A compact as my 2nd camera

Hi all

I need a good digital compact for a holiday to Orlando. After a few days in London with my full bag of DSLR kit I can't face lugging that about in the heat of Florida. I need something with good low light performance, manual controls and the ability to shoot in RAW. Can anyone vouch for the Canon S100, it seems to tick all the boxes.

Thanks.

I'm quite happy with my S100.

The S100 is indeed a great leave-your-DSLR-at-home option.
Another great manual controlled, RAW enabled, low-light shooter
is the Fuji X10, which is better than the S100 in most aspects,
at least in my opinion, except for its size. If you can do without
the S100's pocketable compactness, the X10 could be great.

-eyalg

I puchased the s100 as a second camera for my 50D and I really like it. I take it everywhere and it fits in a jacket pocket no problem. Another thing I do sometimes is take my 50D with a 70-200 on it and have my S100 for wider shots.

I loooooove my S100. But, truth be told, I'm not all that impressed with its high-ISO performance. It's good, perhaps even great, but not as stunning as I thought it would be. (Part of the reason for that is that the S100 was soooo hyped up before it came out, that I think many of us were expecting unreasonable things from it). Also, the lens speed drops fast if you zoom in.

With that said, I haven't regretted buying the little guy for a second (I sold a G9 to buy the S100, by the way). I think it's the most amazing compact I've ever used and would buy it again in a flash!

I have an S95 that I take everywhere. They are being replaced by the S100 and can be had
for lower cost. There are threads comparing these 2 cameras.

My S100 is great for what it is. It takes very good pics, but remember it is a compact and there are some tradeoffs with it.

Have you thought about going light on your DSLR? You could just take your 17-50, drop the grip and get a backpack like the Lowepro fastpack 100 and/or use a good across the body strap like the Cinch. Pick up a 55-250 and you have good focal range coverage in a pretty light kit.

Thanks for all your comments. I am going to take a look at the S100 tomorrow.

@Keyan Your right I could go down to a light DSLR option but I dont want to invest in a average telephoto when I have a 70-200 L sat at home. Im a lazy bugger so a pocket camera for the heat of Florida is probably a better bet! I dont mind lugging all my kit around when I know I have the car close by!

TheMightyDaff welcome to the forum!
Right camera is the one you'll have with you...I'm currently carrying a "travel zoom" camera. I also have a NEX5, and a dslr system. I don't carry those two around with me much. And the NEX5 disappoints me that way.
So I'm considering the S100 too...or several other choices.

Best
DaveL

I took the plunge today and bought a S100, its charging right now so I am going to have a play over the next few days then post the results.

Congrats! Definitely post the results when you start shooting