A Canon Replacement

September 10, 2006 9:01 PM

My Canon Powershot S60 has bitten the dust and Canon don't make the "S" series any more. What should I replace it with?

I love the S60 and want something with similar features at a similar price (US$300 - $400):

* slim yet solid build (fits in pocket)
* good lens protection (when in pocket)
* excellent image quality/noise specs
* wide-angle/zoom (S60 has 28mm wide-angle/100mm zoom)
* good automatic point & shoot qualities but also..
* ...manual selection of aperture/time
* 6MP minimum

What I don't like about it is having to step through menus to adjust exposure.

"One step down from a Digital SLR" is how I'd describe what I want...

posted by TiredStarling to sports, hobbies, & recreation (17 comments total)

Is the S80 out of production?

The Nikon 8400 is one of the few others that will go to 28mm wide.
posted by b1tr0t at 9:07 PM on September 10, 2006

The Canon SD 600 sounds like it fits your bill.
posted by ruwan at 9:14 PM on September 10, 2006

The SD 600 doesn't go very wide though. 35mm is just a bit wider than "normal", wide really starts at 28mm.

I really like shooting wide as well. Last year, I gave in and got a Nikon d70 and a Tokina 12-24mm lens.
posted by b1tr0t at 9:20 PM on September 10, 2006

I'm very taken with the Panasonic Lumix line with Leica zooms. Very compact, have a good noise reputation, IS, and (did I mention) Leica lenses. They have all the resolution and zoom ranges covered. I almost bought one last week. I've never used one so...
posted by johngumbo at 10:22 PM on September 10, 2006

i have an SD600 and was disappointed in the high-iso performance. the S550 seemed a whole lot better. but the display on the SD600 is awesome.
posted by joeblough at 10:27 PM on September 10, 2006

I'm very taken with the Panasonic Lumix line [...] have a good noise reputation

Actually, Panasonic cameras are well known for their noisy CCDs and over-eager noise reduction. You either get a very noisy image, or one with very muted detail. As a result, you can only see the full quality of Leica glass when shooting in well-lit conditions.
posted by b1tr0t at 10:41 PM on September 10, 2006

Take a look at the Powershot G6.
posted by sennoma at 10:46 PM on September 10, 2006

I replaced my Canon powershot with a Sony SC-W50. It's great for poor light shots, has a good macro mode and has a really fast start up time. Picture quality is OK.

It all depends on what features you liked best about your Canon though.
posted by seanyboy at 12:18 AM on September 11, 2006

Canon stopped updating the G series, not the S series.

I would give the Ricoh Caplio GX8 a look, maybe Fuji E900; Panasonic DMC-LX2 if you stay with low ISOs.

Here's a comparison.
posted by Akeem at 4:59 AM on September 11, 2006

I went from a Canon S200 to a Casio Exilim Z-750 and it was the best move I could've made. I can't emphasize enough how wonderful this camera is. If you want more impressions, let me know.

Excellent review

Right after I bought it, they came out with the Z-850 which has a brighter screen and another megapixel. Dang.
posted by bbrown at 6:02 AM on September 11, 2006

I bought an S80 a few months ago. Apparently Amazon stopped carrying them, but they were out of stock when I bought mine, and other places had plenty of them. It's great. The only thing it lost over the S70 is RAW support, but the jpegs are good enough I don't really miss it.
posted by raf at 6:32 AM on September 11, 2006

Oh yes, and the S80 has a redesigned interface that puts more options at your fingers without requiring you to go through menus. You can adjust most things without hassle. Read the DPreview review that b1tr0t linked to above.
posted by raf at 6:34 AM on September 11, 2006

are the new samsungs dank? or what? ..... really nice form factor
posted by specialk420 at 10:19 AM on September 11, 2006

Thanks for your replies, folks. I think I'll try and hunt down an S80.
posted by TiredStarling at 1:32 PM on September 11, 2006

b1tr0t: "Actually," Panasonic are known for over-eager noise reduction, but not for noisy sensors. And that's over-eager high ISO noise reduction. In fact, below 400 the Panasonics tend to be less noisy than the equivalent Canon sensors. Or at least, so says DPReview.
posted by johngumbo at 5:25 PM on September 11, 2006

Canon has finally announced the long-awaited new G series compact. Wide-angle through conversion lens only.
posted by Akeem at 3:31 AM on September 14, 2006

The new 28-105mm SD800 IS may be more along the lines of what TiredStarling is looking for.

I'm disappointed that the G7 has lost its swivel LCD and still lacks a RAW format. Also, the lens has slowed from F2.0 to F2.8.
posted by b1tr0t at 7:20 AM on September 14, 2006