Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 large sensor compact camera leaked!

[Terbinator]

Snip..

I do like the look and price of the Olympus one, being able to take in RAW is nice as well for archival purposes (unless I'm missing something). I guess my needs are rather odd, this will be the first time i'll be taking a camera out and about for dedicated time but i want some decent quality pictures (obviously my own skills factor into this as well) without the cost and size of a SLR mainly, because i don't know when i'll have shooting time again outside of birthdays, Classifieds (), Christmas etc.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I do like the look and price of the Olympus one, being able to take in RAW is nice as well for archival purposes (unless I'm missing something). I guess my needs are rather odd, this will be the first time i'll be taking a camera out and about for dedicated time but i want some decent quality pictures (obviously my own skills factor into this as well) without the cost and size of a SLR mainly, because i don't know when i'll have shooting time again outside of birthdays, Classifieds (), Christmas etc.

OTH,the wider range of something like the Panasonic is useful. Even the 24MM end is noticeably wider for group shots and scenery IMHO.

So I suppose,you either need to look at convenience or better image quality. However,as I said before pictures from the Pansonic TZ series cameras I have seen look quite nice printed at A4,and for compact travel cameras they are pretty easy to use.

I do like my S95(the Canon equivalent of the Olympus XZ1),especially as it is more useful in lower light,but I do find the range(28-105MM which is similar to the Olympus) sometimes a tad limiting(I wish it went a bit wider and longer). However,I have a dSLR so it is not such a big issue for me.

Of course,go and try the cameras in a shop first - although you might be pushed towards certain brands though!!

[kalniel]

Sorry that was what i was trying to get at. I was sort of expecting that the cameras with the better zoom would have upgraded internals as well as lens meaning 'non-zoom' shots would benefit as well - but is that not the case?

No, the opposite actually. For the same budget if you spend the money on a mahoosive zoom and the intricate telescoping mechanism then you've got less to spend on the sensor etc, not to mention that those zooms are harder to get optically right and will let in less light, which might you have to up the ISO and your image quality plummets.

On the other hand if you go for a more limited zoom you can get much better image quality and more light. Or you can make the camera cheaper for the same quality, but it's less hard to get a lens optically right if the zoom range is more conservative.

But there's no point comparing image qualities between different classes of camera (even if they cost the same) - decide what your usage will be and if you think you will need the extra range (and these ultra zooms have some quite ridiculous telephoto!) then that's you only option. On the other hand I wouldn't recommending compromising the rest of the camera if you're not likely to need such mega zoom.

For outdoor sports shooting from distance for example, you need the zoom (and luck to get a sharp shot). For buildings, scenery, people, flowers etc. you don't.

Conversely I might be pushing image quality a bit too hard - you might not need the sharpest, nicest shots, or might only be interested in web-sized images. In which case get the camera that's easiest to get the kind of shot you want and don't worry about IQ too much - the shot you manage to get is infinitely better that the shot you miss

[Terbinator]

Just to let you know i ended up picking up a Nikon "Coolpix" (shudder) P310 w/ 2 year warranty at Jessops for £240. Having a quick look over my photos and I'm definitely happy with the quality and will share my offerings soon.

It was a hard choice between that, the Sony HX20 and X1 (personally i thought this one looked the best) - the sales rep was adamant the Nikon was better and i felt inclined to agree because of the price and because i don't know how much the better IQ is down to the scaled images on the camera's screen. He did try roping me into a compact system, and admittedly it looked great and better than the others, but the lenses/size thing just wasn't for me.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Here is are is a review of the RX100:

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/sony/dsc_rx100-review

It looks impressive and does 1920X1080 movies at 60FPS:

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/so...sets/train.mov

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The video abiities of the camera look great:

http://www.eoshd.com/content/8499/sony-rx100-review

[DeludedGuy]

That camera seems to be the business....I don't actually think £500 is that bad considering the overall size of it and the quality and features you get, there's nothing else like it on the market.