pretty fast start up (especially if not charging the flash) and fast reaction to pressing the shutter button - which is not always the case I understand.
Pentax S50
Don't have one of those but my daughter has an S40 - 4MP and the previous model of the S50.
Now she is getting used to it she is getting some great snaps consistently. Not quite as responsive as the S5i BUT the S5i is more responsive than the S4i that preceded it so I imagine the same may be true of the S40/S50 relationship.
Very pocketable but not quite shirt pocket size really. On the other hand it can use ordinary AA batteries.
Not much to say about any ot the others except that the Sony T1, which looked very attractive but VERY expensive back in April/May at launch time, seems to have been the subject of some very mixed reviews. At 500 quid the criticisms were probably justified. At half that price maybe its good points come to the fore.
Nice looking piece of kit though. Also recently replaced in the model range? Boy do thing move fast out there ...
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