Howdy folks, I am looking to get a small pocket (read 'ultra compact') camera, I've looked at the Casio EX-S10 'worlds thinnest 10mp camera' and then the Canon IXUS range 80/85/90IS.

I currently have a Panasonic FZ1 or some such, it's 3 years old or so and has been droped/knocked/covered in rain and beer and is starting to take s***ty photo's.

Tempted to go with Canon as well, it's Canon and of those leaning towards the 90IS just coz the number is bigger (seriously), the price difference isn't much between the 80 and 90 and the 90 is 10mp.

Any other thoughts?

droped/knocked/covered in rain

Maybe one of those 'tough' camera's? Olympus I think. They are water resistant, drop resistant etc and ultra compact. Sounds like what you need :)

Panasonic DMC LX3 ftw.

cant sms my vote for the canon ixus enough times

Ixus definitely. I love mine and heaps of guys here at Mammoth have Ixus as well and love them also.

Just don't get a sony cybershot. Got one and it's s***. Get something where the lense actually extends, eg. canon ixus

Get one of those olympus shockproof jobbies!! Saw a bunch of people using them at La tomatina in spain this year, they all worked quite well and none of them broke from what I saw on the bus back to valencia afterwards... if camera can survive 120t of tomatoes being thrown around then it's pretty good in my books

The biggest concern is the speed of the lens. Olympus cameras tend to have very slow lenses which don't let much light in, and cause dark photos (even with flash).

I got an Olympus 1050 camera a week or two back, I paid $300ish for it, 10MP, waterproof, shockproof ... can't go wrong.

Takes great photos, much better than my old sony piece of crap. Awesome selection of 'scenes' if you're not good at setting it up properly but don't trust the auto mode.

Canon IXUS or bust yo

I have one of the first generation Olympus Shock/Water Proof ones and it is great for not having to worry about what you do with it or where you take it.

Only drawback with it is the zoom is pretty small (mine is only 3x) and it doesn't take that good of pictures at night (but not many small cameras do). Other than that it is awesome and i have taken it everywhere (snorkling was fun).

Another thing to remember with these cameras is the seals. In theory you should have them replaced like every year (especially if you are using all the time and underwater heaps).

I have had mine for like 3 years now and it was fine until August this year when the lens cover stopped retracting. Had to get the whole lens module replaced which was only $125 but still annoying.

Also took it to Moreton Island on weekend and used it the whole time but on the last day i swam over to the wrecks and it started complaining that a cover wasn't closed and also sounded like it was shorting inside. I am pretty sure when they replaced lens module they didn't seal it fully and it got water inside. So i have to send it back to repair place. Lucky it's udner their warranty so better not cost me anything. If it does cost too much i will claim on insurance and get the lastest version.

So all in all, great to have for nights out and casual photos and great to have when going anywhere near water (or dangerous places). I think before i head overseas for some big trips i might also get a bigger camera with better zoom and take both and just use Olympus for adventurous stuff.

ixus or lumix

Maybe one of those 'tough' camera's? Olympus I think. They are water resistant, drop resistant etc and ultra compact. Sounds like what you need :)

I have the water proof and shock proof olympus but takes ordinary photo's.. Taking photo's under water in tangalooma was pretty neat though...

i personally don't like the Olympus tough range, for the sole reason that they are limited to XD cards, cameras like the Fuji j120 which I've got, cost the same, give you a 5x optical zoom and take the sdhc cards which are far more economical. the tough series would be GREAT if you weren't stuck with xd cards.

you wont get a better camera then the 860is which is $269 at umart now. at that price it is a steal. but get in quickly, they are on run out and not many have stock (the update is the 870is almost the same camera and it retails for $400+)

Random tip to buying a good camera by Mongie.

Buy one with a lens that sticks out. Believe it or not, the more glass in a lens, the better it is (generally). Lenses built inside the body of a camera are limited in size, and are notoriously slow (they don't let a lot of light in).

You end up with high contrast photos - Bright in the foreground (from flash) and dark everywhere else.

i personally don't like the Olympus tough range, for the sole reason that they are limited to XD cards, cameras like the Fuji j120 which I've got, cost the same, give you a 5x optical zoom and take the sdhc cards which are far more economical. the tough series would be GREAT if you weren't stuck with xd cards.

Mine came with a MicroSD adaptor.

ixus or lumix

ixus or lumix

DSLR.

Just get bigger pockets.

I have a friend who has the Olympus shock/water proof one... and the photos it takes is f***ing terrible.

Pretty sure the latest Ixus model is now 14 megapixels. I have an Ixus 30, and it f***ing rocks. Only 3MP pics, but the quality is sooooo good.

you really dont need super mp photos unless you are planning to print posters of them or something

you really dont need super mp photos unless you are planning to print posters of them or something

qft.

Much better having a good lens / lower MP.

yeah I'm not getting a Olympus, they use XD cards.... I've got 10+gb of SD so I am not buying more memory!!

IXUS it is I'd say.

mongie I don't want the lense to stick out - it's gotta fit in a pocket, or do you mean once the camera is on?

GF has an Ixus, and it's pretty neat.
Pretty fast picture taking...however still not like an old school camera, a friend has a larger SLR/professional camera and it takes like instant photos! Digitally (hehe digitally)

Been wanting a new camera for ages now and today I bought an Canon Ixus 970is. Have had a s***ty Sony cybershot for about 3 years and the most frustrating thing on that camera is no image stabilisation which results in around 50% blurred photos. If anyone's interested it'll be on ebay next week :)

is pentax any good? i got a pentax, i think it's s***

Wow, I was going to start a camera advice thread!

What's the go with the various flavours of Ixuses (Ixes? Ixii?)? I was thinking of getting the 85ISS (10MP, 3x, Optical Zoom, 2.5 LCD, video with sound). What is teh opinion of the pros around here?

I agree with everything mantis said about the Olympus tough. I have one and absolutely love it because it's perfect for drunken nights out and the beach, which just about sums up my photography range. I also assume I am the friend billy is talking about, and while I wouldn't agree with 's***', it definitely isn't the best quality, especially at night.

I absolutely love canons which all my family have, because you really can't beat the picture quality, but at the end of the day it comes down to where you're using it, and what you're using it for!

I will always recommend the tough to people who want to take snap shots and be able to throw their camera around, because it's great having that peace of mind when I hand my camera over to drunk people, and it's still working perfectly three years later!

ill just add that my ixus does suprisingly awesome vidoes

id never buy a still camera to replace a propper digital video camera, but it has suprised me with how quality a moofie it records

spook do the movies have a size/length limit?

What's the go with the various flavours of Ixuses (Ixes? Ixii?)? I was thinking of getting the 85ISS (10MP, 3x, Optical Zoom, 2.5 LCD, video with sound). What is teh opinion of the pros around here?

Just bought one of these for the office and it's great. I can recommend it.

id have to check the manual;

we chucked a 4gig sd card in it, so we havent run out of space yet:

pretty sure it would have some sort of filesize limit;

ok, internets tells me:

One of the big complaints about the movie mode on Canon's previous cameras was the 1GB file size limit. When recording at the highest quality setting you'd hit that limit in a little over eight minutes. The SD800 brings good news to movie fans: the DIGIC III processor has allowed the file size limit to rise to 4GB. So now, you can record over 32 minutes of 640 x 480, 30 frame/second video with sound. Now that's more like it!

so the newer versions its 4gig, older versions its 1gig;

we only make moofies of spookjnr doing cool stuff and me and petal getting it awn, so 8 minutes is actualy 8 times longer than anything we've ever needed

note: SD800 = ixus 850

last edited by Spook at 16:54:46 27/Nov/08