(Semi-OT) P&S cams: a comparison (pics of Lu Lu; a wonderful Ross course)

[Joe Bausch]

For years I've used a 5 years old Canon PowerShot SD880 IS.  It received very good reviews and I've been quite happy with it, taking about 45k pics.  

Recently I plopped down the dough to get the 'latest and greatest' P&S cam, the Sony DSC RX-100, which has been getting glowing reviews.

On Sunday I played Lu Lu and took both cams out and tried to shoot very similar shots within seconds of one another with both cams.  I imported the photos to iPhoto and organized them.  Except for maybe one pic I straightened and cropped, the rest are straight from the cams.  The Sony can shoot in raw mode, but I'm not doing that yet.  I also did no post-processing of the pics on iPhoto.  I used Galerie again to build the web photo album where the compression of the jpg's is set at a value of 60.

In the web page below, the pics are labeled as being from Camera A or Camera B.

Is it clear that one camera is superior to the other, at least on this day where both were set to full auto modes?

http://xchem.villanova.edu/~bausch/images/albums/camcomp2/

The link above requires a big monitor as they are formatted at 1400 pixels wide.

If you desire slightly smaller versions, use this link instead:

http://xchem.villanova.edu/~bausch/images/albums/camcomp2_1100/

[Ray Cross]

Nice to see LuLu again, thanks ,Joe.

For my old eyes....it appears that scenes from Cam B are not only sharper but siightly BIGGER.

Ray

[Eric Smith]

Much better clarity in camera B's pics on my monitor. I have to believe this camera is also your trusted 5 yr old Canon as well. Always enjoy your pics, Joe.

[Garland Bayley]

It seems to me that camera b captures more contrast, which perhaps is why others say it is more focused.

[Howard Riefs]

Prefer the stronger contrast and deeper colors of camera "B"

[Rick Shefchik]

Most of the pix from camera A looked brighter on my monitor. Sharpness seemed about equal, depending on the shot, but I like the brighter ones.

[Jeff Taylor]

It is not clear which camera is superior. It is clear what camera has a preferred automatic setting. Comparing images on P&S cameras is not meaningful unless one is printing large images for wall hanging. Otherwise, we are talking about auto white balance and contrast that is set from the factory. Buy the cheapest camera with the biggest sensor you can find if you want to post threads on this website. Comparing raw images that will be printed is a different endeavor. That is what DLSR's and high end lenses are for. None of that matters when posting images on this website. You take fine images and communicate exactly what you wish with the equipment that you currently own. I would never recommend you paying more than $400 for any camera if you want to show us the great places where you have golfed and why they are great.

[Jeff Shelman]

I honestly can't tell a difference between the two.

It seems like the camera version of buying a new fancy driver and gaining two yards on tee shots.

[Ed Brzezowski]

Hello Joe,
I really liked B, on my monitor the colors seem to be a bit " warmer". Certainly it captures the darker blue of the horizion. Great composition on both samples.

ed

[Mike Viscusi]

The B photos were definitely sharper for me.  Trees and leaves on the ground had much more detail.  B also had more contrast but at times I thought the images were a little too dark compared to A.  Thanks for the pics.

[Joe Bausch]

Camera A:  the 5 year old Canon
Camera B:  the new Sony DSC RX-100