Nov

Point-and-Shoot Cameras: Pocket Size vs Zoom Size

Pocket Camera A friend recently asked for a recommendation on a point and shoot digital camera. So I visited our local megalo-electro-mart to get some hands-on time. I also googled the reviews, then scouted the popular forums for the buzz on the latest models.

There are many good, high quality cameras available, but I had to narrow the field. So I came away with two recommendations: the pocketable Canon SD1100 IS with a 3x zoom, and the larger Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5K with a 10x zoom. The Panasonic is larger but still remarkably small for its zoom range.

Canon SD1100 IS

Panasonic Lumix TZ5

One of the most important considerations in choosing a small digital camera is the tradeoff between the size of the camera and the range of the zoom. You can get a tiny camera with a limited zoom, or a larger camera with larger zoom. The most recent 10x zooms are much smaller than yesterday’s 10x models, but still larger than the more common 3x zooms. The 15x to 20x super-zooms were just too large to be considered in this particular search.

Let’s take a look at the tradeoff between zoom and size with these two fairly typical models. The Canon SD1100 with 3x zoom measures 3.4″ wide by 2.2″ high by 0.9″ deep. The larger Panasonic DMC-TZ5K measures 4.1″ wide by 2.3″ high by 1.4″ deep. The sizes seem similar on paper, but when you hold these two cameras, the Panasonic feels significantly larger.

The Canon is available for less than $200 USD. The prices on the Panasonic have recently dropped rather dramatically. In the recent past, this camera was often priced slightly over $300 USD – today it’s not unusual to see this model on sale for around $225 to $250 USD.

DPreview.com has comprehensive reviews on both these models:

Of the Panasonic, DPreview says “The TZ5 is easy to use, versatile with great ergonomics and most of all fun to work with and that’s enough, despite the minor image quality issues, to earn itself our Highly Recommended rating, by a whisker.”

For the Canon, they conclude “The SD1100 IS is a perfectly good camera, if a little dull, and has that redeeming quality common to most Canon compacts; it can be relied on to take attractive pictures in a wide range of shooting situations with true ‘point and shoot’ simplicity. It’s the camera you’d buy your mum”.

You can find DPreview’s review of the Canon SD1100 here and the Panasonic TZ5 review here.

My friend decided on the Canon, and seems pleased with the choice. Since the time I did the research, some of the newer models announced at the November 2008 PMA trade show have begun to trickle into the market. Unfortunately, they are so new that the availability of product reviews and user experience reports is rather spotty.

Tags: cameras, canon, panasonic, point-and-shoot