Posted by Alice O'Leary on August 27, 2006 at 3:11 PM
I have a Canon 20D with several lenses and I just love it. I also have a Canon Powershot S70 which is a great point & shoot camera that can do plenty more than just point & shoot since it has RAW capabilities as well as movie mode.
Recently, however, I find myself studying some of the "prosumer" cameras and I find them appealing as an addition to my equipment arsenal -- particularly as a travel camera or as a camera to take when I do trail riding.
In particular I'l looking at the Sony DSCH2. The biggest downside is no RAW but I don't want to spend the dollars that will get me into the prosumer cameras with RAW.
I was just wondering what experience any one might have had with this type of camera.
Thanks.
Alice O'Leary
Posted by Rob Coomer on August 28, 2006 at 10:03 AM
I have a 20D and also a Canon G3. Honestly I don't use it much anymore because it is such a step down from my 20D, however if I could afford it, I would love to add on a G6 or one of the other upper end Canon consumer cameras. It really depends on what you plan to do with the photos afterward. I don't use my G3 now, becuase it limits my output size, compared to my 20D. It's smaller size, sealed lens CCD, and live LCD makes it great for a lot of applications, but once I get a great shot on it, I wish I had the other camera. If it was 7 or 8 mp, I wouldn't care nearly as much. My G3 has the same thread sizes with an adapter as many of my lenses, so I can use most of my filters on it, or all of them with step rings. It also uses the same batteries, chargers, cards, and flash.
Manual settings is probably one of the most important features of a consumer point and shoot, and usually when you get that freedom, they also include RAW.
Posted by Matthew Cromer on September 7, 2006 at 3:35 PM
I'm using a Sony R1 which is a tremendous landscape camera and a steal at the $500-$700 price seen at some resellers. Use the RAW mode with it for best results.
Posted by David Bostedo on September 8, 2006 at 10:04 PM
Alice, I have a Canon S2 IS. It's the first camera I've owned since an old Kodak 110 in the mid-eighties. So I don't have a DSLR frame of reference, but I love mine. It's relatively cheap and small. I've thought about getting an SLR, but I find the cost of lenses and amount of equipment I'd need to carry daunting. Right now I just take my tripod, camera, and a couple of filters.
I'd guess most of this is true of the S70 as well as mine, but here goes...
The most noticable things I lose by not having an SLR are 1) the ability to have truly wide aperatures , 2) true wide-angle, and 3) much better high ISO perfomance. On my camera, I try not to take pictures beyond ISO 100 - even 200 gets pretty dang noisy. And filters, teleconverters, and the fitting to use them are all extra. The advantage is the small size, low cost, easy portability, and range of the zoom (6-72mm actual, 36-432 mm 35mm equivalent). Since it's an EVF camera, you also see through the lens like an SLR, albeit and electronic version, not through the prism.
And I have to disagree with one thing Rob said....this camera (and I believe most in this class and even your S70?) have fully manual control over everything - ISO, shutter speed, aperature, exposure compensation, flash compensation, etc. Manual zoom is not very good though.
If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them if you emailed me...
Hi Alice,
The camera I use is the Samsung Pro815 which is an awesome prosumer camera. It has a fixed lens of 420mm, super macro mode as close as 3cm, you can do Raw, Tiff and JPEG on it. It's basically an SLR with a fixed lens: a one lens does it all. If you want to check out what kind of photos you can get look at my pics on: www.karens.shutterchance.com, I can't recommend this camera enough, I love it but you definetly need to have an idea what you're doing, when they called it Pro they meant it!
Alice, I can only but reccomend the venerated Olympus C-5050Z, my sole camera before I sold it off to buy a 20D. Nothing can beat it's F1.8 lens, amazing image quality and it was so feature rich.
I forked about C$ 1200 for it when I bought it, but a local store still has a copy left for 499!
We feel a very strong need for something smaller to use professionally in situations where there are security or weight concerns for a full kit- anything from use on water to unsafe streets or backpacking in rough country. We simply want to have the option of carrying a camera that costs less, is less conspicuous or is less bulky and burdensome, while still turning in reasonable results.
None have quite measured up to our needs till the Canon G-7 came along. It doesn't have RAW capture at present, but that's not an issue for most of the uses we contemplate.
Posted by Becky Wolfe on November 17, 2006 at 11:04 PM
I shoot with the Canon PSP1 right now - 8 megapixels, 7.2 0 50.8mm lens & tonnes of features. Full manual controls for RAW shooting. Has all the typical Canon settings, does great macros and looking thru the viewfinder is also digital so when you use it (as opposed to the LCD screen) you are seeing exactly what you were shooting. I had the G3 before & loved it but it didn't have the same feature when you look thru the viewfinder. I'm learning everything I can with this camera before I upgrade to the DSLR (5D is in my future one day) but I highly recommend it!
Istarted with an awesome all in one slr style camera the s9500 by Fuji. Just over a week ago I recieved my Sony A100. To be honest I'm surprised that more people do not use them. And knowing that the press didnt rate the camera very strongly. I'm glad that after testing out an A100 in a local camera shop, that I stuck with my choice to get it. I guess its time to put my film stuff up in the loft. :)
I recently shot some fuji slide film that I promptly went and had processed. It turned out to be f14 British pounds which is about $28. That when I knew I had to select a direction for my future photography.
Ok, I'm the oddball here I know but I have the Pentax K10D. I LOVE the camera. The controls are lightyears ahead of the Canon Rebel (IMHO). Plus it has something like 14 weather seals and is build like a tank...without being too heavy. The only thing is the somewhat limited lens choices from Pentax right now. More are in the works but its waiting game right now if you don't want Sigma or Tamron for the longer lenses.
Posted by Alice O'Leary on March 10, 2007 at 5:00 PM
Thanks to everyone who has posted to this thread. Like John I ended up with the Panasonic Fz50 and have found it to be a really nifty little camera. I wanted something that would give me flexibility without a lot of weight and also video capabilities. The Fz50 has been the ticket.
But I also wanted to add some words about the Sony A100. I have a friend who asked my help in "moving up" the digital camera ladder -- from a point-and-shoot to a good (but not really expensive) DSLR. We looked at the Nikon and Canon. She was pretty much settled on the Nikon when I saw an add for the Sony and was impressed with the Steady Shot feature as well as the anti-dust capability. (Dust is a BIG issue for me on the Canon 20D. Nearly drove me crazy on a trip to New Zealand.) After checking the reviews I recommended the A100 to her and she loves it. I was very impressed with the camera too. I'm rather heavily invested in Canon at this point but equipment can be sold as well as bought. :)
Discussion
10 repliesRecently, however, I find myself studying some of the "prosumer" cameras and I find them appealing as an addition to my equipment arsenal -- particularly as a travel camera or as a camera to take when I do trail riding.
In particular I'l looking at the Sony DSCH2. The biggest downside is no RAW but I don't want to spend the dollars that will get me into the prosumer cameras with RAW.
I was just wondering what experience any one might have had with this type of camera.
Thanks.
Alice O'Leary
Manual settings is probably one of the most important features of a consumer point and shoot, and usually when you get that freedom, they also include RAW.
I'd guess most of this is true of the S70 as well as mine, but here goes...
The most noticable things I lose by not having an SLR are 1) the ability to have truly wide aperatures , 2) true wide-angle, and 3) much better high ISO perfomance. On my camera, I try not to take pictures beyond ISO 100 - even 200 gets pretty dang noisy. And filters, teleconverters, and the fitting to use them are all extra. The advantage is the small size, low cost, easy portability, and range of the zoom (6-72mm actual, 36-432 mm 35mm equivalent). Since it's an EVF camera, you also see through the lens like an SLR, albeit and electronic version, not through the prism.
And I have to disagree with one thing Rob said....this camera (and I believe most in this class and even your S70?) have fully manual control over everything - ISO, shutter speed, aperature, exposure compensation, flash compensation, etc. Manual zoom is not very good though.
If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them if you emailed me...
The camera I use is the Samsung Pro815 which is an awesome prosumer camera. It has a fixed lens of 420mm, super macro mode as close as 3cm, you can do Raw, Tiff and JPEG on it. It's basically an SLR with a fixed lens: a one lens does it all. If you want to check out what kind of photos you can get look at my pics on: www.karens.shutterchance.com, I can't recommend this camera enough, I love it but you definetly need to have an idea what you're doing, when they called it Pro they meant it!
Hope this helps,
Karen
I forked about C$ 1200 for it when I bought it, but a local store still has a copy left for 499!
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympusc5050z/
How I miss my baby
None have quite measured up to our needs till the Canon G-7 came along. It doesn't have RAW capture at present, but that's not an issue for most of the uses we contemplate.
I recently shot some fuji slide film that I promptly went and had processed. It turned out to be f14 British pounds which is about $28. That when I knew I had to select a direction for my future photography.
William
But I also wanted to add some words about the Sony A100. I have a friend who asked my help in "moving up" the digital camera ladder -- from a point-and-shoot to a good (but not really expensive) DSLR. We looked at the Nikon and Canon. She was pretty much settled on the Nikon when I saw an add for the Sony and was impressed with the Steady Shot feature as well as the anti-dust capability. (Dust is a BIG issue for me on the Canon 20D. Nearly drove me crazy on a trip to New Zealand.) After checking the reviews I recommended the A100 to her and she loves it. I was very impressed with the camera too. I'm rather heavily invested in Canon at this point but equipment can be sold as well as bought. :)