Best point and shoot...?

[EricM]

"They have payed their dues and earned their rights into the civilized world. The rest of Asia has a long way to go."

 

What a phucken loser.

[claudia__]

oly epic but if turning off the default flash (which you can learn to do as a reflex as soon as you open it) is annoying go for the xa2 (the xa is semi point and shoot because it is manual and has no auto focus)

rollei 35 SE is lovely but not a point and shoot

[travis1]

Best in what way?

 

btw, try out the rollei prego 30 if you can still find one. 30mm gem credicard sized.

[Spearhead]

<i>The rest of Asia has a long way to go.</i><p>

 

Obviously someone who spent any time in Asia, with Asians. Another American jingoist with a big mouth.

[grant_.]

contax T, first edition....manual rangefinder...

[summitar]

I spent a year in Viet Nam. There are some beautiful spots in Asia with beautiful people - Thailand comes to mind. I tend to think of Japan as more European than Europe. How can anyone possibly disagree with the statement that Asia has a long way to go unless they favor famine, disease, overpopulation, lack of sanitation, and islamic crazies, North Korean crazies, Iranian crazies, treating women as property. If you think of ASia as a success story, please move there. You can't solve a problem unless you recognize and identify the problem

[monsoonphoto.net]

Kerry, I'm disappointed to see that as someone who's spent time in Asia, you've completely failed to understand that problems in the region aren't limited to Asia, but are problems all around the world.

[MTC Photography]

I own T3, T2, Rollei 35, Rollei 35s, Olympus XA2, Minox GT-E, Minox 35ML.<p>

Fist choice: Contax T3, best compact camera lens<p>

Second choice Minox 35ML, light weight, good lens, and excellent

low light performance (automatic shutter up to 20 minutes )<P>

[nzdavid]

In case you're still interested in the original question and haven't got diverted with all the

off topic baloney and insult trading that now infests this forum, one camera not

mentioned is the now out-of-production Leica mini 3 with fixed 32mm lens. Very light

and pocketable, its lens is great and makes an ideal take anywhere camera.

[john15]

The Oly Stylus Epic's lens axis is so close to the viewfinder that there is very little parallex even at minimal focus. Also powers up with a 123 cell which lasts a lot longer than the CR2. There are reasons that the OSE is the best selling 35mm in the world and will probably be on the market after the high-end PnS cameras are only found on ebay.

 

Al- I use to use Oriental paper and remember it as being pretty good stuff and a real bargain. I suppose that it's made in Asia.

 

I didn't realize that this forum was as "young" as it often seems. Thought that we Leica shooters were mostly mellow fellows with a fair degree of tolerance and the ability to laugh at petty issues.

[jim bob]

Asia's problems are not unique to Asia, and my country's (US) policy of limiting family planning info based on specious religious grounds is stupid. Overpopulation is just one of many major problems facing the world. Funny how we all thought the world would be a better place when the USSR was dissolved. It now appears that when the USSR invaded Afghanistan in 1980, we should have been supportive

[douglas k.]

"How can anyone possibly disagree with the statement that Asia has a long way to go unless they favor famine, disease, overpopulation, lack of sanitation, and islamic crazies, North Korean crazies, Iranian crazies, treating women as property."

 

That's a bit like visiting Alaska in the winter and then concluding that "America is cold."

[jim bob]

I have seen the error of my un-PC ways. Asia is truly a paradise, as this article from SLATE indicates.

 

http://slate.msn.com/id/2107063/entry/0/

[karl_keung]

Contax T3 is great and it is German-Japanese, gorgeous finder, much better than Leica's P

&S.

[kkjuhy]

---

Matthew Runkel , sep 25, 2004; 03:43 p.m.

... Doesn't the Minilux have an issue where some error code comes on for no reason and the camera turns into a brick?

---

 

 

 

Yes, the Minilux sucks. It has a faulty shutter that locks up with an E01 (or was it 02?) error code. Search the archives for this. This problem has existed for years (I am not shure wether Leica has finally solved this right now). Mine locked up after maybe 15 rolls of film in a little over a year of light use (wanted a small/light high quality camera for hiking and shooting slides). Warranty period is of course only a year...

Apart from that, mine has (had?) other quirks, so I will not have it repaired (expensive) and take my loss. No More Leica Ever Again. Long live my plasticy Canon 300V (Rebel Ti) with equally cheap and plastic 50mm 1.8 But what an image quality and how reliable!

[icuneko]

The best P&S camera is the one you are pointing and shooting with. As far as racial/ethnic things go, start playing Aretha Franklin's "r-e-s-p-e-c-t ... respect is what you get from me..." in your head and then maybe we can all get along.

[karssie_meyer]

I was also looking for a p&s equal to Leica Minilux/CM and Contax T3. I found an article from Popular Photography in which the Rollei AFM was tested as "best lens for a p&s" (obviously better than Contax T3 in the same test). See here:

 

http://www.popphoto.com/article.asp?section_id=2&article_id=571&page_number=1

 

K Meyer

[celerystalksme]

Karssie,

 

I've already ordered the Contax T3. For me, it came down to size and price. From what I have read, the Leica is not really pocketable...you can't take it with you everywhere. Also, I got the Contax T3 for just about half the price of the Leica CM.

 

I do believe the Leica has a better lens...but it's pretty close. So I think I'll be happy.

 

As for the Rollei AFM 35...I read several articles about that one as well. It's the same camera as the Fuji Klasse. It's a very good camera at a VERY VERY good price!!! But it's VERY tough to find. The only places I could find them at were a couple highly disreputable online places...and based on what I've read here at photo.net, I did not feel comfortable ordering from them. Otherwise, I suppose you could search eBay everyday waiting for someone to auction it...but I don't have the patience for that.

[yongfei]

I am from China. In my country, Oriental (= East) is a very very good word. It represents sensitive, mystic and romantic feelings. Asia is a more matter-of-fact discriptive word. That's why we have a train called Oriental Express ;)

 

So I guess one man's perfume is another man's poison.

[joseph_lee4]

I currently have Contax T3, Leica Minilux, Olympus Stylus Epic, Yashica T4, Ricoh GR1s, and Ricoh GR10. Out of these P&S cameras my favorite is Contax T3. Second favorite is Ricoh GR1/10. Pictures I get from Contax T3 rivals pictures from my Fuji GA645zi.

[havenornirvana]

Sure the winner is T3...

[Allen Herbert]

The yashica T4 super

 

If we are actually talking P/S. Otherwise GR1. Why, because it's very small, you have a good degree of control, and the lens is the dogs bollocks. Real landscape photographers use it as a pockable camera, like Charlie Waite. A real world camera, not a posers delight.

 

And, it cost pennies. Hey, it's not fancy...sorry!

[lili_elrod]

I have had the Black Hexar for 7 years. In fact it is my primary camera, at least for people/travel/running around photography. It handles beautifully, fast smooth and quiet. The lens is superb. I would not call it a P&S though. As one of the posters here said, it fits in a class by itself. Dante Stella defines it as the one camera he would grab if he had to leave on a round-the-world-trip and had 5 minutes to pack.

I agree with that assessment.

My P&S's are a mint Minox 35GL and a Ricoh R-1.

The Minox has the same focal length lens as the Hexar (I LOVE the 35mm Focal Length and enjoy the one lens challenge), is very sharp, tiny and quiet.

The Ricoh is slim, elegant, and full of features. The view finder is quite good. It also has a very fragile LCD display which fails often makes finding the correct flash mode (or any mode for that matter) very difficult. The lens is a bit too wide for my taste for shots of people (but it does very well on objects like buildings).

The result is that the Minox 35 is with me all the time.

Exactly the main purpose of a compact camera.

[thomas_e_loughlin_jr1]

<p>I am a professional and shoot with P and S cameras whenever I am in control of the overall scene and don't have to wave a behemoth of a camera at the subjects to get respect. I have sold other photos to major publications USING the behemoths which I could have easily created with a respectable point and shoot...risking much less if the "shoot" caused me drop the camera. (I do a lot of outdoor work and action). What a shame it is that one has to bring a TRANSFORMER or something out of Spielberg to impress clients.(that being my F90x Nikon filmer. VIVA FILM!<br>

I have had wonderful results with two cameras in particular..the Minox CD 70 a little workhorse with a magnificent metering system which makes no fuss..just great photos...and the second, the Canon Sure Shot Z135 and Caption version (phooey on captions and dates) The Canon's lens is great, the strobe is MIGHTY (two 3v 123 batteries) metering is wonderful, 7 shooting modes and the thing is metal. I shot with it even when a scalp injury had me (and it) covered in blood lying in the street in my home town due to a fall. ..blood that made my cell phone inoperative. The canon AW 1 waterproof-underwater has a stunning lens, too... but there are my two Minox and Canon.<br>

Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica NY</p>