The best carry everywhere camera ?

[Riki]

On a recent trip to Dubai, i strapped the Canon S95 to my belt strap and found myself taking more pictures than I normally do and got some nice shots too. That got me thinking , is the S95 the best little carry everywhere camera at the moment or is there something better ? The S95 in manual mode does not close more than F8, found that a bit strange. Also lowlight performance is ok to a point but could be better. Dont get me wrong the S95 is a wonderful camera, no doubt there.
What are your opinions ?

 

[camerapapi]

The S95, like many Elphs and Powershot cameras from Canon, is an excellent little point and shoot.

William Rodriguez
Miami, Florida.

 

[gladjo]

D40. With 18-55 VR

 

[Riki]

D40.

I had a D40x but didnt like it :-(

 

[SLRShooter]

My vote is for the Nikon P500. See my sample shots else where on this site.

 

[Thhe]

D90 + manual focus wideangle and tele. I have the wideangle covered, but looking for a tele. You might think this is a rather large and cumbersome equipment, but the camera(and one lens) go over your sholder, the other lens go in your pocket. There is nothing that beats the joy when you discover an unusual subject and have the right tools to capture it in all it's glory.

I had a compact aswell before I bought a DSLR. The thing about compacts is that you hardly get good dynamic range, meaning that you either get the sky or the foreground great, not both. And some(me included) might find a compact will have limited subject isolation.

And it's soo much fun playing around wih the exposure, focus and white balance with the older lenses! It's a great learning tool for understanding how exposure works(if you don't know it already). The only drawback is that you will be a target for thieves and might have a hard time stashing your equipment when eating in a restaurant, etc.

But I see from your sig that you don't lack equipment :biggrin:

 

[Aqualung]

I bought the S95 for my daughter this past Xmas...and have shot with it a little, it's very good. I have to have an optical viewfinder, however as I like to use something like this for (surreptitious) concert shooting and can't have the big bright LCD display revealing me. For that reason, I'm probably going to get the G12 (which shares parts w/ the S95). I keep hoping that Nikon's P&S cameras improve (and indeed they have in the latest interation) but still stick w/ Canon for P&S cams.

 

[Julien]

Leica MP with a 35 Summicron. :smile:

 

[adaml]

Canon G11. It has a passable viewfinder.

 

[Max Archer]

The S95 is my vote, too. It's the only contender that has the combination of small enough for me to actually be willing to carry, while having enough image quality to be worth using. (Especially since the iPhone4's camera is so good it beats most consumer P&Ses.)

 

[mneary]

I use a Panasonic GH-1 with a 20mm f/1.7 pancake if I really need a light setup! The IQ is awesome, and this combo has some serious low light capability that far surpasses the S95 or other fixed lens compacts.

Cheers

Mike

 

[uscmatt99]

I use a Panasonic GH-1 with a 20mm f/1.7 pancake if I really need a light setup! The IQ is awesome, and this combo has some serious low light capability that far surpasses the S95 or other fixed lens compacts.

Cheers

Mike

Mike,

I'm with you on that exact combo. I'd love to try a GF-2 with the 20mm for more portability, but the electronic viewfinder in combination with the articulated LCD on the GH series is too good to give up. It's DX quality in a smaller and more versatile package. I want to get the 14mm lens as well for a nice small 2-prime kit.

 

[aspiringphotos]

G12 or A95. I'd love to have one because I often do not have my DSLR with me. Also, for "fun" snapshots -- less attention is paid the camera. Looks like it would be fun to take on the run for family outings and such.

 

[mneary]

Mike,

I'm with you on that exact combo. I'd love to try a GF-2 with the 20mm for more portability, but the electronic viewfinder in combination with the articulated LCD on the GH series is too good to give up. It's DX quality in a smaller and more versatile package. I want to get the 14mm lens as well for a nice small 2-prime kit.

Exactly, Matt!

The EVF on the GH-1 is fantastic and great for low light focusing - I often use my Nikkor 50/1.2 AIS on the GH-1, and love focusing manually with the EVF zoom feature! I get much sharper focus with that combo than with my Nikon DX in MF, it's totally amazing...

The only thing I miss on the Panasonic bodies is the in-body IS of the Olympus bodies. Maybe I'll try the E-PL2 at some point... That would be even smaller with the 20mm...

Once you start using m4/3, you can't go back to compacts with their tiny sensors anymore :smile:

Cheers

Mike

 

[stm69]

Not to be a Nikon heretic or anything.... but I'm interested to hear about more Panasonic GF-2 user input. I've been looking at the GF-2 with the pancake 14mm F2.5 lens for $525. Seems to be a nice totable combination.

 

[MarcBC]

The best carry everywhere camera ?

The one you have with you at the time!!

Personally I use a Canon G9 when not using the Nikons

 

[axle01]

Like my G12 it does most things i need if I'm out & about without the brick.

 

[Paytook]

iphone. Always with me, and the new one actually has pretty good (when not compared to an slr) image quality and a flash now to boot.

 

[kixsand]

I was actually dreaming last night that I had a Sony Nex5 and a Nikon F Mount adapter that allowed me to use my manual focus nikkors and my AF-D nikkors. A Nex5 with a 24 mm AI-s would be a pretty sweet combo.

 

[W.Ray]

Olympus EPL-1.