I've received the Powershot A650 and have been trying to convince myself to like it. Unfortunately, it's bigger and bulkier than my old Powershot S50. There are a bunch of other annoying things about it. I have yet to test the image quality; can't get over the usability.

I can't find any other small camera with reasonable feature set: aperture priority, shutter priority, panoramic assist, good low light operation in a simple package that's easy to use with one hand. No Canons or Nikons fit. Sigma DP-1 is apparently too slow. Panasonics might work, like the DMC-LX2. It's odd that nobody is filling the "highly functional compact" niche like the old Canon S. My sister's new Ixus has the small size, but I can't go back to "take what it gives you" limited feature set.

Is it a shame to consider buying a 3.5 year old, 7 megapixel PowerShot S70 off eBay? Looks like the highest evolution of the S50 form factor I know and love (the S80 seems odd). Even used, they cost $150, half the $300 of the new A650.

Still trying to convince myself of what to do...

The Panasonic FX-500 claims to have all manner of manual adjustments in a swank, compact body. It's almost certainly got the same sorts of high-ISO noise issues as any other unnecessarily high ISO compact.

There are also several older Panasonic cameras that are co-branded with Leica. I think some of those have raw modes, which is a good thing. I guess the new Canon G9 also has a raw mode. The nice thing about raw is that it gives you some ability to make your own tradeoffs about noise reduction vs. resolution, never mind the ability to aggressively fix incorrect exposures, white balances, and so forth.

I would have suggested the new Sigma DP-1, but DPReview's review, which discusses how staggeringly slow the camera is, makes it sound like speed issues are a deal-breaker. Too bad, because it's exactly the right idea.

I suppose you could always pony up for a Leica M8...

"As it stands though the DP1 has not been developed to its full potential yet and can only really be recommended for landscape photography (and similar applications) in reasonable light and to photographers who can live with a frustratingly slow speed of operation and the other shortcomings we have talked about above."

Ouch.

I got a Canon SD1000 (just a point and click) but when I changed the firnware, I can do alot more like run scripts, change the shutter speed, the flash timing and all kinds of things that I don't even understand yet. You might want to take a look at CHDK. It is nice to have a pocket sized camera that has it's pro functionality tapped. it should be great for an empegger.


http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

I played around with CHDK on my SD870. Pretty cool. Did you try "zebra mode"?

With this, you aren't actually changing the firmware on the camera, just adding to it...

- Jon

Okay, that is cool.

I just put it on before going to sleep last night - didn't figure out the RAW mode yet, and didn't try the zebra mode - but after reading more about it today, it sounds really cool. Gonna play with it more tonight,.

Ok, that is far out. The biggest question I didn't find in the FAQ: Can CHDK add shutter priority and aperture priority to cameras which don't have it (ie: SD1000)?

I should just keep this A650 and get on with my life. I just feel like there must be something better...

There's always going to be something "better". The trick is deciding if/when what you have is good enough for you to be happy. From what you've written above, it sounds like you've already decided the opposite, so if you keep it, you'll just constantly wish you hadn't.

Nah, I'm going to keep it. The vari-angle LCD is going to open up loads of new possibilities. I've thought back on all the times I've craned my neck to get a shot, or simply had to skip it because I couldn't see the viewfinder to compose. Vari-angle will reduce much of that.

Like a new car, it will get better as I discover new features and get used to them. Thanks for all of your tips, everyone.