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So it looks like the advanced compact cameras are really a turkey shoot between the Panasonic DMC-LX3 and the upcoming Canon G10. As an aside the 5MP camera we are replacing is a Canon SD400 which is 5.7 cubic inches and 130 grams. So it would be nice to get something about the same size.

What about something without all the manual controls and fine lenses that is fine for daylight use but is incredibly small. What’s the smallest decent camera you can buy. DCViews is useful for high-end cameras, but not for low end. I’ve found that DCResource is one of the few sites that actually reviews these low-end cameras.

If you care about available light photography, then you have to go all the way back to the Fuji F30 to get a decent camera. We have the F10 and F11 and they are remarkable. Nonetheless of the current crop, here’s a stack rank:

• Canon PowerShot SD1100. It’s 8MP and 38-114MM F/2.-F/4.9 and with a view finder and 2.5” screen at 3.4×2.2×0.9” and 125g. Canon has an incredible complicated line of PowerShots. But essentailly there is the very compact SD1100 ($237 street). Image quality is decent to ISO 200.
• SD790 is a 10MP with the 3” screen and no optical viewfinder. It is slightly wider 3.6” and slighly thinner 0.8”. It also has a underwater case for $149. Image quality is decent upto ISO 200.

• Panasonic DMC-FX35. It has got a 24mm equivalent lense which is great. The main problem is that the image is quite noisy. Best to leave it at ISO 100 as you can see visible noise at 200.

  Just going by size and weight, here are the leaders according to DCResources. Thos guys do the best compact camera reviews by the way. It is amazing how standard and incredibly high the features are. All of these have image stabilization and also are instant on and have 2.7” screens without an optical viewfinder for instance. If you shoot for less than 7 cubic inches and 125 grams, you get. From the new section of dcviews, here are the latest and smallest cameras:

  Camera	Volume (cu. in.)	Mass (empty)	Comment
  Canon SD1100	6.7	125g	viewfinder
  Canon SD790	6.3	155g	3” ISO 200
  Casio EX-Z250	6.6	119g
  Fuji Z20fd	6.3	110g
  Nikon S520	7	115g
  Olympus FE-320	5.5	95g	Uses xD
  Panasonic DMC-FX35	6.7	125g	25mm, ISO 100 only
  Pentax M50	7.3	116g
  Samsung NV4	5.7	140g
  Sony DSC-T700	5.5	125g	3.5” memstick

  These models churn faster than milk into butter, so of course most of these have new models. I put an asterisk next to those. Some of these are easy to exclude. For instance the Olympus like uses xD cards which is why they are small, but these cards are really nonstandard.