Need help finding perfect compact camera

[serialhobbyist]

Hi

I'm after the perfect compact camera. But I'll settle for a pretty good one. I use an SLR but I can't keep it in my bag with my 24/7: I have a young daughter and I want my camera with me all of the time. Top of my list is that it switches on fast and can take a picture really quick - I mean sub-second. I don't give a stuff about things like smile-detectors because the only smile worth bothering with is the natural one and that's gone by the time our current compact has warmed up the valves.

My folks used to have a SureShot. From what I can remember, the on-switch was a physical switch that exposed the lens. You could flick this and snap, as long as you didn't need the flash.

Is there anything out there as responsive as I want, today?

[IvorETower]

Budget?
Canon S90 is excellent but at over £300 it should be!

[serialhobbyist]

Thanks.

Well, if it's really that good and it's the only choice then £300 it is.

[IvorETower]

Depends on how compact you want to go.... the S90 is an absolute cracker in a small package, very similar to the much larger Canon Powershot G11 in terms of features and performance. Make sure to try it out in the shops.... you could pay more and go for one of the new range of micro 4/3rds cameras such as the Olympus PEN range or Panasonic G1/GF1. Make sure that you can understand all the different features and/or know how to set it to "auto" to leave the camera to do all the thinking in lightning-fast time

[Chris Cool]

The S90 and G11 does not have HD video which I found strange - still, if you're not into HD, then they are both cracking compacts

[zx9]

The S90 and G11 does not have HD video which I found strange - still, if you're not into HD, then they are both cracking compacts

FWIW The G11 will not autofocus during a video recording, it sets focus when the recording starts.

Edit: Thinking about it the lack of HD video is odd, especially as Canon equipped the G11 with a mini HDMI socket for the video out!

[GeoffR]

There is no perfect compact camera, but you might just find your perfect compact camera. However the more details you can provide as to what would make any given camera perfect the easier it is to point you at one.

[serialhobbyist]

I'm finding it difficult to be specific. What I want is a compact camera for taking candids, so it needs to be fast. And that means off-to-first-shot fast as well as fast-per-shot. And small/light enough to be in my/her bag all the time.

I've never owned a camera without a viewfinder: our current compact is a 3 MP Kodak from years ago. I'm still not sure I want one without a viewfinder but I'm not sure I'll have the choice. I'd prefer £300 to £600 - the latter really is out of reach at the mo but if it was the only choice...

As for features - I have no experience of modern features so it's difficult to judge.

Let's turn it round: what would you be looking for in a camera if it was only to take candids and had to be portable (i.e. fits in her handbag, rather than needing its own bag)?

[GeoffR]

Probably something along the lines of the Leica M9. But not a Leica because they are too expensive. There is/was an Epson of that type, I would want more control than most compacts seem to offer, my Coolpix P5100 certainly doesn't fit the bill. Some thing like my mum's (she is 86) Pentax Km with a pancake lens would suite me but is probably too big for what you have in mind.

[Brian]

No contest a GF1 or Olly equivalent with a 20mm F1.7 Pancake lens. O.K. a bit over budget but steal the extra from the kid's trust fund.

[nspur]

And if the GF1 is too big, try a Fuji F70 ((about £450 cheaper too!)

[Learning]

Probably something along the lines of the Leica M9. But not a Leica because they are too expensive.

Our questioner did not mention budget. A Leica M9 might be too expensive for us but ....... Perhaps a Leicaphile might like to extol the virtues of that curiously beautiful apparatus. Hopefully they will also mention the contribution needed from the user to best exploit the camera. If money no object I would give one a go but I would rate my chances of finding it ideal at less than 50%. Personally I am seriously looking at an Oly EP-2 because I think that I might actually do as well with it as my heavier Nikon D300.
The Leica is not primarily point and shoot (p&s) although it has some p&s capabality. Most compacts are primarily p&s although the best allow user intervention.