A DSLR owner, looking for a point and shoot..

[dburg30]

Going to WDW in December. I LOVE my digital rebel, the old one, not the xt or xti, but for WDW I've been thinking about getting a small PnS for a lot of the parks. I'll still take my DSLR for certain things, but I can see it being larger then I want to deal with on some rides and stuff.

So either a) does anyone have any tips about dealing with an SLR on attractions, or b) any suggestions of a good quality small PnS..

 

[Master Mason]

Personally I think if your used to an SLR you'll be disapointed with a P&S.

As for rides, one of the first things I do when I get to the park is to get a large plastic bag. I fold it up and keep in my pocket, but then have it for any water type rides I may need it for.

Most days I just pick a lens I am going to use, currently that is my 24-70 f/2.8 Put it on the camera and leave everthing else in a locker or the car, depending. So all I am carrying is the camera. Once in a while I will carry the backpack so I can switch lenses at will, but those are typically days where I am chosing to spend my time taking pictures instead of riding the rides.

I think once you get used to having the SLR with you, it just seams strange when you don't myself.

 

[dburg30]

That's what I've been wrestling with. I love my SLR and the freedom it gives me. And I had already resigned myself to carrying one lens with me for most of the day (and not my 50-500 bigma either ).

Was just checking to see if anyone had run into a PnS that they used instead of their SLR

 

[Pea-n-Me]

There are a few people here who, as two camera families, have an SLR as well as a Canon S2/S3. It has both auto and manual capabilities, though is still basically a P&S (well, a bridge camera if you want to get technical). As MM said, you may not be thoroughly happy with it's low light capabilities and amount of noise if you're used to an SLR, however it has a nice zoom, video setting, and some other bells and whistles that might hold your interest. One drawback is that it's a little bigger than most P&Ss, but you can buy a belt case which for a man should work out pretty well on rides. http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PSC-75-...6276162?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1183126036&sr=1-1

Have you seen the S3 thread here which will give you some idea of the camera's capabilities? I found it a little difficult to learn to use at first, but if you're used to an SLR you might have an easier time. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1235546&referrerid=70088

 

[dburg30]

Yea, but at that point, I might as well carry my SLR . I think I posted this figuring that the advice I'l be given is to take my SLR, just needed some reassurance

Probably the only thing that would make me change my mind would be if one of the slim / sleek little jobbies were pretty nice, the ones you can almost put in your pocket.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

OK - so besides putting it in your pocket, are there any other features which would be important to you? Like zoom? Would you be happy with a 3X zoom? I ask because I'm also in the market for a new small P&S to keep in my purse for everyday use and many of them have such a small zoom, particularly the Canons, I know I won't be happy with that. I'm considering a Panasonic Lumix with 10X zoom. The biggest complaint I've read about it is the amount of noise using the zoom, but that could be said of most P&Ss, and you can use noise reduction software if necessary later on. So maybe you could check that out. A friend just bought an Olympus which took some beautiful shots which I thought came out better than my S3 shots taken at the same indoor function. It only had 3X zoom, though. One last thought, it's been recommended here for P&Ss to not go overboard on megapixels since the small sensors can't handle so much information - stick with a P&S with 6MP or so.

 

[webshark3]

I'm in the same boat. I prefer wide angle (not a big zoom guy). So Here's what I'm looking at:

Sigma DP-1 (First P&S with a APS-C sensor)
http://www.photographyblog.com/index.php/weblog/comments/pma_2007_sigma_dp1/

Ricoh GX100
- wide angle plus zoom
- full manual control

Canon G6
- Works with my 300D batteries and CF cards
- Shoots RAW
- Hey, it's a Canon

Does the G7 use the same batteries as the XT/XTi?

If Sigma Can't get theirs on the market by my Sept trip, I'll be foreced to bring my 300D with prime 24mm lens, or buy one of the alternatives.

 

[SharonLowe]

My husband has the Canon G6 - I got it for him so "we" would have a smaller camera with RAW capability. It almost never gets used. My DD has an Olympus SP-320 - we got it because it shoots RAW and Olympus has a nice underwater case for it so we thought it would be a great camera for snorkeling. It isn't - too slow to shoot in RAW. I ended up buying the Canon SD700IS (gets much better reviews than its successor) and the underwater case for it. Love it - does nice above water and under water photos. From our trip to Typhoon Lagoon last Saturday:

Underwater (just did a white balance adjustment to neutralize it):

Over water on Gangplank Falls Family Raft Ride (straight out of camera):

I could happily use it for most things at WDW if I didn't feel like lugging my 1DsMkII around....

 

[jenseib]

I have a canon powershot A540. I really like it .(I also have a Rebel XTi) It is smaller than the S3 and G7. But not as small as some others out there. Mine has manual settings as well. I took it to Disney and loved all my pictures!
I was not looking for "professional" pictures at Disney, but I did want some decent ones and I think mine turned out great for the most part. I took over 400 in 4 days and only a few were dissapointing.
My complaint would be a slow time to recharge after falsh pictures. But I don't take pictures with flash unless I really need to.

Here's a link for you to check it out.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/A540/A540A.HTM

 

[Anewman]

I'm in the same boat. I prefer wide angle (not a big zoom guy). So Here's what I'm looking at:

Sigma DP-1 (First P&S with a APS-C sensor)
http://www.photographyblog.com/index.php/weblog/comments/pma_2007_sigma_dp1/

Ricoh GX100
- wide angle plus zoom
- full manual control

Canon G6
- Works with my 300D batteries and CF cards
- Shoots RAW
- Hey, it's a Canon

Does the G7 use the same batteries as the XT/XTi?

If Sigma Can't get theirs on the market by my Sept trip, I'll be foreced to bring my 300D with prime 24mm lens, or buy one of the alternatives.

Well I do use PnS cameras a lot when on at WDW, but if I was going to use an expensive one I would just stick with the 20D. But that is just me.

If I had to buy a PnS to take to WDW today, it would be something like the Panasonic LZ6 $140 delivered from amazon.

Opitcal Image stabilization
6x optical zoom
fits in my pocket
CHEAP. nothing in this price range would give you either IS or 6x zoom, this one give you both.

No it is not the greatest camera in the world but with the money I save compared to the G7 I could buy a nice prime lens. I took the LZ3 last year and ended up using it more often than my DSLR.

 

[Josh125]

I use a Canon 800is for a p&s camera. It's almost weightless, long battery life, IS, and best of all a .28mm lens. Full sunlight pics rival dSLR's while night time shots suffer.

 

[Reminiscing_Cody]

I picked up a Fuji Finepix F30 a few months ago as my "take everywhere" pocket camera, and it has been great. Its sensor is far ahead of the pack in the field of pocket cameras, giving good low light results.. even at 1600 ISO, 4x6 prints look good. Great for natural light indoor shots where other compacts would be using a flash. (just a note, the F31fd is a newer version that basically just adds face detection.. I didn't really care about that feature)

The following was taken at our local zoo that has one of the rare leucistic alligators on loan from the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans.. it has to have a dark enclosure because it is sensitive to sunlight. My family member's P&S cameras were turning out junk, here is what I got:

I just barely got my first DSLR yesterday (woohoo!) but we're still taking the pocket camera to Disney as well.. great for quick candids, and also we can't use the DSLR with our XShot extension arm thing for self portraits (xshotpix.com). Also thinking about getting the underwater enclosure for it.

 

[Groucho]

You may be interested in this thread, which was about S2/S3 vs DSLR for Disney. I posted some comparison shots from my DSLR and my wife's Canon SD600 (which has a 6mp 1/2.5" sensor which is probably exactly the same one in the S3), including a few 100% crops.

If you're used to your DSLR, you are likely to be pretty disappointed with a PnS, especially if you haven't really used a PnS digital before. Fuji has a couple (F31 and S6000fd) that have very good low-light ability for a PnS, but you still won't be able to match your DSLR's quality. (The sensor size is the biggest reason why - if you're not sure how that relates, just say so and one of us will be happy to explain. )

I didn't find carrying a DSLR to be too big of a chore at WDW, even lugging a bag too and carrying five lenses at any given time. A good strap helps a lot - I use the Op/Tech Pro strap - and I had one belt-mounted lens pouch, which was really handy. On rides, I could leave the camera bag behind (we had my young son so on thrill rides, someone always stayed behind with him) and just carry my camera and one additional lens in the pouch.

 

[GoofyGolferGirl]

I am also looking for a small camera to carry at disney and just to keep in my purse or car. I have a dslr but by the time I go to the car and get it I have missed the moment! I was looking at the nikon Coolpix S50, anybody have any experience with this? Where can I check out reviews?

 

[go cowboys]

I use a Canon 800is for a p&s camera. It's almost weightless, long battery life, IS, and best of all a .28mm lens. Full sunlight pics rival dSLR's while night time shots suffer.

Me too! I love it although my wife uses it the most as I am still learning about the D80 we have.