No P&S for a serious hobbyist?

Nobody is saying the there are no physical limitations, only that the
cameras are nowhere near them. What is being offered or withheld is
governed not by physics but marketing decisions.

The 35 mm film cameras had a bigger "sensor", the film itself, than any
digital ps. Lenses, zooming, etc. are not affected by whether the image
is recorded in analog or digital format.

 

The trouble is, ISO rating is not a free parameter: It's a property of
the sensor, I think roughly it's the ratio of quantum efficiency and
dark current with some fudge factors added to make the numbers comparable
to the old ASA film speed ratings.

I'll admit I didn't follow those two paragraphs.....

A bigger sensor will also contribute more noise (dark current) so making
it bigger becomes a losing game after a point where it catches most of the
light the lens puts on it.

One of the tricks is that the sensor surface is not all active; a bigger
sensor can have a higher percentage of active area, that may be what
you're thinking of: For a given number of pixels, active area goes up
as the sensor grows, but as the pixels grow so does the noise. In a
noiseless detector you might be correct, but then you'd be lugging a
Dewar of liquid nitrogen around to top up your camera

The pictures, however, would be very good, especially the night shots.

bob prohaska

 

I have long argued that digital photography is in its infancy.

I have tons of Kodachrome 25 tranparancies that I shot with my old,
(well I still have it if I want to get serious), Leica M2. I have a few
scans and believe me, they are the standouts in my screen saver.

Additionally, the tonal range is far greater and I get great detail even
when shooting into the sun late in the afternoon.

OTOH, nothing beats the convenience of digital and the cost is far less
when you can simply erase and reshoot...

JT

 

Canon SD 800IS.
Just bought one 3 weeks ago and I am ready to sell off all my other gear.
Greta little camera with a 28mm FOV on the wide side, optical stabilization,
and great picture quality.
You can find it under $300 now.

 

long zoom problem

I don't think getting 200+ zoom on compact digital P&S is really a good idea since;
1. the size usually degrade about 30%-40%. (8MP to 5MP)
2. the shake (although some has anti shake tool built in)

I would say <130mm is enough (in 35mm). Unless using tripod which I think SLR is a good way to go. P&S is meant to be used light and easy.

hope it helps.