Best compact for travelling

aaf

My brother will be heading off on a years travelling shortly and is looking for a compact digital camera. I've narrowed it down to the following six so I would love to hear what you guys think. Feel free to throw another camera into the mix. I've read a couple of reviews on each camera and they all have their pros and cons.

1. Canon PowerShot SX100 IS
2. Canon PowerShot A720 IS
3. FujiFilm FinePix F100fd
4. FujiFilm FinePix F50fd
5. Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5
6. Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500

I guess his requirements are small, light, good picture quality, mainly for outdoor pics and I suppose good low light / nighttime shooting capabilities. I know the Fuji's are probably the better cameras for indoor/ low light shooting and the Pani's for wide landscapes.

0utpost31

Have you checked out the canon g9? Looks like a fairly sturdy compact and image quuality is supposed to be v.good.

Borderfox

G9 too

Arciphel

I wanted a copmpact for the same thing, was torn between the canon g9, nikon P6000 (out later this month) and the Panasonic Lumix LX3.

I went for the Lx3 in the end for a lot of reasons (small size, nice looking in a retro type of way ;-) RAW, wide angle 24mm lens, selectable aspect ratios, etc etc).



Be careful if you decide to go for the g9, i hear the g10 is very close to being announced!

0utpost31

Whatever you buy, make sure its from ebay! About half the price of irish shops or argos.

sturgo

I took a Canon Powershot SD450 on tour through about 18 countries. It was in my pocket most of the time as I travelled. Small, fast, descent battery life, and fairly sturdy. I dropped it countless times and it's still working 2 years later. Didn't have too much trouble charging. An extra battery is always a good option.

Here's a collection some photos I took while travelling.

The G9 is a fantastic camera but a little too bulky for my liking.

deRanged

I wouldn't call the G9 small or light (compared to others in the compact category). mighty camera though.

I also think that for travelling you're better off with a camera that uses AA batteries instead of needing chargers.

silverside

i would go for the fuji f100, i brought mine for a week in spain and was delighted with it, particularly the indoor ones without flash (!), it is easily pocketable and very simple to use point-and-shoot.

the downside of it is, it doesnt have a lot of manual control (apart from scene modes and flash on/off) and its zoom is only 5x compared to the 10x of the panasonics, however overall i think it is the best. it is well rated in magazines too.

oh yeah make sure you get a spare battery off ebay as you get about 100 shots per charge which isnt enough really. it charges quickly though.

aaf

Arciphel wrote: »

I wanted a copmpact for the same thing, was torn between the canon g9, nikon P6000 (out later this month) and the Panasonic Lumix LX3.

I went for the Lx3 in the end for a lot of reasons (small size, nice looking in a retro type of way ;-) RAW, wide angle 24mm lens, selectable aspect ratios, etc etc).



Be careful if you decide to go for the g9, i hear the g10 is very close to being announced!

Ok, so the Panny LX3 and Canon G9 look good. When is the LX3's release date? From what I can gather, it'll be Sept in the US. Will it be out here or the UK sooner? My bro is flying out sometime in mid Sept so it would be better if he could familarise himself with the camera before he left. Otherwise, he may well be better off buying it in B&H or J&R while he's in NYC, his first stop.

Also, where do you guys recommend for buying these? My list includes pixmania.ie, komplett.ie and a few of the Irish camera stores. Any cheaper reputible UK websites? Cheers.

Arciphel

aaf, i got my lumix lx3 today from digital-rev, bought it on e-bay last wednesday. I paid €409 including second battery and 8gb class 6 SDHC card. The only bricks and mortar store i have seen them for sale in so far is the camera centre in blanchardstown shopping centre, so their sister shop in grafton street might have them too. they cost €589 there, without any additional battery or SDHC card so i know where i would buy mine if i were you :pac:

I am just playing around with it today, first impressions are very good.

deRanged

I bought a G9 from komplett for 410 euro a couple of weeks ago. it was a little cheaper on a few UK websites, but not enough to put the effort in to work around the no shipping to ireland restrictions.

I had already bought spare NB-2lh batteries for my 400D from 7dayshop so that sorted that out. (cost something like 25 euro afaicr).

SD cards are cheap as chips online.

Arciphel

deRanged wrote: »

SD cards are cheap as chips online.

Amen to that, i bought a 16GB class 6 SDHC card from mymemory.com worked out at €45 including shipping, great deal!

ThOnda

If my plans fail, the LX3 looks like a hot candidate to be my first digital camera!

Arciphel

Thonda, I am still working ym way thru the manual but my first impressions are great, I know it is expensive for a compact but I am very happy with it.

There's some sample images on my flickr photostream if anybody wants to see them - http://www.flickr.com/photos/arciphel/