While I love the photos from my Canon Rebel XT, I hate its size. The Rebel is actually one of the smallest SLR cameras out there, but it is still something you have to bring a bag for, or sling it over your shoulder. It also attracts much more attention than my old camera – either from people just eying me over with this big ass camera, or others wanting to talk shop. I’ve been longing for a camera that has 1) Good quality sensor with RAW files 2) Has at least a 28mm wide angle 3) Gives me plenty of manual controls. My old Fuji F810 came close in some ways for its time, but was only 32mm wide, and had limited shutter speeds. I’d still be using it, but it got dropped somewhere along the way and now has interlaced while lines in the photos. I’ve been watching ebay for a used one, but no luck in several months.
But there are two cameras that just might fit the bill, but in different ways. The first is the Sigma DP1. This camera has a fixed 28mm F4 lens. This might be an issue for some, but 90% of my photos have been at that angle, so I don’t see it as much of a trouble – though I’m not sure why they couldn’t make the lens faster. The big deal about this camera is that it has an APS-C sized sensor. This means the sensor is the same size as my much larger Rebel. The larger sensor should give a much better photo quality, as well as much better high ISO and low light performance. It isn’t perfect though, the camera is a little too thick, and there is no anti-shake. Both I would assume because of the large sensor. But I think the size is still manageable. I’ll have to see how the no IS goes, I’ve become used to it on my Rebel. I’d have more to go on, but no one really knows when it is coming out. When it does, I’ll be pouring over the reviews.
The other one that looks promising is the Ricoh Caplio GX100. It has a great form factor, full manual controls, anti-shake, RAW, and a 24-72mm f2.5-4.4 lens. On paper, it looks like a dream camera. Unfortunately, it also uses a small compact sensor. This means the photo quality isn’t going to be the greatest, and the ISO performance is going to be poor. The early reviews seem to suggest anything over ISO400 is pretty bad. They also say it takes several seconds to shoot RAW files, which would be a pain in the ass. I’ll have to wait for more reviews to see if the image quality and performance will meet my expectations.
It looks like it might take some time for all the reviews and comparisons to come out. Which isn’t really an issue, as I’m content to wait. Hopefully more people will get in on the action, and drive development for this niche.
Update: DPReview.com has posted their review of the GX100 here. Unfortunately it looks like my fears are true. Great camera, crappy sensor. It looks like you can get quality out of the camera if you are willing to put in the time to work around its limitations. Four to five seconds to save a raw file would get old pretty fast though.
Still waiting on the DP1…
Yeah, I want to get a small point and shoot that can actually make great pictures. I don’t find a lot of practical use for RAW, but ISO quality, wide angle and buttons (vs 100% menu) are also sticking points for me. You’re right, there just aren’t enough options…
I guess I don’t *need* raw, but find it really helpful for those times when I need to push the shadows or highlights. It is also nice for doing things like stitching, as I find doing the color space in camera a bit of a pain. I’m lazy and storage is cheap :) It is also nice to have the extra options if you want to do a print.
You are right about the menu systems. One thing I forgot to add – dials. I really would rather not go through apertures or exposure comps with a menu system. Uhg.