| Re: The perfect travel kit... John
From my recent investigations into P&S cameras, your requirements obviously exceed the current technology by a substantial margin. When, as opposed to if, that technology is able to meet those requirements is a good question. I think they probably will, but also think the timeframe to meet both the specs and provide a decent image quality will be several years from now at best. As an example, in my search for a pocket camera, having tired of carrying a kit similar to yours for traveling, I researched the available units, and found the following:
1- Zoom lenses with a wide angle 28mm perspective, let alone a 24mm one, are not of equal quality to current 35mm ones. Canon SD700 vs SD800 is an example. While there is some debate as to whether it's the new internal processor or the lens causing the problem, it's probably both according to what I've read. It will be tough to achieve that wide angle quality zoom lens at a reasonable cost.
2- 12MP on such a small sensor presents enormous problems, not the least of which are light gathering, and color alignment and resultant CA. Would take a quantum leap in technology to achieve this for the image quality you seem to desire.
3- CF card requirement is probably not realistic. The current trend is to SD cards due to the much smaller footprint, particularly in the P&S lines, and it may continue the move into the DSLRs. I realize the current speed limitations on SD, including the high speed SD protocol vs the CF card speed, but that will probably evolve to an equal status over time.
4- While hot shoe requirement is achievable, and even available in some iterations, a decent viewfinder is going to be tough, given the size restraints. Frankly, I'd love one too!
5- Finally, as for Jpeg/Raw combo, I think that's simply a matter of processor evolution for P&S cameras, and will be eventually available. However, it may take the form of Adobe's DNG format or even the new Microsoft one.
All in all, your specs for a P&S are most desireable for those of us in similar situations, but I'm not holding my breath. Doesn't sound like you are either!
PS: For now, I chose the Canon SD700 as my pocket camera, as detailed in an accompanying post, as I really wanted something pocket size. Now if you're talking LX2 or G7 size, then the above issues have a different perspective and time frame.
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Last edited by Richard_Coyle : 04-01-2007 at 04:28 PM.
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