YOU want a compact camera so nifty you would grab it without hesitation for a party. Or, for a pack-light overnight trip. It must also be a compact with a big display for the bevy of friends to huddle over viewing the stills and video clips. Plus, it must have tricks - like face-detection to make shooting easier: a social ice breaker.
Take a pack of playing cards - in length and breadth the compact should be no more than 10 per cent larger.
The Canon Ixus 870IS (below) fits the most naturally in the hand. While the other compacts are severely boxy - except the Exilim - the Ixus is all sensual, feminine curves.
However, the Ixus is no bimbo. It has a DSLR feature - servo autofocus - which tracks a moving subject. Its ability to predict movement is one of the highlights of the new brains in the Ixus - the Digic 4 chip.
Weight
Eight AA alkaline batteries - that's less than 200g. The weight of a compact - throwing in the battery and memory card (something the specs seldom show) - should not be heavier.
The Nikon Coolpix S610 weighs only 151g - six AA alkaline batteries - the lightest compact among the five models compared.
This Coolpix is also fast. It starts up in a split second - 0.7 seconds is Nikon's claim. Focus is also swift.
Despite being the lightest, it packs in 45MB of internal memory. That's 16 10-megapixel shots - a lifesaver should you forget your memory card.
There is also a rotary dial, a DSLR feature also found in the Ixus, which gives easy access to menu choices and for a quick breeze through your photos.
Wide-angle lens
Put yourself and at least two friends with your heads close together. The compact held at arm's length should be able to snap all three of you without slicing off body parts. For that, a lens of 28mm or wider (35 equivalent) is needed.
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX520 is king in this roundup. It starts at a wider 25mm instead of the 28mm in all the compacts here. That's easily 10 per cent more in length. So instead of 10 persons, an eleventh person can be added into the shot.
Face detection
A no-brainer feature for the party dude who has no time for fussy focusing. The compact must be able to seek out faces automatically.
Like the Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z300 which is obsessed with faces. Besides the standard face detection, you can train it to recognise a person. So, if your sweetheart wanders into the frame in a sea of faces, the camera will immediately target her.
There is a Make-up button. I used it on my face. The poor compact struggled for five seconds before yielding a prettified me - lines, shine and even stubble all reduced. Totally unreal but oddly pleasing.
The Ixus 870IS has another gem of a face-detection trick. It is an overdue idea for folks who want to shoot group photos with themselves in it. No more dashing to get into position.
Set the Ixus to face detection self-timer. Saunter to your spot - the Ixus will start the count two seconds after your face enters the frame.
An easy-sharing LCD
You and the same two pals would be able to share and laugh at your antics captured in the compact. The display should measure at least 3 inches diagonally - a feat as this is the size of LCDs on the meanest pro DSLRs.
The Fujifilm FinePix J150W provides a sweet fit here. Its 3-inch LCD has the same 203,000-pixel resolution - like all the compacts here.
At a bargain $299, the J150W costs half of what its rivals do in this package. The metal-clad gadget also packs a lens with the longest telephoto of 140mm here and a five times optical zoom.
It lacks optical stabilisation though - compensation for shaky hands - which all the rest have.
The Lumix goes one up as the only touchscreen LCD here. Together with the joystick, it makes for intuitive shooting and playback. Touch an object on the screen and the Lumix will lock in to it no matter how you shake the camera.
cytan@sph.com.sg
This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life on 5 November 2008.
