[joachim]

I've been feeling an itch to get a new compact... this would be a carry-everywhere pocket camera, so bridge cameras are out.


Rough requirements in order of preference, highest priority first:

1 must be coat pocketable

2 Long zoom target 400mm+ equivalent full frame at some usable quality, 300mm minimum.

3 Quick and accurate single shot AF

4 Quick startup time, say, less than 2 seconds.

5 Reasonable macro (say equiv. to 0.5x on APS-C).

5 Wide angle 24mm equivalent full frame

6 Serious photographer friendly features would be nice

7 RAW would be a nice extra but not essential if the jpeg is decent quality


If it helps, what I'm using now is the Sony HX9V. It's ok but I really fancy something more. Of the above requirements it fits in my pocket fine, 24-384mm equiv. and usable macro. It's major weaknesses include: very slow startup, and the noise reduction is very strong and you can't usefully turn it down to try and regain some detail from being smeared out. I'm not convinced newer newer models in the HX series really improve that much.


Have to say the Canon SX50 strongly tempted me, but it is big enough it wouldn't be carry everywhere.


The Canon SX260/280 sounds like possible candidates, as are the Panasonic TZ30/40 models. Both offer generous zoom, although neither does RAW. I haven't looked at their respective startup times and AF capability yet, but I'm guessing at least the AF of either is adequate.


Thinking back to my E-P1 days with Pana pancake 20mm, I wouldn't rule out mirrorless system. In this case I think we would now be looking at a pancake standard zoom. Add a 2nd lens to get the extra reach, if that 2nd lens isn't too big. A 2nd lens could be accecptable since it could go into another pocket and isn't fixed. So perhaps an Oly body, X pancake and a 200mm zoom could do the trick (macro aside). I notice NEX has a 210mm zoom, and the Nikon 1 with 110mm zoom both would just about scrape the 300mm equiv. requirement, although I'm not sure about their size.


If I sound confused, I am. I would welcome any suggestions if there is anything else I may have overlooked.

 

If you could relax your lens requirements to a 28-200 equivalent, you might want to look into a Nikon P7700.  This features a larger sensor than the typical compact and the lens is actually quite bright (2.0 - 4.0).  I would not consider a 1/2.3" camera.  For a compact it is a bit on the large side, but will fit a large coat pocket.  If you want something smaller I would compromise at the tele end and look into a Nikon P330, Fuji XF1 or Canon S110.

 

The P7700 offers RAW and the P, A, S and M settings you are used to from a serious camera.  It has a tilt/swivel screen to help with your macro.  RAW files are seriously large (24MB) which slows matters down when shooting RAW (it takes time to crank that amount of data to card).  I still try to understand whether or not this is a 14-bit or just an inefficient 12-bit.