Looking for a less-dumbed-down compact :-)

Pawnless Endgame · 20 Nov 2011 at 22:17

I've had 3 digicams so far, all Olympus

In 2004 - the C765, 4MP, 10x optical
In 2007 - the Mju 1000, 10MP, 4x optical
In 2010 - the Mju 5010, 14MP, 4x optical

Budget is around £200 each time. The problem with the two Mjus is that the only setting you could change was the ISO, like with camera phones. So, it's fairly dumbed down. The C765, however, had the controls that you expect from a zoom camera - depth of field, shutter speed, F-stop. I think it was called A/S/M mode when you had full control. So I'm looking for something like this again for around the £200 if anyone could please advise me? It doesn't have to be Olympus, but it is the brand that I've used most over the last 20 years.

Thanks!

theheyes · 20 Nov 2011 at 22:35

The Canon S95 is well regarded as a good compact camera - in fact I'm considering it myself. It has full manual control plus all the usual automatic modes. Slightly over budget but not by a great deal. I wouldn't worry too much about the brand as the basic functions are the same on most cameras, it's the menu layout that is different and to be honest these can vary from camera to camera from the same manufacturer anyway so the learning curve will be similar.

Pawnless Endgame · 20 Nov 2011 at 22:45

Thanks a lot!

I've looked around already and can see some S95s around £250. I can definitely stretch for that - it just means saving up for a bit longer :-)

As for menus, I've used a mix of Symbian and Android phones, so like you said it's just picking it all up.

D.P. · 21 Nov 2011 at 07:46

The main players in the small compact but good performance with manual controls are:

S95, the s100 is now announced so may be worth waiting.
Olympus XZ-1
Pannasonic LX5

Then there are the slightly larger Canon G12, Nikon P7000 models whihc don't really offfer much different (same sensor, autofocus systems) but are more robust with more manual control assigned to button and wheels.

Next step up would be a Nikon V1 or J1 with a kit lens.

DanF · 21 Nov 2011 at 10:14

How about a 2nd hand micro 4/3rds like a panasonic GF1 or olypus ep1 + kit lens? they have come down quite a bit and are very nice to use. They are a step up from the s95 or lx5 having a much larger sensor + they can both mount some nice lenses if you feel like playing with them later on.