What point and shoot for a 'photographer'?

PopeBuckfastXVI

I'm in the market for a more portable 'point and shoot' camera (the DSLR is just too big for certain situations) that the wife who is not a photographer can also use.

I'm drawn to the fuji x20 as it seems to have pretty decent manual controls, optical vf and nice styling.

My pet peeves, in order, when it comes to point and shoots are:

1. Shutter lag - can't stand it! How do you capture 'the decisive moment' if your shutter takes half a second to fire!?
2. Lack of manual control - like to have dials for aperture and shutter, though I would likely shoot AP on something like this if it's available, so a single command dial for aperture would be ok.
3. General IQ - when the image looks like it's been shot through Vaseline smeared bubble wrap and then sharpened to within an inch of it's life.
4. Bokeh - the lack of it, again sensor size comes into this, but so does the lens.
5. Low light performance - this is always going to be an issue with smaller sensors, I understand that, but I'd like something that could take pictures indoors (with or without flash) that didn't look like a drunken blur or a mugshot.
6. ****ty autofocus.
7. Unusable high ISO performance.
8. Start up time - hate waiting for the bloody thing to turn on.
9. No manual zoom - bzzzzzzzz waiting to zoom in while holding down a fiddly button.
10. Not wide enough - I prefer the wide end than the telephoto, generally.
11. Stupid fake 'shutter' noise, bonus cringe if it includes the film 'wind on' sound.

What do you think, would the x20 tick any of my boxes?

Any alternatives? The x20 would be about the top of my budget.

cnocbui

Almost funny really: http://camerasize.com/compare/#396,382

£50 more than your budget but there's always SH. Would overcome some of the issues you mention.

The Olympus XZ-2 would be worth a look too and is a lot cheaper than the X20. There is a rumour of a new super compact from Olympus to be announced soon.

If they ship here, this seems a bargain due to a bit of a price drop: http://www.amazon.de/Olympus-E-PL3-Systemkamera-Megapixel-bildstabilisiert/dp/B0058GI38W/ref=sr_1_1?s=ce-de&ie=UTF8&qid=1379667056&sr=1-1&keywords=epl3

PopeBuckfastXVI

Thanks for the tip - I guess I'm not really in the market for another system camera, just want something handy and all in one.

Have you got experience of the x20? Do you think it would annoy me when it comes to the list above!?

Corkbah

why not consider a bridge camera (like a canon G series or Nikon equivalent)

you could pick up a G10, G11 (has a swivel screen which is handy for taking pics in awkward angles) ... approx €200-250ish secondhand.

of course you could also get the G1X but its bigger than the G10/11 etc ...and more expensive ...but does everything.(not 100% on the bokeh though)

http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon-G1X-vs-Fujifilm-FinePix-x20

http://www.ephotozine.com/forums/topic/canon-g1x-or-fuji-20x--103084

PopeBuckfastXVI

Thanks for the input, I think the g1x is a bit too big for what I'm looking for, it's to share with the wife and she wants something small, so probably that's a bit too big and maybe even a bit to 'professional' looking for her. Was thinking about the g15 or even s110 from Canon as options alright, but I wonder if the bigger sensor in the x20 would be an advantage, it also seems to focus faster and start up quicker than them.

dirtyghettokid

i also would love to hear more on the x20. my friend in canada has one, but it'll be a little while before i get a chance to look at hers. love the idea of it, but not sure if i want a fixed lens camera again!

CinSoots

I have an X20 for about 4 weeks now and my dslr hasn't seen the light of day since I got it.

It's a fantastic little camera and I've taken more pics with it in the last few weeks than I have in 12 months with the dslr. Because of its size it goes everywhere with me.

The focussing is very fast and accurate - not quite dslr speed but pretty close. There is very little shutter lag so it behaves very like a dslr. The image quality is fantastic for a compact camera.

The iso is perfectly useable up to 1600 and as the lens is an f2.0 at 28mm its low light is very good. There is no bokeh though if this is something you think you can't live without!!

I was debating between the 100S and the X20 and while they both have pros be cons I think i would have been a little more restricted with the 35mm fixed lens than the zoom. Plus of course the €600 price difference!!!

PopeBuckfastXVI

Thanks for the reply CinSoots - it's great to hear from a real user!

I guess I would still have my slr & 50mm for bokeh if I was doing some real portrait work.

I love the look of the sample pics I've seen from the x100s and if funds were unlimited and if it was just for me and I didn't have to convince Mrs. Buckfast that a prime lens is not a ridiculous idea and worse than a zoom I would definitely go for it!

Think I'll try to put my hands on one in a shop and see what it feels like.

Do you have a flickr or pix.ie that I can see some of the pics you've taken with it?

CinSoots

I don't but you can do a search for the X20 on it to see the quality it can produce. It's not going to be as good as a dslr cos it's a compact and nor is it intended to replace one but it's very very acceptable

cnocbui

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

Thanks for the tip - I guess I'm not really in the market for another system camera, just want something handy and all in one.

Have you got experience of the x20? Do you think it would annoy me when it comes to the list above!?

No, I don't have any experience with the X20. An E-PL3 or 5 is only a system camera in your mind - If you pretend the lens is fixed, it's just an advanced compact with better performance, smaller size and that's cheaper - in the case of the E-PL3. The start up time of the e-PL3 is 0.8 sec and there is no noticeable shutter lag. Low light autofocus is ~ 1 sec and 0.1 - 0.3 sec in good light.