Larger sensor in compact camera

I'm sure I've seen this discussed before, but I can't find it now....

Suppose you wanted a fairly compact, neat kind of camera, for use at
times when your SLR was too big, heavy, and noticeable. Said camera
would still be required to produce good quailty and be controllable, so
not a simple p&s. Something like a Voigtlander Bessa, Konica HExar,
Ricoh GR1, from the film world.
What would you choose? What choices are there?

I know it's more complex than this, but a simple rule-of-thumb seems to
say that, for a given sensor size, as resolution is increased, noise
increases as well. So, to get a decent level of resolution without too
much noise the sensor needs to be of a reasonable size. However, nearly
all the compact digital cameras I've looked at use very small sensors.
Taking the Canon range as an example, the A -series and Ixus models have
small sensors. Ok, they are p&s cameras and very small (esp. the Ixus).
However, as you move up the range you might expect better quality, say
from the G6. But.. that uses a very small sensor as well.
So, what digital cameras are the out there that use something like a 1"
sensor, or 4/3 maybe, or even and APS-size sensor, and are still
reasonably* small and neat.

(* - Doesn't have to be shirt-pocket size, just something akin to a
Hexar, Leica (but cheaper than that!), etc.)

John

 

Don't think you're going to find one--you can get Leica sized from Epson (if
you can find one--it was a limited run)and Leica has a digital M coming,
but you're going to pay Leica prices for either.

Instead of agonizing over this, just pick up a good point-and-shoot and play
with it--I think you'll be surprised at how well they do.

 

Well, I'm not agonizing about it. Of course you have to go with what is
available, and I do have an Ixus which does give pretty good results.
I'm interested to know if there is much in the market slot I'm
describing though. Seems like a gap there to me.

John

 

You might want to consider the Canon G6
The G series has been around for 6 years ( not many models can make that
claim)and is constantly improved based on feedback from the previous
models. It has 7 MP and a 1/1.8" sensor and useful features galore.
See http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/g6_pg8.html for a review.
For a few more MP and a bigger sensor, the Sony R-1 is quite
impressive. But as expected, it is a bit bulkier.
Bob Williams

 

Ok. I did mention the G6 in my post. I'm sure it's a good camera, but a
1/1.8" sensor is still quite small.

The Sony R1 is not 'it' either. If I were going to carry around
something that big I'd use my EOS 5D.

Looks like my quest in in vain. ;-)

 

Put a 35/2.0 (or similar prime) on either your Nikon D50 or Canon 350D, and
you'll be as inconspicuous as any of the above. DSLRs and SLRs are only
clunky because we put clunky zooms on them.

The rule of thumb (that is, that sensor size determines the amount of
statistical noise) tells you the upper limit on performance. Any particular
camera can only be worse than that.

People say that economics is the dismal science, but it's nowhere near as
dismal as optics.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

 

There is no doubt that the lens on the Olympus 8080 is pretty good but
it seems that the 8080WZ (wide zoom) has high distortion in wide angle
and average corner sharpness. It really can't beat Canon 10-22's
quality! And of course, a small sensor always has noise to content with:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos20d/page26.asp

 

Large sensor + zoom lens (of any range) = large camera.

 

Probably because the potential market isn't big enough to make it
worthwhile.
I'm one of those strange people who thinks that the major
manufacturers (of any product) really do have people on staff who
think about these things.

 

Seems like they have stopped improving the G series. The G6 is more than 1.5
year old, which is very long for digital cameras.

If they can put a larger sensor in the next G series, that would be very
nice.