P7100 f5.6 1/4 ISO 400

I have to admit, this was a difficult choice to make. Both the LX5 and the P7100 are great cameras. But which one is the right one for me?

Thinking about why I was looking to buy a ‘point and shoot’ camera in the first place helped me make my choice.

First and foremost I was looking for a walk around camera and something that I could take on vacation without feeling limited. After numerous vacations spent hauling my D300 all over the place I want to lighten the load…I want the controls of an SLR, but I want them in a small package.

After a lot of thought I picked the P7100. Here’s why:

- 28-200 zoom. I shoot long more often than I shoot wide. The lens I use most often on vacation……18-200.

- Viewfinder….I wanted to have one. In fact I only own one camera without a viewfinder. (Strangely it happens to be my other vacation camera the Pentax W90)

- Flip out screen. I like waist level finders and the flip out screen is essentially the digital version of one.

- The P7100 is a slightly bigger camera that feels more comfortable in my hands.

-Two control dials that I found more comfortable to use. You can never underestimate the value of how a camera feels when you hold it. That’s why buying a camera sight unseen is risky.

P7100 f5.6 1:4 400

As you can see I’ve already picked up the camera and I’ve been playing around with it quite a bit. There’s enough stuff packed into this little guy to keep me entertained for quite a while.

BTW, the camera chose the settings for the moon shots…I used it’s night exposure mode….all I did was to limit the ISO to 400 and lower.

One last shot for the hell of it….no night mode in use here though

D300 ISO 1600 f 2.8 1/50

….after all it is silhouette week for the POTW52 crowd.