Calling any photographers....

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  • DubaiNeil
    DubaiNeil Posts: 246
    Apologies - I just noticed the budget limitation, which puts the Canon S90 out of contention at just over £300.

    Unfortunately I have little experience of compacts in the lower price tiers (it does seem a bit odd that a £250 pocket camera is now a lower tier product!)

    For me (with pocket cameras) there are a few key criteria which require a physical test:

    1) How quickly does the camera take a photo with flash? I have seen (from some Canon models particularly) an almost unbelievable delay between releasing the shutter and the image being captured.
    2) How easy is it to disable all of the "value added" extras? Face recognition particularly slows down the camera operation quite noticeably
    3) How easy is it to set some key controls? In these I include ISO, exposure compensation, flash on/off/auto/fill etc. If I have to go to a menu, scroll down, select, change value, save etc then this is no use to me.
    4) If I switch the camera off, then back on, does it come back at the settings I had, or does it revert to auto mode with all idiot functions enabled?

    Good luck with your search!

    Neil
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  • CyclingBantam
    CyclingBantam Posts: 1,299
    Thanks very much for all the advice so far. It has been much appreciated and allowed me to make a much more informed choice than I would previously have been able to.

    In a slightly bizzare twist to this story, I had a big win £215 on a £2 football bet this weekend which has enabled my budget to go up a touch.

    However, following all the info on here and my own research I have narrowed my search down to two camera's. The Canon s90 and the Lumix LX3.

    From what I can see the main difference between the two is the HD video footage possible on the Lumix. I was steering towards the Lumix due to the reviews I had seen being slightly better (and it was close). The concern though is I have seen more people reccomending the Canon s90 as being an excellent camera and the one to go for.

    Am I right in thinking both will be very simular in quality and the only real diference is the HD video? I am presuming I will be able to adjust focus (blur background) and take closeups etc to a simular standard with both?

    Apologies for the questions however, without knowing anything about camera's it is hard to know what to look for.

    To re-cap, I will be using it mainly for photo's during a summer tour I am on. Mainly landscapes and typical 'holiday photo's'.

    Thanks again,

    Ben
  • trickeyja
    trickeyja Posts: 202
    Can't go wrong with the LX3 if you are lucky enough to find somewhere with one in stock!

    http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/P ... index.html

    Brilliant camera. Especially good for landscapes and the RAW feature is very useful. Perfect size for taking in a saddle bag as well.
  • DubaiNeil
    DubaiNeil Posts: 246
    Ben,

    Both certainly great cameras, and well done on the bet :)

    For detailed reviews, with a fair amount of comparisons between the two check DP Review:

    http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/PanasonicDMCLX3/
    http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons90/

    The Canon comes out a bit smaller, less of an "awkward" shape to carry and slightly cheaper - but as you say, does not do HD video if this is important to you.

    The LX3 appears to have a good level of manual control, but seems to be accessed by small buttons on a cluttered back. It also seems to be fairly slow (in comparison) in operation - which is one of my personal bug bears with compact cameras. It does focus down to 1cm rather than 5cm for the Canon though!

    I'm sure both would be great for your intended use, so get out and have a play with them and see which you prefer.

    Then practise, practise, practise to ensure you can get the camera to do what you want, when you want it :)

    Neil
  • balthazar
    balthazar Posts: 1,565
    I still rely on my ancient Canon A1 and a fast 50mm lens for taking most of my pictures, and have the negs scanned if I want a digital file; but if I was getting a smallish travel camera I'd get quite excited about Lumix GF1, with a fast wide angle lens, shamelessly on the back of this article:

    http://craigmod.com/journal/gf1-fieldtest/
  • CyclingBantam
    CyclingBantam Posts: 1,299
    Thanks for all the advice.

    I have gone for the Lumix.

    I got it from Amazon and it is due to be delivered in the next couple of days. I chose the Lumix due to the addition of the ability to record HD video. Whilst I wasn't desperate to be able to record video I figured it was an extra option and on both the Lumix and the Canon the thing holding back the picture quality would be the monkey behind the lens and not the camera its self!

    Thanks again everyone. Much appreciated.

    Ben

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