Replacement Camera

[Davhill]

Evening All,

I'm in the market for a new everyday camera, to replace my Fuji Finepix S7000. I use an EOS5D professionally but the Fuji is the one I use for family pics and occasional setup shots for work.

Pros and cons of the Fuji are...

It's small and light.
It gives fair results.
The battery life is good.
It is reliable.

On the downside...

It's very slow.
The wide angle end of the zoom isn't wide enough.
The interpolation makes for noisy images.
The AF isn't brilliant.
The manual focussing is v. slow.

So, I'm looking at fixed lens prosumer cameras, rather than interchageable lenses. Ultimate image quality isn't an issue (I always have the Canon) but wieght, speed and cost are. Any recommendations will be gratefully accepted!

Thanks, DB-H

[PeteRob]

I bought a Canon G10 as "go everywhere" camera as I can't lug my 5D around when I travel on business and it has proved pretty good for outdoor photography. The zoom is adequate (I think it is 28-140 equivalent). The built in flash is not up to anything more than fill-in or simple shots not requiring much depth of field (e.g. single protraits but not table groups). The raw files can be processed in DPP although there is no lens aberration correction. The views expressed in the Forums are that its successor, the G11, is a bit better.

[Davhill]

Thanks PeteRob,

I think I'd be looking at what they now call superzoom cameras.

The Canon Powershot SX1 seems like a possibility, as does the Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ38.

Does anyone know of a website that gives a quick overview/comparison type review of rival digicams? I'm not dyed-in-the-wool as to maker but I do want a camera that is up to date.

[Wheelu]

Does anyone know of a website that gives a quick overview/comparison type review of rival digicams? I'm not dyed-in-the-wool as to maker but I do want a camera that is up to date.

Presume you have looked at dpreview?

[Davhill]

Great, thanks!

So now, it's CMOS (Canon Powershot SX1 is) vs CCD (S20). The latter's cheaper and I reckon both are soon to be superseded.

Ultimate quality isn't a major issue but speed and zoom range are. Any thoughts?