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Hi All,
I am planning to buy a camera to have pictures of my friends and family. Price and zoom is not a matter to me.. I want the best image quality camera which can fit in pockets.. I heard about s95 some time back.. Is it stilll the best camera to buy or there are any other point and shoot cameras. Is there any much difference btw s95 and s100 and also i heard about sony hx9v Does it give better pictures than s95? Kindly suggest me some best cameras
Note : price and zoom is not a matter to me. But i dont want to compromise on the image quality of my friends or family.
What size pocket? 
The S95/S100 will fit in your trouser pocket, the other contenders are more for jacket pockets. Given the price drop of the S95 since the S100 was erleased, I think the S95 is one massive (and probably the loudest) bang for the buck. Other than that it is all about personal preference for size and ergonomics. There is no significatn picture quality difference.
Or if it is for pictures of the family, then you could get one of the Sony NEX/Olympus Pen with a pancake prime lens.
Or if money is really no object, how about Leic a m series (for a large pocket, admittedly)
I suggest you search 'S95' on this site because it is usually mentioned in terms of 'what compact camera', or browse the reviews.
If price is not an issue you could go for the Nikon 1 system (V1 if you want a proper EVF or J1 if you're happy with no viewfinder). With the 10mm lens it's small enough to go in your pocket, just, and it'll give you better IQ than the S95/S100. It also gives you the option of getting further lenses.
I own an S95 and it's the first compact I've had that does easily fit into jeans pocket, shirt pocket etc. Have seen the first comparison shots from the S100 and in some cases the image quality has gone down rather than up. The S95 was originally £450 or so. They are still available and if you're quick you can get one here for £239 I paid £317 nearly a year ago and I'd happily pay that again. It's a stunning camera.
I take it with me automatically when I pick up my keys. If it was any bigger I would leave it and only take it out if I specifically intended taking photos.
People claim there are better compacts, (like the Nikon mentioned), trouble is reviews I've seen show the images aren't any better or there's no chance of them going comfortably in your jeans pocket.
The Pentax Q for the sheer fun element and me being a little different 
Body without lens is almost that of an S100, a compact lens is not going to add a great deal of extra bulk.
On the other hand if your a flash git like myself you could have an expensive Fuji X10 that fits very nicely into the breast pocket of my very expensive cashmere overcoat
Quote: an expensive Fuji X10 that fits very nicely into the breast pocket of my very expensive cashmere overcoat
Not everyone is as flash (and flush) as you, Paul! Lol!
Edit: goodness me, I just noticed the label on your overcoat......... exactly the same as mine: we must have the same coats - except mine is ancient!
Quote: Best camera which can fit in pockets
We need to hear from John which pocket he is referring to - they come in all sizes. 
[quote[Not everyone is as flash (and flush) as you, Paul! Lol!
[/quote]
As if CB
It is difficult to comment in detail without a price point and pocket size.
Several of the mid range Canon compacts and Nikon Coolpix can deliver very good results in a very compact size for £200-300.
There are several other brands as well.
Probably next up are very good all round compacts like the Canon P12 or Nikon Coolpix 7100 at about £450. They are larger in size but still fit in many pockets.
The Nikon V1 has lots of potential, including a converter to accept many Nikon DX and FX lenses, but to keep pocket-ableable compact" implies not using a zoom lens option - and it does not have a built in flash. Good though the V1 can it may not be what you have in mind - though quality is very high for the body size.
Quote: to keep pocket-ableable compact" implies not using a zoom lens option
I suspect the combination of an Olympus Pen E-PM1 with latest Panasonic pancake 3x zoom comes pretty close to a pocketable, interchangeable lens camera but which still has the flexibility of a zoom lens rather than fixed focal.
But not a cheap option!
Quote: I own an S95 and it's the first compact I've had that does easily fit into jeans pocket, shirt pocket etc. Have seen the first comparison shots from the S100 and in some cases the image quality has gone down rather than up. The S95 was originally £450 or so. They are still available and if you're quick you can get one here for £239 I paid £317 nearly a year ago and I'd happily pay that again. It's a stunning camera.
I take it with me automatically when I pick up my keys. If it was any bigger I would leave it and only take it out if I specifically intended taking photos.
People claim there are better compacts, (like the Nikon mentioned), trouble is reviews I've seen show the images aren't any better or there's no chance of them going comfortably in your jeans pocket.
The Nikon 1 Series has a sensor with about 3 times the area of the Canon S95. If this doesn't translate into better image quality (or at least much better high ISO capability) then Nikon need to fire a few people. The Canon S100 now uses a Canon CMOS sensor (rather than the old Sony CCD) and this doesn't bode well. CMOS has never worked well with small sensors.
Quote: The Nikon 1 Series has a sensor with about 3 times the area of the Canon S95. If this doesn't translate into better image quality (or at least much better high ISO capability) then Nikon need to fire a few people.
Be interesting to see if it does? Any links to images? Will it fit in a shirt pocket, jeans pocket?
Quote: The Canon S100 now uses a Canon CMOS sensor (rather than the old Sony CCD) and this doesn't bode well. CMOS has never worked well with small sensors.
The S90, S95 and S100 have all used back lit CMOS sensors from Sony. CMOS sensors were initially introduced for small sensor applications. I am afraid you are confusing Sony's capital management program that resulted in them using CCD for far longer than others for a technical reason. The old CCD sensor was in the older products like the G9.
It tends to be that CCD is good at low ISO (depending on your personal view) and CMOS tends to have advantages at higher ISO. Also CCD tend to suffer from problems in small sensors where pixels saturate and it bleeds across into the surrounding cells.
So to my knowledge CMOS is pretty good for small sensors. The best small sensor camera performance I have seen comes from CMOS sensors. Back lit sensors were introduced because in the small CMOS sensors the tracking parts dominated some of the area so swapping it around helped free up sensor area.
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