Would you buy it if they made it?

I'm thinking of a design of a camera that would outperform today's compacts in IQ.

7mp 2/3" sensor for better noise control without overuse of NR
35-105mm (equiv.) f/2.5-3.5 3x zoom with IS
contrast/sharpening/gamma control for jpegs
2.5" articulating screen
2 AA batteries
RAW mode
Similar size/design as the A640. $350 price tag.

Would you buy such an animal?
John

Simon97 said:

I'm thinking of a design of a camera that would outperform today's
compacts in IQ.

7mp 2/3" sensor for better noise control without overuse of NR

Click to expand...

Make it 5mp 2/3". Heck even 3MP is plenty.

Member said:

35-105mm (equiv.) f/2.5-3.5 3x zoom with IS

Click to expand...

Perfect only a bit brighter like f/2.0-3.0.

Member said:

contrast/sharpening/gamma control for jpegs

Click to expand...

Even better, in-camera Manual RAW developnet.

Member said:

2.5" articulating screen

Click to expand...

3" high resolution and bright for outdoors.

Member said:

2 AA batteries.

Click to expand...

Member said:

RAW mode

Click to expand...

It should be standard with most cameras. Too bad we can only dream about it these days.

Member said:

Similar size/design as the A640. $350 price tag.

Click to expand...

My changes will make it more expensive but I'd pay it for a HQ compact camera.

Member said:

Would you buy such an animal?
John

Click to expand...

Perhaps, even without my changes.

--

Zarathustra said:

Simon97 said:

I'm thinking of a design of a camera that would outperform today's
compacts in IQ.

7mp 2/3" sensor for better noise control without overuse of NR

Click to expand...

Make it 5mp 2/3". Heck even 3MP is plenty.

Click to expand...

For 4x6 printouts and resizing for internet. I'd keep a 7mp sensor but up it to full 35mm

Good package, except I would increase zoom to 6x, add two more AA's for faster flash recharge times and make sure the 2.5" LCD has at least 230,000 pixels (even the G7's 207,000 is not quite enough). Must have a Custom shooting mode, AE bracketing or a live histogram. The 7 MP 2/3" sensor with limited NR sounds great.
--
Regards,

Bryan P.

I have an A710, and in general we really like it, but...

A710, with 858x480 16:9 format video, with digic III (4gig avi file limit).

Niceties:
-Would like to see better flash times (usability improvement)
-MP4/DIVX as an encoding option.

• Cleaner image (noise)

-28 mm on the wide end

• and, as always, RAW support

That's pointless to always desire much more well equiped devices when we have good cameras on the market!

You know that with a G7, even if it is not the perfect camera, you can do very very good images when you play with light.

Images which are stored on the electronic memory have to be composed by a human beeing and not by a mechanism.

You know that even with a perfect camera, you can do very bad images, or images which are not interesting at all.

Have you seen pictures which have been produced by the very first photographers, at the end of 19 th century? Some are amazing and there were very little technical mechanisms behind! Imagine what they could do with our small digital sensors if they were always living!

And furthermore, even with a smal digital sensor which produces noise if light is low, it could be fun to play with.

The most important is to have fun taking pictures, whatever the camera.

I can assume that G7 is pure pleasure. I cant go out without it and I dont desire a better camera for the moment (how long?).

It is like a good pair of shoes. I definitely like it.

Jean

If I have a only one dream building a new digital camera:

Some device I can put in my old 24X36 Canon F1 DSLR, in place of the film, and in order I can continue to use my good old FD 24 mm or my 50 mm F 1,2 lenses.

It would be perfect.

The one thing I don't like about DSLR is you have to go high end to get a 35mm sensor that takes advantage of normal lenses.

Now you see why no camera company makes a high quality, low megapixel, compact camera. Everybody out there seems to have a different idea of what features are mandatory vs. nice vs. frills. You've only gotten a few responses so far, and we already have two or three dramatically different visions. Including one (35mm full frame sensor) that would increase the price by $1,000 to $2,000.

Even more interesting, nobody has yet to answer your question. You did not ask for suggested improvements, you asked if anybody would buy the camera as specified.

I for one would seriously consider it, but I would probably opt out. I've gotten used to the 6x range of the G7/A710IS, and I don't think I'd be willing to give that up. Plus, for my photo style, RAW and articulated screen would only be used on rare occasions.

I do agree with you (and the others) on the megapixel thing, though. If my ideal camera, with 2/3 sensor, were available in a choice of 5MP, 7MP or 10MP implementations, I would choose 7MP, or maybe even 5MP - even if the camera were a little more expensive! Do the mind-experiment yourself. Imagine your perfect compact camera. The only thing I am going to absolutely require is that it has a 2/3 sensor. Now imagine that it is available in the following three versions:
5MP $350
7MP $400
10MP $300

There is no reason that this pricing should happen, but imagine it's true. Which camera would you buy?

-barry

Simon97 said:

I'm thinking of a design of a camera that would outperform today's
compacts in IQ.

7mp 2/3" sensor for better noise control without overuse of NR
35-105mm (equiv.) f/2.5-3.5 3x zoom with IS
contrast/sharpening/gamma control for jpegs
2.5" articulating screen
2 AA batteries
RAW mode
Similar size/design as the A640. $350 price tag.

Would you buy such an animal?
John

Click to expand...

Barry Margolius said:

have two
or three dramatically different visions. Including one (35mm full
frame sensor) that would increase the price by $1,000 to $2,000.

Click to expand...

Just because they charge that much doesn't mean the costs are that much more. Especially for a low resolution sensor which 7mp would be for 35mm. They cost that much more because they are milking it knowing people will pay for it.

--
Eric
http://www.blogger.com/profile/28647453
http://www.pbase.com/haglunde

That's okay. Different strokes... It was just an idea of something I wish was made and probably won't ever be. I guess it on with the 6mp 1/3", 8mp 1/2.5" and 12mp 1/1.8" sensors : (
John

Zarathustra said:

Simon97 said:

I'm thinking of a design of a camera that would outperform today's
compacts in IQ.

7mp 2/3" sensor for better noise control without overuse of NR

Click to expand...

Make it 5mp 2/3". Heck even 3MP is plenty.

Zarathustra said:

35-105mm (equiv.) f/2.5-3.5 3x zoom with IS

Click to expand...

Perfect only a bit brighter like f/2.0-3.0.

Zarathustra said:

contrast/sharpening/gamma control for jpegs

Click to expand...

Even better, in-camera Manual RAW developnet.

Zarathustra said:

2.5" articulating screen

Click to expand...

3" high resolution and bright for outdoors.

Zarathustra said:

2 AA batteries.

Click to expand...

Zarathustra said:

RAW mode

Click to expand...

It should be standard with most cameras. Too bad we can only dream
about it these days.

Zarathustra said:

Similar size/design as the A640. $350 price tag.

Click to expand...

My changes will make it more expensive but I'd pay it for a HQ
compact camera.

Zarathustra said:

Would you buy such an animal?
John

Click to expand...

Perhaps, even without my changes.

Click to expand...

It has already been built:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Olympus/oly_e20.asp
The size is limited by physics though.

I would like that camera plus optical image stabilization, 28mm wide angle, and a 640*480*30fps video mode with zooming, auto focus, and auto exposure while filming.

--
Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Canon PowerShot S30
Canon PowerShot a60 - deceased
http://www.d.hoen.ca/pics/

Yes, I would buy it. A "near DSLR" sensor with lower MP count and better ISO perfomance will be highly sought after by the enthusiast (used to be called prosumer) market looking for the "G8" we all wanted. Your point and that of a couple others is well taken--I'll trade in 10MP for a clean 5MP sensor. A decent optical viewfinder is another item nobody seems willing to provide either.

With the exception of the articulating LCD which is a Canon-unique feature, I don't think Canon will deliver on the other desires. What we are looking for most I think is a great low light, high ISO performer--in short, a better sensor for a wide-variety of situations. I think Fuji, Leica or Panasonic is most likely to do this for us. Fuji will not put IS on their cameras for some reason but the F30 is a step in the right direction sensor-wise. If they can improve on this so the outdoor images are on par with Canon's it will be a clutch player. Also, Leica and Pany don't make DSLRs. At least not yet, so they don't have another camera segment in their brand line to encroach upon. The M8 appeals to a tiny segment and is outside the price range of 99% of all users so not really a concern in terms of its sales being hurt by a better performing sub-$600 DLUX. Leica still makes cameras aimed at enthusiasts. Canon has backed off putting all the sought-after features on one platform--solely for marketing reasons it seems. Unfortunate.

Consider the Lumix LX2 and Leica DLUX3. RAW, 4x zoom, 28mm, and IS in a relatively simple design. The image quality got poor grades here but supposedly Leica made some tweaks to the DLUX-3 although I have not seen a review of the Leica out there yet. C'mon Leica...or somebody...lets get the enthusiast silver bullet out there.

I like Canon and am enjoying the G7. But, if another company produces the sensor you described in a small camera, I may jump ship.

--
G7 * A610 * Olympus UZI
I want a Leica, but I'll settle for a G7

[No message]

2 AA aren't going to cut it, battery life will be abysmal between the processing power needed to process 7mp images and the 2.5" LCD. At least 4 AA or Li-ion (which I prefer).

Mark