Need a wide angle P&S...

*PeterAM* · 12-21-2007, 07:52 AM

A friend of mine that does tile work needs a P&S to take pictures of his projects (mostly bathrooms). He has no interest in photography and is simply looking for an easy to use tool.
Can anyone suggest a decent P&S that's as wide as possible at the low end?
I've told him that he's going to end up shooting these rooms in segments because of the space limitations, but will still need a camera that will go as wide as possible.

and · 12-21-2007, 08:24 AM

The Panasonic lx2 has a 28mm wide end and also RAW.

The upcoming Sigma DP1 should be perfect, 28mm wide and same sensor as the sigma dSLRs. Prolly wont be out in a while tho...

I dont know of any compact that goes wider than 28mm, but for some you can buy wide angle lens converters to get even wider view.

*TaiChiTom* · 12-21-2007, 08:26 AM

The Ricoh GRD and GRD11 have a fixed focal length lens of 28mm equivalent.
Tom

RodConn · 12-21-2007, 04:53 PM

My wife uses a Ricoh Caplio R4 and it is excellent for image quality and features - The R5 is now around and the basic feature set is the same with the main change being a higher pixel sensor

( but still a good buy.

Very big zoom range 28 to 200mm equivalent and a brilliant macro capability - I like it

Rod

*barondla* · 12-21-2007, 06:30 PM

Didn't some of the older Olympus cameras take screw in wideangle converters? Might allow cheap wideangle camera.
thanks
barondla

2many · 12-21-2007, 08:11 PM

Check out the panasonic tz-3 28mm wide angle and easy to use, anyone can take pictures with it.

Lowell Goudge · 01-04-2008, 06:37 AM

I think you will find there is no P&S that is wide enough in my view (~15mm equivelent on 35mm film) but don't despair, you don't need to get a DSLR and 10-20mm zoom yet.

Look for any P&S that can take attachments in front of the lens. This is usually done with a thread on collar that goes into the body, over the lens. You can then get a 0.5 or similar lens to put in front of the P&S lens, that effectively cuts the focal length in half.

I have a 0.45x for my Kodak DX-7590 which changes it from a 38-380mm (effective ) to 17-170mm.

There is a little barrel distortion (like a fish eye) but this is easily corrected in today's software.

One note however, these lenses are quite large (relitive to the camera) and block the pop up flash, so you will need an external flash if you are limited by light. Therefore look for this also on the camera you get. Again my DX-7590 has a flash sync socket.