The holiday season is upon us once again and with all the sales and special deals around at the moment, this is a great time to start thinking about getting a new camera. Maybe for a loved one, maybe just as a treat to yourself. In this article, we'll be looking at the current field of enthusiast zoom compact cameras, and examining their relative strengths and weaknesses to help you make your buying decision. As part of this roundup we'll be looking at the cameras' specifications and operational ergonomics, as well as their image quality and the relative merits of their zoom lenses. Here are the cameras we're going to be looking at, plus a link to the conclusion, for those of you who like to skip ahead...
- Canon PowerShot G15
- Canon PowerShot S110
- Fujfilm X10
- Fujifilm XF1
- Nikon Coolpix P7700
- Olympus XZ-2
- Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7
- Samsung EX2F
- Sony RX100
Key Specifications Compared
A resolution of 12MP is more or less standard for the high end of the compact camera market at present, and some of the cameras in this roundup (the Nikon P7700, Olympus XZ-2 and Samsung EX2F) almost certainly share the same 12MP CMOS sensor. The Sony Cyber-shot RX100 obviously stands out, thanks to its much larger 1" sensor, but there are plenty of differences between the other models in this selection too, particularly in terms of their lenses.
Sensor | ISO Range* | Lens (35mm equiv) | Display | Video | Street Price | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Canon G15 | 12MP 7.44x5.58mm CMOS | 80-12800 | 28-140mm F1.8-2.8 | 3" LCD 921k dot |
1080p 24fps | $420/£490 |
Canon S110 | 12MP 7.44x5.58mm CMOS | 80-12800 | 24-120mm F2-5.9 | 3" LCD 461k dot | 1080p 24fps | $350/£370 |
Fujifilm X10 | 12MP 8.8x6.6mm EXR CMOS |
100-3200 | 28-112mm F2-2.8 | 2.8" LCD 461k dot |
1080p 30fps | $500/£320 |
Fujifilm XF1 | 12MP 8.8x6.6mm EXR CMOS |
100-3200 | 25-100mm F1.8-4.9 | 3" LCD 461k dot |
1080p 30fps | $450/£320 |
Nikon P7700 | 12MP 7.44x5.58mm BSI CMOS | 80-6400 | 28-200mm F2-4 | 3" LCD 921k dot articulated |
1080p 30fps | $425/£385 |
Olympus XZ-2 | 12MP 7.44x5.58mm BSI CMOS | 100-12800 | 28-112mm F1.8-2.5 |
3" LCD 921k dot Flip/Touch |
1080p 30fps | $550/£425 |
Panasonic LX7 | 10MP 6.7x5.1mm** MOS | 80-6400 | 24-90mm F1.4-2.3 |
3" LCD 921k dot |
1080p 60/50 fps |
$450/355 |
Samsung EX2F | 12MP 7.44x5.58mm BSI CMOS | 80-3200 | 24-80mm F1.4-2.7 |
3" OLED 614k dot articulated |
1080p 30fps |
$370/£420 |
Sony RX100 | 20MP 13.2x8.8mm CMOS | 125-6400 | 28-100mm F1.8-4.9 |
3" LCD 1.23m dot |
1080p 60fps |
$650/£450 |
* At full resolution
** Largest image area available (4:3 aspect ratio setting)
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