On Apr 5, 2007, at 7:29 AM, ann sanfedele wrote: > I hope you get some good answers to this -- if you find one that > shoots > raw, too I may be selling something else off to get one :)
If you want a pocketable compact digicam that outputs RAW files, the Panasonic LX2 (or LX1 for the slightly older model) is the one to get at present. I've seen NOS LX1s going for just about $300 It's the only compact that I've been comfortable printing 13x19 exhibition prints from. It has built-in image stabilization, a Leica designed lens, and produces good, low noise results in RAW capture up to about ISO 200. The Ricoh GR-D is wonderful if you can hack the price and live with a fixed focal length lens. You can get it from the UK and a few US sources that import it. Their upcoming Caplio GX100 will be another winner, I think: <http://www.dpreview.com/news/0703/07032801ricohgx100.asp> Of course, the Sigma DP-1 should also be available soon ... a DSLR sized sensor with 14Mpixel output, RAW or JPEG. But certainly not for $300 or less. Otherwise, the aforementioned Fuji F30/F20 are the best compacts I've found to date. They do a very good job, despite being JPEG only output and not having an optical viewfinder. My only dislike with them is the xD storage card, but buy a 1G xD card is now available for about $30, stores about 350 exposures, and that's more than enough for my purposes. I use the F30 as a kind of audio-visual scrapbook. The battery lasts a very long time on a charge ... I just took a couple of snaps with mine this morning... I think the last time I charged the battery was in September of 2006, and that was 200 exposures ago. Godfrey -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
