what compact?

[gumballer]

i want something i can chuck in a bag for a week away and capture great shots, i was sold on the new Lumix DMC FX100, but now im not convinced about the shooting quality in bad light, so i got thinking about the Fujis. can anyone help?

[poah]

fuji f31fd

[imperialism2024]

Depending on how many shots you intend to take in bad light, I would recommend a Panasonic LX2. I have the LX1 and have fallen in love with it. TBH, I use it more than my D70 just because of how portable it is. I bought it on a whim to add to the 3 other cameras I had at the time, but it really does do most of what the average consumer would hope a DSLR would do.

Sure there are faults with it, but the only one worth mentioning is the noise above ISO200. But... for my purposes, the sometimes sub-par image quality indoors is more than compensated by the exceptional image quality outdoors. And even so, the use of a flash usually solves all noise problems. And that's just on the LX1... the LX2 is supposed to have fixed the noise problems, and Panasonic threw in other improvements as well.

Just some holiday pics from the last few months from the camera:

NYC







EPCOT



Hotel Room at Niagara Falls



Lake Ontario



Bottom line, for the closest to DSLR in a compact, I would recommend the Panasonic LX series hands down.

[gumballer]

ah thanks, great shots, its mostly outdoor stuff il shot to be honest, just always feel robbed when a shot looks amazing in preview and then you open it up and its full of noise. i had been considering the Lumix DMC FX100, is that completely different to yours?

thanks

[imperialism2024]

I was just taking a quick look at the FX100 previews online. It seems as though it is a similar camera to the LX1/LX2, except that it has more MP and doesn't have a 16:9 sensor. IMHO, since the sensor in the FX100 is about the same size as the sensor in the LX2, and both have the same image processing engine, the LX2 should have less noise because it is *only* 10MP. TBH I would have been happy with 6MP in my LX1, but oh well, no one can stop the P&S Megapixel War.

At any rate, unless you really like the 16:9 sensor on the LX-series (I know it was one of the features that sold me), it would come down to price. They seem to have similar lenses. I couldn't find any estimates for the FX100, but the LX1 is going for about $400US. So, while I can't recommend the FX100 like I could the LX1/LX2, it does appear to be a similar camera.

[gumballer]

thanks, iv seen the FX100 for £325, so a bit more spenny, MP wise im not fussed, i currently have a 3MP so anything will be better, but the LX sounds good to me. cheers, for all the information, many thanks.

[imperialism2024]

Just make sure to post lots of pics once you get the camera!

[gumballer]

of course, thanks again!

[Golfman]

I just bought the TZ3

http://panasonic.co.jp/pavc/global/lumix/tz3_2/28_...

I am no camera expert but this is a great piece of kit!

Got a good price from www.camerabox.co.uk , however miffed to find out it’s an import and you don’t get a proper UK 3 pin charger, so you have to take the battery out and charge in a separate bit of kit. I don’t mind except each time you do this you lose the clock settings etc!