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  1. #1
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    Recommend an advanced P&S

    I'm looking at upgrading my P&S camera.

    Right now I have an older Canon SX20IS. I'm a mediocre photographer at best.
    Specs for the SX20: http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/suppor...Specifications

    I like the image quality, large zoom (20X optical), and ability to set almost everything manually.

    I don't like the slow continuous shooting (it's very hard to shoot action ski shots) and somewhat large size. I also would love to have a larger max aperture, but I imagine this will be tough to find in a P&S.

    I've been hesitant to make the jump into a DSLR mostly because I don't want to carry a bulky camera. I want something that keeps the image quality, zoom, and manual ability that I have now, but with the ability to shoot fast continuous shots and that will fit easily in a jacket or ski pant pocket. It seems that many of the small cameras have fast burst modes but can only take 7-10 shots at a time.

    Does this exist?

  2. #2
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    have you looked at the s120?
    http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consum...Specifications

    it doesn't have the zoom, but it may hit your other criteria better

    you can probably find the s110 on sale for a similar spec

  3. #3
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    Jeff, I'm about to buy a pocket camera and I've been looking at these:

    Canon S110, S120 (small, lots of features) $200-400
    Canon G15, G16 (same as above with more durable body, bigger, optical viewfinder) $300-500
    Pentax MX-1 (I like Pentax, inexpensive) $250
    Sony RX100 (huge sensor, more expensive) $550
    Ricoh GR (nice sensor, fixed focal length, more creative control) $650
    Leica C (It's a Leica) $700

  4. #4
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    http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/ca...0051_-1_244764

    Great deals on Canon s110 or s100 refurbished. Same camera guts basically, s100 has gps, s110 has no gps but has wifi. Great manual control but "only" 5x zoom.
    Dude chill its the padded room. -AKPM

  5. #5
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    I have
    Canon S100
    Canon GS12
    Canon T5i

    All are great cameras.
    The S100 will put out as good as anything, for a compact. Really good photos
    The GS12 will do 90% of what the T5i. It beats it at some things.
    The T5i does everything else.
    For a point and shoot I would lean way hard at the GS series.
    By word of mouth, I would get the Sony RX100, can be had for 450.00. Never used it but I have seen the photos. Top of the line

  6. #6
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    I have a Sony RX100. Nice camera, but a little disappointed with the image quality. It's very good for a pocket camera, but still falls short of my m4/3 system. Recently bought a Ricoh GR. Image quality is superb. Better than the RX100. Seems to be on par with my Olympus m4/3 OMD EM-1. (which is very good.) I carried a Ricoh GR-1 film camera for many years. The GR seems to be the successor to the film GR-1. If you can live with a fixed (28mm equivalent) lens, then I'd highly recommend it.

  7. #7
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    Can't really contribute, as I'm clueless about cameras.
    But I have been looking for pretty much the same as you, and I think I would like an optical viewfinder for sunny days etc.

    The one that seems to tick all the boxes is the Fujifilm x20. I've read a few online reviews, and a couple of comments in threads here.
    Overall; most say it's a good camera, but two cons that are mentioned is short battery life, and that the image quality won't let you make large prints.

    Anybody with experience with it?

  8. #8
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    I don't know if anything is going to check all the boxes exactly. The cannon is probably your best bet, but a few others to look at are the Panasonic lumix lx series. Poor man's Leica, Leica lens etc. They are wide and super fast, f1.4 and good manual control. Or I ended up with an Olympus xz series and love it, fast at f1.8 great depth of field control for a point and shoot but doesn't have the zoom your looking for. All of these have slightly larger sensors than your standard point and shoots which should help with image quality plus they shoot in raw so you could tweak in post processing if you wanted to mess with sharpness and ton curves.

    Sent from my HTC One X using TGR Forums

  9. #9
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    Like our Panasonic Lumix LX7. Good, fast lens. Too big to fit in pants pocket while skiing; I keep mine in chest pocket. Not a lot of zoom, which forces me to move my feet to get better shots. IMO, shots turn out better that way.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by 54-46 View Post
    Like our Panasonic Lumix LX7. Good, fast lens. Too big to fit in pants pocket while skiing; I keep mine in chest pocket. Not a lot of zoom, which forces me to move my feet to get better shots. IMO, shots turn out better that way.
    x2. I'm quite happy with my LX5. J, check my Evolution Backpacking album on Facebook for some shots that I actually cared about.

    The other camera I would be looking at is RX100. Search this forum for some more opinions on it. I remember reading some reviews/mini-reviews about it here last winter.
    Quote Originally Posted by Ernest_Hemingway View Post
    I realize there is not much hope for a bullfighting forum. I understand that most of you would prefer to discuss the ingredients of jacket fabrics than the ingredients of a brave man. I know nothing of the former. But the latter is made of courage, and skill, and grace in the presence of the possibility of death. If someone could make a jacket of those three things it would no doubt be the most popular and prized item in all of your closets.

  11. #11
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    I've been looking at the sony nex 3n, anybody here have any experience with that one? My photog buddy recommended the rx100.
    But Ellen kicks ass - if she had a beard it would be much more haggard. -Jer

  12. #12
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    Any of these cameras shoot raw?

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by kevino View Post
    Any of these cameras shoot raw?
    All of them do.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by house View Post
    http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/ca...0051_-1_244764

    Great deals on Canon s110 or s100 refurbished. Same camera guts basically, s100 has gps, s110 has no gps but has wifi. Great manual control but "only" 5x zoom.
    Definitely good deals. Can one count on refurbished cameras thru the Canon site?

    Looks like on Amazon you can get the S110 new for the same as a refurbished S100...any reason to not do that? Don't care about gps.

    What about a refurbished Canon G15 for $300? Is it relatively portable, ie for skiing and hiking?
    Last edited by The SnowShow; 12-28-2013 at 07:50 AM.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by The SnowShow View Post
    Definitely good deals. Can one count on refurbished cameras thru the Canon site?

    Looks like on Amazon you can get the S110 new for the same as a refurbished S100...any reason to not do that? Don't care about gps.
    I have a Canon G11 from the refurb site, which is working fine. It looked brand new when I got it -- no indication of any prior use or even in-store fondling. IIRC, Canon provides all-new accessories (cable, battery, charger) with their refurb cameras. A co-worker has bought a bunch of lenses and several DSLR bodies from the refurb program and hasn't had any problems.

    The prices on the Canon refurb site are OK, but the best deal is when you trade in a Canon camera (any Canon) -- then they knock off another 20% under the "Canon loyalty program." If you don't have an old/broken Canon, buy something off craigslist. It can be a film point-and-shoot, doesn't matter what you trade in.
    Quote Originally Posted by powder11 View Post
    if you have to resort to taking advice from the nitwits on this forum, then you're doomed.

  16. #16
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    Image quality wise would an S110 or a G15 be better?

  17. #17
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    Ended up with a Lumix LF1. Decided to not go with the x20 after seeing it in real life. Too big. The LF1 is pretty compact, has a view finder and 7x zoom and was a bit cheaper.

    Taking it with me to Japan next week, guess I'll find out if I made the right decision soon enough.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by El Chupacabra View Post
    The prices on the Canon refurb site are OK, but the best deal is when you trade in a Canon camera (any Canon) -- then they knock off another 20% under the "Canon loyalty program." If you don't have an old/broken Canon, buy something off craigslist. It can be a film point-and-shoot, doesn't matter what you trade in.
    Whoa, awesome. Didn't know about this. Hope I still have my busted one laying around.

    Thanks all for the suggestions!

    Sent from my VS840 4G using TGR Forums

  19. #19
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    Bumping in case anyone searches with similar questions.
    I wound up with a Canon SX280HS.

    So far very happy with it. Only complaint is a somewhat small aperture range. But image quality seems to be decent, shooting at 3.8fps is fast enough for good action shots, and the long zoom is quite helpful (I can ski longer runs and still shoot reasonably close-cropped photos).

    Some samples here:
    https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...to-Feb-2-2014)
    All except the first three are taken with the SX280.

  20. #20
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    Pulled the trigger on the RX100 ii but at least a few days ago you could get the RX100 for $399 new from 6save on ebay. Looks like they marked it up to $423 today.

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