Panasonic or Canon ultra compact

[Southgate]

Well I'm after an ultra compact.

Budget is £200 ish. Would like large aperture and slr style controls. Wide angle to 4x ish zoom. Of course great image quality.

Been looking at Canon and Panasonic, particularly LX2/3 and Canon S90. Starting to think I dont want to spend quite that much though (both £300+) and would rather have something that would fit in jeans pocket, as opposed to fit in bag/coat pocket.

Slightly confused by how many are on offer!

 

[Cesare]

The canon ixus range is the one to get for a small compact in your pocket camera. Sure, the image quality isn't fantastic, but it's bloody good for the size of camera. Make sure you get one without too many pixels, and try and find one with an optical finder for when trying to take snaps in bright light.

This is the one we have:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001T9NH5G/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

That's a pretty good price as far as I can tell. Read some reviews of the various IXUS models and see what you think.

I'd ignore your SLR controls requirement for this sort of camera. Realistically the compromise to have such a small form factor means that the camera is going to make better decisions than you about what to do most of the time (to avoid noise).

Cesare

 

[Interzone]

I went for canon even though I initially wanted a panny cos they looked the doodahs. The canon I bought (sx220) has full manual/semiauto but the pana was auto/prog only. This was last year so things may have changed...

 

[Eyebroughty]

Hi,

I have a Canon Ixus 750, they are very good.

Then I was surfing and saw this a couple of weeks ago and last weekend I bought one.

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/77155/show.html

It is amazing, yes I know it is 50% more on your budget, against my Nikon D300 it held up very well.

Where it scores is that it can take High Def movies and you can put the latest generation SDXC cards that can hold huge amounts of pictures or movies.

I tried the movie function on my TV and it was better than my Canon camcorder!

This is a little show stopper.

Will try and post some pictures when I am out this afternoon.

Cheers

John

 

[Cesare]

John,

Yes, that's a good camera. I'm wondering whether it is 'ultra compact' or not... As I lug a MF camera around a fair bit, anything that's smaller and lighter than a housebrick is ultra compact to me ;-)

 

[Eyebroughty]

John,

Yes, that's a good camera. I'm wondering whether it is 'ultra compact' or not... As I lug a MF camera around a fair bit, anything that's smaller and lighter than a housebrick is ultra compact to me ;-)

Hi,

Yes it is a little bigger than my Ixus 750 but only but a tiny amount. it fits into the Ixus 750 case, it is narrower and its screen is great. To put it in context it is about the size of a packet of fags and about 3/4 the width.

I have some pictures I took with the zoom last weekend, I think I might have them around here, if I have I will try and post them.

So if you want a nice little camera this is the one.

Cheers

John

 

[Eyebroughty]

Hi,

Ok, here is a link, I hope, to a couple of pictures I took last night.

Was difficult to know what the Canon was showing as the sun was shining on the screen and it was a bit difficult to see it. The benefit of the Nikon is that you look through the viewfinder.

Still shows what a small compact can do against an SLR.

The two cameras are the Canon SX210 IS and the Nikon D300 with 18-200 VR Zoom Lense.

http://s1022.photobucket.com/albums/af342/Gullane/Camera Test/

Cheers

John

 

[Southgate]

Thanks for the comparison John. Not as much in it as the price would suggest!

Going into town in a bit to have a play with a few compacts. Have decided that ability to fit in pocket is v.important. Want to have it to hand for those quick point and shoot candids! Content over technical brilliance (not that that's likely anyway!)

 

[Space is the Place]

Hi i dont know if its any use to you as if youve been down the shops you well may have a camera by now.
I got a little Canon ixus 100is a few weeks ago. Ive not really used it very much but it seems to be OK if used at the 100/80iso settings.
I dont really know how it compares to other compact cameras im afraid, as its the first digital compact ive had.
A couple of pictures ive taken with it so far to check it works seem OK, its quite easy to use.

 

[Southgate]

Hi i dont know if its any use to you as if youve been down the shops you well may have a camera by now.
I got a little Canon ixus 100is a few weeks ago. Ive not really used it very much but it seems to be OK if used at the 100/80iso settings.
I dont really know how it compares to other compact cameras im afraid, as its the first digital compact ive had.
A couple of pictures ive taken with it so far to check it works seem OK, its quite easy to use.

Nice! I didn't come home with one in the end.

Looked at the ixus 100is. Looks nice, easily fits in pocket, well within budget - just wish it had more reach. Would've bought one. Still might.

The Panasonic TZ7 looked quite nice as well. 25-300mm equivalent and fits in your pocket easily. Only f/3.3 max aperture though.

 

[Space is the Place]

The Panasonic looks a like a great little camera, no doubt has better image quality than the Canon, with the better lens and sensor.
The Canon was cheapish at £130, has a little view finder (this is part the reason why i got it tbh, i dont like looking at the screen on the back when taking normal images), and is tiny, so tiny in fact ive lost it around the house! (borrowers have probably run off with it )