Micro 4/3 vs. P&S for the fiancé

Hi all. My lovely fiancé has expressed some interest in snapping some photos. I know she is likely to just toss the camera on full auto, but I was thinking that it might be nice to have something that at least had some options in case she wants to learn. Plus, I'll certainly want to use it at times. I'm leaning Micro 4/3 at this point (something like the Olympus PEN E-PL1 because it is pretty cheap and looks good), but would be open to a Canon P&S as well. Any opinions or experience in this area is appreciated.

Might I suggest the Canon G12 or Nikon P7000?

just talk to her about it. she probably knows more than you.

Just run through the positives and negatives of both options with your fiancé. Then let her decide what appeals more to her.
However if you want to use it yourself sometimes, I'd run out and buy her a m4/3 camera without asking

dingie256 wrote in post #14461516
just talk to her about it. she probably knows more than you.

She knows literally nothing about cameras other than that you push the shutter button to take a picture.

whmeltonjr wrote in post #14461544
She knows literally nothing about cameras other than that you push the shutter button to take a picture.

that's fine. i was there a few years ago. either system will help you guys learn. right now a m43 kit like the olympus omd em5 and oly 12mm and 45mm can seriously compete with APS-C, and there are some great lens available too. i think your first question is size. dlsrs are big because they house a mirror, but m43s dont.

dingie256 wrote in post #14461632
that's fine. i was there a few years ago. either system will help you guys learn. right now a m43 kit like the olympus omd em5 and oly 12mm and 45mm can seriously compete with APS-C, and there are some great lens available too. i think your first question is size. dlsrs are big because they house a mirror, but m43s dont.

I think there may be a slight misunderstanding here. I'm fully aware of how a Micro 4/3s camera works, as well as a DSLR. I'm just curious what route other people have gone in selecting a camera for someone that there not sure how much interest there will be at learning how to use anything other than full auto. I was leaning 4/3s as I've wanted one for a quite a while now for myself and if she doesn't use it then I will certainly take advantage of it.

Oh, sorry. I meant you should ask your lovely fiance what size she wants. Otherwise, agree with tupper. cheers

Ah, okay. No worries. I think we both just misunderstood each other. I really didn't think much about the size of the camera. I think that might be an area of concern as something like a G12 would go in her purse, but a m 4/3s may not. Thanks for the reply, dingie256.

dingie256 wrote in post #14461632
that's fine. i was there a few years ago. either system will help you guys learn. right now a m43 kit like the olympus omd em5 and oly 12mm and 45mm can seriously compete with APS-C, and there are some great lens available too. i think your first question is size. dlsrs are big because they house a mirror, but m43s dont.

Micro Four Thirds has built a lens collection that is lightweight, optically outstanding in the lenses of-

12mm, 45mm, 7-14,9-18, 25 1.4 and the soon to be 75mm and the newly announced Panasonic 12-35(24-70 equiv)

Now with the release of the OMD EM5, they have bridged the Gap between APS-C and MFT in IQ and Low light photography. Plus edge to edge sharpness is outstanding in MFT. Lightweight camera bodies, weather sealed with extremly quick Autofocus/ AF acquisition, decent Frame Rates - FPS, EVF's that are pretty solid in performance.

I personally am going that route to compliment my Canon S100 as the size and weight and high optically abilities do everything I could ask for.

http://camerasize.com/​compare/#101,196

Check out this site as it has been great for reference when it comes to size of the cameras and with lenses attached to compare whatever camera you may be interested in.


http://camerasize.com/

JoshuaaT wrote in post #14461448
Might I suggest the Canon G12 or Nikon P7000?

The Nikon P7000 (that i have and use almost every day)
is obsolete and is now replaced by the P7100.

Good luck.

How is the AF on the 7000. I owned it and sold it because the AF was atricious. My S100 smoked it big time..

S100mike wrote in post #14462048
How is the AF on the 7000. I owned it and sold it because the AF was atricious. My S100 smoked it big time..

It's not the fastest one but it's OK for a P & S. A friend of mine has the
G12 and there is almost no difference between the two camera's.

For me the P7000 has several features that the G12 don't have and that's
why i bought the P7000. The only thing i miss on the P7000 is the swivel
screen like the G12 has.

Good luck.

And the long end.reach was very nice i must admit. Maybe i just got a bad camera