[Buddha Jones]

So I want to get a P&S and I want to stay Pentax, but the new Samsung NV24 is so damn sexy, and she is calling my name. What does Pentax have to compete?

[gokenin]

see I have been toying with the Sigma Dp1 has the same size as a DSLR if I decided to get myself a P&S

[k100d]

if you're thinking about Samsung, try out the interface first
it's very different... on my NV10, it's a bitch to scroll through photos, hopefully they fixed that
if you look at the DPReview on the NV10, you'll notice the colours are a bit too saturated and the higher ISOs are garbage

[barondla]

Haven't played with the nv models. Have played with the others. Image quality was always so-so at best. A shame because all those cameras had manual settings which most pentax lack. One Samsung also has landscape photo ops in it! Neat idea.
Really like the A30 or 40 or the Z10. The A40 was running even with the K10D at low iso. Wow. If I could decide one would be in the bag. Actually, the M50 I'm borrowing is pretty nice too (wouldn't pick the pink though. They did that to me as a joke.)

thanks
barondla

[Buddha Jones]

I havent really played with them, but they just look so dang good.

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

So I want to get a P&S and I want to stay Pentax, but the new Samsung NV24 is so damn sexy, and she is calling my name. What does Pentax have to compete?

Can't you consider them sort of cousins considering the collaboration?

[Lowell Goudge]

I guess the real issue is what do you want the P&S to do.

I had a pentax EI-200 (2MP) and used it for many years, before it was religated to the shelf in 2005.

It got replaced with a Kodak 7590.

I spent a lot of time going over this decision, but in the end what I wanted was a P&S that had full manual controls and an eye level view finder (it has an electronic viewfinder).

Essentually I wanted a 1 lens mineature version of an SLR, and to this camera I have added a set of close up lenses so that I can do better technical photos when I travel for work.

The only things I wish this camera had were shake reduction, and a different lens. (it comes with a 10x zoom 38-380mm equivelent) I would prefer a 6x 24-150mm equivelent, because it would be much better as a travel camera in that case. (note they offer one like that now)

Unfortunately pentax for some reason does not make a P&S like that, so I went outside the family so to speak

[barondla]

The Z10 does have a 7x zoom. In a shirt pocket size (actually a lot smaller). Like it because the lens doesn't extend to shoot. See about 3-4 cameras a week with the lens whacked out of alignment. Pretty much totaled at that point. Unfortunately the Z10 doesn't have a 24 eq lens. Does have digital wide angle that allows two shots to be put together. Works well, even handheld. Wish Pentax made a serious P&S. Think there are too many conflicting ideas of what that would be for success. A P&S is anything but an slr in todays world. More difference in all the P&S than dslr!
Good luck picking a P&S. Don't think just one will do. PSBA! The psychologists will be happy.
thanks
barondla ( only 3 P&S and counting)

[Buddha Jones]

I want a P&S camera that will give me the 'control' of an SLR if I want it but still retain all of the gimmicky features that you normally get with P&S like face detection, anti-shake and all that crap. I want to go from 'scene' mode to Av if I want to, I want to control shutter speed and ISO. But I want it with 1/4th the footprint of my K10D.

[bymy141]

I want a P&S camera that will give me the 'control' of an SLR if I want it but still retain all of the gimmicky features that you normally get with P&S like face detection, anti-shake and all that crap. I want to go from 'scene' mode to Av if I want to, I want to control shutter speed and ISO. But I want it with 1/4th the footprint of my K10D.

Buddha,

I think here is where the problem lies.
P&S = Point & Shoot. You are not looking for a Point & Shoot camera at all.
You want to be in control without a bulky DLSR around your neck.

It looks like Pentax is not in the business for such camera's, you will have to shop outside the family here.

- Bert

[k100d]

I want a P&S camera that will give me the 'control' of an SLR if I want it but still retain all of the gimmicky features that you normally get with P&S like face detection, anti-shake and all that crap. I want to go from 'scene' mode to Av if I want to, I want to control shutter speed and ISO. But I want it with 1/4th the footprint of my K10D.

if you have many extra pennies, how about Ricoh? probably the smallest camera that shoots RAW

[barondla]

A40 has manual control. Very good image quality. Don't think it has raw.
thanks
barondla

[Lowell Goudge]

I want a P&S camera that will give me the 'control' of an SLR if I want it but still retain all of the gimmicky features that you normally get with P&S like face detection, anti-shake and all that crap. I want to go from 'scene' mode to Av if I want to, I want to control shutter speed and ISO. But I want it with 1/4th the footprint of my K10D.

see my post.

My kittle kodak (with lens) is about 1/2 the size of my *istD body.

It has all the controls you want, newer models have SR and higher MP count.

I think Fuji Canon and Nikon also make similar ones. i.e. electronic viewfinder Minature SLR look alikes.

[igowerf]

Actually, I read a few weeks ago on Wired about a firmware hack that you can do with Canon P&Ss that enable RAW along with a bunch of cool features:

CHDK Wiki

# Shooting in RAW, with RAW Average, RAW Sum, and RAW Develop features
# Live histogram (RGB, blended, luminance and for each RGB channel)
# Zebra mode (live-view under/over-exposure subject-area alerts)
# DOF-calculator, Hyperfocal-calculator with instant Hyperfocal and Infinity focus-set, and more
# Battery indicator
# RAW and Video space-remaining gauges with custom low-limit alerts
# Scripts execution (exposure/focus/bracketing, intervalometer and more)
# USB-cable remote shutter-release
# Motion-Detection triggered photography (fast enough to capture lightning strikes)
# Customizable high-speed continuous (burst) Tv, Av, ISO, and Focus bracketing (unlimited shots)
# 99 constant bit-rate and 10 constant-quality video compression levels
# 1 Gig video-size limit removed in earlier cameras
# Zoom during video for cameras without
# Shutter, Aperture, and ISO Overrides (shutter speeds of 64" to 1/10,000" and higher)
# High-speed Flash Sync at all speeds up to 1/64,000 second (even faster in some cameras)
# Custom framing, cropping, and alignment viewfinder Grids (user editable)
# File browser
# Text reader
# Calendar
# Some fun tools and games
# Fully customizable CHDK display, info placement, user-colors, fonts in menus, etc.
# Custom CHDK User-Menu (for instant recall of up to 10 favorite functions)

I have a Canon SD1100, which isn't supported yet, so I haven't been able to test it out.

[k100d]

not exactly a new hack, i think it works on a G7 which would make the most of these features