Smallish digital camera with a decent viewfinder

The Canon gets very poor reviews. An opportunity missed by Canon.
I'll have a hunt around. If only the GR had a good viewfinder built in.....

Tony

Edit: But one respected reviewer quite likes it.. http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/Canon-G7.shtml

Might be worth a good look, take a memory card along to a shop and try it.

Rockingdock
You could seek out an Epson RD1. It's a rangefinder with a Leica M Mount, but you can use the much less expensive but still very good Voigtlander lenses on it. The M8 is top of my shopping list! If I sell my 2 M7s on eBay it might be viable. Then I can use all these great M lenses I have accummulated over the years!

I have yet to find a digicam with a really usable v/f. One slightly off the wall alternative could be the Leica Digilux 3 or its Pansonic equivalent, which I think is called an L1. Not much bigger than your Digilux2, with asuperb Leica zoom and superb image quality. And about half the price of the M8. Just a thought.

Thanks.
I haven't seen an Epson appear on e-Bay for over 6 months, they were a limited edition I think. I'll have a look at a digi3/L1 and M8 this week (if I can find one).

I think the Canon G7 is great but it has been on the market for some time now.

I haven't looked at one yet, but Olympus are advertising a new SLR which they claim is the smallest on the market. Their 35mm SLR's were always diminutive in size and I was really narked when they withdrew from the SLR market as their cameras were superb.

I presume that SLR's still produce vastly superior results for a given quoted megapixel count due to the much larger sensor (similar to 35mm being superior to the old 126!)

Peter

Peter
The reviews I have read of the new Olympus machines are pretty positive. The only lacking feature seems to be some kind of Optical Stabilistaion system

Rockingdoc, I had a quick look on the Leica website. The nearest dealers to you outside central London seem to be Wey Cameras in Weybridge (my local dealers and very decent folks) or HA Baker in Lewes, about whom I know nothing. None in Kent it seems. Beware fondling the M8 - Leica-lust is very likely to result! But the D3 is well worth a look. One of the guys in Wey Cameras bought one for himself and his results with the 14-50 lens are very impressive.

If you want a small SLR then Pentax is the way to go.

I had the G5 and found it rather good. I've read about, and handled the G7. Translating what many others consider it's shortcomings (absence of swivelling LCD screen) to your requirements, it may indeed be the thing for you. Check it out and see how it fits. Many punters are opting for the faux-SLRs and prefer the S3 iS; when these models fit requirements, the G7 doesn't get a look in. Try using a fully featured Canon system flash on the S3! The G7 has that and more.

cheers

quote:

Originally posted by Nigel Cavendish:

If you want a small SLR then Pentax is the way to go.

I'm very attracted to the Nikon D40 (6mp) and D40x (10mp). Reviews are good, especially for the D40x; high quality and versatility for the buck. Don't have a DSLR yet, but my high-end P&S is a Pentax 750z. I like it fine, but it's inherently limited, as all P&S are.

All best,
Fred

fred

I'm curious too, having (relatively) huge Nikon 35mm slr's - something more diminutive definitely appeals (hence my fondness for my OM4Ti of old!).

Strange that Nikon have three different 10mp sensors, the D40x being the latest one. Anyone know if the ones built into the more expensive models (D200) are better or is it just technology doing its leaps and bounds thing for less money as time goes on?

Peter

Any real DSLR is bigger than I want to carry cycling, and that is what this camera is really for; a cycling tour in the Arctic.
Even the D3/L1 or M8 may be too heavy when I actually get to handle them.

What I really want is a digital equivalent of my 35 mm Contax T3. This is a truly great compact camera, but the current market doesn't seem able to support a digital compact at this price point which would be close to a grand in today's money. Perhaps I'll take the T3 and scan the negs.

The Olympus 4xx DSLR is remarkably small and light and would require you to make a smaller compromise compared with the point and shoot prosumer camera.

The Nikon D40 is very compact for a DSLR and Ken Rockwell raves about it, combined with the new 18-200mmVR lens, it would provide an excellent wide-telephot rig for about £75, that would deal with all situations.

Just my 2p's worth

Simon

quote:

Originally posted by Rockingdoc:
Perhaps I'll take the T3 and scan the negs.

or just get a decent lab to provide a disk of JPEG images at the same time as processing the film. The Leica M8 price will fall as the technology advances (e.g., a full-frame sensor).

quote:

what this camera is really for; a cycling tour in the Arctic

For Arctic read low temperatures, read knackered batteries - particularly with the large displays built into the current crop of digi cams. I presume you have done a bit of research into this?

Many years ago, the advice for extreme climates was to take a manual operating camera (including manual focus and manual shutter) so that you should always be able to operate, even if on a guessed or bracketted exposure.

Er, as for cycling in the Arctic, Hello????

Peter

PS Aperture Photographic have a TVSIII for sale for not much money wich could be a great 35mm device on your travels with its quality zoom lense).

Well, I missed the bit about the Arctic. A mechanical camera and selenium meter would be the reliable option, e.g., Leica M2 to M6 and Sekonic L-398M. Some electronic film cameras used to offer an umbilical cord for an external battery that you can keep in a pocket for warmth. I knew a wildlife photographer who did this on trips to Greenland with his Bronica medium format cameras (but he always carried a Canon F1 as a mechanical backup). Maybe similar options exist for digital cameras, though I thought that LCD screens tended to become sluggish and black out in sub-zero C temperatures. A Lithium battery in your Contax T3 might work if you can keep it warm enough in a pocket between taking photographs. However, exposures in snow with an automated camera can be tricky.

I'm not actually going to the Pole, so don't expect very extreme temps, but I could be wrong. Just trying to see how far north we can cycle. If it gets so cold that a T3 down my trousers stops working, I think we'll have more to worry about than the photos.

I've had the shutter on a Pentax electronic film SLR stick open (with silver-oxide batteries) in Scotland, on a sunny Winter's day. So I'd recommend lithium batteries that have better low-temperature properties for your Contax or digicam.

The batteries probably won't be a problem - after half an hour on a bike near the Arctic, you won't be able to move any fingers to press the shutter release, let alone differentiate between objects to be found down yer trousers!!

Peter

If its that cold the memory card could be a problem surely?

I took a little point and short on a skiiing holiday, the batteries lasted about five minutes haha.

In case anyone's interested, I bought the Leica M8. I still stand by my previous postings that Leica M cameras are jewelry for men, but the images are just so seductive.
So, overpriced, overweight, too bulky to go down the front of my trousers , and I still bought one. I am the new Mick Parry.

Enjoy - I just hope all of your lenses match the camera. Great pictures, but I have two from seven lenses in Solms for recalibration. Best performers are 24mm, 50 year old 50mm Summicron and 75 summilux.

If you are buying new lenses, try before you buy and check for back focus, especially when wide open.

Huw

quote:

I am the new Mick Parry.

The king is dead. Long live the king.

quote:

The king is dead. Long live the king.

Promises. Promises.

quote:

Originally posted by Rockingdoc:
In case anyone's interested, I bought the Leica M8.

I'm interested, post us some pictures from your Arctic trip. The M8 is also meant to have a very good low-light mode for hand-held shooting at night.

Nick - not sure what you mean by low-light mode. A canon 5d delivers images with less noise above ISO 640, but you can hand hold a rangefinder with a normal width lens at 1/45 quite easily, if not lower.

High ISO on M8 delivers a very film like grain in B&W and the shadow resolution is phenomenal.

That said, like any early adapter there is a strong sense that current users are beta testers paying (a lot) for the privelege. Mind you, it's significantly less bulky than a d-SLR and the Cosina Voigtländer lenses are a more than acceptable compromise for Leica glass.

Some say a fool and his money are soon parted but if you can afford an M8 and a familiar with the RF method then it is a non-brainer. It is not an alternative to a d-SLR, it is something different and not everybody's cup of tea. I get quite nice pictures with a Lomo. This is not about willy waving or man jewelery. Nobody has to buy one and in many respects I wish they wouldn't, the price of 2nd hand Leica glass is getting out of control.

Huw