Do point and shoots exist which can get close to what DSLRs can produce? (And where could I find one?)

I've recently been borrowing my grandmother's Nikon D40, in order to take pictures at Microsoft's Imagine Cup US Finals. I'm not really a big photography guy, and I don't anticipate using most of the features offered by this camera. But I'm impressed because it's the first DSLR I've used. It's got several things I like:

• The images it creates aren't noisy (I guess this is due to the larger sensor)


• It produces useable images in low light scenarios


• Autofocus is pretty much instant


• Taking a picture is pretty much instant (rather than the delay usually there in Point and Shoots)

But two I don't:

• Turning off the flash is a pain Fixed.


• It's freaking huge! (But apparently small for a DSLR)

I don't use things like the aperture priority settings, shutter priority settings, any manual switch or do-dad, or anything like that. I'm not an artist -- I'm a programmer -- so it's unlikely that I'll be using this for anything too artsy anytime soon.

Therefore I'd like to find something that has some of the performance of the DSLR but which is a point and shoot (if such a thing exists).

How can I find such a thing if it exists?

Answer

A few possibilities you might want to consider would be a high-end P&S, a micro 4/3^rds, or a Sony NEX.

A higher-end P&S camera (e.g., Canon G-series) gets rid of (most of) the shutter lag common in the cheaper P&S cameras. Image quality can be pretty decent as long as you have lots of light, but like other P&S cameras it deteriorates very quickly in lower light. These also typically cost close to as much as a low-end dSLR that will generally produce considerably higher quality pictures.

A micro-4/3^rds is more like an SLR -- they use an electronic viewfinder, but still have interchangeable lenses. They're smaller/lighter than an SLR, but still rather on the largish side for a P&S. The sensor size (and low-light performance) is similar to an SLR.

The Sony NEX are slightly different from micro-4/3^rds -- they have a slightly larger sensor, and different lens mount. Otherwise, they have roughly the same tradeoffs; bigger than most P&S, but smaller than an SLR. Image quality is roughly on a par with an SLR -- better than many older SLRs, but not as good as a current higher-end SLR.

None of these addresses focusing speed though. SLRs using phase detection focusing, which is a large part of what lets them focus so fast. P&S cameras use contrast detection focusing which is almost unavoidably slower.

If you want the fast focusing of an SLR, about the only choice is an SLR. For small size/light weight with excellent quality, a Pentax would be a strong possibility.