Compact digi cameras with FAST LENSES and manual controls

[miguel_flora]

Hey<p>

I am interested in buying a compact digital camera with intuitive controls and a

fast(1.8/2.0) wide (28 or 35, in 35mm equivalent) lens.<p>

I've read a lot about this and the best I could found is a 4 year old Olympus

5050! http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympusc5050z I am considering getting the

5050 (seeing Majoli's pictures helped), but I just thought I'd ask if there is a

more recent sucessor to the 5050 (doesn't have to be Olympus) that keeps that

fast lens. They all seem 2.8 these days.<p>

 

Thanks<p>

 

Miguel Flora

[andyaitken]

I'm afraid not. The closest you'll get is a Canon G6 with f2.0-f3.0 35mm-140mm equiv. (new G7 has f2.8). A friend has a 5050 but finds there is a lot of AF lag.

[mars c]

I dont think there is a newly released digicam like the one you discribed.

 

But todays digicams has higher iso setting with lower noise than the OLY 5050 or 7070. and also comes with IS. Like a Canon 710 is or a G7 and various Sony T series model.

 

I think the Oly 5050 is only up to iso 400, by increasing the Iso setting of the current digicam to Iso 800 With F 2.8 lens, You'll get almost the same speed.

 

But it would still be better to have f 1.8 than f2.8 digicam, IMO.

 

So dear, Canon and Sony, please grant our wish.

[andyaitken]

Of course there's always the Leica M8...

[tom_s.]

If you're looking for a fast lens for low-light use, take a look at the Fuji F30. The lens isn't particuarly fast, but the camera *is* better at low-light than many other compact digicams out there.

 

If you want a fast lens for shallow depth of field-- FORGET IT! To my knowledge, all compact digicams use tiny sensors, making shallow depth of field impossible at normal to wide zoom settings. (Might be somewhat possible when zoomed in all the way.)

 

There is a large Sony "bridge" model that uses a larger chip, but I wouldn't call it a compact digicam.

 

I should add, this is the reason why folks who like "fast, wide" desire a full frame DSLR so much...

[jcuknz]

The 'fast' lens is less needed with digital unless the reason is limited DoF becuase you can lift an image by a stop in editing without any great problem. What I would be concerned at is the way the zoom closes down [in effect] as you zoom out. So a constant f/2.8 would be better than an f/2-f/4.

[chema_perez]

agree about the little DOF. impossible to get with compact digicams.

But if you want to make sharp pictires with low light, there is a lot of digicams that have now added optical and/or sensor vibration reduction.

 

The new Panasonic LX2 has a wide 28mm equiv f:2,8 and manual controls plus vibration reduction.

 

BUT I've seen reviews that say the HI ISO seting have some noise.

 

In HI ISO settings, the Fujis seem to be the better ones as they have larger sensors. The new S6500fd Have 28mm f2.8, manual controls AND HiISO settings up to 3200 (don't know if it has optical or sensor vibration reduction).

[joe tarrant]

Oh, it's not just me, then. I went through this exercise some time ago and didn't find

anything that seemed to suit. I was looking for something like a Hexar AF or maybe a

compact-rangefinder-like camera (not necessarily an RF, though) in digital. Is anybody

doing this? No. I'd happily settle for a fixed 35mm/f2-equivalent. And you can forget

about wides, apart from Ricoh's GR Digital, which kinda fits the bill, but which didn't

exactly get a rave review in Amateur Photographer. In the end, I bought a Fujifilm S20,

which had some of the answers but not all. I don't see any alternative but to find the

smallest DSLR available (why is nobody doing compact little dslrs?) and put a fast 28 or 35

on it which would work very well for me. But still not what I wanted. All these camera

companies and all competing with each other, rather than for my attention.

[nagle]

I have an Oly 5050. great quality camera except for mega barrel distortion, and worst of all, start up time is so long, it gives you enough time to make a nice cup of tea, and pop down to the shops for a packet of biscuits to go with it........etc etc etc :)