pocketable digital compact camera with wide angle lens & P S A M modes

[alok]

Hi Friends
Let me know about a compact camera having following functions as mentioned below--

1. Pocketable in front shirt pocket
2. Wide angle lens 24mm or at least 28mm
3. Giving picture size of 8*12 inches at 300 DPI
4. Better if optical viewfinder is available
5. Atleast 10MP
Please inform if cameras with above mentioned functions are available.

Thanks & Regards

alok

[korman]

Perhaps a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 ?

Korman

[spystyle]

I just bought one that fits the bill

click click

Having enjoyed the Kodak v803 as a pocket camera (literally, it's half the size of my wallet and it only costs $50) I wanted to see what Kodak was up to in 2009 so I ordered the Z915 for $150.

It's pocketable. Almost as small as a Kodak V803. Affordable at around $150. It has a super zoom (10X). It has optical image stabilization. It has PASM, and is 10 megapixel.

Steve's digicams gave it high marks all around except for the image quality being slightly noisy. It's been my experience that Kodak cameras that no not have the Schneider-Kreuznach branded lens produce images that are a little noisy. I suspect for us PhotoShop users it's not a problem though. Likewise I think Kodak cameras that do have the Schneider-Kreuznach branded lens are a little too thick to be easily pocketed.

Kodak is quite under-appreciated but they did coin the term "Say cheese" and they are making the new Leica digital M9 SLR camera sensor click click

If they are making the sensor for the new $7000 digicam I bet they know a thing or two about photography. If I recall they also made sensors for Olympus not too long ago.

We'll see how that pocket camera does Hopefully it's a fun thing to have in the pocket for days I don't want to carry a full sized camera.

If you are not as budget restricted as I am I'm sure the Canon G10 would fit the bill. I think Canon is the undisputed king of point-and-shoot but I don't take my pocket camera too seriously, so I opt for the more affordable Kodak.

If I was seriously out to photograph something I'd bring my big cameras

Cheers,
Craig

[greenmatter]

Originally Posted by spystyle

Kodak is quite under-appreciated but they did coin the term "Say cheese" and they are making the new Leica digital M9 SLR camera sensor click click

If they are making the sensor for the new $7000 digicam I bet they know a thing or two about photography. If I recall they also made sensors for Olympus not too long ago.

We'll see how that pocket camera does Hopefully it's a fun thing to have in the pocket for days I don't want to carry a full sized camera.

Cheers,
Craig

Leica looks awesome, mucho dinero

[spystyle]

Leica costs so much, when I look at the price for even an used one my heart stops!

Canon trumps Leica here

Is Leica really so great? Or perhaps they are great, but not ten times greater than their rivals which cost ten times less

[korman]

Originally Posted by spystyle

Is Leica really so great? Or perhaps they are great, but not ten times greater than their rivals which cost ten times less

You might want to read this too, if you're already browsing the Luminous Landscapes pages. The verdict seems to be that the price is worth it if you're photography is on a level for the differences to matter. Sure, to make badly framed pictures of aunty Milly with raccoon eyes and blown out sky, the Kodak is just as good.

Korman

[spystyle]

Go play in the road Korman, as always you don't know what you are talking about.

I've never even seen any compelling evidence that you own a camera at all! I on the other hand am very familiar with the Kodaks.

The Kodak is a fine and affordable pocketable camera and doesn't blow out the sky any more than any other digiacam. The Z915 even has exposure bracketing for high contrast situations.

[korman]

Originally Posted by spystyle

I've never even seen any compelling evidence that you won a camera at all!

I always bought my cameras in shops and never won one. I'm not the gambling type and don't participate in raffles. I prefer to choose the products I own.

And by the way, I find it intriguing how much effort you spend just to give me negative karma.

Have a nice day.

Korman

[korman]

Ah, I see you changed your original message. I'm just a little surprised you didn't delete it like before.

Have a nice day.

Korman

[kewk]

Originally Posted by spystyle

Go play in the road Korman, as always you don't know what you are talking about.

Wow... talk about harsh. I guess your the only one allowed to add your opinion to this thread?

[spystyle]

If you only knew... He lives to disrupt and he's not a real shooter

[kewk]

Originally Posted by spystyle

If you only knew... He lives to disrupt and he's not a real shooter

I dunno, spystyle, he sure might be blunt in some of his posts but he definitely has a balance of positive and negative type posts and he has posted a few photos to for C&C so not sure why he isn't accepted as a "real shooter".

If all you are ever going to do is give someone good C&C and/or general replies then they will never know anything was wrong and can never correct it.

[spystyle]

Oh if you only knew ...

Well you are entitled to your opinion, maybe he'll stalk you too

I'm giving him to you like a virus! He's all yours !!!!!!!!!

[spystyle]

Well if anyone cares :

I am retracting my recommendation for Kodak Z915

I got it and like "Steve's Digicams" I was not impressed with the image quality in relation to the price. It was $150 which is about 3 times the cost of our old Kodak V803, yet the image quality was less than the old V803. I believe it though since Kodak is trying to cram so much into that little Z915 body, there is a limit for such a low price.

While the old V803 has only a 3X zoom I like it better for image quality and smaller size :

(it works well in good lighting, here outside slightly overcast)




(it's so small I can bring it anywhere, even shopping) (this pic has had brightening applied in-camera)


(my daughter brought the camera to school and snapped her teacher) (this pic could use some brightening)


(6 shot pano, stitched together by PhotoShop)


My niece has the Kodak ZD710 with practically the same lens as the Z915, perhaps even better, but again this model costs only $50 or so. Yet this one is not very "pocketable", it's bigger than the Z915 and that is bigger than the V803.

The Z915 and ZD710 both have "PSAM" - but that is a vague statement. One example - my Nikon D40 (November 2006) can use shutter priority mode with "Auto ISO" - this means the shooter can focus strictly on shutter speed (out of shutter, aperture, and ISO) and I like that a lot. The Canon 300D (August 2003) did not have Auto ISO at all so "shutter priority mode" meant setting shutter speed to taste then setting ISO to make a correct exposure - that is almost like shooting in full manual mode. So you'd think the Z915 from 2009 and the ZD710 from 2007 would have auto ISO available in their PASM modes, but they do not. It's like the Canon from 2003.

So when looking for PASM you might want to decide exactly what options you want available in those modes. For me I like Auto ISO to be an option in every mode.

lastly, the screen and the joystick (command stick?) are much better in the little old V803 than the new Z915.

So I just can't recommend the Z915, it's too little quality for too much money. But don't diregard all Kodaks, there are a lot of really good ones for very cheap price.

As for the OP, I guess he should look into Canon.

I'd like to try a G7 or G9 or G10, I hear great things about them all the time.

And that's my 2 cents,
Craig

[korman]

Originally Posted by spystyle

(6 shot pano, stitched together by PhotoShop)

Craig,

your panorama would look a lot better if you cropped off the jagged edges from stitching and filled the two small white areas with sky that would be left after cropping in the upper left corner and on the right side close to the building.

To prevent to many white areas in the final image, it helps for panoramas to leave enough margin when taking the images to account for the distortion during the stitching.

Have a nice day.

Korman

[spystyle]

None of the sample pics had much processing done, that was the point.

[alok]

Hi Friends
Please calm down .

Thanks
alok

[spystyle]

Yes please calm down you guys