Just Posted: Enthusiast Zoom Compact Camera Roundup

Hi,

It sounds like you are not really sure what category of camera you need. I would choose a category first, then a camera within that category.

If you don't print any larger than 8x10, I wouldn't worry about the IQ of any of the cameras you mentioned. For a compact camera, I currently use a travel zoom (Canon SX230HS). The IQ is acceptable to me (not as good as these cameras), and I appreciate the extra reach of the travel zoom. That camera would be roughly comparable to the superzooms you mention in IQ (maybe the SX230HS is a little worse). I've also owned a previous generation enthusiast compact (Olympus C7070), and the IQ was very good, better than the SX230HS, and it had a DIFFERENT set of capabilities, less zoom, but better macro, for example. These cameras are more along those lines. But many many times I wished for more zoom with the C7070!

Good luck with your choice.

1

Don't buy Canon SX230, buy Sony HX20V one of the best point and shoot camera under 300 bucks. It's solid point and shoot camera has 20x OP zoom and clear image zoom will allowed you to zoom up to 40x zoom without seeing the pixels or grain in your picture. I've been loyal to Canon for 13yrs and I'll say this a lots of Canon cameras are over rated and I do believe Sony cameras are good as other brand or much better cameras on the market. Sony makes their lens, processors and sensor chips not many company does that. Sony is not underdog but threat to many other Company that are in the camera business. Don't be surprised 2013 Sony will have more cameras will "WOW" you when they launched new models.

If you want a camera that gives the best image quality and has room for you to grow and develop your skills over time, I’d go for a 2nd hand Canon S95 on eBay for around £150. For a small sensor camera it’s the best there is.

Other options include a Canon 1100D now at under £300 from Jessops - a great beginners DSLR camera at a great price, or maybe a second hand Nikon D3000.

If you don’t want the bulk of a DSLR but still want the same image quality and the option to learn manual controls, I’d recommend buying a 2nd hand Sony NEX-C3 or NEX-5 from eBay and use on Auto but play around with the manual controls.

I personally don’t see the point of 4/3rds when the larger frame Sony is smaller and more powerful, and if you need the lens choice of the 4/3rds range then you might be better looking at a dedicated DSLR.

As you’ll soon learn, no one camera does everything, you’ll need a different one for different circumstances!

If you need 24/25 mm then the Lumix LX7 must be an excellent choice. Excellent fast lens. No long tele, but you cannot have it all. Pretty small too. Fits in a pocket. Still my favourite.

You must have big pockets to fit an LX7 in them!

I'd still choose the S95 or S100 over the LX7 purely down to size; whichever has the best IQ, at this level its unnoticeable! If size wasn't an issue (to a point), I'd sooner have a Samsung EX1 or EX2 ... both awesome cameras ... better (IMO) than the Panny or Canon. I doubt a new user will also know what lens they'd need ... but all that aside, I'd still go for the NEX - with its Pancake on its not much bigger than the LX7 plus its more versatile, of course a significantly larger sensor and perhaps cheaper on eBay!

Hi Vassiis,
I've just bought the Panasonic LX7 for AUD$318+shipping on eGlobal.com, after reading some terrific reviews on this. Although the sensor is not the biggest on a compact, it is the latest crop. It has the widest (24mm) and the brightest (f1.4-f2.5) lens. What I am especially pleased about the LX7 is the low light and night shot capability, the fast and accurate focus, the rock solid image stabilizer (I can shoot down to 1/6s handheld). Only weakness of this camera is the top rear dial, which is a bit hard to rotate with the thumb (use-able but not as smooth as I'd like it to be). See sample pics on http://ymsays.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/review-of-panasonic-lx7-part-4.html . Click on left column to see Part 1-4.

The LX7 is a fine camera, but you'll have more fun and better results with the Samsung EX2 (having owned both, the later still). The bracketing on the EX2 is superb: its what i use it (and the Samsung NX11 in my collection) exactly for. That said, if you're looking at these, why not just buy a similar sized Sony NEX. Youll then have a choice of lenses, massive sensor and all the other goodies you seek.

If the NEX is a no then surely the Sony RX100 has to be worth a look. It doesn't have a low f lens like the LX7, but with its 1" sensor it'll trounce it in every way ... IQ and it's blisteringly fast focus and shooting speeds!

My advice, check out the RX100, the NEX range, the EX2 and Canon S100 then the LX7 ... Then let us know which one you buy!!!!

when you compare M43 vs NEX with similar lenses, the M43 combo is almost universally smaller. Say M43 with 45/1.8 vs Nex with 50/1.8, M43 with 20/1.7 pancake vs NEX with 35/1.8, 24/2 or 30/2.8. Even when you compare larger bodies like the OMD vs the Tiny Nex 3/5 the M43 is about the same size or smaller with similar lenses. If you take the compact M43 bodies the size is smaller than NEX. Sure the NEX may be smaller in height, but what does that give you with a large lens attached? The Sony 16-50mm and the not very good 16mm prime lenses are the only NEX lenses that really compete on size.

Javier; Thank You very much for correcting me.

Javier,
G1X is simply not compact anymore. It also suffers from a slow AF and a limited lens, so I doubt that it easily beats G15 in i.q.:
It has less sharpness and clarity and often needs much higher ISOs because of its slower lens and lower d.o.f.
In my opinion it is a rather useless design, because anyone who accepts its size should better take a mirrorless camera.

EDIT: I am too late to the party

Just go try and buy one. ;)

Trying to keep brands or certain models away from a test by making it a test for zoom-cameras only sounds problematic to me. It could easily be explained shortly that the GRD-line is slightly niched but still belongs to the group of advanced compacts with 1/1.7" sensor.

If the GRDIV is too old. That means that the Fujifilm X10 not would have been included either because it is obviously near the end of it's life as well and announced only 14 days before the GRDIV - on Sep 1, 2011

The GRD IV announced on Sep 15, 2011, according to the announcements on this site. GRDIV http://www.dpreview.com/news/2011/9/15/ricohGRD4announced
X10 http://www.dpreview.com/news/2011/9/1/fujifilmx10

Richard Butler wrote
"Each camera we include adds significantly to the amount of time taken to produce the article, so we have to draw the lines somewhere. I'm afraid that meant excluding the GRD on this occasion."

And also excluding future GRD models from upcoming tests as well, presumably ;)

How does that make anything better...

In 2008 another strange decision occurred when Dpreview chose to include the not so good Ricoh R10 instead of the definitely better suited Ricoh GX200 for the "Holidays '08 Compact Camera Group Test Group 4: Enthusiast digital compacts"
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q408enthusiastgroup/
The GX200 became available in time for that test. Announced on Jun 24, 2008 www.dpreview.com/news/2008/6/24/ricohgx200
R10 announced in September 2008 as is stated in the product-description. Couldn't find any real announcement about this camera on this site. www.dpreview.com/products/ricoh/compacts/ricoh_r10

So, I think we all know that there was enough time to take the better GX200 instead which was announced earlier during the summer. Yet Dpreview failed to do so...
The zoom is not long but not shorter than the LX3 which was inlcluded with 24-60mm (24-72mm for GX200) so lack of zoom reach can hardly have been the issue.
The real issue seems to be bias against small but good brands in general.

schaki, I understand that you are a loyal user of Ricoh, which is fine.
But for what reason should the GX200 be included? I do not see a specific advantage this model offers over the others in the group.

Well, the output isn't as good as it should have been considering the sensor size. Further, raw support in major raw converters is inadequate. Add the complication of setting the right mode when shooting raw. Crippled by advanced technology ;)
I like the design a lot though.

@YiannisPP
Thanks. I doubt if many people in Britain are buying them at all. We had fears of a double dip recession but I have now lost count of the dips.
I expect the market here is mainly the top end earners so they are keeping the prices high as long as they can. In the US it pays to pile them high and sell them cheap. I think they like to sell to us at product end when the prices can drop significantly possibly more than the US as the lower income groups are more liable to buy the bargain stock. The X10 and X100 are ageing lines so they will have drooped in price. Fuji should be commended for the XF-1 price and probably uniquely do value the UK market and I hope they sell a few.

I knew that.

R. Butler wrote: "Nothing you've written has been deleted - you wrote your comment in the review, not the news story"

And Barney Britton wrote: "Traditionally, it's because we don't have commenting on reviews, so this interstitial page provides a forum for that feedback (although in this case the article was written in our new content management system which supports commenting). We also use these pages to provide more information than is possible in a single paragraph front-page announcement."

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Even though I love very much the dpreview website: this is really very confusing. It would be great, if you could consider to improve that.

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By the way: I loved this roundup. It is very useful to me. Thanks a lot for it. And also Thanks a lot to the users of the dpreview website for their useful comments.

The difference in a single dimension between a 20 megapixel and 12 megapixel camera is approximately 1.3:1. In other words, you do get an advantage, but it's small, not "quite a lot".

Someone who is carefully framing their picture at 12 megapixels will get better results than someone who is shooting willy-nilly at 20 megapixels and trusting in cropping.

Yes, you get extra crop or digital zoom with just about all the models. If you settle for 2mp, and have lots of light, fine. Since the RX100 aperture narrows the most at full zoom, better to have lots and lots of light.

If you wanted to own that much gear, why not get a system?

dylanbarnhart: How much bigger is RX-100 than LX-7 right now?

Anyone interested in the RX100 is an enthusiast already, and many of us like the fact that it is small enough to not attract more attention than those $150 cybershots.

Also, if you are considering gifting an RX100 to someone who you think will not appreciate what it is, and making a big impression is important to you, then, by all means, give a different gift instead.