Hello all,
I am shopping for a new digital camera and after doing much reading, i see that for digital cameras, the larger the sensor..the better the image quality. and also that megapixels are not as important and is more a marketing strategy now. for instance, sony just introduced the 12 megapixel DSC-W200. do you really need 12mp or should i look for the biggest sensor? the bottom line is: what point and shoot camera offers the largest sensor ( best image quality?) I know a Digital SLR will give much better pictures but what point and shoot compact has the largest sensor? There are many. I had the same feelings as you do and after answering questions here for about 8 months, I finally decided to get a Canon Powershot SD900. I was going to buy the SD700-IS as I think it is a great camera and a few respected members own it and recommend it highly, but they were out of stock everywhere and it gave me time to re-think my purchase. This is going to be a pocket camera to use when I don't want to carry one of my SLR's with me, but I still want really great image quality from the camera. Anyhow, after months and months of reading reviews, the SD900 was my top choice. I found a review in Popular Photography the day after I ordered my Canon that suggests that maybe the Pentax Optio A20 would have been a better choice, but, I'm happy with my purchase. The Pentax does have shake reduction, so that's a plus, but I doubt this will be necessary in a camera that only zooms to an equivalent of 114 mm.
Go here to see the comparison article on 5 compact cameras with 1/1.8" sensors and see what you think. If you really don't want to read reviews, I am still happy that I am got the Canon SD900 and this would be my recommendation for anyone at this point, since it is what I chose for myself. I ordered from B&H Photo where the price is $330 (today) for the SD900. (Please note that this chart incorrectly states that the Pentax Optio A20 has a 1/2.5" sensor. That is incorrect. It has a 1/1.8" sensor.)
http://www.popphoto.com/cameras/3471/hig... Click on the name of each camera to read a detailed review.
After about one month of using the SD900, I am so happy with it that I bought one to give to my niece as an engagement present. I am that confident in the camera.
I also bought a 5-year Mack warranty for $50. If you are even a little paranoid or clutzy, I feel that it is money well-spent. These are somewhat delicate compared to SLR's.
Here is a comparison page with all five 10 MP cameras mentioned in the PopPhoto article. Click on "In-depth review" and "Read Owner Opinions" for each camera. Be sure to note that the reviews are many pages long so you don't stop after page one. Check the sample images, also. You can enlarge these to full size images if you click on the link below the picture. You will have to then put your cursor in the white space to the right of the picture and click once. After that, you can pass your cursor over the image and it will turn into a magnifier. Click it as a magnifier once and the image will go to full size and you can really examine the detail or look for artifacts like fringing or noise.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_...
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_revi...
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canonsd9...
http://www.cameras.co.uk/camera-reviews/...
Here is one photo I put on-line that I took with the SD900. Click on "All Sizes" and view this as large as possible and check out the birds. This was taken right after sunset and there were no enhancements in afterprocessing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7189769@N04...
Here's another photo with no post-processing at all. It was taken at the full 111 mm (equiv) zoom. It was taken in the fully automatic mode with no help from me at all. The horizon is crooked because the camera was resting on the top of my car. I did not want to alter anything, because this is part of a 3-image series comparing optical zoom with cropping to digital zoom. You can look at the other pictures while you are there and see why optical zoom is all that matters.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7189769@N04...
Here's an SD900 photo with a moderate amount of post-processing, but not so much as to make it appear artificial. This was taken in macro mode from about 6 or 8 inches away.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstei...
Here is a comparison between 10 MP image from the SD900 and a 6 MP image from an SD700-IS, but you can use it as a sample image from the SD900.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7189769@N04...
Here is another sample that is not intended to show off the SD900 so much, but to comapare it for the sake of a discussion on sensor size. However, you can get an idea of the general quality of the image.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7189769@N04... http://www.fairchildimaging.com/products...
at a massive 85 megapixels /\
canon has a new camera that can shoot at iso9000 with a pretty big sensor
also Olympus has the FE-250 which is a 8 megapixel that can go all the way upto iso10000 The link below will help you figure out what size a "large" sensor is. The way they measure point and shoot sensors is counter-intuitive to me.
4/3 inch seems to be the largest non-DSLR sensor, but the only cameras I have seen with this senor are "SLR-like" cameras, not really point and shoot.
As you can see you will have to do a lot of research to get your answer unless someone here actually owns one of these large size sensor cameras. Most people confuse MP count with sensor size (not you I can see). One is the physical size of the senor and the other is how many pixels have been squeezed into it.
The old Minolta DiMAGE 7Hi had a large sensor as did the Sony DSC-F717. The Sony DSC-W200 has about a 1/3rd smaller senor but three times the pixel count. It's not really a competition who has the largest sensor, but a large sensor does, as you mentioned, lead to better image quality often times. The two models that stand out to me are Fuji's F31 fd (with a 1/1.8" sensor), and Canon's SD900 which has a sensor of the same size. Both offer good image quality. The F31d has six megapixels, and features an actually usable ISO 800 setting. The SD900 has 10 megapixels (which I'm sure you can turn down) and those pixels actually lead to more captured detail, and better noise performance compared the Canon's SD850 IS, albeit it doesn't offer a usable ISO 800. It's worth noting that both cameras don't have optical image stabilization, so the F31 works slightly better as a low-light camera.
I'm not familiar with any bridge cameras with large sensors, but by no doubt do they have large sensors. Again, good thing to keep in mind is that the F31 is the only (mainstream) compact camera that has a usable ISO 800. Where other compact cameras will produce very noisy results. Sigma has announced the DP-1 with an APS-C sized sensor (same as in their line of DSLR's) and 14MP, but only a fixed lens with a 28mm FOV. Sony produced the now discontinued DSC-R1 that had a 10MP sensor which was just slightly smaller than their DSLR offerings and was mated to a Zeiss lens with a 24-120mm FOV zoom. This camera is pretty much legendary now, and commands a price equal to or even surpassing the price of the camera when it was in regular production. These 2 are the only point and shoots that come to mind with a larger than average sensor. Now, let me throw a little wrench into this discussion, the Olympus E330, a DSLR model that is now being replaced. It has a live-view LCD (lets you compose your pics from the LCD), a larger sensor than most digital p&s (but smaller than standard DSLR sensors), and the kit lenses are of better quality than anything you will find in a p&s. Prices are rapidly dropping, but so is the supply so that may raise the price in the near future. If you need more tips on digital camera, visit http://www.cameratips4u.com/photography/... |
