[walkingman]

My Casio EX-P600 is finally dying. The zoom would not work any longer, dusts has settled in between the lens, it would occasionally not recognise my SD cards etc. It served me well over the years, but I think it is finally time to move on.

As I would love to take more pictures at gigs, I need a digital compact that works well under low-light conditions. Something as versatile as my former Casio (which offers an extensive amount of manual controls) would be nice. I do not care about video performance, though it would be nice to have one. Do not care about memory card compatibilities as well since they are cheap as chips nowadays.

Max £150 (equivalent to around US$220) budget as I am also planning on getting a new D-SLR later.

I've narrowed down my choice to a Sony W170. 10Mp, 5x zoom, viewfinder (albeit a digital one). The model is within my budget and I already have a 8GB Pro Duo card.

What do you camera-fi people think?

 

[leftnose]

I have a Sony W90 which I guess has been most directly replaced by the W150.

All I can say is that, as much as I like the camera for its size and convenience, if low light shooting is your requirement, this isn't the right camera. Noise is very high at high ISO settings and the sensor doesn't seem to handle the high dynamic differences that you can get in low light from as from point sources.

What you really want to look for is the camera that has the largest physical sensor in your price range and read up about that one. As long as it's over 6 or so and you don't want to do huge enlargements, don't worry about the megapixel count. In fact, in your case where you are looking for a compact camera, a lower megapixel model might be better since you are going to be stuck with a small sensor no matter what. You get to a point of diminishing returns where all that happens in creating a higher megapixel count on a fixed size sensor is the creation of more noise. Megapixels are for the marketing and sales folks. Look at sensor size.

I'm sorry that I can't make a more specific recommendation on model but do take a look at the tech specs of the models that do get mentioned.

 

[walkingman]

Yeah I understand that, which was one reason why I love my P600. The sensor size was reasonably large compared to other similarly sized compacts. Too bad even then the performance at low light was awful (it only goes up to ISO400).

My best bet is to bring a D-SLR, but not every venue allows them...

Cheers for the feedback!

 

[PerformanceFirst]

Fuji has made some P&Ss with good low light performance. Unfortunately I don't know anything about them. Panasonic makes some cameras with wide angle lenses if you're interested, and Canons (my choice) usually have manual controls too.

 

[walkingman]

Cheers. I bought a Fuji for my gf a couple of years ago. Very poor low light performance, but then again it was a slim compact. We eventually gave it away to her parents who seems to benefit more from the point and shoot feature. May consider a cheap Fuji super zoom though.

 

[Sparky191]

Fuji F31FD had it a few years now. http://www.seriouscompacts.com/2008/...rformance.html

 

[bigshot]

Small camera = small sensor = poor low light performance

If low light is important, and it has to be a compact camera, you have to go with something with a fast lens- like the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3. Not cheap though. You can buy a refurbished Nikon D40x with a 50mm 1.8 lens or the new 35mm 1.8 for pretty close to the same price and get MUCH better low light performance.

 

[Sparky191]

I'm don't know much about camera's tbh, and I haven't tried that specific Panasonic. Maybe Bigshot has and has good results with it. But the few Panazonics I did try suffered from excessive noise and I got far more blurred shots than another compact digital camera I've tried. I have the fuji, which works especially well in low light and is fast. If I wanted it for gigs though I'd go for something with a much better zoom. I've a D70s I picked up cheap in a blow out sale once the D80 came on sale and very happy with that. That was a while ago, the older DSLR's are even cheaper now. Thats what I'd go for, not a point and shoot. I think the D40x might be limited in what lenses you can get for it. But I don't know for sure. You'd probably pick up a used DSLR and decent lense kit from your local camera store.

 

[dj_mocok]

If you need a low light compact for cheap, go as suggested before - the Fuji F31 (if you can still find it).

But if you are just getting a P&S to fill the void while you are saving up for a DSLR, I suggest you not to unless it's really necessary, because if you spend for something else now that means the longer you will get the DSLR.

But if I were on limited budget, I'd go eBay and look patiently for a genuine deal. There are lots of people babying their gears and tend to sell them to get newest ones all the time.

 

[xenochimera]

canon SD 1000

 

[mrarroyo]

How about the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5A.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_mocok /img/forum/go_quote.gif But if you are just getting a P&S to fill the void while you are saving up for a DSLR, I suggest you not to unless it's really necessary, because if you spend for something else now that means the longer you will get the DSLR.

Normally, that advice is what I would recommend. However, in the OP's case, then a replacement camera is necessary since his current camera is no longer functioning properly. And as far as I know, saving up for a DSLR would take the OP many months or even many years - such long periods with no camera at all.

 

[walkingman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_mocok /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you need a low light compact for cheap, go as suggested before - the Fuji F31 (if you can still find it). But if you are just getting a P&S to fill the void while you are saving up for a DSLR, I suggest you not to unless it's really necessary, because if you spend for something else now that means the longer you will get the DSLR. But if I were on limited budget, I'd go eBay and look patiently for a genuine deal. There are lots of people babying their gears and tend to sell them to get newest ones all the time.

I am not getting a cheap P&S in order to fill in the void. I am already planning on getting a DSLR. Just reading up on reviews to decide what fits my need. Will probably buy it next week.

As for the digital compact, it is positioned as a 'carry with me all the time' kind-of camera. As DSLRs aren't allowed into gigs by none-press card attendees, I need a good compact with good performance. Cheap enough so that I can get close to a mosh without being terrified of destroying an expensive investment!

Right now I am looking at either getting a used Canon G7 or Sony H3/H10. Both seems to support manual controls and are available in nice sturdy bodies similar to my P600.

 

[jhoff80]

The problem with getting Sony is that you're stuck with memory sticks, though it seems based on your signature that's not an issue for you.

I refuse to use anything non-SD/SDHC anymore (well, I use mini- and micro-SDHC for the devices that need them). It's just too much of a standard and I don't want millions of different cards and readers to deal with.

I've personally got a Canon PowerShot SD950, and I don't think I'd ever go with anything other than a Canon based on it. I actually looked at the Canon G series for a while, but honestly I don't know enough about photography to justify all the features, and I wanted something small, my last camera was too large so I never brought it anywhere, so I went with what was at the time their top model point and shoot. I think you could do a lot worse than the G7.

 

[walkingman]

Memory cards are dirt cheap so I do not really care (plus I have a PSP). In fact my first memory card purchase was a Memory Stick back before SD was even released!

The only true universal format is CF, IMO.