Going to Europe with just P&S. What P&S?

[RedSox]

Going to UK, France, Benelux for 2 weeks end of May. With two toddlers (2 and 3 yr) there is lots of hassle to bring my DSLR and lenses (Originally I wanted to bring my 17-40/F4 for workaround and 35/1.4 or 50/1.4 for musuem low light and portrait/slight tele kinda thingy.) So my wife insists that I leave the 'real' camera at home and be a real tourist. :dunno

My only P&S right now is a G2, while I do love it optically but the design and technology behind it is aged. Plus it is big and heavy this is the main reason I decide to search for a new P&S.

I want something light and small (fits in a pocket.) Definetly want wider angle. So far the candidate is Canon SD 800 IS and SD 700 IS; The Fuji F30; The Olympus 720 SW and 770SW.

Canon is stylish (pleasing wife) and has IS to cover indoor low light. The SD 800 wide angle start from 28mm.

Fuji has more control and do great with high ISO. But I don't like the xD card and the wide start from 36mm

Olympus has waterproof that I really like. I go snorkeling every once in a while and never tried underwater photography. But again the wide start from 38mm also it uses xD card.

So far I favor the SD 800 IS. But the dpreview doesn't give it 'Highly Recommendation' rating due to the excessive noise reduction and probably the optical. I guess it is harder to make a wide 28mm zoom lens on tiny little P&S camera.

So please throw me some ideas, before I click 'Buy' on SD 800 IS. Is there any other options?

Thanks

Eric

[wxwax]

You haven't considered any Nikons?

Me, I wouldn't overthink a P&S. I'd go for piccie quality and battery life. More than 3X zoom would be nice, as would IS, but neither is a deal breaker.

[rosselliot]

you could also look into panasonic, I had the DMC LZ2 for quite a while - I loved it. then got a bigger point and shoot, then got a DSLR....I don't have it any more, but it had IS and it worked great.

check Cnet.com and see what the reviews say. look at the editors top picks. then go to DCresource or DCRP and check out their reviews.

- RE

[pathfinder]

I really hoped the new Nikon CoolPix S10 (http://www.dpreview.com/news/0702/07021701nikons10review.asp) would be the ticket. But the inability to control the shutter speed or the aperture just puts me off.

I loved the CoolPix cameras and still use a 995 3Mpxl version. The thought of a 6Mpxl version with a 10x zoom was really very intriguing. But the lack of manual setting - apparently it only shoots in various forms or autmatic mode - is a deal breaker for me. Might not be a deal breaker for everyone though.

[Terrence]

Between me, my brother and a work budy, we've owned a few generations of the Casio Exilim family. I'm very happy with them.

[Art Scott]

I would find a new or very little used Konica Minolta A2 or A200....zoom range 28-200 and built in image stabilization, also has a great little feature for a p/s
...true flexable focus...you can move that focus point all over the viewfinder not just into a set of 6,9 or 12 spots but anywhere you want it....also manual focus......uses cf cards upto 8gb...fantastic camera.....

[wxwax]

...true flexable focus...you can move that focus point all over the viewfinder not just into a set of 6,9 or 12 spots but anywhere you want it....also manual focus......uses cf cards upto 8gb...fantastic camera.....


Did you write about this before, asking why dSLRs don't have the feature?

I agree, it's very cool.

[Art Scott]

Did you write about this before, asking why dSLRs don't have the feature?

I agree, it's very cool.

Well I wasn't actually asking why DSLRs don't have it ...actually i was stating that I wouod love to see it on DSLRs rather than the static 6,9 or 12 focus point thjat they allow you to pick and of course some one wanted to re-educate me on manual focus:D.....but if you are doing some really creative focusing and not wanting for the electronic viewfinders lag time to catch up this feature is fqntastic as your hands are always so near the control wheel......this was one of the factors in my decideing to buy the A2 over any nikon, canon or any other P/S camera as well as it shoots in RAW......with the flexable focus I never took the camera in to manual focus........you also had the choice of allowing the metering point to move with the focus point or not......

[wxwax]

RedSox, Nikon's just issued another big batch (http://www.dpreview.com/) of cameras, just to confuse you. :lol3

[RedSox]

Thanks guys! Picking up a P&S is just not easy. Maybe I should not be too serious about it. I am leaving for Europe on 18th of May so might not have time to checkout those new Nikons. Plus I hate to be the guinew pig and tend to buy models that been released for a while. So I will know if it receives good review. Also the price will drop a bit. :rofl

Eric