Is There a Compact Camera With Superior Auto Functions?

[musicmafia]

Here's my dilemma. I am looking for the best picture quality I can get in a small package while shooting in auto and/or semi-auto modes.

I already tried and returned a Canon S95. It takes beautiful pictures in full manual mode for those folks who have the time and desire to manually adjust settings for every shot. I am not one of those people. In Auto or P modes, image quality was better on my old Sony Cybershot.

Using Auto or Semi-Auto modes in mind, is there a clear front-runner out there? Is there a compact P&S that actually has good enough sensors or tech what-not to actually focus and set proper ISO etc. and deliver good image quality?

Please help. Here are some specifics:

Budget: Any.

Size: Compact (The S95 was fine for size, the G12 type sizes are too big for me).

Optical zoom: Any. Standard 3x-4x is fine.

General use: Travel, Versatility, Indoors (people) and outdoors (landscapes, wildlife).

Big prints: Preferred but not a deal breaker.

Indoor photos or low light photos? Yes. I bought the S95 because it is advertised to excel in low light. In A and P modes it definitely did not. With no flash the pics were too dark. With flash the subjects were washed out even at 8 feet away like a nuclear blast. An adjustable or "soft flash" type setting would be a great feature.

Sports and/or action photos? No

Thanks in advance for your help!!!

[Photo-John]

I believe the Canon S95 is probably compact pocket camera with the best *potential* right now. And that means you have to know what you're doing with it. As you discovered.

For best pure auto functionality I'd have to go with a Panasonic camera and iAuto mode. Most camera makers are putting a similar mode on their point-and-shoot cameras now but in my experience Panasonic has done the best job. Basically, the iAuto mode evaluates the scene and chooses the appropriate scene mode and settings. When I used it I was continually surprised - and I'm a mostly manual exposure guy. In the end I gave up on my "superior" knowledge and let the iAuto mode do it's thing. Don't expect it to be magic, though. I think camera companies have taught us to expect that their products can take perfect pictures all the time - not true.

My favorite compact cameras right now are pocket superzooms. The Panasonic Lumix ZS7 would be my recommendation. But if you don't want to pay for the 12x zoom lens, manual exposure and GPS, take a look at some of their other models and find one with the features you want that also has the iAuto mode. I think you'll be happy

[musicmafia]

I believe the Canon S95 is probably compact pocket camera with the best *potential* right now. And that means you have to know what you're doing with it. As you discovered.

For best pure auto functionality I'd have to go with a Panasonic camera and iAuto mode. Most camera makers are putting a similar mode on their point-and-shoot cameras now but in my experience Panasonic has done the best job. Basically, the iAuto mode evaluates the scene and chooses the appropriate scene mode and settings. When I used it I was continually surprised - and I'm a mostly manual exposure guy. In the end I gave up on my "superior" knowledge and let the iAuto mode do it's thing. Don't expect it to be magic, though. I think camera companies have taught us to expect that their products can take perfect pictures all the time - not true.

My favorite compact cameras right now are pocket superzooms. The Panasonic Lumix ZS7 would be my recommendation. But if you don't want to pay for the 12x zoom lens, manual exposure and GPS, take a look at some of their other models and find one with the features you want that also has the iAuto mode. I think you'll be happy

hi john and thanx for your input. i own a Panasonic FZ35 and i've found it doesnt always auto-focus well and i havent used it much. i really havent had much time to learn it or play with it but i'm going to read up on the iA mode and shoot some stuff with it. if that mode works well on the FZ35 i would certainly consider one of their smaller compacts with that feature. thanks for the tip!

[Photo-John]

Happy to help. Like I said, no matter what the camera marketing people try to tell, cameras aren't magic. There are situations where they will let you down. Auto focus in low light with a point-and-shoot is one of those situations. A lot of the time, learning a little bit of technique is the solution. In fact, most of the time a little technique will do more for you than a new camera. I do think the Panasonic iAuto mode works very well, though. It's not perfect but it will do a good job 85-90% of the time. And when it doesn't, then you fall back on technique

[Liz]

Here's my dilemma. I am looking for the best picture quality I can get in a small package while shooting in auto and/or semi-auto modes.

I already tried and returned a Canon S95. It takes beautiful pictures in full manual mode for those folks who have the time and desire to manually adjust settings for every shot. I am not one of those people. In Auto or P modes, image quality was better on my old Sony Cybershot.

Using Auto or Semi-Auto modes in mind, is there a clear front-runner out there? Is there a compact P&S that actually has good enough sensors or tech what-not to actually focus and set proper ISO etc. and deliver good image quality?

Please help. Here are some specifics:

Budget: Any.

Size: Compact (The S95 was fine for size, the G12 type sizes are too big for me).

Optical zoom: Any. Standard 3x-4x is fine.

General use: Travel, Versatility, Indoors (people) and outdoors (landscapes, wildlife).

Big prints: Preferred but not a deal breaker.

Indoor photos or low light photos? Yes. I bought the S95 because it is advertised to excel in low light. In A and P modes it definitely did not. With no flash the pics were too dark. With flash the subjects were washed out even at 8 feet away like a nuclear blast. An adjustable or "soft flash" type setting would be a great feature.

Sports and/or action photos? No

Thanks in advance for your help!!!

You might consider the SD4000. I have a friend who recently got one - she uses it mostly on auto and is quite happy with the images. It has a nice wide angle fast lens (f2.0) so it also does well in low light. You can check out the specs/info/reviews here. The average price is $259.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...S_Digital.html

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...x=canon+sd4000

Liz

[musicmafia]

Happy to help. Like I said, no matter what the camera marketing people try to tell, cameras aren't magic. There are situations where they will let you down. Auto focus in low light with a point-and-shoot is one of those situations. A lot of the time, learning a little bit of technique is the solution. In fact, most of the time a little technique will do more for you than a new camera. I do think the Panasonic iAuto mode works very well, though. It's not perfect but it will do a good job 85-90% of the time. And when it doesn't, then you fall back on technique

thx john...ps let me know when that "magic" camera comes out...i'll be first in line

[musicmafia]

You might consider the SD4000. I have a friend who recently got one - she uses it mostly on auto and is quite happy with the images. It has a nice wide angle fast lens (f2.0) so it also does well in low light. You can check out the specs/info/reviews here. The average price is $259.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...S_Digital.html

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...x=canon+sd4000

Liz

thx liz, i will check it out

[Photo-John]

thx john...ps let me know when that "magic" camera comes out...i'll be first in line

Well, if you believe the camera marketing hype, every new camera is magic. The annual CES tradeshow is coming up in a couple of weeks. So get ready...

[mwfanelli2]

First of all, the S95 is not a camera for casual shooters. Pros and experts are usually willing to read the manual page by page. Once you do that, the camera becomes very easy to use and provides a quality that is only matched by one or two other P&S cameras at the moment. I just posted a review of the S95 and tried to make that clear.

Yes, the S95 does do Auto but it's overkill for that. No, you do not need "manual" mode to get fantastic images and it does a much better job than any Sony P&S out there. But again, it is not really designed for the casual Auto shooter.

I would recommend the Canon S4000 or S4500. This is a simpler camera that still provides excellent images. Or, if you really prefer the look of Sony P&S cameras, why not just buy a newer model? Stick with what you like is always a good way to go. The fact of the matter is that there is no "best" camera out there.

Let us know what you choose and then show us some photos!

[Franglais]

I have a Canon S95 and I have been very impressed by the exposure accuracy. If I want to check what the camera is doing then there is a button that brings up the histogram immediately and if I want to correct the exposure then I just turn the knurled wheel on the back. In any case I shoot RAW and I always fine-tune the exposure at home using the software supplied.

I have been surprised (appalled might be a better term) to discover the exposure accuracy on the S95 is at least as good as on my Nikon DSLR's and I don't think you get any better than that. The S95 doesn't get fooled by the same things as the Nikons do but it's good.

[musicmafia]

I've seen some incredible pics taken by the S95 and I agree it is an amazing camera but Michael hit it on the head, it's not designed for the casual shooter like me.

[MNRyan]

I'm with Liz on this one, I'm also looking t the SD4000. I would stay away from the SD4500, the zoom is nice but the lens can't compete with the 4000. From my research there isn't much out there than can compete with the SD4000.

[musicmafia]

the sd4000 looks good on paper. i read through the manual and was hoping it would have an adjustment for flash intensity. my s95 had a bad habit of bleaching out the subjects (people) when using flash in auto mode. some of the reviews of the sd4000 on canon's website complain about this issue as well. im surprised more brands dont allow an adjustment for flash intensity on compacts. my casio ex-z2000 is the only camera i own that has it.

[Photo-John]

I'm with Liz on this one, I'm also looking t the SD4000. I would stay away from the SD4500, the zoom is nice but the lens can't compete with the 4000. From my research there isn't much out there than can compete with the SD4000.

In what way is the SD4000 lens better? Is it just better optically because it's shorter? The only complaint I have about the SD4500 IS lens is that it's not wide enough. On the other hand, it's hard to give up the 360mm telephoto end once you've used it a few times.

[john tayler]

SD4000's lens is probably not wide enough but the cam can be very useful in extreme conditions. acc to op's needs, SD4000 will be the recommendation from my side too.