Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Which is the best - Canon G10, Nikon P6000 or Panasonic LX3?


Two, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Luminous Landscape made a comparison between the Canon G10 and Nikon P6000, also referring to an earlier review of the Panasonic LX3.

All cameras got quite good marks, and in the end it is the personal preferences and sensitivity to price which decides. The LX3 is smallest and cheapest, whereas the G10 is biggest. It seems that the P6000 is sort of loser in the competition, it is not a match to the G10 in capability and the LX3 in price and size.

The Luminus Landscape review was certainly interesting, but I feel the reviewer had a kind of landscape-photographer's bias. How the camera performs at low ISO is certainly important when you are shooting with a tripod, and size of the camera doesn't matter so much.

Which camera to select - that is not so easy, but it is good to have choices. You need to know your needs. Also, the camera you select also influences your shooting habits.

I'm happy with my LX3, but if buying a camera right now I would surely try out the G10 and P6000 as well. But as it is so dark here in Finland most of the year, the f/2.0 lens and good high-ISO properties plus smaller size would probably put the LX3 on top.

Update: The recent PhotographyBLOG review of the P6000 has this to say of the competition: "The Nikon Coolpix P6000 is a good camera in its own right, but doesn't quite cut the mustard when compared to its main rivals, the Canon PowerShot G10 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3." Indeed, it is apparent that high-megapixel compact cameras have trouble with noise at higher sensitivities, as is to be expected.

6 comments:

Paul said...

Let me preface this comment with: I am not going to buy any of these cameras. :-) I'm not brand loyal, at all. As a matter of fact, I have a small Canon digital camera that I carry around sometimes.

Although I've not held any of these cameras, I can say, almost certainly, that I wouldn't pick the Canon. My past experience has been that Nikon cameras are far superior ergonomically. They just fit better and have controls in places that make sense.

Also, Nikons and Canons are so radically different on the placement and use of controls as to make the other seem awkward.

I have no opinion on the LX3, but it must be a pretty good camera. You use it quite often and seem to be very happy with it.

Juha Haataja said...

Of course these three I mentioned are not the only choices. And sometimes I wonder whether my own priorities are right - would I in fact be happy with a DSLR hanging from the neck? A small Nikon or Olympus perhaps.

But I must say that the pocketability is a deciding factor for me - having children with me or going for long walks, it would be extremely unconfortable to lug a DSLR with me.

Although I do think the fast handling and benefits from the big sensor are quite evident in DSLRs, I still prefer the size benefits of the LX3.

It is interesting to note how attached some camera users are to their "brand". Although I must add that I had trouble in getting use to the handling of the LX3 at first, coming from a Canon Ixus. But I guess there are big differences in the systems within one brand as well - Nikon and Canon at least have many different product lines.

Nevin said...

I just passed by while googling. In case you're interested to see some JEPGs from those beasts, check this out: http://ricoh-gx.blogspot.com/2008/11/your-market-research-here_04.html

I think the P6000 is, well, sort of a loser in the serious compact race.

And I will post some nightshots for comparison in a few days.

Nevin

Juha Haataja said...

@Nevin: Thanks for the hint!

Anonymous said...

Well my son is using my old Canon SD500 at school for projects, I now need another P&S to complement my dSLR. The LX3 looks like it would work very well. I need to go find one and check it out first though.

Juha Haataja said...

Whether the LX3 is good for your purposes depends a lot on your specific needs.

If you are used to the SD500, then perhaps SD880 IS would be worth checking out. I had some trouble at first in getting used to the LX3, moving from Ixus 400/S400. Menus etc. are all different. But I guess for a DSLR user this shouldn't be much or a problem.