Suggestions for small and wide?

I need to replace an ageing powershot, and am looking for something small, preferably Ixus size. This is not my main camera, but one which I can carry around more frequently and more conveniently.

The most important feature is a wide zoom.

I was looking at the Ixus 220 HS, which seems to be able to go down to 24mm equivalent.

Any thoughts on this one, or anything else I should consider?

Cheers,

Stephen

That sounds like a good camera for casual snapshots. The main issue with these small cameras is their very small sensor size, which creates noise and poor high ISO performance. The Canon S95 and Panasonic LX5 are a notch better for this, but they are also bigger, as is the Fujifilm F300EXR.

The Ixus 220 is a very nice, very small, general purpose camera.
It has a wide lens, like you mentioned, but a standard tiny imaging sensor.
As I understand, you are about to shoot mainly indoors and for that you need
good low light capabilities. A good camera for those purposes need to have
a large aperture setting and more importantly, a large imaging sensor.

The Nikon P300 and Canon Ixus 310 both have a large aperture, but a small sensor.
They also both have a wide 24mm lens and will do better than the ELPH 300 indoors.

The S95 mentioned above has 'just' a 28mm lens, so it will probably not suit your needs.
It has superb image quality, thanks to its large aperture and large sensor. Alternatively,
you can go for its successor - the S100 - which has a 24mm lens and reported better IQ.

The LX5 suggested, together with the S100 are your best options.

-eyalg

Thanks for the input.

I saw the Ixus 310 but yes, 'only' 28mm.

I like the S95 too but just 28mm. I hadn't seen the S100 although it looks like it's not available until January (Amazon). That would be the ideal one really.

The Panasonic looks a bit clunky to me. I'd prefer the sleek look and feel of the Canons as a complete opposite of my DSLR (50D).

So it's Ixus 220 now, or wait a couple of months and spend more than twice as much on the S100.

Hmmmmmm......

Cheers,

S

B&H shows approx. arrival date of the S100 - November...
Amazon is selling the S100 for a beefed up price of $459.

-eyalg

Here in the UK Amazon shows the S100 arriving 1/1/12, with a price of £387.50 - ouch!

And there's cashback available on the IXUS 220 until later in January.

I'll see what happens to the street price of the S100 once it starts shipping, as the IXUS is just £110 with the cashback!

S

I don't think that the price of the S100 is about to go down any time soon.
If it's over your budget, I'd take the Nikon P300 instead. It's a very capable camera for its price.
The Ixus 220, as said before, is a viable option as well, especially for that price.

-eyalg

The S100 is awesome...but nearly impossible to find here in the US even, and it has been shipping for 2 months!

Thanks eyalg. I suspect you're right!

S