Recommend a good point and shoot

[dkerr24]

Sony just came out with this camera. I am about to go get it and test it out next weekend. It is amazingly small for a 10x lens.

Sony may make fine cameras, but their Memory Stick proprietary memory is a complete 'no sell' to me.  My laptop doesn't take memory sticks, only SD/MMC cards.  Does Sony DSLR cameras alos use Memory Stick, or do they break tradition and use what everyone else uses in that category?

[tjavery]

I was thinking about this thread and remembered that there's a whole new class of cameras out there. Anyone ever heard of the micro-4/3 system?

Basically it's a compromise between a DSLR and a p&s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Four_Thirds_system

Check out Panasonic G1 and G2 and also Olympus EP1 and EP2. I've heard very good things about those systems.

[Al]

I was thinking about this thread and remembered that there's a whole new class of cameras out there. Anyone ever heard of the micro-4/3 system?

Basically it's a compromise between a DSLR and a p&s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Four_Thirds_system

Check out Panasonic G1 and G2 and also Olympus EP1 and EP2. I've heard very good things about those systems.

TJ, shame, shame on you.  I am now thinking about a new camera to replace the G9 even though it doesn't meet my price point for upgrading!

Al

[tjavery]

TJ, shame, shame on you.  I am now thinking about a new camera to replace the G9 even though it doesn't meet my price point for upgrading!

Al

hehehehehe

[SA Bill]

Sony may make fine cameras, but their Memory Stick proprietary memory is a complete 'no sell' to me.  My laptop doesn't take memory sticks, only SD/MMC cards.  Does Sony DSLR cameras alos use Memory Stick, or do they break tradition and use what everyone else uses in that category?

The newer Sony DSLRs use both...memory stick and SD cards. I use the SD card in my a500...I don't care for the memory stick either.
   Bill

[TexasAggieHiker]

I pulled the trigger and got the LX3. I'm hitting the trail in two weeks.  Can't wait to put it to use and see it in action! Thanks for all the help guys.

[presidio]

I'm looking to replace/upgrade my old p&s.  It's been great, but it's time.  I'm looking for something that's lightweight and preferably will fit in my pocket.  Also taking regular batteries over a rechargeable is a requirement for long trips.  I'd like to be able to take shots of the starry night sky, if there is a P&S that can do that.  I'm jealous of the shots of the milky way rising over the chisos.

While my film and DSLR cameras are all Nikons, I tend toward Canons for the P&S variety. They seem to be a bit better than similar Nikons (hurts to say that). Models using non-proprietary batteries are increasingly hard to find, principally because the lithiums have so much more power for size and the camera bodies are getting so small there's no place to put the AAs. I find the tiny lithium in my current Canon will shoot more photos than I care to take on any given outing (many days' worth) so if you got a second battery for backup you most likely would never run out of power. I have never exhausted a battery yet in anyplace where I could not recharge it.

As to Nikon, though, I just saw a P&S at Costco that had a 10x optical zoom and 14mp sensor. I almost bought it but really didn't need it at the moment. It's a tad bulkier than the majority of P&Ss but the long zoom optics just have physical limits you know. It's still pretty small. I played with it a bit and that 10x makes the 3x on my current Canon look mighty poor. That said, in years past Canon got a better rating on image quality than the Nikon P&Ss, but by now one would think the level of sophistication is equivalent...caveat emptor.

One last thing. I don't know about the Nikon P&Ss, but a great many of the Canons can be safely hacked (with a downloadable file that you merely install to the disk) that will let you shoot in RAW mode, plus a GREAT many other settings and options you can control. Once the hack is on the card you slide the lock tab on and that causes the camera to boot into the hack mode. Unlock the card and it's normal. In hack mode you get RAW plus whatever level of JPEG compression you already have the camera set to. It's a nice option that the camera makers ought to just include but because of the intended audience with P&Ss they obviously do not.

You can read about the hacks here http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK (even a stereo photo option I just noticed...may have to try that)

You can get the hacks here http://mighty-hoernsche.de/