My Expectation


	What can we expect from our camera?


	Last Updeated: 12th November 2009 By Siegfried Seierlein

What should one expect from a compact digital camera in terms of picture quality? Panasonic wrote in their LX3 product information sheets that the sensor in the LX3 was specifically designed for the camera. Its a high performance sensor, “tuned” for the serious photographer.

Canon writes that the G11 has a high performance CCD sensor installed. Well as a minimum I would say that is what one would expect from a camera like the G11.

Canon continues and says that the G11 uses a new dual anti noise system. Personally I regard Canon as the noise reduction Guru’s of the industry and I am very interested to see this dual noise system in action.

Nikon we know that for years they battled with noise and could never compete with Canon until the D300. Interestingly many commercial D300 owners are now changing over to the 5D MKII or the new 7D. The main concern is, soft pictures at high ISO plus picture detail being lost as a result of too much noise reduction.


	What should be the criteria when evaluating the new Micro 4/3rd cameras?

One cannot help to ask, is the Olympus EP1 or the new Panasonic DMC GF1 really compact cameras? Personally I say NO. These are system cameras plus they are true high performance, SLR type cameras. Give them a mirror box and a separate focus sensor and you are competing directly with the tens of entry level SLR cameras. Interesting is the fact that they use the larger SLR sensor from Olympus and Panasonic and at the same time their noise performance is not at SLR levels. Looking at the price and you can quickly get totally confused because one does not expect it to compete directly with the Olympus E30 SLR type camera. NO, one cannot consider the Micro 4/3rds cameras as compact cameras, they are pioneering a completely new market.

What does all this mean to the casual photographer ?

I think one could safely except that all digital cameras are good today and technically they will all do a good job. The challenge is to find the right camera that has great picture quality and that will bring you joy. For example, I sold my LX3 to somebody who saw its pictures, thinking I will just replace it when back from holiday. On my return I saw a DMC G1 from Panasonic at the same price as the LX3 and I took the “better” camera. The G1 ended up not being a good fit to my needs, with the result I never enjoyed it. My advice is not to spend hours on forums and on spec sheets comparing technical aspects with one another. To really understand the important aspects of the modern digital camera, you should be an experienced plus well versed photographer. Most of your high performance compacts like the LX3 or the G11, are so well specified that the most experienced photographer will be able to use these cameras in extreme situations.

The following 4 points could help you evaluate cameras:

First, my advice is not to try and get the “best” camera, instead I believe you will have more success when you look for a good fit. See the points below.

How much do you want to spend?
What will you do with the camera?
What unique features do you require?
Get feedback on the model you want, does it have the POP factor?

What is the POP factor? Its basically available as word of mouth plus these cameras are normally highly regarded on large forums like Dpreview. Pop factor basically means, exceptional picture quality with above average JPEG pictures straight from the camera.

I think good examples are, the E1 from Olympus, or the L10 from Panasonic, often referred to as the best 4/3rds cameras. The older 350D and the 20D from Canon were also good examples. More recent examples with POP is the 5D MKI and II. Another good example of a newer camera with POP is the PEN from Olympus.

I hope you enjoy your search and I hope you find exactly what you look for. Seem to me I found my new toy.

Best

Siegfried