Compact; with shutter speed & aperture options.

[TB2]

Hi.

It's a very simple request indeed ;)

I'm simply looking for the best compact camera which has all the manual options, especially shutter speed and aperture. So...

Needed:
- Ideally as small as a Sony DSC-P200 (my current one)
- Manual options for shutter speed and aperture
- Vivid colors
- Good macro

Not needed / don't care about:
- More than 3x zoom
- Image stabilization
- Optical finder
- LCD size

I still have the Sony DSC-P200 which was a small miracle when I bought it because it clearly was one of the best compacts out there while being surprisingly cheap. And it offers all the manual options. I'd love to keep it but there's a spit of dirt or something between the lenses and that creates some really ugly smudges if I take pictures against the sky or light backrounds. So I need to ditch it...

Both the proposed top models in the buyers guide, the "Canon PowerShot SD850 IS Digital ELPH" and the "Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3" don't offer manual options, which are really important to me.

Can anyone suggest a worthy successor to the DSC-P200?

Thanks!

[AndyfromVA]

There is only one subcompact camera I know of that has aperture/shutter priority and image stabilization and that's the Fuji F50fd. It also has vivid colors and a good macro. It doesn't have a viewfinder, though.

[tim11]

Since you also mentioned Panasonic TZ3 then your definition of 'compact' seems to grow considerably. Canon SX100 IS, which is direct competitor to TZ3 has the manual controls you want; and also most Canon A series. A720 IS isn't that large either; to me at least.

[TB2]

That Fuji only has a minimum shutter speed of 1 or 8 seconds. That's not exactly much for an occasional long exposure shot.

And the review on this site isn't really that positive. I guess I'll stick with my half broke P200 until there will be a better camera on the market.

---

The TZ3 isn't that big. It's also a matter of shape. A compact shaped brick is better than a bulgy thing, even if it might be a bit smaller. But I'll take choosing a larger model into account. Thanks.

[tim11]

A720 has shutter to 15 seconds I think. Not many compacts have long exposure capability beyond that; that's the DSLR territory.

[SANJU]

pentax optio a30 also has shutter priority, and manual mode....1/1.6 or 1/1.8 sensor...10 mp .very compact also......good IQ...it lacks aperture priority i think...but manual mode is available....
now a40 has come out and a30 u can get very cheaply..

[KCook]

Panasonic LX2, Sony H3, and Sony W200 all have full manual exposure modes. I've no clue how they compare to the Sony P200 though.

Kelly Cook

[davadd]

I just purchased the LZ10 after mulling over the choice between a Canon A590 IS, or the Panasonic. What finally decided it for me was the 30mm wide angle Leica lens; the Venus Engine IV (details about this camera and the new engine are at the Panasonic Global web site). It has the full complement of P/A/S/M features as well adjustments for white balance, sharpness, saturation, and contrast; and to top it all off it has five part Intelligent Auto for the times when I'm brainless, or lazy.
Unfortunately, I'm having a crisis of confidence because the camera is much smaller than previous LZ series cameras - in fact it's tiny! The case i\s also very small with no sticky places to grip. 'Tiny &Shiny".
It does , however, seem to take very good pictures on auto, or manual so I'm going to hang onto to it for a while to see if I can get used to it in the next week and a half.
Hope it helps.

[TB2]

Thanks for all the replies!

I read reviews about all the cameras you posted and I'm still very undecisive. There's no ideal solution at the moment. I don't understand why there aren't any camers like the P200 out there these days. The P200 had exposures up to 30 seconds, and there still was little noise. Black remained black, while many of the current cameras seem to have overaggressive noise reduction. I don't even need one of those 10-12 MP cameras. The 7.2 of the P200 are more than enough.

It's so unfortunate that the P200 is falling apart. :( There seems to be dust on the sensor and/or between the lenses, it sometimes turns of by itself, and the screen has a dead pixel. Although I don't care about that...

I guess I'll just wait for a better moment to buy a camera. I hope there will be a better one somewhere in the future...

[TB2]

Heh... I fixed my P200 half way ;)

Opened it up, unscrewed a few screwes, got to the sensor and cleaned it with a lense cloth. (Click to enlarge)

Before:
http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/6226/dsc07586co7.th.jpg (http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/6226/dsc07586co7.jpg)

After:
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/3509/dsc07588wm8.th.jpg (http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/3509/dsc07588wm8.jpg)

Half-disassembled:
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/8894/img7104nl8.th.jpg (http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/8894/img7104nl8.jpg)

Well, if I fell like doing it, I'll disassemble it completely and try to clean the lenses, too. It seems like all those parts aren't sealed well enough. I've read about many people having these problems, the dust on the sensor being the biggest problem. For me at least, it fixed about 70% of the dust. There's only this major stain remaining in the upper right corner.

The pictures were taken at 3x Zoom F10, which is the setting where the stains are most obvious. In "real life", only that "hairy" one that looks like a ^ is a real problem, and I got at least rid of that one :)

Still, once I find a better camera, I'll ditch this one. But now I'm not in a hurry anymore...

[mjsneddon]

I have no experience with the Sony camera you now use. However, I suggest that you at least consider the Panasonic LX2. I believe it qualifies as a compact - but not a subcompact camera. It has all the controls you would ever want in a point and shoot. And it works quite well with the following exceptions: 1) the flash is rather weak and 2) the manual focus is not easy to use -but this may be my own lack of experience (I don't really see the need of P&S camera with manual focus anyway.

Have a good day.