You could try finding an Olympus C-7070 Wide Zoom. Fine 28-110mm equiv ED lens,
RAW, high quality JPEG, lots of options, magnesium body, etc. Bulkier than FUJI
F30, limited ISO (max 400). Unfortunately discontinued by Olympus within a
year, just after receiving EISA Compact Camera of the Year award.Roger Key,
Copenhagen
> Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2007 06:19:12 +0200> From: nathan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To:
> olympus@xxxxxxxxxx> Subject: [OM] Re: Advice please- stage photography> > I
> have heard other people sing the praise of the Fujis, and I did look > at
> them briefly, but was completely turned off by the absence of a RAW > mode.
> According to the specs, the new 40 has JPEG only. This is simply >
> unacceptable to me.> > Nathan> > Moose wrote:> > Nathan Wajsman wrote:> > >
> >> ...... It is especially unfortunate that > >> the compact camera makes are
> using the megapixel count as the most > >> important product attribute to
> emphasize, and so we get all those > >> cameras with fingernail-sized sensors
> onto which 8 or more megapixels > >> have been crammed. As a result,
> performance at ISO speeds above 200 > >> suffers from image noise, and
> anything above 400 is virtually useless. > >> > >> > > This is the second
> time you've made such a statement. While generally > > true, it is not
> entirely true. The exceptions tha
t prove/test the rule > > are a handful of Fujis.> >> > The F10, 11, 20, 30
and 31fd all share a 1/1.7" sensor with roughly > > twice the surface area of
the 1/2.5" sensor in most small digicams. > > Combined with Fuji's unique,
hexagonal pixel layout and whatever they do > > in their processing engine,
these cameras outperform the other little > > guys in noise by a very
significant margin, generally at least two stops.> >> > The F10/11 were amazing
and the F30 is even better. It appears that the > > F31fd is simply an F30 with
face detection added, which might actually > > be a plus for street
photography. The newest, the F40, finally ups the > > pixel count from 6 to 8
mp, with an only very slightly, if at all, > > larger, 1/1/6" sensor, so the
jury is out on whether it will be better > > or worse.> >> > Unfortunately,
Fuji doesn't have IS, so for static subjects, these > > cameras aren't much
ahead of the better smaller sensor cameras that have > > good IS, although I th
ink they may still have cleaner shadows at > > equivalent shutter speed/iso
combos.> >> > With non-stationary subjects, like people, they are unmatched
short of a > > DSLR. Fuji also made a couple of superzooms using this sensor,
but the > > extra size and weight of a 12x zoom to cover the larger sensor and
the > > lack of IS make them less successful vs the competition, from my > >
perspective. Once you get to a certain size and weight, might as well > > just
go with a DSLR.> >> > These cameras do, however, require some modest
photographic smarts to > > use to best advantage. The aren't quite the
fool-proof outdoor, bright > > light snap-shooters that many Can*n's, for
example are. It's important > > to "shoot to the right" to avoid blown
highlights. The payoff is that > > they don't chop off the shadows, only
compress them at the bottom of the > > histogram. And with the exceptionally
low noise at low isos, the shadows > > may be recovered quite nicely. With
manual control
in the F11 and 30, > > this is easy.> >> > I've posted these shots with the
F30 here more than once, but... On the > > first shot, I just over compensated,
as you can see from the histogram, > > but was able to recover. Most other
shots in this little gallery used > > negative exposure compensation to hold
highlights, then PP to bring up > > shadow detail. #13 also has a roll over to
show the original. > > http://galleries.moosemystic.net/Summita/> >> > I'm not
sure to what extent this little rant is a sell job for the > > F30/31fd and to
what extent it is about how, lost in among the endless > > parade of me too
digicams, there is often something to meet one's > > specific needs that may be
found with a little research.> >> > I have a tele sort of eye, so the limited
zoom range of the F30 is a > > drawback for me. My latest project has been to
find something with more > > zoom range, not too much bigger and with a
combination of IS and noise > > performance to get me resul
ts I like. The Panny TZ3 looks like a > > natural, but comparison of the
studio shots from dpreview shows that its > > smeary NR obscures fine detail
compared to other brands to an extent I'm > > not willing to deal with.> >> >
The current experiment is a Canyon A710 IS. Relatively small and light, > > 6x
zoom, excellent IS and about the best balance I've found in this > > class
between inherent sensor noise and NR in capturing detail without > > too much
apparent noise.> >> > Also, there is free 'hack' or add-on firmware that adds
live RGB > > histogram, flashing out of gamut, RAW output and many other
goodies to > > DIGIC II processor cameras, including the A710. I'm fairly
pleased so > > far, especially with the added features of the add-on firmware.
I do > > wish it went wider, like the TZ3, but if I continue to like it, I can
> > add a WA adapter.> >> > Moose> >> >
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>> >> > > > -- > Nathan Wajsman> Almere, The Netherlands> > *Opportunistic
Image Acquisition*> > General photography: > http://www.frozenlight.eu>
http://www.nathanfoto.com> http://www.greatpix.eu> Picture-A-Week:
http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws> Seville photography: http://www.fotosevilla.com>
> Stock photography: http://www.alamy.com/search-results.asp?qt=wajsman>
http://myloupe.com/home/found_photographer.php?photographer=507> Prints for
sale: http://www.photodeluge.com> Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog> > >
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