We all have equipment that is too big to lug into certain situations. Lenses, filters, lights, batterys, chargers....the list is endless.

My question is: Which digital camera do to have in your pocket? What is your go-to camera when you are snapping pictures of your setup, or crew, or just the surroundings in the area? When the quality doesn't have to be commercial or uber-professional (still fanastic looking, just not DSLR quality) pictures.

Example: I used to have a Sony Cybershot in my camera bag, and when the setup was finished, I would take a few stills of the cast/crew/set for posterity. Well, my Sony bit the dust, and I am looking for some recomendations for "pocket B cameras" that survive travel and riggers of shooting, sub $500.

Thanks in advance.
RK

A used Olympus E-PL1 with whatever lens I'm not using on my GH2.

And in a pinch, it's a 720p B/C/Z cam.

Canon S95 .... A favorite these days among the Photographer crowd. I've used it's 720p24 as a B-cam in a pinch when I didn't need more than 12 minutes worth.

I use the Canon Powershot G12 for this sort of thing (after having also owned the G11 and the G9, both of which were stolen). It's got very decent image quality, it has a viewfinder as well as the LCD, and (biggie for me...) has a 28mm equivalent wide end of the zoom (wider than many snapshooters). It's always in my backpack on any treks, shoots, walks, strolls, whatever, and (with a bit of effort) it can, well, sort of fit in your pocket :-).

My go to camera is the Panasonic LX5. It produces fantastic images and has a great lens. The only shortcoming it may have for you is a limited zoom but for me that's a non-issue.

Here's a nice comparison test of enthusiast-type cameras of this type.

Enthusiast Compact Camera Group Test (Q4 2010) Review: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/q42010highendcompactgroup/)

Canon PowerShot S95 here. It's a great little pocket camera.

So far it looks like a Canon crowd. S95 and G12 were some of the candidates I was looking at.
Please keep the comments coming. It is interesting to hear what you all use.

The Sony Cybershots are still an option, I'm partial to my TX9 and TX1 (and the TX7, though I sold that along the way), and when the upgrade isn't too expensive, the latest TX10 (waterproof. shockproof, within reason) and the TX100 (with 1080, 60P video that looks quite nice from the samples I've seen) are on the wish list. The latest new 16.2Mpixel sensor looks to be delivering very very good images.

I like the TX series for the small size with touch screen, and they have fairly wide lenses, but only about a 4x zoom, so not great for anything other than relatively "close" subjects (25-100mm in 35mm equivalent according to Sony). If you want more lens range, you can get similar features, and the same new 16.2M EXMOR R CMOS sensor, in many flavors of "WX" (too small for my hands, but the wife likes it), or "HX" (bigger cameras, more "long" end to the lens range). Keep in mind the latest Sony models are just barely showing up in the marketplace, and of course "last years models" are on clerance, sometimes rather cheap.

Limited manual controls, but very simple and easy cameras with quite a bit of "intelligence" that usually will take a better shot than someone fiddling trying to find the "right settings"! And I've noticed the other P&S cams tend towards 720 rather than 1080 when shooting video, I'd rather have the higher resolution, and have been pleasantly surprised with how good the results are for a "sub $500" (most sub $400, some near $200!) camera.

I'll admit a partiality to Sony products, but you probably can't go terribly wrong with some of the other brands - there's lots of extremely cool "toys" at attractive prices and with attractive features, just depends on what you decide you "like"!

I own a Panasonic FZ35. Great camera with tons of preset settings. Manual controls are available as well, although the manual focus is a bit combursome to use. Not a quick lens control for it. Takes great pics overall, although I've learned my photography skills are not great. Still enjoy it though, good deal for $300.

I've been having fun with my new Sony Bloggie -- I got the one with the 360 degree angle of view option. I shoot a clip just before the 'real' camera rolls, and capture the subject, the client, the camera guy, the audio guy & me (director) -- it is fun stuff, and makes for a change from the usual production stills.

Even in 'regular' mode the video is decent and allows for frame grabs at good quality -- it shoots 1920x1080 60p, has image stabilization and true auto (not fixed) focus. Unfortunately no flash, as it really is a video camera, but on a production shoot there is plenty of light.

Sony Bloggie MHS-T20 -- look for the model that includes the annulus lens. It's a little harder to find, but worth the extra $$ for the curiosity factor alone.

My go to camera is the Panasonic LX5. It produces fantastic images and has a great lens. The only shortcoming it may have for you is a limited zoom but for me that's a non-issue.


That's what I'd be shooting, except it doesn't fit in a pant pocket... So... Canon S95 for me as well!

Canon PowerShot SX210 IS. 14X zoom and macro mode plus small size were features that I got it for.

I've been having fun with my new Sony Bloggie -- I got the one with the 360 degree angle of view option. I shoot a clip just before the 'real' camera rolls, and capture the subject, the client, the camera guy, the audio guy & me (director) -- it is fun stuff, and makes for a change from the usual production stills.

That is a really fun idea. A 360 deg camera would be awesome to take shots with.
I need to get my hands on one to try out!
Great for BTS and blooper reels.
I wonder what it looks like on top/bottom of a Steadicam.....hmmmm.

Here's a quick compilation of clips I shot at an industrial shoot last week -- gives an idea of the angle of view from the catadioptric reflector lens:

MobileMe Gallery (http://gallery.me.com/rgbaker/100110)

Cheers,
GB

my go to cam was a Canon G11...went everywhere with me. For the last 8 months or so, a Sony Nex 3 with a 16mm lens. Astonishing images, great video.
However, I recently got an iphone 4...I'm quite impressed with both image quality and the video. I don't see it replacing my carry around camera, instead now my wife tells me that I am hauling around too many cameras for a trip to the local 7-11.
It's not very often that I've been caught without a camera, even less often that I don't have a cell phone. I'm figuring I'm pretty well covered now

a s95, fresh out of the box, kindly brought by a colleague all the way to Mali from the US... with a dead pixel and a hot pixel on the sensor, and two dead pixels on the LCD.
great camera, but wow, this makes me soooo sad!!!

two iPhones and Sony TX5 are always with me

FWIW, I snagged on the cheap a Sony WX10 (which strangely is already discontinued according to Sony...) with the latest sensor (16.2Mpixel), it's a good step up from the earlier Sonys, particularly for video in low light. Impressive little camera with full manual features. I'm planning on upgrading a couple other cameras to the equivalent TX and HX series with the same sensor, sufficiently impressed with what Sony squeezed out of these tiny chips/cams!

I bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS6 (12x optical Leica lens) for my wife for Christmas, hoping she will leave alone my oldie but goldie Sony F828. She did, but somehow nowadays the little Lumix ends up in my pocket more often than the 828 in my shoulder bag... Incidentally it shoots great 720P video even in suboptimal light, I love this little thing. The folks at Leica still know how to make a good lens... so Japanese cameras for me, but with German glass (the F828 has a Carl Zeiss lens).

It's increasingly difficult to justify dragging out a "big" camera unless there's pay involved. I'm still shocked by how good the Sony WX10 does (60i video, and quite good in low light). I'm still waiting for a deal on one of the latest TX (or HX) series Sonys for myself, while shooting with a TX9... if one doesn't come up soon, I may have to try to snag another WX10!

Considering that these latest P&S cameras from Sony do 60i (and a couple do 60p!), and will also shoot dual mode (you can squeeze off a still at decent rez while shooting video), they are coming darn close to the capabilities of a video camera. and I'd venture would beat something along the line of the sony "7" series cameras from just a couple years back in both image quality and overall performance! Smaller, convenient, and amazingly high quality for both stills and video... scary stuff, especially considering the price points!

I'm toying with an NEX5 as my new "pocket" (ok, coat pocket) camera for when I need something more than the S95, but don't want to lug a DSLR.

Damn we're getting spoiled with options. :)

don't "toy", BUY!!!

I absolutely love my NEX...tremendous image quality, low light performance and REALLY good video. my DSLR's seldom see the light of day any more

I'll tell ya, the only thing really holding me back at this point (and just barely) is I've got to buy another Canon 5D mkII. Otherwise... yeah.
My only complaint about it is the 16mm pancake lens though. Love the pancake, hate 16mm. 24mm equiv cropped is just a bit too wide, it's not particularily fast, A 35 f2.0 equiv would make this thing a weapon.

Canon S95 .... A favorite these days among the Photographer crowd. I've used it's 720p24 as a B-cam in a pinch when I didn't need more than 12 minutes worth.

Is it possible to manually focus during video recoding with the S95, or do you have to set the manual focus prior to recording starts? Also, what functions can be assigned to the lens ring -- manual focus..?

My ex just killed her Canon SD4000IS that she had a love/hate relationship with -- nice HD lowlight videos but constantly went focus hunting on her. So I wonder if the S95 would be better in that regard (i.e., to be able to manually focus while she's shooting).

-- peer

iPhone 4. Always have my phone on me. So long as you don't use the Zoom it takes a great picture.

I recently picked up a Sony NEX-3 and love it. APS-C sensor with interchangeable lenses, yet small & light as a feather. I have the 16mm & 18-55 lenses, but the 16mm is used most of the time. Looking forward to more E-mount lenses...

Motorola Droid X.

8MP camera with GPS and Internet upload capability. Also has a web browser aboard in case I get bored while taking pictures. The pictures aren't DSLR level amazing, but it's in my pocket when I need it.

The Canon Powershot S95, mentioned several times in this thread, will be revved to the S100 in November:

Canon USA Announces PowerShot S100 with Digic 5, GPS at DVInfo.net (http://www.dvinfo.net/news/canon-usa-announces-powershot-s100-with-digic-5-gps.html)

Just jumped on the B&H notify list for that. Still in love with the S95 but S100 sounds great.

Sony HX9, great stills, awesome 1080/50p video

The Canon Powershot S95... will be revved to the S100 in November:

Canon USA Announces PowerShot S100 with Digic 5, GPS at DVInfo.net (http://www.dvinfo.net/news/canon-usa-announces-powershot-s100-with-digic-5-gps.html)

Correction, make that late October. Just picked one up today, just in time for a trip to
NYC next week. Can't wait to start playing with it. Battery's on the charger as we speak...

Correction, make that late October. Just picked one up today, just in time for a trip to NYC next week. Can't wait to start playing with it.

I guess it's time to upgrade to the S100, (even if it was just a few months ago I got the S95). So can you manually focus the S100 while shooting video?

-- peer

Haven't tried it yet but will report when I do.

My S95 is barely a year old; I gave it to my wife. I always try to "gift" my previous
digicams to keep them from stockpiling around here. The S95 stays in the immediate
household, though, since it does something that the S100 won't, which is time-lapse.
Sure it's kind of cheesy with the "miniature effect" nonsense, but fun nonetheless.
Wish they would have left that in...

iphone 4
love the gps feature
I think it's unlikely I will own another dedicated pocket camera

I can't believe Canon DSLR still don't have built in gps.

I held a S100 yesterday and it felt significantly better than the S95. Those little rubber grips on bot the front and back of the camera make such a difference. The whole camera body also is made of that "rubberized" material that is on EOS cameras.

I think I'm going to fall and get one of these :)

iphone 4S and a Sony HX9V (great Video).

I recently bought a Sony NEX-5N.. it's a fun / cool gadget.

Some pictures in my blog
Sample Photos of Sony NEX-5N | L.A. Color Blog (http://lacoloronline.com/blog/?10182-Sample-Photos-of-Sony-NEX-5N)

The NEX requires some BIG pockets <wink>, but since it's smaller than a DSLR, it represents a whole new category of "compact" cameras with high end image quality - the NEX7 is going to be another of these...

I figure pocket to mean something I can literally stick in a pocket with some sort of protective case/sleeve... without arousing attention so to speak... so TX10/TX100/WX10 and at the most a HX9. While they all use the same sensor, as does the HX100, all are "pocketable" in size and configuration, and pretty handy for most casual stills/video.

That said, I'm liking the HX100V for the overall design/control/range of features. Good for when a pocket cam is not enough, but the DSLR is a bit too much!

So can you manually focus the S100 while shooting video?
Haven't tried it yet but will report when I do.

So anything to report back yet ... i.e., can the S100 focus manually while you're shooting video?

-- peer

You cannot manually change focus while recording video on the PowerShot S100.

Not sure why you would want to do that on this camera anyway, considering that
the front control ring (the one around the lens, which can be assigned to manual
focus) makes substantial clicking sounds as it rolls through its detents. You can
zoom during a shot, but a quiet room will reveal the zoom motor noise in the audio.

Think about it -- this is a tiny little digicam that's smaller than a pack of cigarettes.
A person can't possibly hand-hold this little thing and expect to manipulate the front
control ring during video recording without seriously jostling the shot. It would have
to go on a tripod for that, and now we're talking about a different camera. This is a
pocket cam, nothing more. It happens to have a video mode (which has finally
reached 1080 on its third generation). But like all pocket digicams, it is meant to
be first and foremost a stills camera and that's what it will be used for, primarily.

When I had the S90 and the S95, I always set the control ring to adjust ISO. Guess
everybody else did too, because that's now the default operation for the control ring.
It can be set to adjust a variety of operations, but ISO is by far the most useful.

I'm a big believer in the fact that a pocket camera is most effective when you carry it -- I own a rather silly number of cameras, but the best of them is no good when it isn't there when I want to use it. My most recent pocket camera, a Sony Bloggie, is just that -- slimmer even than my iPhone -- and adds the unusual but interesting option of full-360 degree video shooting. Follow this link for a video I threw together from shots I got with this real 'pocket camera' while on vacation ... (comments encouraged, the editing of boundary-less frames is a challenge!):


Cayo Guillermo, Cuba 2011 - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LLP86-ze2E&f&hd=1)

Cheers,
GB

You cannot manually change focus while recording video on the PowerShot S100. [...] But like all pocket digicams, it is meant to be first and foremost a stills camera and that's what it will be used for, primarily.

Okay, I guess for now I'll stick with my S95 -- for me to get 1080P isn't worth an upgrade, especially since it still won't do manual focus -- and yes, I primarily use it for video, always keeping it in my pocket as a "notebook camera". But I must say that I'm quite happy how the S95 handles low-light (better than my GoPro). A couple of nights ago I used it while scouting out some back alley locations for an upcoming shoot. The clip below was shot late at night with almost no light available, and I haven't done any light & color grading -- just slapped it together with some Twixtor and a silly sound track:

Palo Alto back alley after dark (with 70s guitar jam) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUhbHaFBaV0)

-- peer

I don't understand why you'd want manual focus in video mode on a tiny
little pocket digicam like this. The whole point of a camera like the S100
(or S95 or S90) is the simplicity and ease with which you pull it out of a
pocket and start recording. The S100 has a dedicated video rec button
expressly for this purpose, in fact. How could you expect to change focus
on such a small little box without upsetting the shot? Or I suppose I should
be asking, if you want to be so involved as to manually change focus in video
mode, why not choose a real camera for that?

These S-series digicams are very nice for making still photos in RAW mode
with full manual control of everything, but as far as video is concerned, it's a
party camera -- due entirely to its ergonomics. For video recording on the
quick draw, it's a lot better than an iPhone. But if you want to control that
video with manual focus or whatever, these were never the right cameras
simply because they don't have the size or the shape conducive for that.

if you want to be so involved as to manually change focus in video mode, why not choose a real camera for that?

If my real camera would fit in my pocket, I would.

How could you expect to change focus on such a small little box without upsetting the shot?

Well, the way I have my S95 set up is so that the set-focus is assigned to the S function button on the back -- only need to tap it and it sets the focus -- which wouldn't upset the shot at all if implemented also for recording.

So far the workaround for me has been to quickly pause recoding, press the S button, and then resume recoding -- and then try to sew it together in post to make it look like an unbroken shot. Here's an example (yet another silly blog-video) where I go from a mid-long shot to a close up (of the beer at the end) in one "continuous" shot, using this gnarly workaround of focus-pause-focus to try keeping as much as possible in focus:

Gordon Biersch Brewery -- Palo Alto, California - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIlu81g0Pus)

So again, to me it's a bit disappointing to have a 1080P camera yet prone to out-of-focus videos, especially in low light -- the auto-focus on the S95 (and even more so the SD4000IS) is almost useless since it often goes into a focus hunt which is even more annoying.

-- peer

That video makes good use of the S100's built in speed ramp features.


Has anyone experienced the soft right hand side problem with the S100? I decided not to buy one after reading about it (and I'm a big S95 fan!) At least until it gets fixed.

"The soft right hand side problem"...? Is that the rubber grip stripe thingee you're talking about here..?

-- peer

Has anyone experienced the soft right hand side problem with the S100?

Eh? Right hand side of what, the image? Not here. I can post some samples if you like.

The image. Apprently there's issues, DPreview has samples:
Just Posted: Canon Powershot S100 studio comparison samples: Digital Photography Review (http://www.dpreview.com/news/2011/11/18/canons100studiosamples)

Double check the same shot vs S95. The right side of the S95 is oodles sharper. Try it on yours to see if it has the issue. Not sure how widespread it is.

Well, it looks like the whole picture is sharper on the 95, but the right side is waaay out on the100.

Recall?

I dunno, but it might be because the S95 has slightly larger sensor and its pixels are bigger (since there are fewer of them). I for one am keeping my S95.

-- peer