please help with my final choice!

[caroline nixon]

Thanks for your help - I've read and read the reviews but still can't make up my mind !

I do mostly travel photography, and am changing to digital from an SLR (EOS 30) Despite a wish for good quality images I want something MUCH smaller and lighter.Would prefer not to go bigger than the canon S2 IS if possible.

Budget under $600 but not that critical

I mostly print at 5 x7 at present but would like to be able to print up to A4 .I'm assuming that 5 mp will be OK for this ,please tell me if I'm wrong!

I'd like a zoom equivalent to around 35-200 or more and definitely want IS

Image quality is pretty important, but I'm willing to sacrifice a bit for portability. Photos will be almost entirely for my own pleasure, but I have sold images for books in the past and would want to be getting good enough quality pics for this still to be an option.

Option fo manual control is important

I shall not be doing many low light shots, and not sports shots as such, but do want to be able to grab quick candid shots and shots of moving people/vehicles etc

I have pretty much narrowed it down to Canon S2 IS and panasonic Lumix Z5

- is there another model I should seriously be considering?
- not having had a digital camera before I'm not sure how much extra benefit the tilt and fold screen of the Canon will be - seems to me it might be v useful for candid shots?
- am I going to wish I'd gone for something that shoots RAW? How much better is TIFF than jpeg?

Thanks again, caroline

[coldrain]

TIFF is not better than JPEG. It is just a lot BIGGER.
The reason for RAW is that JPEG(and TIFF) can not hold the entire dynamic range of the sensor. RAW will therefor give a bigger buffer to work with when you want/need to change colour, contrast and white balance in the photo.

For RAW to be really have that edge you need to have a camera that is capable of giving good results in teh first place though... I would not let my choice of compact camera hinge on RAW possibility.

5mp will most certainly be enough to print A4 size. A3 will also be ok.

The swivel screen can give a lot more possibilities than you may think now. You can make photos over your head, when needed... or from frog perspective without having to lay in the wet grass or dirt. Or around corners. Or self portraits... or or or

I think the S2 IS would be a very good idea to discover digital with, and you can always later opt for a digital EOS body (like a compact 350D) when you feel the need... you have some lenses to use already anyway.

[caroline nixon]

thanks for your very comprehensive answer.
Should I be adding sony DSC H1 to my shortlist?

[coldrain]

The Sony H1 is a bit better where ISO 400 is concerned, so if that is important to you, yes.

I like the S2 IS more personally, better colours in greens and water to my eyes, more natural, and the swivel LCD, SD card, battery time and panoramic mode just make it the nicer package I think.

[Jason25]

thanks for your very comprehensive answer.
Should I be adding sony DSC H1 to my shortlist?
If you use flash a lot, the H1 is probably not for you. It is a great camera though, I love mine for what it can do :)