hatidua wrote:http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/kidding.shtml

In every case no one could reliably tell the difference between 13X19" prints shot with the $40,000 Hasselblad and Phase One 39 Megapixel back, and the new $500 Canon G10. In the end no one got more than 60% right, and overall the split was about 50 / 50, with no clear differentiator. In other words, no better than chance.

Kai wrote:

FortMental wrote:It's a misconception to think that a P&S can do much of what a DSLR can do. A P&S will excel at only ONE thing: fitting into your shirt pocket. Sure, that's a huge plus, but not the main selling point, unless you're James Bond.

I have both a Point and Shoot (LX5) and a Micro 4/3 system (Olymputs Pen 2) I'm not James Bond, but I've found that I take a lot more pictures with my camera if it is in my pocket. If it's in my pack, I pass up opportunities to take pictures. The Olympus is smaller than a DSLR for sure, but it's not really pocketable. I have to keep in the pack, or in a case attached to my pack. I really like the Olympus, and I take it backpacking, but I don't take it climbing. As for image quality, if I were making poster size enlargements, the larger sensor might make a huge difference, but I don't make enlargements bigger than 11x14. On my computer monitor, (1900x1200) I also don't see much difference between the LX5 and the Olympus, in spite of the difference in sensor size. (Yes, there is a difference, but just looking at the photos, I can't really tell.)

What I have found really makes a difference in image quality is what ISO I shoot at. Image quality of either camera degrades noticeably in lower light conditions. Stabilization, and a lens with a large aperture are key here.

For a while, I owned and used a Sigma DP1. It's a P&S with a large sensor. It had the advantages of a large sensor and a small size, but at the end of the day, the LX5 is a better all around camera for my purposes.

FortMental wrote:It's getting harder and harder to find cameras that run off AA batteries. Build yourself an external battery pack that runs the camera off AA batteries....or get a pro to do it for you. One of these days I'll get around to putting a page together showing how to do it....it's really not that hard.