Canon Powershot S2 vs Panasonic FZ5 vs Sony DSC-H1? Which one?

[CyberStorm]

Hi,
I have been a frequesnt visitor at dcresource since over a year and am getting a digital camera after a 2 year gap (I previously owned a Nikon coolpix 4300).

If none of the retail stores gave such a hassle with their return policy, I'd buy both Powershot S2 and FZ-5 and then just try them out and return the one that doesn't suit my needs.

I would consider my seld an amateur/semi-expert user.

Based on my needs I hope you can help me make up my mind about which camera to get.

What I care about:
Picture quality MOST IMPORTANT! (indoors, evening/night shots, I photograph mainly people) [most cameras take decent daytime shots]. This is the factor that carries the MOST weight. I need a camera that can take pics with colors and contrast as close to the scene I was shooting.

Quality of macro shots (I sell a lot of stuff on ebay, my user name is Lahoree there) and the quality of macro mode is very important to me. So if I am ever selling you cameras/accessories there, you can rest assured, you'll get the item(s) as described

Since the camera is used in lowlight, is the picture in the LCD viewable at all? I know the Canon has a gain-up feature. I was at a camp fire and you couldn't see what you were shooting through my friend's Sony digicam (one of the slimmer models).

Red eye (since I shoot mostly people, i get tired of using software to remove red-eyes). as far as the reviews suggest, they are not that prevelant in either model. Someone here who has had a different experience?

Manual settings

Some sort of manual focus (focus ring not necessary). And if there is no manual focus, then how good does auto focusing work on these cameras (especially in low light situations)?

Chromatic abberations (purple fringing and stuff) Does the Fz-20 have the venus II engine as well?




What I do NOT care about:
Movie mode (I'll probably use this only 10% of the time)

Size doesn't matter. I carry a shoulder strap camera bag for my SLR (Nikon N80) with me any way.

Batteries. I don't care if it uses AA or not, i can buy another Li-Ion battery if need be.

LCD screen size does not matter.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I would appreciate any advice you can give me. I am looking to purchase a camera within the next week or so.

[speaklightly]

With your requirement for a lot of low light levels capability, perhaps you should take a look at the Fuji F-10 which can us ISO settings up to ISO1600.

Here is a night shot done with the F-10 that show what it can do.

Sarah Joyce

[camerafreak707]

not trying to be rude, but i think about 10 people per week ask this question. Therefore, just look around this forum before you post this question, cause I'm sure others get tired of seeing the same question over and over and over again.

[abhinav]

There are umpteen threads going on this comparison. Just to summarise,
FZs are very good at PF but their LCD/EVF has room for improvement (in low light conditions). Sony H1 and Canon S2 both have PF issues.
Canon and Pana have been reported to have Red Eye problem. And all of these are noisy at higer ISOs. However, I guess these issues (noise/pf) may not matter if you are printing 4/6 or 5/7. S2 and H1 are newborn, FZs have a history.

[CyberStorm]

Sarah: Thanks for pointing out the Fuji, but unfortunately it only has a 3x optical zoom and I am looking for something in the mega zoom market.

camerafreak: I know there are many topics like this out there but they're very vague as to what type of photos one wants to take, no one gets specific about anything.

PF? Point focus? The Fz-20 has absolutely insanely fast focus, I demoed one in the store. The Fz5 wasn't powered so wasn't able to test it. I am still waiting for the Ps2 to show up in stores.

I guess a little red eye won't hurt.

[speaklightly]

Cyberstorm-

I felt the Pansonic FZ-20 was a good camera, but just too large for me. I sold the FZ-20 and purchased the FZ-5. IT is also fast focusing as well and pleasantly smaller.

Sarah Joyce

[abhinav]

Originally Posted by CyberStorm

PF? Point focus? ...

PF = Purple Fringing - A type of Chromatic Aberration.