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List of good P&S camera's

If manual controls is not a requirement then I would think the Contax T series and the Nikon Ti series are among the best.
 
Let's not forget that this is suppose to be a list that highlights their attributes.
 
George Mann said:
How does it perform with slide film?
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OK, if I understand it right, I might type few more words here. I'll try my best with my ESL...

I think, we are on different sides of the Rocky Mountains on slide here. For me, on liberal Canadian side and coming from taking pictures on slide since I was clueless kid it doesn't matter. I'm taking liberal approach and assume if I was using nothing but print with S16 exposure rules included with each roll of slide film and single coated FSU lens, then modern P&S could handle it better as long as you will use slide film as I'm using it for since I was clueless kid with some preferences on art. Use slide to get nice, bright colors for nicely and evenly lit (if my use of this word is correct) picture on slide. Any P&S camera will take it right then.
If scene is not evenly lit, but with deep shadows and very bright sky, use what Ansel Adams preferred to use instead of color film.

In other words, you seems to missing something here. It is not the camera, it is the slide film which is high and not manageable contrast film.

End of over Rockies, Prairies and Great Lakes transmission. Roger?
 
Ko.Fe. said:
In other words, you seems to missing something here. It is not the camera, it is the slide film which is high and not manageable contrast film.
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My point is that the majority of auto-exposure camera's have meters that are biased for negative film (overexposure) vs. slide film (underexposure).
 
George Mann said:
My point is that the majority of auto-exposure camera's have meters that are biased for negative film (overexposure) vs. slide film (underexposure).
Click to expand...

So just get one with exposure compensation or manual iso setting
 
I am more interested in the hidden gems that have yet to be "discovered".
 
George Mann said:
I am more interested in the hidden gems that have yet to be "discovered".
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I don't think there are any gems to be discovered. There are the top tier models, Konica Hextar, Yashica T, high end Nikon and Minolta with fast prime lens. Then there a few of the older first generation models with fix lens like the Canon ML, 45mm 1.9, even Vivitar offered some nice early point and shoots with a 35mm 2.8. A few odd balls like the Minolta Weathermatic with a 35 and 80mm lens. Then the rest, for the most part short zooms, tend to be slow with little of any manual override. I use Pentax IQ zooms 120, 180, zooms are slow so I shoot ISO 400 films.
 

Olympus XA
fixed 35mm f2.8 high quality coated lens
manual focus with split image rangefinder
aperture priority f2.8 to f22 set manually
electronic shutter 1s to 1/500sec
ASA manual control 25 - 800
two common generic button cells, last forever (for the meter and the shutter)
manual film wind and rewind
tiny, pocketable, inconspicuous, beautiful
matching accessory flash available

they were introduced in the 1980s and made for about five years, there are plenty out there for less than $100

give these serious consideration

regarding exposure of slide film for best results, as with any camera, expect to make tests to verify the actual exposure requirements in advance.
 
Contax G1 & G2. Both have auto & manual operation. Aperture priority automation, manual & auto focus. Not rangefinder but
viewfinder cameras. have focus confirmation in the finder, G2 takes all seven lenses G1 was designed for the 28/45 & 90's
Uses 2xCr2 batteries.
 
These two are exceptional performers by any measure of quality - lens and build. The Olympus is the literal embodiment of point and shoot. The Nikon has aperture priority and artistic overrides.



George Mann said:
My point is that the majority of auto-exposure camera's have meters that are biased for negative film (overexposure) vs. slide film (underexposure).
Click to expand...

I have shoot tens of thousands of every film types and brands. I have now acquired and tested many cameras from disposables to the best and they all meter exactly the same when properly working and properly tested. Since they all have the same baseline for metering - and don't know whether slide or negative film is installed, there can not be a bias. Is there any reliable - manufacturer document or verifiable test lab, that support this claim?
 
George Mann said:
There has to be a bias. This is simple physics!
Click to expand...

Will repeat myself just one more time but there is no camera that knows what kind of film is installed and cannot therefore be "biased". Even off the film metering cameras cannot distinguish between the two.
 
There are cameras that have very rudimentary metering systems, and really restricted choices available for exposure settings.
Those cameras are likely to be set up so that, in the case of uncertainty, there would be a tendency to over expose, rather than under-expose.
None of those cameras are "good" P&S cameras. But almost all of those cameras were capable of giving really good results for those who used them.
I'm going to suggest a Retina S1. Plebian lens, no meter and no rangefinder. It did offer a choice though between flash cubes and electronic flash, it had a built in guide number system and an incorporated sunny 16 exposure guide and I shot hundreds (or maybe more) thoroughly satisfying Kodachrome slides with it before my 17th birthday.
 
My absolute favorite "point and shoot" camera is the Smena 8M. I got mine for my seventh birthday, and it got me hooked on photography. I still have it and love it. Once you've learned the distance focusing scale (I sometimes use an extra rangefinder mounted on the cold shoe for critical focus), you get well-exposed, sharp, lovely pictures. It can also be set up for zone focusing, sunny 16, point-and-shoot use, very easily. I have tried a few of those famous compact cameras, such as the Olympus Stylus Epic, and I still prefer the Smena 8M.
 
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