What's a good upgrade from my S100?

[drmikeinpdx]

I enjoyed my S90 and picked up an S100 a few years later when they were cheap. I love the tiny form factor and the ability to shoot RAW. I keep one in my car and one goes with me on hiking, bicycling or motorcycle trips when I don't have space for a Rebel. I don't abuse them and they are both still working fine.

Have pocket sized RAW cameras improved enough since the S100 that an upgrade would provide better IQ or faster autofocus?

What would you recommend? I'd prefer to stay with Canon as I'm familiar with their menu system, but I'm open to other brands.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Sensors are pretty close to their limits, so a larger sensor is needed to realize significant improvements. The new generations of sensors have reduced noise at base ISO's and that's a good thing, but you would need to go to a 1 inch sensor or larger to see significant improvements. The best are badly overpriced.

So my answer is that you will need to spend a lot of $$$ to get a major improvement, and the camera may be larger. You can go to a camera store and compare to a Sony RX100 series, and Canon G5 or G9 and see if the larger size still works for you. The price may baffle you.

 

[Boyer U. Klum-Cey]

My S95(body camera) still travels with me, every day out of habit, an still works(in the modern cell phone range) very well. My guess is that cell phone camera have taken over the space, eh?

 

[neuroanatomist]

It depends on your pocket size. I had an S95, then got an S100...from there, I considered a Sony but my 'upgrade' ended up being the EOS M, still pretty small, great sensor size : body size ratio.

The S100 and S95 are now used by my daughters (9 and 7).

 

[drmikeinpdx]

Thanks guys, you are confirming what my casual googling for pocket cameras told me. I guess I will just keep my old S cameras around for a while longer.

One good thing is that they don't have much monetary value, so if one gets lost, stolen or destroyed, it isn't a big deal.

The next time I shop for a phone I will pay attention to what kind of camera it offers. I've avoided the cell phone camera thing for a long time, but I may have to take the plunge soon.

 

[pokerz]

rx100