High end compact required

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James
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Hi all a friend at work has asked for my recommendation for a more high end compact camera probably around the £400 mark.

Would be used for shooting pretty much anything, loads of his young baby too.

He saw the Nikon 1, which advertises the take a photo before you press the shutter. Anyone know much behind this?

He is possibly thinking about a interchangeable lens camera too.
 
Fuji X10 is the flavour of the moment, £400 would just about buy one if you shop around on camerapricebuster.co.uk. I'm collecting mine tonight, can't comment from experience how well it works, but there's a lot of happy people on TP who use them.

I think the Nikon 1 is an interchangeable lens camera, but it also falls into the budget. Fast AF and no shutter lag are very useful for photographing babies as they tend to move suddenly (or not at all)!
 
I'm a big fan of the M4/3 system. I also like the look of what I've seen on the Olympus xz 1 though I've not used one. Seen some very impressive images though.
 
If I didn't recommend the Fuji X10, everyone would think I'd lost the plot! :D

It falls within your budget and performs brilliantly!
 
He saw the Nikon 1, which advertises the take a photo before you press the shutter. Anyone know much behind this?

X10 does this!
I suspect not quite as versatile as the Nikon, but it does it!
Fuji call it Best Frame Capture and it's tucked away on the Drive menu.

IMHO there are a lot of really good compacts coming onto the market at the moment.
But not at £400.....
That's why the Fuji is getting mentioned so much.

You could also suggest spending less money and getting a more pocketable camera with 85% of the IQ of the Fuji.
I'm thinking of the Canon S100 - a fantastic little camera.
Duncan
 
I agree with the x10...

I don't really see a huge point in a m/3rd interchangable system...it can be as expensive as a budget dslr and is only slightly smaller...might as well buy a budget dslr for that budget...i'd go with the fuji anytime!
 
If I didn't recommend the Fuji X10, everyone would think I'd lost the plot! :D

It falls within your budget and performs brilliantly!

Is it really worth buying an X10 until the new sensor is out?
 
Alastair said:
Is it really worth buying an X10 until the new sensor is out?

I had quite a long chat with Fuji re this. To be fair there not many cameras that have the blooming issue and if you were unfortunate bough to get one they will swop the sensor. The effect only happens in certain shooting circs and I am sure it will not put me off. There are a lot of complainers but many more happy x10 users and some of the images taken with it are frankly amazing. Even high end togs are pocketing then for their everyday camera!
 
FFS.


A micro 4/3rds system is slightly smaller than a budget DSLR

Phil, a gx1 with kit lens is almost half the weight and only about a third of the volume of a d3100 with kit lens.

A GF3 with a 14mm f2.5 is 277g
A d3100 with 35mm 1.8 prime is 705g.

They look at lot smaller to me!!
 
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Is it really worth buying an X10 until the new sensor is out?

Yeah, I think it's worth it Alastair... Even with the orb 'issue', it's still a damned good camera. To be honest, I've tried hard to recreate the 'problem' without a lot of success! :)

I have cleaned this thread...I don't like housework, life is too short, if you chaps can't agree to disagree without being disagreeable to the rest of us, then I suggest you find the ignore function. :)

You could have left it up for another 10 minutes Yvonne... I missed the whole thing! :D
 
You could have left it up for another 10 minutes Yvonne... I missed the whole thing! :D

I didn't - thanks Yv :thumbs:

Back on topic....
@Rapscallion - I hadn't appreciated the Panasonic's were as competitively priced as that.
Well worth a look.

All depends on what your colleague 'really' wants. In summary so far.
- Smaller and cheaper; Canon S100
- Cheaper without interchangeable lenses; LX5, X10
- Interchangeable lens; Panasonic Micro 4/3, Nikon J1
- Blow the budget; many many other great cameras!

Edited to add - there is a comprehensive review of the Nikon J1/V1 over on DPReview.
It'll either make your colleague go "Yeah, that's cool !" in which case it's a contender; or he may go "WTF!" (like most photographers still do) and will avoid. Marmite springs to mind.....
 
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Thanks alot people :)
 
I can only concur with the majority here. I've got me X10 for a few weeks now and I'm happy as a pig in sh!t. I've used F2s, F3s, an F801, Gr1, 3 different digital cams and had lost my appetite for going out and catching the light. The X10 has brought that back! It's really put the fun back in my taking pictures.
 
NEX-7 is nice apart from two things... The price and that damned Minolta hotshoe that should have been binned ages ago!
 
I've been looking at the X-10 these past few days and while definitely warming to it, the absence of viewfinder information bugs me. I'm constantly looking at my settings when using a DSLR and having to take my eye off the viewfinder and referring to the LCD may just tip the balance in favour of something else. What though is a mystery thus far...
 
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