Camera Which compact P&S to buy under 22k

vivek nair

Recruit
Okay i am looking for a compact point and shoot camera that takes pretty good images and decent video.Will be viewing these on a 55 inch tv rather than make prints.Am a total noob here and this will be my first camera purchase.

So these are the features i am lookin for in the camera:-

1) should be compact.i.e.should fit in my pant pocket

2)Secondly i won't be doing any sort of post processing using adobe photoshop or lightroom or any other software.So I want a camera that does all the post processing and produces sharp and punchy images without any noticeable noise.Don't want a camera that produces washed out, dull lookin images or images that look like a watercolor painting.Colors doesn't have to look natural just good.

3) Will be using the camera mostly for nature photography(mostly landscape but also macro),snap a few family pics here and there and occasional low light photography.So need one that produces good results in bright sunlight as well as overcast conditions.

4) since i am new to photography and right now i don't have the time to learn , need a camera where auto mode(intelligent auto or whatever it's called) works really well and produces good results with minimal effort.Would be great if the camera offers manual controls as well so that i can take advantage of those features in future when i learn more about photography.

5) Should be able to record decent videos(atleast 720p at 30fps) as well.Don't want a camera that produces dull and fuzzy vidz

After going through various posts here and reading various reviews on sites like dpreview, imaging-resource.com and photography blog i am rather confused.i mean every camera i check seems to be having one or more major defects .Sony HX9V seems to be a pretty good camera with lots of features like panorama mode, dynamic HDR and amazing video recording capability.But then it employs overaggressive noise reduction and you get that watercolor effect in pictures. Canon SX220/SX230 HS is another good camera but it has a 28-392mm optical zoom lens which is not as wide as sony's 25mm., suffers from chromatic aberrations, doesn't do that well in high contrast shots and many complain about "lens error" issue.

Anyway these are the few cameras i am lookin at:-Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX9V(Rs.16600 ),Canon SX220/SX230 HS(Rs.17000),canon IXUS 220 HS(Rs10400),Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX3(Rs.12500),Olympus XZ-1(Rs.21500),Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ10(Rs.10700),Sony HX5(Rs.15000) etc.So which one among these/other models should i go for?

Other camera i considered were canon S95-(had to opt out because it being a prosumer camera doesn't do much post processing to the images),S9100(has random freezing issues), Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ20(produces noisy images).Price is not really an issue here and i am not lookin for value for money product either. Like i said i just want a camera that lasts long and capable of producing good outdoor images and decent video.
 
Are you going to view the images at 100% crop or going to print large sizes if not you can't go wrong with the HX9v or sx230 is ,the HXi9v is a good all round camera,fast and takes good videos.

If you really want don't want noise and smudging you have to go with a camera with a bigger sensor like the NEX series or the olympus pen series,they aren't too compact with the lenses attached,you may fit the body in one pocket and lens in other(unless you use the pancake lens,which can't zoom )
 
adder said:
Are you going to view the images at 100% crop or going to print large sizes if not you can't go wrong with the HX9v or sx230 is ,the HXi9v is a good all round camera,fast and takes good videos.

No i will be viewing them on my 55 inch lcd (using that screen fit option you get with ps3).So i won't notice that "watercolor effect" due to excessive noise reduction that sony employs right? regarding sx230, some users mentioned that sky has that washed out look? Trouble is these cams aren't available where i live and hence am forced to go by reviews alone!

If you really want don't want noise and smudging you have to go with a camera with a bigger sensor like the NEX series or the olympus pen series,they aren't too compact with the lenses attached,you may fit the body in one pocket and lens in other(unless you use the pancake lens,which can't zoom )

haven't looked at this option closely.How easy is for a complete noob like me to use them and does the NEX series cameras do any post processing or are we supposed to post process these images using adobe just like a DSLR? ?And wouldn't this be an overkill for someone like me?
 
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