Fastest Compact?

Jonmurgie

Jonmurgie

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My wife has a little old Canon Ixus 95is for taking day to day shots of our son as he grows up. He's just started walking and is getting much faster at moving about... result is a LOT of blurry pictures!

Not interested in using flash and need to keep it simple for the dear wifey, so it got me wondering what compact has the fastest lens and/or the highest and best ISO performance?

Would love to stick with Canon but as its for wifey it doesn't matter what brand it is :)

So, any thoughts?
 
Seem to remember the Casio ones taking many being rather swift in the continuous shooting stakes, that might help a bit
 
If you want speed and high ISO performance maybe one of the higher end compacts might be an idea? The Panasonic LX5 might not be as compact as some but it has a f2.0-3.3 lens and seems to be getting rave reviews and the Canon S90 has a f2.0-4.9 lens.

Or, how about a MFT? GF1+20mm f1.7?
 
Jonmurgie said:
My wife has a little old Canon Ixus 95is for taking day to day shots of our son as he grows up. He's just started walking and is getting much faster at moving about... result is a LOT of blurry pictures!

Not interested in using flash and need to keep it simple for the dear wifey, so it got me wondering what compact has the fastest lens and/or the highest and best ISO performance?

Would love to stick with Canon but as its for wifey it doesn't matter what brand it is :)

So, any thoughts?
Click to expand...

It seems Canon 1D with fast lens fits the bill quite well. It is not too compact, but in reality, there is nothing else that will do it all and well.
 
Samsung EX1 has a f1.8 lens and is a very nice camera. the Canon s95 or s90 are superb as is the Panasonic LX5.
 
I've just bought a Panasonic Lumix GF-1 with the 1.7 20mm lens, indoor shots without the flash are amazing. This pic Click Here was taken inside a pub after a few jars ...hic. It's only been resized for uploading to webspace otherwise no PP has been done on it, straight out the camera. Exif is in the pic.
It's compact enough to fit in a jacket pocket. It takes great pics on Auto if thats what the missus need or you can fiddle about with manual settings too. Best compact I've came across so far.
 
Thanks for the great suggestions... just off to read up on some of them, love the idea of the GF1 but I honestly don't thing she'll want to carry that around, even though it is small for what it is!
 
The Canon S95 is by far the most obvious choice, it has a wide aperture lens and a slightly larger sensor although it's not going to be a massive difference. While the GF1 and 20mm would be a much more substantial low light improvement I think you're right about it being too big to carry around as I tend to favour the LX3 ove the Gf1 as a pocket camera due to the difference in size.

John
 
The GF2 is out now and it's smaller and lighter than the GF1 and it looks like its operation will be much more like that of a compact (and therefore more non enthusiast friendly) with its touch sensitive screen.
 
From the pictures it doesn't look that much smaller than the GF1 particularly as the lens will be no smaller and I disagree entirely about the controls being 'much more like that of a compact' given all it loses over the GF1 is the mode dial, it keeps its command dial for aperture/shutter/EC, iso, WB, AE and unlike the GF1 it gets direct access to AF point selection. No P&S orientated compacts have controls anything like that.

John
 
"it keeps its command dial for aperture/shutter/EC"

You looking at the right camera? It doesn't have any dials at all.

As for size, 20% smaller and 7% lighter but that may or not be significant depending upon your view but it's now reportedly the smallest camera in its class.

Not being more like a compact, well, it has no dials but controls and a menu / touch screen and that seems pretty like a compact to me... DPR report...

"These changes all signal a clear repositioning of the GF series in the market. Whereas the GF1 was unashamedly a camera for enthusiast photographers, the GF2 is now aimed much more at compact camera owners looking for an upgrade. According to Panasonic the design emphasis has been on offering creative controls as opposed to just providing a simple, unintimidating camera which happens to contain a larger sensor."

I suppose we all have to make our own minds up.
 
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I hadn't looked at the Canon S90/S95 before as I missed those coming out earlier this year (read that Canon had all but stopped the 'S' range a few years ago!). quick read-up on the specs and the DP Review review of the S90 and it sounds like a good choice, especially as the menus etc. will be similar to what the wife is used to :)

GF1 and GF2 are just a little too advanced for my wife in all honesty!
 
The obvious choice for a fast compact would

Canon s90/s95
Panasonic LX3 /LX5
or Sony WX1

There isnt much difference between s90/s95 and LX3/LX5 and if you can find the older model you may be able to get em for a good price even WX1

In terms of built quality and performance my vote would be for Panasonic LX3
 
Best bet is a Canon 1000d plus a nifty fifty. I don't think any compact (I have an LX5 which seems much faster than LX3 to autofocus) will crack it. Should grab a 1000d body for around £250 recon or new. It's big but she can keep it on the sideboard and throw it in the bag without a case.
 
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