If you shoot with a flash mounted on the hotshoe, that's pretty much not compact at all, and I would bring my DSLR.
Canon's SX line features full manual controls (Av/Tv/M) . It has a long range (36-360mm) that goes from f/2.8-4.3. it's got the jog wheel, but no other external apparatus (such as the ISO or EC dials) that would make it easier to fiddle with settings Another issue is that you can't shoot ETTL in manual mode (maybe the G11 or S90 fixes this problem).
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