Is This A Good Time To "Upgrade" P&Ss?

mutefan@yahoo.com wrote:
> On Jan 8, 9:18 am, "Kinon O'Cann" <somewh...@over.the.rainbow> wrote:
>> The Panasonic shoots RAW.
>
> No kidding? THen why would it be $100 less than the S3?

Canon want to make more money from you? Panasonic sell more, have a more
efficient production line?

Adding raw would be a trivial software/firmware change.

David

On Mon, 08 Jan 2007 16:41:55 +0000, David J Taylor wrote:

> ray wrote:
> []
>> Suggest you look at the Kodak 'P' series. These are EVF high zoom
>> models. They have IS and shoot RAW, tiff, jpeg. I prefer the Kodak
>> models to other EVF cameras because they have a higher resolution EVF
>> - 237k pixels as opposed to about 110k for most others. I recently
>> purchased a P850 refurb from the Kodak online store for $250 (though
>> it's only 5mp).
>
> "5MP should be enough for anyone!"
>
> <G>
>
> David

Seems like it to me - when you consider that a doubling of pixels only
results in about a 1.4 factor of horizontal and vertical resolution -
going from 5 to 7 gives a horizontal and vertical improvement factor of
only 1.18.

mutefan@yahoo.com wrote:
> I'm in the market for a new point and shoot, having returned the DSLR
> that was ultimately a great disappointment. Ideally, I'd like a7+ MP
> camera with image stabilization. I got addicted to Canon's swing out
> LCD.
>
> The closest I can come to what I want (in my price range) are the S3
> (which is 6MP), the PowerShot A630, and the Panasonic DMC-FZ7. The
> difference in cost between the S3 and the DMC is now almost a hundred
> dollars...presumably because of the swivel-out.
>
> None of these shoot in RAW anymore, so-- If anyone has any other
> suggestions, or knows of any upcoming industry-wide price reductions
> (because of new models), I'd appreciate hearing from you. Fortunately,
> an unnaturally warm winter in the Northeast is making photography a
> non-priority. No Jingle All the Way...
>
The Kodak p850 has most of what you want, except for the swivel LCD.

"J. Clarke" <Jclarke.usenet@cox.net> wrote in message
news:enu2k801a95@news3.newsguy.com...
> On Mon, 08 Jan 2007 12:25:20 -0500, Kinon O'Cann wrote:
>
> If the Panasonic FZ-7 will shoot RAW please be kind enough to tell me how
> to enable it as there is nothing in the docs or the menus that would
> suggest this and I would love to be able to shoot RAW on mine.
>
> I believe that you are confusing the FZ-7 with the FZ-50, which does
> indeed shoot RAW.

You are correct, my mistake. Man, I would have sworn on a stack of bibles...

>
>
> --
> --John
> to email, dial "usenet" and validate
> (was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

On Jan 9, 8:00 am, "Kinon O'Cann" <somewh...@over.the.rainbow> wrote:
> You are correct, my mistake. Man, I would have sworn on a stack of bibles...

I'm back where I was in July of 2006: what is better, a Canon A620/A630
PowerShot with 7/8 MP but no Image Stabilization, or the Panasonic DMC
SZ7 with only 6 MP but Image Stabilization...

<mutefan@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1168386163.040996.100820@k58g2000hse.googlegr oups.com...
> On Jan 9, 8:00 am, "Kinon O'Cann" <somewh...@over.the.rainbow> wrote:
>> You are correct, my mistake. Man, I would have sworn on a stack of
>> bibles...
>
> I'm back where I was in July of 2006: what is better, a Canon A620/A630
> PowerShot with 7/8 MP but no Image Stabilization, or the Panasonic DMC
> SZ7 with only 6 MP but Image Stabilization...
>

My own results on film improved dramatically once I started using tripods on
a routine basis. The increased sharpness was apparent to even casual
viewers--it was that obvious.

So I would suggest that IS should be on your list of must-have features.

jeremy wrote:
> <mutefan@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1168386163.040996.100820@k58g2000hse.googlegr oups.com...
>> On Jan 9, 8:00 am, "Kinon O'Cann" <somewh...@over.the.rainbow> wrote:
>>> You are correct, my mistake. Man, I would have sworn on a stack of
>>> bibles...
>> I'm back where I was in July of 2006: what is better, a Canon A620/A630
>> PowerShot with 7/8 MP but no Image Stabilization, or the Panasonic DMC
>> SZ7 with only 6 MP but Image Stabilization...
>>
>
> My own results on film improved dramatically once I started using tripods on
> a routine basis. The increased sharpness was apparent to even casual
> viewers--it was that obvious.
>
> So I would suggest that IS should be on your list of must-have features.
>
>

Coincidentally, after getting a digital camera
photo sharpness has seemed to decrease with more
use of the camera. Hardly ever had an unsharp
film exposure.

I know what the problem is. With film and when
first using digital I was very careful. Digital
seemed to capture sharp shots with great depth of
focus, so guess what? I've been getting
sloppy--holding the camera with one hand, holding
it sloppily with two hands, getting into unstable
positions, taking shots when the shutter was at a
very slow speed.

I'm sure image stabilization is valuable and an
aid to sharp shots, but don't forget the person
holding the camera.

ray wrote:
>
> On Mon, 08 Jan 2007 16:41:55 +0000, David J Taylor wrote:
>
> > ray wrote:
> > []
> >> Suggest you look at the Kodak 'P' series. These are EVF high zoom
> >> models. They have IS and shoot RAW, tiff, jpeg. I prefer the Kodak
> >> models to other EVF cameras because they have a higher resolution EVF
> >> - 237k pixels as opposed to about 110k for most others. I recently
> >> purchased a P850 refurb from the Kodak online store for $250 (though
> >> it's only 5mp).
> >
> > "5MP should be enough for anyone!"
> >
> > <G>
> >
> > David
>
> Seems like it to me - when you consider that a doubling of pixels only
> results in about a 1.4 factor of horizontal and vertical resolution -
> going from 5 to 7 gives a horizontal and vertical improvement factor of
> only 1.18.


Hello, Ray:

That's why I prefer the P850 over the P880, despite the latter's
higher resolution (8.1MP versus 5.1MP). Except for wide-angle
(36mm vs 24mm, 35mm equivalent), the P850's other specifications
are superior, overall.


Cordially,
John Turco <jtur@concentric.net>

On 9 Jan 2007 15:42:43 -0800, mutefan@yahoo.com wrote:

> I'm back where I was in July of 2006: what is better, a Canon A620/A630
> PowerShot with 7/8 MP but no Image Stabilization, or the Panasonic DMC
> SZ7 with only 6 MP but Image Stabilization...

You can make long list of attributes for these cameras and you
will find that for some photographers, the Canon cameras are better
and for others the Panasonic is better. In some situations, one
camera will produce better pictures than the other and vice-versa.
It's easy for people to answer your question, but they will really
only tell you which camera might be better for their own purposes.
The ultimate test would be for you to buy and use both cameras and
then you'd find yourself eventually gravitating more to one camera
than to the other, and the reasons may not even have anything to do
with your current interest of megapixels vs. image stabilization.
But as that's not likely to happen, try to find some way to decide
for yourself, whether it's flipping a coin or downloading all of the
manuals and *really* studying them for a couple of days. It's
better than getting trapped in a cycle of analysis paralysis, ending
up asking the same question next July 2007. :)