What compact camera to chose?
I have a serious decision to make, I need to chose a compact and advanced photo camera withing a price range of five hundred dollars. The crucial part is that the camera must have manual controls.
The choices I have are Canon; G12 and S100. Olympus XZ-1, Nikon P7100.
So far I stranded between G12 and S100. G12 allows easy full manual control, but it lacks in video quality. S100 has worse battery life, but that's not big of a deal to me. Don't know much about other two. I'm sure there are other compact prosumer cameras on the market, of which it happened I never heard of. Please help me to pick the right camera, your opinions are important to me.
I would go for the P7100, but that's just my preference. All of the cameras you've listed are great cameras. Go to your local camera shop and try 'em all out. I think the G12 is the oldest of the four listed.
The Canon G12 is a great camera. Who said it lacks in video? I watched this video on youtube of a David Cook's concert and the girl who uploaded the video said she took it from the G12, it was amazing quality video. And it's Vari-Angle would also aid in making stunning videos. The picture quality is no doubt superb too. If i were you i would've gone for it. Read this review to help you more:
http://www.amazon.com/...6BUHF7GCA/
You can get a good deal for it here:
As usual: http://www.dpreview.com/...eview.com/
As to your choices: if the larger body of the G12 is not a problem for you, go for the G12. I chose the S95 for exactly that reason - it fits into any pocket.