OT: Need a new camera

[Too Tall]

What a waste of bandwidth!!! HooRah for the OT ;)

My Olympus Stylus 760 is toast and I'm looking at Nikon S8100 and S4000. What I'm looking for are much stronger movie abilities than the Olympus and take advantage of the leap in megapixels avail. for not alot of cheddah these days. I'm a meathead and will put the camera in my back jersey pocket so it must be minimally humidity resistant. I do buy the Ritz shameless warranties and that helps if I roast it. TIA

[maunahaole]

I got a Sony DSC-TX5 over the summer. Waterproof to about 10', about 5' drop resist, 10MP, 720p movie. I'd like a little more zoom and a little more wide, but it is easy to carry, about the size of a deck of cards - in the grand scheme no complaints for a little cam.. Takes nice pics. I take it on rides and it will ride in a jersey pocket with other stuff. If you lived nearby, I'd let you take it for a test drive. I'm happy with it. LMK if you have more questions or want some test shots, I'll send them along.

[Blue Jays]

Any suggestions that don't utilize ridiculous proprietary batteries requiring chargers?
Being able to resume action with a fresh CR-123A battery swap would be über-convenient.

[bking]

I bought this one to take with me on a week long trip down the coast of Oregon/California: DMC-TS2S - Lumix Digital Cameras - Shop and Compare at Panasonic

Good pics and HD movie. Audio did pretty good job with wind noise when using it while riding. I've had several Panasonics, software is user friendly, Leica lense is plus (most are Leica's, not sure on this one), and a selling point for this one is waterproof and shockproof.

[Shinomaster]

My Nikon P1 just died after a chicken knocked it out of my girlfriend's hands (true story). A Nikon S800, a Sony HX5V, and a Fuji F300 were all recommended to me as a superior replacement. I can't decide... Anyone own these?

[cardinal]

In that price range I'd go with the Canon s90. The features and sensor quality along with the quality of the lens make it a great package. I don't own one, but if I were looking for a camera in that price range that would be at the top of the list.

[Sbti]

There's already a new one to follow the Canon s90. The S95. Search for the David Pogue, New York Times blog post on it.

[Blue Jays]

"...The S95. Search for the David Pogue, New York Times blog post on it..."

A Love Letter to Camera - NYTimes.com

[Zimmermanbicycle]

The Canon S95 is a nice setup,really like the bigger sensor and the one fstop brighter lens
-Eric

[Bssc]

The mp rush is pretty much hype in P&S cameras 5 is plenty, it is more about abilities of the camera than mp. Things to look for are, modes and the ability to adjust them, have manual controls for lighting, white balance, film speed and having the ability for macro to work in differing modes is also something that is handy. Next things to consider is form of memory and batteries needed.

[gregl]

Canon U.S.A. : Support & Drivers : PowerShot D10

Great camera for outdoor enthusiasts. Rain, cold, shock & vibe are no problem. We used it on a Hawaii trip last year, with lots of time underwater. It lives up to its billing.

- Greg

[Til Dropp]

I used to use Canon's exclusively then switched to Panasonics coz they had Leica lens, much larger display and I like their form factor. Panasonic cameras are really nice and take beautiful pictures but I recently happened to compare the pictures from my older Canons and I think Canons take more 3D like pictures with more sense of depth, and perhaps plasticity, consistently than Panasonics. Don't get me wrong Panaspnic pictures are really nice but for some reason very flat in comparison. Kinda like how Zeiss lens gives you that magical something in film photography. Panasonic cameras with Leica lens and all... go figure. Mahbe it's just me and it's just intangible effect that doesn't concern most people.

[happycampyer]

Josh,

Just stumbled on this thread in the OT section. Not sure if you decided on a camera already, but I can add another plug for the Canon S95.

I have been looking for a camera that reminds me of a high-quality rangefinder from the days of yore—compact (for film), quality optics, etc. I have a Nikon D200, which is a nice DSLR, but I end up leaving it at home because it's too much to lug around most of the time. So I went to one of my favorite camera shops (Camera Wholesalers in Stamford, CT, which is like a mini B&H that is open on Saturdays) looking to get a Leica D-Lux 5 (or the Panasonic LX-5, which is more or less the same camera), but ended up getting the S95 after looking at a bunch of cameras. The main reason I went with the S95 is that it has all of the features I was looking for but is much more compact than the Leica, so I'm more likely to carry it with me. The fact that it costs labout the same as a Leica polarizer filter is a bonus. Another camera that interested me but ultimately was too big was the Canon G12.

The Nikon S8100 looks like a really nice P&S. The things that I prefer about the S95 vs. the Nikon are the wider aperture, the larger sensor, and the ring on the front that can be set to adjust aperture in aperture priority mode, etc. If you don't care about these features, you may prefer the Nikon since it takes video in 1080p, costs less, etc.

P.S. Another camera that intrigued me was the Olympus Pen EP-1—if I get an adapter, I can finally use my old Contax G-series lenses...

[billrick]

I've can recommend the Canon S90 after using it for almost a year. Great photos, great controls. I'm going to buy an S95 too, as a backup. This is one of those cameras that I'll mourn once it is discontinued.

The biggest complaint that you will hear is the lack of a grip. That has been solved:

Lensmate: Richard Franiec's Custom S95 Grip

[t-hoe]

+1 on the S90.It's great, but the custom grip is a must. the s95 adds HD, which was the only thing lacking in the s90. The GF1 is also an incredible camera with great low light and DOF, but it's not really pocketable.

[xjoex]

The S90/95 is where it is at! Some of the good points:

Great low light, f2.0 lens with good results at high iso
Great for action shots
Fully auto, Fully manual, and everything in between.
Tough! I smashed mine in to a rock good and it still works fine robonza: Canon S90 Tough Camera, That Takes Great Shots.
Small! (What is the best camera in the world? The one you have with you)
Fits in a soulrun phone sleeve for carrying in your Jersey, just saying...

Pics from my s90
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/11017992-lg.jpg
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/11328254-md.jpg
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/11018071-md.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h8...e/DSC_5443.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h8...g/IMG_2047.jpg

-Joe

[happycampyer]

What is the best camera in the world? The one you have with you

Nails it.

billrick, that grip looks great—thanks for the tip!

[billrick]

Pics from my s90 <snip>

-Joe

Really great stuff, Joe. Can you tell me if you have any tricks to get photos like this one (my favorite)? Timer shots? Remote control shutter? I'm going to try this with my S90.

[znfdl]

What a waste of bandwidth!!! HooRah for the OT ;)

My Olympus Stylus 760 is toast and I'm looking at Nikon S8100 and S4000. What I'm looking for are much stronger movie abilities than the Olympus and take advantage of the leap in megapixels avail. for not alot of cheddah these days. I'm a meathead and will put the camera in my back jersey pocket so it must be minimally humidity resistant. I do buy the Ritz shameless warranties and that helps if I roast it. TIA

Josh:
I got Jake this cameral ast summer, STYLUS TOUGH-3000

It survived 4 weeks of camping in the boundary waters and allowed him to take underwater pictures.

Still going strong.

[Derek Raymond]

Joe, that's a great blog you've got going there.

How does that camera hold up to snow/ rain? I was going to get the lady a lumix, but Canon has better photo quality and I'd rather go that end if it's rugged enough.