4 newest compacts: DSC-S800, DMC-FX100, IXUS 950 IS and Coolpix P5000; Panasonic’s sensor race: Compact vs. SLR.

4 new enthusiast compact cameras have appeared in May. I pay attention to these equipped gadgets because they are packed with high-end features. Some of these specialties such as: optical image stabilizer, 1/1.72-inch large sensor and powerful image processor used to distinguish great SLR cameras. But now beautifully designed luxurious all-metal bodies are filled up with these groovy features. And compact cameras become more and more interesting as hi-tech innovations. I find some mfrs.’ desire to chase consumers’ attention deflects them from its course. As a result we have 12, 2 megapixel sensor compact cam such as new Lumix FX-100.
Panasonic DMC-FX100 announced on 22nd May 2007 is a digital camera with 28mm wide angle zoom lens which incorporates a new 1/1.72-inch large CCD with 12.2-megapixel rich recording resolution. It’s a cool feature but Panasonic’ SLR Lumix DMC-L1 with 7, 4 megapixel 4/3 –inch sensor is crying. This super-high resolution rates the camera as the first one in its class but makes it a little expensive for a compact. Moreover it has a feature strongly appreciated worldwide and now considered to be a useful and practical for photography. It's an optical image stabilizer. Many consumers want to get much with a small body. This Panasonic compact satisfies them. With the FX100, you can shoot hi-definition 1920 x 1080 pixel photos that are ideal for full-screen viewing on a wide-screen (16:9) TV. Not only can you capture beautiful still images – that new model also records wide aspect VGA (640 x 480) and WVGA (848 x 480) motion images at 30 frames per second. If this wasn’t enough, the FX100 can also record wide-aspect HD (1280 x 720) motion images at 15 frames per second.
Nikon has shown its activity producing great SLR cameras such as: D40, D80 and D200 while resting in part of SLR-likes and compacts. (For more information look at posts: 'Nikon D200, Nikon D80 and Fujifilm S5pro: for Pro, for Amateur and for Artist’ or 'Nikon from D50 to D40, Panasonic DMC-L1 vs. Olympus E330 – which is great?’). It woke up in May offering a new 10 megapixel Coolpix P5000. It has an appealing combination of features in a remarkably compact format, including full photographic control, flash hot shoe and add-on lens capabilities. It demises the best specialties of my favorite Coolpix 8700 (look at 'The summary table of the best SLR-like camera specifications’). It's a big leap forward from the previous series cameras, with a more complete feature set, the Lens shift VR (Vibration Reduction), a flash hot shoe and a much more sensible design. Previous models were designed on a pack of cigarettes. It does come with a decent level of expandability added on lenses, flash etc. and it's very keenly priced. So this is the camera to put Nikon on the enthusiast compact map with: 10 megapixel 1/1.8-inch CCD sensor; 3.5x Zoom-Nikkor lens; ISO 64-1600 (3200 in 5MP mode); BSS (Best Shot Selector) identifies and saves the sharpest image automatically from ten sequential shots; P/A/S/M modes plus 16 scene modes; Macro shooting enables shooting from as close as 4cm (1.6 in.). It weighs 200 g (7.1 oz.) without battery and SD memory card, its dimensions are 98 x 64.5 x 41 mm (3.9 x 2.5 x 1.6 in.) and price abt. $350. Let’s turn to Nikon.
Instead Sony announced its own Cyber-Shot DSC-S800 with adequate for compact 8.1 effective megapixel resolution 1/1.8-inch Super HAD CCD sensor. This compact has an excellent ‘full-metal jacket’ body and weighs (without battery) just 185g. Good news for consumers is that it has very useful, supplied with a NiMH AA battery pack which allows taking 390 shots between charges. The Sony S800 features a special high sensitivity mode of ISO 1250 (REI), high-quality 2.5-inch TFT LCD screen, 6x optical zoom with 2cm macro for close-up shooting, 56MB internal memory and Motion-JPEG (30 fps movie mode with audio) with 16:9 mode for playback on a widescreen TV. I think that this compact price will be much adequate than of 12 MP Panasonic DMC-FX100 or 12 MP Sony DSC-W200.
Canon has announced the new PowerShot SD850 IS (IXUS 950 IS). This compact has an eight megapixel 1/2.5" (5.8 x 4.3 mm) CCD sensor mated to a four times optical zoom lens in a compact 90 x 57 x 26 mm (3.5 x 2.2 x 1 in) metal body. Canon SD850 also features optical Image Stabilization (hence the IS suffix), a 2.5" "PureColor" LCD monitor and face detection for optimizing AF, exposure and flash (up to nine faces). Face Detection can also be used in playback mode for red-eye removal. The SD850 also has a 1 frame per second 'spy camera mode'. It weighs 195 g (6.9 oz) and its dimensions are 90 x 57 x 26 mm (3.5 x 2.2 x 1 in) for the same $350-400. I think that Canon allows this gadget at the price not adequate to a 8 megapixel Compact. How I can forget my cheap Canon A95 that took a lot of great images in Thailand for my family (look at my Thaitramp blog).
Actually I will choose the Nikon Coolpix P500 but it’s only thanks to my nostalgia on Coolpix 8700. Still Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-S800 can become more preferable if it costs not more than$300.