Help narrowing down P&S compact choices
Aug 20, 2012
Hi everyone, sorry this is so long.
I've had a Canon A630 for 6 years and it finally crapped out on me. I don't want to spend A LOT of money on a new camera (I'm 99% a film SLR user) but don't want to go TOO cheap either. Temporarily I'm borrowing a Samsung ST70, and don't like it (other than the small size).
Would prefer to pay around $150-$270 for an older model. I'm living in Thailand (not Bangkok, but will be there next weekend), visiting home (NYC) in a few weeks, but could also order from Amazon. Obviously there are new cameras in that price range, but I'm assuming they won't be as good.
What I like:
f/2.8 or bigger
28mm or wider would be great, but I can live with the same 35mm as A630
Must have manual settings
Better quality at ISO 400 at the VERY least (A630 was already sucky at 400), but preferably decent up to ISO 1600
Sensor size shouldn't be smaller than the A630's (1/1.7 according to this site) unless some other factor is outweighing this.
Loved the flip-out screen for the A630, but it seems like current cameras with it are mostly bigger--are there suggestions?
Reasonably sharp lens. I feel like the ST70 takes fuzzier pictures than the A630 did (I know this isn't user error).
No bigger (or not much) than the A630. Would be nice to have a smaller camera for a change.
Other features don't matter, including HD video & long zoom.
At first the Samsung TL500 was standing out, but it seems pretty large and expensive. I won't be able to try it in person. Some of these I can buy in New York, which is expensive due to tax, but then I can try them.
There are so many similarly-named models out there, it's a bit confusing for someone who hardly uses digital. Can people help me understand the value of these cameras, including if features make a larger one worth the size, extra cost, or if a cheaper one is fine as is? LX5 seems to be the obvious choice for price/condition, but I wonder if the TL500 had more of the extras I like (f/1.8, flip-out screen).
General prices (including Amazon shipping, not including NYC tax)
Canon G9: $144 (V) or $164 (E-) at Adorama
Canon G10: $199 (V) or $249 (E- or E+) at Adorama
Canon G11: $249 at Adorama (E) ^ these prices confuse me…is G11 worse than G10?
Canon G12: $299 at Adorama (E+)
Canon S95: $265 used or $288 refurb on Amazon
Olympus XZ-1: $290 on Amazon
Panasonic Lumix FX78: $199 at B&H, cannot find any reviews.
Panasonic Lumix LX3: $250 (8+) or $270 (9) at B&H. $224 (E) at Adorama.
Panasonic Lumix LX5: $250 (E+) at Adorama.
Samsung TL500: $306 on Amazon