Which small, MANUAL, point and shoot camera?

[Ryan Armbrust]

I am wanting to buy my wife a smallish sized point and shoot camera for Christmas. Everything I have seen do not have any manual settings. I am wanting something with manual settings so she can play around and learn the basics.

Please let me know the model numbers of what you guys think will do the job.


Thanks,
Ryan

[BenA2]

Please let me know the model numbers of what you guys think will do the job.

Off the top of my head, I can think of two: The Fuji F30 and the Canon G7 (as well as all of their predesecor models). I think the Fuji E900 does as well. I'm sure there are many more.

My wife has the Fuji F11 (the model before the F30). And, while it has manual controls, and I've used them. They are kind of a pain to access. It takes great pictures for a P&S though. Although I haven't used it, I think the ergos of the Canon G-series are better.

[jbswear]

I am wanting to buy my wife a smallish sized point and shoot camera for Christmas. Everything I have seen do not have any manual settings. I am wanting something with manual settings so she can play around and learn the basics.



Don't know if the camera I'm selling would be considered small, but it is a P&S with manual capabilities. You can see it here:

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=47868

Brad

[jkelly25]

The canon a series powershots (like the a510, a530, a610, a710) have manual capbility. My daughter has an older one in the series and they are good cameras with lots of controls. They are not the smallest cameras. Canon makes a smaller series sd 600, etc, but they do not have full manual controls. They are the most compact, but the a series is not much bigger.

[colourbox]

Hopefully, because the original poster asked for "smallish" that means it doesn't have to be the smallest. If that is true, there are some choices out there. I have a Canon Powershot S60 point and shoot and its manual aperture and shutter speed have gotten me images where any of the auto modes would have screwed it up. And proper exposure is so important with those noisy little sensors. So I would second the idea of taking a look at the full manual capable Canon Powershot A series which are also highly regarded in general (http://www.dcresource.com/buyersguide/). Several of my friends have them, and while they are not manual shooters, they don't seem to think its size is much of a problem.

[surly]

shot at ISO 400
http://Surly.smugmug.com/photos/108430256-L.jpg

http://Surly.smugmug.com/photos/108425253-L.jpg

I will look for some at ISO 100...

[gus]

The canon a series powershots (like the a510, a530, a610, a710) have manual capbility. My daughter has an older one in the series and they are good cameras with lots of controls. They are not the smallest cameras. Canon makes a smaller series sd 600, etc, but they do not have full manual controls. They are the most compact, but the a series is not much bigger.
I'd second this...also from what ive seen, canon have great simple software to boot.

[erich6]

The two leading models matching your needs are the Canon G7 and the Panasonic DMC-LX2. DP Review has a comparison of the two. In my opinion the image quality differences aren't that significant between the two so your decision should come down to ergonomics/ease-of-use and the focal length range of the two cameras. The DMC-LX2 has a wider FOV but not the same telephoto reach as the Canon.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canong7/page10.asp

Erich

EDIT: I forgot to mention the LX2 (and LX1 prior to it) stores images in RAW also. Canon doesn't.

[Ryan Armbrust]

That Panasonic looks really good. I think I might need to check that one out. Thanks Guys.

[pathfinder]

I use the DMC-LX1 because it supports manual mode as does its newer sibling the LX-2 I believe.

It it the slightly thicker than a deck of playing cards and fits in a shirt pocket nicely.

[ajgauthier]

hiya - thought I'd weigh in.

Myself, my roommate, and my best friend all have A95's (no longer made) in Canon's A series. Phenomenal. It can be totally manual or semi-manual. Good optics for a P&S, people can't believe the crisp and clear images/colors I get from that little camera.

I recently referred my sister to the A610 model (larger display), which is just about the same as the A95. She loves it.

A plus for me (and why I got it in the first place) is that you can go up to a 15s exposure. Some of the other 'manual optional' P&S's don't have anything over 2s.

Adrienne