Camera for RAW Street Photography?

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wiyum - 22 Jul 2006 15:07 GMT

I'm looking to augment my Canon DSLR kit with a pocketable camera for
street photogrphy, something I can always have with me. I'm rather used
to working with RAW files now though, and I don't want to give that up.
So I'm looking for a good compact camera that shoots RAW, and I've
found that this is a pretty limited market.

I've only come up with three options: the Canon S70, the Fuji E900, and
the Panasonic LX1. I'm leaning towards the E900 right now because it
offers 800 ISO and reviews indicate that it is a workable 800. But I'd
love to hear what anyone has to say about any of these cameras, or any
camera that I might have overlooked. Anything I should know about these
three bodies? Any other option that I've missed?

I wish someone made a compact, RAW-capable camera with usable 800 ISO
and a 24-85/2.8-4.0 lens. Seems to me that this is the sort of thing
that would get all of those skittish street photographers that are
curious about digital to take the chance, at least while they (we) wait
for the smoke to clear in the whole digital rangefinder world. But what
do I know?

Thanks in advance for any advice,

Will

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David J Taylor - 22 Jul 2006 15:44 GMT

[]

> I wish someone made a compact, RAW-capable camera with usable 800 ISO
> and a 24-85/2.8-4.0 lens. Seems to me that this is the sort of thing
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
> Will

Nikon Coolpix 8400:

- compact?
- RAW yes
- 24/2.6 - 85/4.9
- ISO 400 max - and quite noisy

In my experience, it works well with flash indoors, and outdoors if the
light is good. The swivel LCD allows you to be a little more discrete
when taking pictures. It's discontinued now, so may be cheap. It's not
your ideal camera, but may be worth a look.

David

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wiyum - 22 Jul 2006 15:57 GMT

> Nikon Coolpix 8400:
>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> David

Yeah, unfortunately it is both too big and too noisy (and limited to
ISO 400) for my tastes, but thanks for pointing it out. Gives me a
little bit of hope that manufacturers might not have forgotten that for
many of us, "wide" begins at 24mm.

Will

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David J Taylor - 22 Jul 2006 16:11 GMT

[]

> Yeah, unfortunately it is both too big and too noisy (and limited to
> ISO 400) for my tastes, but thanks for pointing it out. Gives me a
> little bit of hope that manufacturers might not have forgotten that
> for many of us, "wide" begins at 24mm.
>
> Will

Koday have some models with a twin lens/sensor arrangement where one of
the lenses is a fixed 23mm f.l. How good they are at higher ISOs and
whether they have RAW I can't say.

E.g.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Kodak/kodak_v570.asp

David

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