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Canon Powershot S5 IS Anonymous
good complex point and shooter?
or can i get better one for under 500 bucks?
>> Anonymous
Yes. The Panasonic DMC-FZ8 if you need the small size but not the hotshoe or the FZ-50 if you need the hotshoe but not the small size.

If you need both, the S5 is probably your best bet. Or if you don't want to shoot RAW, the S5's JPEG output is ultimately better than the Panasonics.
>> Anonymous
>>78472
thanks a bunch yea my yearbook editor is
against RAW for some reason, says something
about it being more hassle with indesign
>> Anonymous
>>78473
No, RAW is good and your yearbook editor is a whore.

It gives you higher image quality and total control over the final image. It just takes five minutes longer to deal with than JPEGs, and some people are lazy and don't want to take that five minutes.

The Panasonics are much better cameras, the FZ-50 especially. However, some engineer at Panasonic went stupid and/or was whipped by the marketing department on the day they made the camera firmware. See, people had whined about Panasonic cameras having a smidge more noise than other brands, their one disadvantage. Panasonic's response? Bump up the noise reduction on the JPEGs to over nine-thousand, raping fine detail, especially color detail, and eliminating the biggest advantage (the lens) their cameras have. In RAW, however, one controls the amount of noise reduction, and can choose to not use it at all or use just a smidge.

If you want to see how much more detail the Panasonics' Leica-designed lenses get, look here:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons5is/page17.asp

Then look at the next page for how noise reduction at higher ISOs ruins it.

And two other things:

1. The S3IS would be a better Canon choice if you don't need the hotshoe. It has two less megapixels, which won't make much difference in image quality. However, more megapixels for the same sensor size equals more noise.

2. If you don't need the huge zoom range of these, a cheap DSLR may be a better choice. If you don't need a quiet camera and will be doing a lot of shooting in low light without a flash, the answer is "yes."
>> Anonymous
I'd get an S2 IS, don't bother with an S3.
>> Anonymous
lumix fz50 450 @ amazon
>> Anonymous
Just get a D40 kit.
>> Anonymous
>>78475
From someone who has shot with both, you're a fool.

The S3 is much better than the S2.
>> Anonymous
>>78501
Don't get pissed at me just because you wasted money
>> Anonymous
>>78503
I didn't. I bought a used S2 from a camera store. Within the warranty they offered, something screwed up mechanically with the lens. They were out of S2s, and they couldn't fix it, so they just replaced it with an S3.
>> Anonymous
By the way, the canon powershot g9 *just* came out, and that thing is supposed to be very very good.

I think it hovers at around 500 dollars, but it's supposed to be one of the best on the market. For what it is anyways.
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
Why get a "complex point and shooter"? You can get a dSLR for under $500 nowadays.
>> Anonymous
>>78470
for that price you can get a nikon d40 or canon 350d and mebbe even a nice prime lens.
>> Anonymous
>>78539
If he's shooting for his high school yearbook, he could need a the small field of view of the lenses on these things, which can't be gotten cheaply on a DSLR. He might have to be shooting sports events, portraits of the principal at a podium from a dozen rows back, whatever.
>> else !L6xabslN96
>>78737
field of view = depth of field

amirite?