Cheap ultraportable with IS suggestions?

Hi,

I'm in the market for an ultra portable camera. Portability and price are priorities, followed shortly by image stabilization. I don't have a set budget - but from my research it looks like there are several options in the

I have an SLR for taking high quality pics - I just want something extremely small and easy to carry for capturing snapshots this summer. Oh, it would be nice if it could take videos too, but that's not necessary. Any ideas?

Thanks!

-R

I think, you missed this brand new review:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/casioexv7/
Read twice about image stabilization and do not overrate it.
Check the thread about folded optics
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1018&message=22827511
and see excellent comparison:
http://webs.ono.com/igonzalezbordes/foldedsidebyside.htm
Easy!

Nikon S10

rainws said:

Hi,

I'm in the market for an ultra portable camera. Portability and
price are priorities, followed shortly by image stabilization. I
don't have a set budget - but from my research it looks like there
are several options in the
etc).

I have an SLR for taking high quality pics - I just want something
extremely small and easy to carry for capturing snapshots this
summer. Oh, it would be nice if it could take videos too, but
that's not necessary. Any ideas?

Thanks!

-R

Click to expand...

--
Regards, Ajay
http://picasaweb.google.com/ajay0612

Those are IMO great cameras - very good lenses, effective OIS and pretty good image quality. There is the noise problem - Panasonic's sensors seem to be inferior to the competition - but I believe it's somewhat exaggerated in the reviews. It's fine in decent light and at ISOs up to 200. I chose FX01 - it has a wide-angle lens that begins at 28mm, and its successors (FX07, FX50 and now FX30) are probably worse IQ-wise, because they have more pixels crammed onto the same sensor, which was far from perfect to begin with. It's also pretty cheap these days. If you need good low light performance, and are willing to give up the IS (not really a big deal for such a modest zoom range) - look no further than Fuji's F series -F20 which is ridiculously cheap, but no manual controls - and then FX01 doesn't have any, it's a small p&s, after all - or F31d. All those are IMO great cameras, in different ways - very small, excellent built quality, very good IQ (in case of the Fujis - terrific IQ) and pretty cheap, too.

most of them have IS, and they are small and well-built, but judging by the many photos I've seen, IXUS cameras are not much better than Panasonic in low light and/or at high ISOs, and generally I can't see any reason to prefer them to Panasonic's FX series, especially since the Canons are more expensive (and all of them are made in Japan, I believe).

Probably the least expensive P&S with image stabilization would be the 6MP Samsung S630, now selling in the US for $100 just about anywhere.



Pretty nice little camera, too!

Your next best bet in affordability with IS would be the 7MP Panasonic Lumix LZ6, priced at $180 (US).





--
J. M. Daniels
Denver, Colorado
Panasonic FZ10, FZ50 & Fuji S602Z owner & operator



Remember . . . always keep the box and everything that came in it!

Thanks everyone for taking the time to make such detailed replies. Quite helpful. I'm going to go check out some of the models in person today and if I have any more questions I'll post tonight. Thanks again!

Both models are fairly priced, and it may be all, what OP expects. But it is not clear to me: do they have sensor stabilized, or just firmware based ISO switch?

After doing a little more reading, thinking, and playing with these cameras in the store, I've narrowed it down to the Fuju F20 or the Samsung 630. I decided I really don't want to spend more than about $150 max for this camera since it will just be for simple P&S stuff (I have my DSLR for "real" photography).

I'm leaning toward the Fuji - it looks like it is decent in low light situations (despite no IS). Haven't been able to find much about the Samsung 630 plus it appears to be a bit bulkier than the fuji.

Any thoughts on these two models, or any other models at this price point that I might have overlooked?

Thanks!

Below $150 you can't get any better than Fuji F20. It is great camera in low light (Sensor is about 50% larger than other P&S in class).

rainws said:

After doing a little more reading, thinking, and playing with these
cameras in the store, I've narrowed it down to the Fuju F20 or the
Samsung 630. I decided I really don't want to spend more than about
$150 max for this camera since it will just be for simple P&S stuff
(I have my DSLR for "real" photography).

Click to expand...

Regards, Ajay