So my gf is dying to get herself a new camera. She's been using an SD450 for years and hates it, as she thinks it takes shitty pictures. Now she's been interested in possibly getting a DSLR, but realistically, doesn't think she'll take the time to learn how to use it properly. Nonetheless, she is willing to learn some in order to take 'good' pictures. Another problem is that she wants this to be something by her side most of the time, so the size of a DSLR just isn't fitting right into her equation at the moment. Not to mention I'm planning on getting a DSLR myself, so...

Anyhow, she's been doing some of her own research, and has presented the following options:

G11
S90
LX3

She wants to stick to a $450 max, pre-tax. Any reason why she should pick one over the other? We checked out the S90 & G11 in person and she liked both, but hasn't had a chance to see the LX3.

Her main purposes for the camera are to take pictures of food (she loves to bake, and loves food in general) and of people and the city. Here is a link to pictures that she wants to be able to take...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bakeorbreak/page4/

And one of the things she LOVES about this person's photography is the ability to do the blurring in the background, such as this photo, and would like to know if she can do that with any of these cameras:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bakeorbreak/3425040120/

Thanks for your help in advance guys!

`John

 

Azine will require samples of many baked goods in order to provide assistance...

 

Nude apron shots are in the red room as we speak

 

Just for clarification....

Her, not you.

 

fuck

 

I have to check out mex brenner but haven't had time. I got my gf a g9 its old comapred to the g11, but does a great job being a handy point and shoot. I used it when we went to disney on ice since i wasn't allowed to bring my d300 and 70-200 they had a zoom restriction... 6inches or more is not allowed...

I haven't kept up to date with the s90 but heard good things. I really like the manual controls in the g9 really gives it control.

 

Either the S90 or the G11, I think she'll get better IQ from those two. The S90 is a little slimmer than the G11.

 

I owned an LX3 for 2 days and the images were great, but it was too small for me, so I went with a dslr. The G11 is nice, but a little bulky. The S90 is just beautiful. I'm looking at that for myself as well.

 

I have the LX3 and like Pebe I view the camaera as an ergonomic mess. Unless you have super small hands it's just hard to hold and operate the controls. It was, however, a nice camera for its day. If I'm not mistaken, the S90 and the G11 are both based on the same 10MP Sony sensor which is a generation or two newer than the sensor in the LX3. I have a different camera based on this new Sony sensor and the high ISO performance is pretty admirable for a point & shoot.

Regarding size, I have a G10 and I would consider it a fairly large camera to carry around with me all the time. It's certainly doable, especially if your GF carries a medium to large size purse, but it's not really going to be "convenient."

 

Yea I tell my gf to bring her camera around when I can't lug my whole d300 or even the whole bag. Since she can use it to get a bunch of shots, it does well for what it is.

 

Sounds good. I think at this point, she's leaning towards the S90 due to its sleek & sexy body. Again, she just wants to make sure she can take photos like the ones I posted in my OP. Otherwise, she will just say fuck it and wait for me to get a DSLR to share (but she would prefer to have her own camera as well).

 

In case you or the GF haven't noticed it already, all of those images at the Flickr example site all appear to have been shot with a Nikon D200 DSLR and a 60mm macro lens.

The depth of field properties, and hence the background blur, are distinctly different for small image sensors like those found in the G11 and S90 compared to a DSLR's image sensor. Use of a macro lens also has a distinct effect on the background blur.

 

Nope, did not notice. Also I don't know much at all about DSLRs as I'm trying to learn.

 

I took this at a friends place yesterday when I was bored. The s90 does do a little bit of blur wide open, but I don't think it will ever compare well to a dedicated macro lens or a normal lens with the extension tubes.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2598/...af2f99f0_b.jpg

I should also add that the s90 lens needs to be at it's widest angle to get the f 2.0 aperture, and this is where the lens is the softest around the edges and has the most distortion. The distortion can be corrected but it will make the image a bit softer and there is only so much sharpening in a program can do.

 

Really there are just two things to consider here: size and image quality.

If the camera is primarily going to be used for food photos, you're much better off with an SLR. Even the most entry level SLR will be far better than the best P&S in this area.

If she wants a camera she can take everywhere then she'd be better served by an S90 or G11. They will be ok for macros, but they won't have the same background blur that she likes in the link you posted originally. I didn't see video mentioned at all, but that would put her into a P&S camera unless she's willing to make a big jump in cost and complexity.