Canon S1IS vs. Lumix DMC-FZ10K vs. Konica Z3

[Korbo]

Want:

- Image Stabilzer
- Opt Zoom >= 8x
- may print some 8x10, but usually smaller
- indoor/outdoor
- easy to use


Ideas ?


Thank you in advance.

[speaklightly]

Your three choices all meet your requirements. These are not pont and shoot digital cameras, but they are not difficult digital cameras either. tell us a bit about your background, your goals, and if a budget is involved in this choice.

Sarah Joyce

[wax]

FZ10? that's an awkward one. you should either wait for FZ20 to come out, or go for Z3(if time is a factor). regarding S1 IS,....... it doesn't has too many functions stated in Z3.

[Korbo]

Your three choices all meet your requirements. These are not pont and shoot digital cameras, but they are not difficult digital cameras either. tell us a bit about your background, your goals, and if a budget is involved in this choice.

Sarah Joyce

Thanks ...

I shoot mainly family pictures ... inside and out. My kids don't stay in one place very long, so I would much prefer to use Auto Focus instead of manual. Plus I don't have a lot of time to read manuals and get smart on all the features of a complex camera.

Picture quality is very important ... I probably wouldn't shoot many 8x10's though.

I prefer to use the lens finder on the camera (not the display) to shoot for stability ... I prefer to use two hands and push the camera against my face to better hold it steady. I really don't care for some cameras I have tried in the stores where the image in the view finder on the camera is not the true image that the picture takes.

I like the 10x features of the cameras I mentioned, but would never screw around with a tripod, so I figured the image stabilizer would be a requirement.

I guess for 80% of the pictures I take, 3x is good enough, so maybe I could relax the requirement for 10x ... although for the other 20%, it would be nice to have.

Perhaps there are other cameras, such as the Canon A95, that would work better? Is the A95 picture quality noticeably better than the S1IS? If it is, I guess I would trade zoom for picture quality .. although, of course, I'd like to have everything !

My old camera used CF, so I'd prefer to stay with that if possible. I also like the AA battery option for convenience.

Price is not a huge consideration, but I guess around the $500 range is about what I would like to spend.

So that's pretty much it ... if you need more info, please let me know.

Thanks again for whatever info you can provide !

[speaklightly]

Why not take a look at the Canon S-1 then. It will give you 10X optical in a very compact package and it uses CF chips. It sells on the internet for $US 340.

Sarah Joyce

[Korbo]

Why not take a look at the Canon S-1 then. It will give you 10X optical in a very compact package and it uses CF chips. It sells on the internet for $US 340.

Sarah Joyce

Thanks - is the picture quality as good as the A95?

[Korbo]

Thanks.

Two more questions if you don't mind:

1) Is the picture quality of the S1IS as good as the A95?

2) As a beginner, I don't understand what you mean by the S1 not being 'point and shoot'. What makes the S1 different than a 'point and shoot' camera ?

[speaklightly]

The main issue that I was attempting to convey, and perhaps it was an incorrect way of doing it, was simply ease of use.

Point & Shoot, at least to me seems to convey a concept of ease and simplicity. Therefore, when I decribed the Canon S-1 as not a point & shoot digital camera, I was attempting to convey that there was more complexity to the camera, its features, and it menus and functions.

When comparing the Canson S-1 with the Canon A-95 there are some large differences. Firstly, the A-95, at 5mp exceeds the Canon S-1's 3.2mp. However, the 10X optical zoom of the Canon S-1 far exceeds the Canon A-95's 3X optical zoom. Suffice to say these two are just different digital cameras directed at different digital camera markets.

Sarah Joyce

[Korbo]

The main issue that I was attempting to convey, and perhaps it was an incorrect way of doing it, was simply ease of use.

Point & Shoot, at least to me seems to convey a concept of ease and simplicity. Therefore, when I decribed the Canon S-1 as not a point & shoot digital camera, I was attempting to convey that there was more complexity to the camera, its features, and it menus and functions.

When comparing the Canson S-1 with the Canon A-95 there are some large differences. Firstly, the A-95, at 5mp exceeds the Canon S-1's 3.2mp. However, the 10X optical zoom of the Canon S-1 far exceeds the Canon A-95's 3X optical zoom. Suffice to say these two are just different digital cameras directed at different digital camera markets.

Sarah Joyce


Thanks !

Another question if you don't mind:

I have a hard time using the display to take a picture due to stability issues ... I prefer to use the view finder as I mentioned. But I get annoyed at the picture not matching what I see in the view finder.

So how do most camera users get around this 'problem'? Do they use the display and still have a steady hand? Or do they mentally compensate when looking at the view finder, knowing it doesn't match? Or do they crop it later?

Thanks again !

[John_Reed]

Thanks !

Another question if you don't mind:

I have a hard time using the display to take a picture due to stability issues ... I prefer to use the view finder as I mentioned. But I get annoyed at the picture not matching what I see in the view finder.

So how do most camera users get around this 'problem'? Do they use the display and still have a steady hand? Or do they mentally compensate when looking at the view finder, knowing it doesn't match? Or do they crop it later?

Thanks again !With my Panasonic FZ cameras (FZ1 & FZ10), I don't really see much difference between the EVF display and the final image. Even with my glasses on, which is how I shoot anyway, the field in the EVF can be fully seen, and the colors pretty well match the end result. And I agree that using the EVF makes it a lot easier to hold the camera steady.

[speaklightly]

Digital camera that use an EVF such as the Canon S-1 show 92 to 98% of the actual digital photo taken. In contrast optical viewfinders show only 71 to 80% of the actual digital photo taken. An LCD shows about 98% of the actual digital photo taken. So not one of them shows 100%.

The least accurate, the optical viewfinders, were designed to show less in an effort to avoid chopping off heads and the like. The LCD and EVF's were later and more precise developments. Therefore, the showed a bit more.

If I understand your situation correctly, Korbo, it appears that an EVF would work the best for you. Another alternative would be to use a monopod.

Sarah Joyce