Compact cameras

[gary_conrad1]

<p>I am headed to tuscany in a few months. My fiancee has a Nikon P90 that I like with the exception of the fact that the maximum aperture is f8. I need a camera this size that will allow me to get much more depth of field. My other camera on this trip is a Wista 4 x 5, so no I don't want a D90 or the like. I need something to go in a pocket with a built in zoom. What would you recommend?</p>

[phule]

<p>[[My fiancee has a Nikon P90 that I like with the exception of the fact that the maximum aperture is f8. I need a camera this size that will allow me to get much more depth of field.]]</p>

<p>I think you need to take a look at the DoF Calculator for the P90 at f/8. I think you will be surprised at the results. Remember to use the actual focal length of the lens, not the 35mm equivalent field of view.<br>

<br /> http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html</p>

[joel_covey]

<p>Hate to say it in a Nikon forum but buy a Canon and add the free CHDK (google it) firmware extension. It adds all the stuff the Canon Marketing folks left out of the camera-starting with RAW--plus some features they never thought of. By now there are 30-40 cameras supported (check the list) so you should find what you need.</p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>A max aperture on a compact camera of F/8 is already way in the red zone for diffraction. Compact cameras have a depth of field that is simply quite enormous, "thanks" to the mini-sized sensor (especially compared to a 4x5!). In most cases f/4 will already render everything in focus for a normal subject distance. For most compacts, a 6mm lens is equal to 38mm on 135 film - so that's how much smaller it all is. Don't use film-logic on digital compacts :-)</p>

<p>So the Nikon should be fine, although I could imagine you would still want your "own" compact maybe. In which case, frankly, I would not recommend a Nikon. For compacts, I believe Canon and Panasonic simply have better offers.<br>

The panasonic LX-3 gets good reviews for a compact with decent quality photos and a versatile enough feature set. Personally I have an Ixus which is OK-ish, well built and extremely pocketable.</p>

<p>How about a small DSLR? The D90 is somewhat large, the D3000/D60 are much smaller. Nice as compacts can be, they tend to frustrate if you are used to the control and speed of a SLR. So a DSLR with a small lens could be a nice in-between solution.</p>

[Peter_in_PA]

<p>Compact? Canon!</p>

[cc_chang2]

<p>How compact is really compact enough for you to still be able to deliver shallow DOF? The smallest Nikon dSLR is D3000 now? The Olympus E620 is very small as a traditional dSLR, but you need to invest in buying new lenses. The Panasonic and Olympus have come up with several innovated cameras in the m3/4 format that are small and still allow the use of interchangeable lenses. My favorite of the two is the Panasonic G1 weighs about 280 g (as compared to the D90 which is almost 600g), which you can still find in the market. The G1 has been replaced by the GH1, which is the best hybrid camera to also shoot HD movies. It is impossible to find a GH1, and it is only sold as a kit with a nice zoom lens that can AF silently for $1,500. The LX3 as some mentioned is a nice P&S but it will not give you shallow DOF unless you do macro and it is also hard to find. None of these cameras are easily pocketable so you need a bag. If you need to carry a bag, it probably does not matter whether you get a Nikon D3000 or a GH1/LX3 since with the former, you do not need to buy new lenses.</p>

<p>On the other hand, not all good pictures have shallow DOF. If you can find a LX3, you can still get very interesting pictures using its wide angle lens (25/2) by proper framing and composing. </p>

[jeannean_.]

<p>I'll have to agree with Peter. I think Canon makes the best P&S for travel type cameras hands down. I started with a Canon Digital Elph100 many years ago and have moved along with them up to the 890IS. This thing takes great P&S type pics and can provide a fairly decent (not great for any of them) DOF...plus the zoom is freakin' awesome...and can fit in your pocket. If you're looking for the best pocket size camera, look at Canon's. Nikon might beat Canon in other areas, but not in consumer pocket cameras, if that's what you're looking for. I love Nikon DSLR's, but for pocket size P&S's, I recommend Canon.</p>

[oskar_ojala]

<p>Panasonic or Canon are the brands to go with now. I've been hearing and seeing a lot of good things done with the Panasonic LX3, a photographers compact. Although if money isn't tight and compact doesn't need to be ultra small, then the Olympus E-P1 seems to be the best game in town right now.<br>

But as others said, the sensor size is very small in the typical compact, f8 gives plenty of DOF.</p>

[peter]

<p>Because these compacts have a small sensor the lenses are small too. And because the lens is small the aperture is small. F8 on a tiny camera like this is probably physically the size of f16 or f22 ( or something smaller ) on a 35mm format camera. This means f8 will give much greater depth of field than you would normally expect it to as DOF is driven by the physical size ofthe aperture - not its F number which is a relative measure.</p>

<p>The opposite applies too - go to a large fomat film camera and f8 would be physically much larger than in a 35mm format camera. This is why Ansell Adams the famous landscape photographer could get away with shooting f64 - the actual size was much larger than you would imagine.. </p>

<p>I would be very surprised if this camera did not give you the DOF you need. Incidentally the reason camera manufacturers do not make smaller apertures on these compacts is that because they are so small as described above if the camera lens had say an F16 aperture setting you would certainly get image degradation because of diffraction of the light passing through it. This is what happens when the "hole" gets smaller and is too close in size to the wavelenght of the light passing thru it.</p>

[photo5]

<p>I have a Panasonic Lumix FX-35 compact camera. For the small size it takes outstanding photos up to ISO 1600. It also can shoot 720p video. I brought it along to London last fall and it was a great stealth camera. Colors aren't nearly as good as the Nikon D300 I also brought, but for a small quick-grab camera it is wonderful. Drop it in your pocket and forget about it.</p>

[hernan_enriquez]

<p>I agree with Wouter and Jeannean, a compact will give you the DOF you need in your landscape shots, no bad surprices, and Canon P&S is the way to go, at present I am using the 10 MP, 4X Powershot A1000 IS (140 dls.) For speed and variety of settings I have tne very handy Sony A200 DSLR. Have a fabulous trip, I'll be going to Arizona next month.<br>

Hernan</p>