Canon s95 or Nikon p300

[The_Scroop]

Hi guys

In the market for a compact camera to take on small trips and general P&S photography.

I've narrowed it down to the canon s95 or nikon p300, mainly because they both don't have a hot shoe connection and dont have an external lens cap.

I'm really stuck on which to go for. Everything I've read says the canon s95 is the best of the bunch, but the Nikon with double screen res, CMOS sensor (better IQ and battery life?) and 24mm at the wide end seems to be better spec wise. What do i do!

Cheers,
Dom

[Tjfrnds]

It's a tough one. I'm looking at replacing my ixus70 with the s95. Had a look at the nikon p300, but I'm sold on the RAW capability of the s95:) Have you had a look at the reviews on cnet?

http://www.cnet.com.au/nikon-coolpix-p300-339309116.htm#2

Even though the p300 has a CMOS sensor, the s95 is claimed to have better IQ.


Good luck with your decision!

Tania

[soulman]

The Nikon has a smaller sensor with more pixels. Not a good combination & 10MP is ample for most purposes. DPReview seems to think it's not really a competitor for the S95 (http://www.dpreview.com/previews/nikonp300/). The fast wide angle lens does sound good to me, but the S95 is not too far behind and I wouldn't buy anything that didn't shoot RAW.

[mikec]

I've got the s95, great little camera, can't fault it. The closet alternative in my opinion is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5.

I tossed and turned between both of the above for awhile and just went with Canon since I was more used to their menu systems.

[davidw]

go with the Canon S95 between these two.

[N*A*M]

i shoot nikon DSLRs, but have the s95 as my P&S and video camera
i am using CHDK on it too, which is pretty cool

[soulman]

What does CHDK do on an S95? I've used it on IXUS cameras to enable RAW, but can't remember what else it does.

[N*A*M]

i mainly wanted it for ability to zoom and refocus while recording video. the motor noise is pretty bad, but i just dub music over the top.

you get all the other base features of CHDK too. see http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/Features

[rafikicat]

I have just got an S95 to use when I don't want to carry my Canon DSLR, after advice from the Canon section of this forum. So far I'm finding it very easy to use and just the right size to fit in my pocket. I've never heard of CHDK, so I'll add my voice to soulman's question - what does it do (and is it safe).
Thanks.

[N*A*M]

toni, follow the link above and read up on chdk. in a nutshell it is additional boot up software you place on a memory card that opens up some additional features on your camera. it is not a permanent change to firmware, and has no lasting effect on your camera if you choose not to use it anymore.