Canon’s announced several new digital cameras, both of the dSLR and compact point & shoot varieties. Regulars are probably familiar with my portability prioritization at the expense of some quality. Which is why only models from the P&S lineup would appeal to me. If a camera doesn’t fit in my pocket, it’s not coming with me on vacation (or to CES).
If you recall, last fall, I picked up what could be the top P&S ever in the form of Canon’s higher end PowerShot S95 ($400). Yet, in addition to being a tad bit bulky and with limited battery life, the inability to continually focus while shooting HD video was a deal breaker. Like mobility, I also appreciate versatility. And so I traded in that S95 for a Sony Cyber-shot WX5 (as documented here). While the Sony’s ($300) quite competent and offers a number of nifty features, it doesn’t match the pure photographic capabilities (without intervention) of the Canon S95.
Well, it looks like Canon is taking some of that “high sensitivity” functionality of the S95 downmarket, even though the CCD sensor remains unique to the S95. We won’t know until March exactly how well the smaller CMOS sensor, with comparable F/2.0 aperture and shutter speed, of the new Elph 500 HS ($300) handle low light situations. But I assume it’ll at least match my current Sony. And, yes, the 500 HS does provide continual focus while shooting 1080p, in addition to enabling zoom. Bonus: A slo-mo video mode. The 500 HS may not be the S1000 I’m pining for, but it could tide me over until a true S95 successor emerges.
This is really the main camera border left for a cellphone to cross, right? Maybe apps to handle lens effects… where do you think the line is For you to leave the dedicated camera behind. I’m a diehard SLR person, so I’ve still got some time…
I am soon due for a point & shoot replacement too. The SX230 HS looked interesting to me, but I can’t seem to find any pictures of the camera with the lens closed. I wonder how bulky it might be.
Jeremy, yeah the line is getting pretty close for me. And in many cases, my phone already is my camera. But dedicated digital cameras still offer physical zoom and take in more light with higher quality optics… leading to better pictures.
since my iphone 4 camera takes what I call “foggy” pictures, my regular p&s is a super-zoom Panasonic DMC-ZS7. it works for what I use it for, taking pictures at concerts.
I’m interested in the Olympus TG-310 since our Nikon point and shoot has started to die on us. The attractive parts are the rugged construction, 14 MP and HD movies. I’m hoping the shockproof construction will let it last longer than more digital cameras do here. I have not figured out yet if it can focus while recording movies. Only $199. Or you could wait for IPhone 5, it will change everything ;-)
For HD video, which seems you are interested in, the 500 HS is the best choice right now. The S95 has 35% more background blur than the 500 HS (even faster lens, bigger sensor, you see), but overall, the 500 HS does video better: full 1080/24p and 720/30p, 38 mbps bitrate, along with exposure compensation/locking and color settings. The rest of the cameras, Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, Nikon, Olympus etc, simply don’t have enough bitrate, exposure locking, or color settings as much as all the Canon digicams have.
Now, I don’t consider the zoom-while-recording a feature. In fact, I prefer for the feature to not be there, so people don’t use it. If that’s the reason you sold your S95, it wasn’t a good call, in my opinion. I don’t know what kind of video you shoot, but if you’re shooting serious video, then you should not be zooming while recording. First zoom to the level you need, and then record. If you need to change the zoom level, stop the recording, zoom, and then restart recording. Also set exposure compensation and lock it. This will give a professional look on your videos. Random P&S video without setting any settings beforehand will look amateurish regardless.
The settings I mentioned is how I shoot official music videos and a bit more serious videos than random point and shoot videos with these small Canon cams too. You can check them at vimeo if you like.
Eugenia, zooming while shooting doesn’t interest me most of the time. But the S95 was unable to autofocus, track focus as the subject changes distance.