Which P&S for good quality pictures ?

[robson_lin]

I am looking into buying a P&S camera for taking great outdoor

pictures when I go hiking. I narrowed it down to 3 choices:

1) Yashica T4 Zoom (28-70mm)

2) Pentax ESPIO 928M (28-90mm)

3) Minolta Zoom Explorer EX (28-75mm)

 

The Yashica has a great lens, the Pentax has great features and the

same goes for the Minolta.

 

Can someone please tell me which one is better?

 

thanks in advance,

 

Robson Lin

[marbing]

There won't be much experience with the Yashica T4zoom from North America. I am not expecting to see one before the middle of October. There has been some reservation over the speed of the lens on the Yashica (f4.5-f8) which pretty well limits you to 400 speed film or higher. It will be interesting to see how the T4 zoom compares to the old fixed lens T4 super.

 

The question of which is "better" depends on what you value as the most important features. The Yashica's lens has potential but is yet unproven. I am sure there are ESPIO and Minolta users who can comment on thier experiences.

[daniel flather]

Do you really need the zoom? P&S cameras with a zoom lens are truly horrid. The lens is usally a f8 / f11 at the long end. Look for a cammie with a single focal length lens.

[carl smith]

Olympus Stylus Epic. It's got an incredible lens and works great in torrential downpours.

[ccrevasse]

P&S cameras with zoom lenses are not necessarily horrid. I own both a Canon Sure Shot Classic 120 (38-120 zoom) and a Stylus Epic (35/2.8 lens). Of my two samples, the Canon is superior in every respect, most notably in image quality. This is not because I'm a fan of slow zooms; all my SLR lenses are fast primes. If I were you, I'd try to hold off until you can get more information about the Yashica T-Zoom. Also, Leica has introduced the Leica C-3, a P&S with a relatively fast 28-80 zoom lens, so I'd take a look at that, too.

[colin carron]

For P&S zooms I think the Canon range has a lot to say for it. As well as reasonable optics it is more strongly made than some others. For a comparative ruggedness test try (gently!) waggling the end of the zoom at its longest setting.

[ashley_hosten]

This chap (Ian Hall) seems to be doing pretty ok with his non-zoom Olympus point-&-shoot. Some of you folks might even give his effort a rating....

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo.tcl?photo_id=1031431

[ashley_hosten]

Ooops. I didn't recommend anything did I? Personally, I'd take a fixed lens p-&-s. Lens quality is definitely the decisive factor for me. Can't recommend any makes though. You could check out "www.photographyreview.com" to see what some p-&-s users have to say.

[pphaneuf]

The Olympus Stylus Epic is the one. Non-zoom, but oh, so good!

[carl_weller]

yup, i agree. the olympus stylus epic is the best p/s for the money. small, light, and takes a great picture.

[bob haight]

For the money and value the Olympic Stylus Epic is head and shoulders above everything else out there. I think they go for about $80.00. Alot of pros use them as backups for "grab" shots.

[harry_voutsinas]

I have a Minolta Explorer since 1996. It has been a great camera. It has a fast maximum apertureof 3.5 at 28mm(for a P/S) and has a maximum shutter of 8 seconds.Another feature is a continuous drive mode. The new version zooms to 75MM and has a remote control,all for $145 at B&H.

The Yashica has a maximum aperture of 4.5 and cost $200.

The Zeiss has an estimated price of $400.

On a trip to Utah parks, one of my Olympus OM's broke.(I shoot both slide and print film) I used the Explorer for the balance of the trip with print film and was very satisfied with the results.

It may not have as good a lens as the other two(no reviews yet)

but if money matters , this is a good choice.

[henry_miller3]

Read the "comments" with much interest. I was surprised that the Yash. T4 zoom(4.5-8) was mentioned but not the Konica Lexio 70(3.4-7.9). Would the Konica be preferred over the Yashica?

[patrick_c1]

So I am deciding between the Olympus Stylus Epic (<$100) and the Yashica T4 Zoom (~$200). There are a lot of different opinions here. What I want is the best pictures available. I don't care about the zoom. Does anyone have an opinion or has done a direct comparison as to which of these produces better results? This is what I gather from previous posts:

 

Epic = good pictures, fast focus, multipoint focusing spotty if you press button immediately without pressing halfway, smaller and lighter camera than T4, bad red eye, faster exposure (1/1000 sec), cheaper

 

Yashica = not as sharp as predecessor (t4 super), but still sharper than epic?? slower focusing, not as good in low light as epic, better or punchier color reproduction than epic?

 

so basically i don't really care much about the price difference, having a zoom, which one's prettier etc. All i want is that it makes better pictures. Was going to consider the Ricoh, but it costs too much and It has wide angle lense, and as i've noticed before, people really don't like the site of their distorted close up shots, which often happens at social gatherings. I'm just an amateur so forgive any misuse of terminology etc. Thanks.

[patrick_c1]

Thanks Craig,

Now given that the pictures are better, which do you prefer to use? does the distortion or slow focusing bother you? does the olympus perform better under low-light conditions (without flash)? I wish they just made the old T4 so i wouldn't have to think about it, although i would get pretty annoyed if i had to deal with the problems (rewinding in the middle of a roll, number of ruined shots per roll) that some people have been reporting.

[patrick_c1]

Thanks. It's really helpful to hear from someone who has been able to compare them side by side. I'll probably end up with the t4zoom. so when you are doing portraits, do you zoom in a little and then take a step back so as not to produce any distortion @28mm. also, doesn't the lag annoy you when you are trying to take a quick, spontaneous shot?