P&S without Dx + decent zoom

[Photo-gear]

As said in the title, is there an affordable p&s that someone could mention?

 

[flatulent1]

Unlikely to find one. Affordable P&S usually means mediocre lens, and the longer the zoom the more they had to compromise image quality to get there. I can't think of any P&S without DX, apart from such single focal length cameras as the Canonet and Oly XA. Your best bet in that regard is to go here and play with your own DX coding.

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

Leica point and shoot cameras. Especially with 40 mm Summicron. I dont give japanese toyotas even to my enemy. You can find these Leicas for 60 or so dollars and they are the best ps cameras in the world as usual as SLR , DSLR and Rangefinder of Leica family.
If you need zoom buy with Vario Elmar 35 70.

 

[Photo-gear]

Leica point and shoot cameras. Especially with 40 mm Summicron. I dont give japanese toyotas even to my enemy. You can find these Leicas for 60 or so dollars and they are the best ps cameras in the world as usual as SLR , DSLR and Rangefinder of Leica family.
If you need zoom buy with Vario Elmar 35 70.

Leica p&s on e-Bay are just unaffordable.

I kind of miss the Ricoh AF-5 with its Rikenon 38mm lens. It was just perfect until the motorized mechanism crashed. I had purchased it for very cheap. Sad.

 

[CGW]

Leica p&s on e-Bay are just unaffordable.

I kind of miss the Ricoh AF-5 with its Rikenon 38mm lens. It was just perfect until the motorized mechanism crashed. I had purchased it for very cheap. Sad.

Frankly, zooms are the Achilles' heel of these cameras. One whack when they're racked out and they're never the same--despite attempts at a fix.

Till it got stolen a couple of years ago, the Konica Big Mini with a fixed 35/3.5 was my fave p&s--just zoom with your feet. Hard to find now in clean working shape but worth a look. Most of these like the Yashica T4, Rollei Prego and other decent p&s cameras are in landfills. I use a Nikon FG now when I want a teensy film camera.

 

[Photo-gear]

Frankly, zooms are the Achilles' heel of these cameras. One whack when they're racked out and they're never the same--despite attempts at a fix.

Till it got stolen a couple of years ago, the Konica Big Mini with a fixed 35/3.5 was my fave p&s--just zoom with your feet. Hard to find now in clean working shape but worth a look. Most of these like the Yashica T4, Rollei Prego and other decent p&s cameras are in landfills. I use a Nikon FG now when I want a teensy film camera.

I should not have put an emphasis on the zoom in the OP. As a matter of fact, what matters to me is a compact camera with a decent lens having a focal lenght between 30 & 35mm. Also, I wish I find one model without the Dx code.
:confused:

 

[elcabezagrande]

Ricoh FF90/FF70 and FF3AF. Great lens with the choice of manual ISO or DX on the FF90, manual ISO on the FF3. Nikon L35AF and L35AF2. Canon AF35ML, AF35M (Sure Shot) AF35MII ("New" Sure Shot"). Pentax PC35AF(M). Canon MC. Konica MT11. Most or all of the first and second generation compact AF cameras did not use DX coding, and many of them have very good lenses. Most will max out at ISO 400, though, but a few will go to 800. The Ricoh that I mentioned will go to either 1600 or 3200, I can't recall off hand, and don't have any batteries in mine to check. By the time they got around to adding zoom lenses, DX coding was the norm, although I think that some of the later high-end compact zooms from Fuji and Contax allows you to set ISO manually, but I am too cheap to buy any of them. You may find some dual focal-length compacts with manual ISO as well.

My personal favorite is the little Canon MC, see this set on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/greyscale3/sets/72157627875090433/

And a set from the Ricoh FF90:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/greyscale3/sets/72157626453678375/

from the FF3AF

http://www.flickr.com/photos/greyscale3/sets/72157626946711421/

and from the Pentax

http://www.flickr.com/photos/greyscale3/sets/72157629580160273/

 

[elcabezagrande]

Just noticed the 35mm limit, scratch the Canons (except for the MC) from the list above, all the other examples have 35/2.8 lenses.

 

[Photo-gear]

thank you all, especially elcabezagrande for his extensive review !

 

[elcabezagrande]

thank you all, especially elcabezagrande for his extensive review !

I bet that you could win this one with a low bid:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAP...25&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123#ht_672wt_1159

might be worth a chance for the price, even from a low-feedback seller.

 

[Photo-gear]

I finally purchased a Nikon L35AF in good condition. No need for a zoom, after all.

Thx for your comments everyone!

 

[Pumalite]

Leica point and shoot cameras. Especially with 40 mm Summicron. I dont give japanese toyotas even to my enemy. You can find these Leicas for 60 or so dollars and they are the best ps cameras in the world as usual as SLR , DSLR and Rangefinder of Leica family.
If you need zoom buy with Vario Elmar 35 70.

+1

 

[wblynch]

I have two Leica C1 P&S cameras and they are pure JUNK!

They were made with these little 'bubble' switches on the top circuit board and they collapse making the whole camera unusable.

The C2 and C3 appear to be made in the same fashion.

I have not found a way to have these switches repaired or replaced.

So just beware of this design and construction flaw with Leica P&S (or is it POS?) cameras.

 

[M. Lointain]

The Contax TVS is by far the best zoom point and shoot and they are surprisingly cheap. I paid $100 for mine a little over a year ago and that included filters and a hood. It has a great viewfinder, the zoom is manual, and the lens is top notch as you would expect from Zeiss (28-56mm). It has Program, Aperture priority, easy and quick exposure compensation and you can turn the flash off as a default. It also has threads for filters. It is far better than the Leica equivalent. Contax made the TVS, TVSII and TVSIII. All of them are good, but the TVS is the cheapest.

One of the downsides of the good point and shoots these days is they are starting to age. I have a Ricoh GR-1 that is phenomenal, but first the lcd went out then the shutter died. Those are two very common problems with it and it seems they all suffer maladies at some point. The Leica Minilux is another one that is unreliable now which is a shame because the lens on it is phenomenal as well. They all will suffer from a broken ribbon cable at some point though and then they are a paperweight. The two cameras that are seeming to last are the Contax T2/T3 and the Leica CM but they are going for a premium these days.

I personally don't like the "Tessar" point and shoots myself. Most cheaper cameras have Tessar type lenses. The Yashica T4 is a good example of this. I have had one for 20+ years and I consider it woefully adequate. It produces a lot of contrast but sharpness is lacking. If you look at files online or don't print the negs it is ok, but if you enlarge them they fall apart. I really don't see why they have a cult following, especially since there are much better cameras out there for the same money. The TVS I have blows the T4 out of the water; it is better built (titanium), it costs less and has a zoom.

 

[Photo-gear]

The Contax TVS is by far the best zoom point and shoot and they are surprisingly cheap. I paid $100 for mine a little over a year ago and that included filters and a hood. It has a great viewfinder, the zoom is manual, and the lens is top notch as you would expect from Zeiss (28-56mm). It has Program, Aperture priority, easy and quick exposure compensation and you can turn the flash off as a default. It also has threads for filters. It is far better than the Leica equivalent. Contax made the TVS, TVSII and TVSIII. All of them are good, but the TVS is the cheapest.

On e-Bay, the average price is between 250 and 1000$...

 

[M. Lointain]

On e-Bay, the average price is between 250 and 1000$...

Wow. I guess I got lucky, although there were quite a few a little over $100 when I bought mine. Of course the good stuff has gone way up in the last year or so. Just take a look at Leica lenses. Yowza.

The L35AF is probably the best cheap one so you did well to buy it.

 

[achromat]

Minox GT.. I agree, forget the zoom, it's trouble waiting for a repair that will likely never happen.