Compact with RAW

[millertime]

Budget

Under 600

Size

Compact

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you?

5 megapixels is good enough but if it has more no problem

* What optical zoom will you need?

3x is good

* How important is “image quality” to you?

10

Do you care for manual controls?

White balance and focus would be a plus

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?
Taking pictures ;) Vacations, Parties

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?

8x10 would be the largest

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?

Not alot


Do you need any of the following special features?

Needs a raw shooting mode.

Image Stabilization would be a plus

[StefH]

Manual focus: there won't be many choices: I'd say go for Fuji S6000/S6500. Its 6MP Super-CCD is said to be one of the best compact-sensors (well, maybe the best) produced in the last few years. The zoom is slightly more than you wanted 28-300mm (equiv.) :D
It has raw, but no IS (but higher ISOs are more usable than with other compact cams)

(and well, your budget: is it 600 apples, or dollars or euro?!? ;) )

[David Metsky]

Why bother shooting in RAW, with all the post processing needed, if you're not going to use manual controls to really get the best from your camera?

Here's the list of all non-DSLRs that support RQA.

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/cameraList.php?search=1&manSearch=0&resSearch=0&zoomSearch=0&storageSearch=0&cameraTypeSearch=1&priceSearch=0&lcdSearch=0&batterySearch=0&rawSearch=Y&submit.x=28&submit.y=3

Most are ultrazooms, is that what you want?

[millertime]

Manual focus: there won't be many choices: I'd say go for Fuji S6000/S6500. Its 6MP Super-CCD is said to be one of the best compact-sensors (well, maybe the best) produced in the last few years. The zoom is slightly more than you wanted 28-300mm (equiv.) :D
It has raw, but no IS (but higher ISOs are more usable than with other compact cams)

(and well, your budget: is it 600 apples, or dollars or euro?!? ;) )


600 apples if I could find a camera store to accept them. I meant $600 US dollars

[millertime]

Why bother shooting in RAW, with all the post processing needed, if you're not going to use manual controls to really get the best from your camera?

Here's the list of all non-DSLRs that support RQA.

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/cameraList.php?search=1&manSearch=0&resSearch=0&zoomSearch=0&storageSearch=0&cameraTypeSearch=1&priceSearch=0&lcdSearch=0&batterySearch=0&rawSearch=Y&submit.x=28&submit.y=3

Most are ultrazooms, is that what you want?

I want to learn and see what can be done in the post processing. I could always switch back to jpg if needed.

The link only shows current cameras I'm willing to buy an older camera if it has the options I want. The camera doesn't have to be an ultrazoom.

[David Metsky]

I want to learn and see what can be done in the post processing. I could always switch back to jpg if needed.
You can do a lot more during image capture then you can in post processing. It doesn't really matter, since all cameras that shoot RAW have full manual controls.

All of these cameras have some sort of manual focus. Only the Fuji has the manual focus ring; the others use the buttons which is a pain. Are you looking for a focus ring?

[spaceweasel]

The RAW Compact that will give you the best photos is the Canon Powershot G9, with out a doubt.

[seo]

I would suggest Fuji S6000fd or Fuji E900 depending on what size you want.

[millertime]

The G9 doesn't look bad but the 1/1.7" Sensor @ 12 Megapixel seems like you'd have a lot of noise.

What about the G6? Does anyone have experience with it?