Compact

What I would want in a P&S is a very small pocketable size. If it
doesn't fit in your pocket, it's not much different than a DSLR with a
small lens mounted. I'd look for the smallest camera with the biggest
sensor, longest lasting batteries & widest angle view. If there's a
shirt pocket size model with stabilization, that'd be a real bonus. And
the ability to do some manual adjustments. For now, I use my cell phone
to fill that niche.

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Format: Ultra Compact
Release Status: Not discontinued (current or upcoming)
Zoom wide (W): 28 mm or less
Image stabilization: Yes
Manual Focus: Yes

Leica D-LUX 3 $600
Ricoh Caplio R3,4,5 & R6 $300???

--
Paul Furman Photography
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Bay Natives Nursery
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Just had one of the docs I work for buy an A640, he brought us a pic
of his wife and son at college graduations, a small part of a
disorganized frame. He asked us to fix it for him, we greatly cropped
the pic and the photo was acceptable, the quality was still quite
good. Nice little camera , I believe it takes AA cells.

Tom

OK, Bruce, but it really depends what you want a compact for. It may be
that you /have to/ compromise standards simply to get small size of some
other function. For example, I have a Ricoh R5:

#

which I got because of its small size and availability. I did want
wide-angle (it has 28mm equivalent) and image stabilisation if possible,
and this has a lens going up to 200mm equivalent and sensor-shift IS. In
idea conditions, it can produce good pictures (I didn't say "excellent"),
and the other evening at a dinner it was the only camera I had small
enough to carry. Here's what it did, perched on a shelf at the end of the
room:

#

That's a good record of the event, but not what I would call a technically
good picture. It was most certainly better than no picture at all,
though.

Were I buying again, I might consider the Panasonic TZ3 (which wasn't
available when I bought the Ricoh).

#

I have other Panasonic cameras and been pleased with the picture quality
(keeping the ISO at 100!).

Cheers,
David

Thanks David, the reason I posted my question to this group is because I
wanted the opinion of DSLR users & find out which compcts they are satisfied
with compared to the standards they are used to.

Thanks Bruce

"David J Taylor" <-this-part.nor-this-bit.co.uk wrote in message ...

I've always gone for compacts that take AA batteries - as I tend to
carry my compact everywhere and the availablity of AA's is great.

Clive

Bruce, this probably isn't the best or even the right place to ask.

A friend of mine has the Canon A630 (chosen because if fitted his hands
well), and it produces excellent images. The swivel LCD is handy as
well - he's used it for macro shots of flowers. Personally, I wanted more
zoom, so went for an image-stabilised Panasonic.

David