My friend is preparing to throw some grant money at a camera for use in geo/anthro/bio/agro field work in Mexico. She asked me to help her with the selection process. By the power vested in me by my time in the field with digitals and my feverish gearheadedness, I assembled the following primer.

I’ve divided the possible candidates into two categories, compact and ultracompact. At the start of each category is a quick synopsis. Recommended models are marked with a >. Afterwards are my notes on each. At the very end are my final recommendations, that’s the part to read if you don’t want to wade through the rest.

ultra compact

These cameras are as unobtrusive as you get. All of these have decent auto image quality but no or very very little manual control over aperature and shutter length.

sony dsc-u30 2mp fixed lens ~$200
>canon s400 4mp 2x zoom $450
canon s230 3mp 2x zoom ~$350
canon sd100 3mp $???
>pentax optio s 3mp 3x xtra small, fast, bad control, vox ~$350
casio ex-z3 same same $410

sony dsc-u30, u20 etc: fine and good but all have 2mp res and fixed lenses. You can do much better for the same compactness.

canon S400: This is a compromise camera but potentially a good compromise. It offers a bit better resolution and slightly better image quality than the following models without being a big camera. The downside is it’s bigger than the last 2 *really* small ultracompacts. That said, a year ago this was about the smallest camera on the market.

canon sd100 is slightly newer very slightly more compact SD-memory-using version of the s230. These two have just a little better image quality than the next two cameras, but are noticabley larger. They also have only 2x zoom.

Pentax optio S and Casio EX-Z3 are essentially the same camera: pentax and casio cooperated to share the same amazing lens and same sensor. They are both very small and very fast to operate (!) for best unobtrusivness. 3x zoom. Both have poor controls. Both have good macro – better than the canons (weird and probably not important but true). The pentax has voice recording but I don’t know how usable it is. Pentax is cheaper. Casio has a larger screen – good for showing your subjects the pictures afterwards. Very high cool factor on these. Deciding factor: I prefer the looks of the pentax.

compact

>sony dsc-v1 5 mp, 4x zoom, xclnt features, great image quality, lenses avlbl ~$600
>canon s45 4 mp, 3x zoom, decent features, great image quality, w/p casing avlbl, ~$450
canon s50 5 mp, otherwise same as s50 , ~$500

these are the smaller of the available “prosumer” cameras. They’re smaller than full blown SLR and don’t have full full profesional features but provide near complete manual control over aperature and shutter if you want it for arty shots along with better than ultracompact lens quality and somewhat better image quality. On the downside, they’re obviously bigger.

sony cybershot dsc-v1: this camera is loaded for bear and then some. plenty of advanced options, 4x zoom, lots of buttons and levers (I personally prefer this to multi-function controllers), a flash mount, cool exposure and focusing projectors and beams to increase image taking skill of the camera, and available optional telephoto and wide angle lenses. Reportedly image quality is excellent. Also reportedly fast to operate. Not as easy to hold as others in this class. It’s quite compact, amazingly so given how much it does. Basically this camera is the bomb.

canon s45/s50: these two are the same camera with a slightly different sensor (4mp vs. 5mp). They are at least as good as the sony dsc-v1 as far as exposure under normal conditions goes, probably slightly better. Under challenging conditions – low light, odd light – the sony is *possibly* superior. These cameras are a little bigger but less awkward, more streamlined. If you want it, you can get an expensive waterproof casing that allows you to use them underwater with some reduced functionality. The real advantage that I see is it allows use in really nasty field conditions.

Final Call

Get the Sony DSC-V1 if you care most about the best picture taking, the Canon s50 with a $160 casing if you care most about the best field worthiness, the Pentax Optio S if you care most about portability/unobtrusiveness and the Canon s400 if you’re looking for a compromise of all of the above. If budget gets tight, get the Optio S, it’s awesome and cheap.

Personally, I’ll probably go for the Canon s45 or s50. It’s got great image quality, full manual options, and I don’t want to own anything I’m afraid to take on adventures. They’re all great cameras and all would work very well so there is no worries about making the wrong decision.

Whatever you buy, make sure to pick up plenty of memory (128mb would be more than enough if you can download nightly, go ~500mb if you want it to last for a week in the field) and an extra battery.