Thread: Camera for the most pleasing jpegs

A friend of mine wants to upgrade from his Oly 5050. He tried the Canon G15 and immediately sent it back, explaining that the Oly pix were better. I asked him if he had tried the RAW images and he did not seem to want to become that involved. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for cameras that produce good jpegs. I remember some RAW shooters here saying they were using the jpg format with some cameras because they were better than the RAW they were able to achieve with existing software, but I can't recall the cameras. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

JPEGS are such a matter of personal taste, but if your friend already is familiar with and likes Olympus jpegs, I'd say Olympus or Fuji are great places to start. Although I might have said Canon too, and that didn't work out too well. For the same sized sensor as the G15, I'd look at the Olympus XZ2 (or the older XZ1 if budget is an issue). Or for a somewhat larger sensor and more classic controls, the Fuji X20 (expected within another couple of weeks) or the previous X10 looks like it should be wonderful. The deal of the century (or at least the year!) in this class of compacts is the Panasonic LX7, which can usually be found for about $300 and is a real shooter's camera. But Panasonic isn't known for its jpegs - they tend to be a little flatter than Olympus or Fuji and need a lot of playing with settings to get into the same ballpark, although it is possible.

-Ray

ditto the Fuji.

I shoot Fuji X100 and have never shot a RAW file with it. For the size I print at, the JPGs are fantastic and also afford some considerable PP if necessary - only necessary if a particular look is required, vary rarely because the Fuji JPGs processing got it wrong.

I would say therefore say Fuji X10 would be a good choice, X20 if budget goes further.

Only reason I do not recommend the X100 (or X100s) is the fixed lens -fine for me, not for many.

There is also the consideration of how much jpeg customisation is possible, and whether your fiend is interested in tweaking it. Some cameras might not have great jpegs out of the box but allow the user to adjust the settings to taste. Colour modes, noise filters, white balance, etc.

1st-Fuji
2nd Olympus

I agree, 1st Fuji, 2nd Olympus. I have no issue whatsoever with my Sony NEX jpegs though, but I do prefer those of my X10.

I still love Oly JPEGs. I'd get one of the first or 2nd gen Oly m43 cameras. There's plenty to choose from in the $150 range.

He can compare color among jpegs at DPreview.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will pass them on.

I've has the Pany LX7, Oly E-PL1 & OMD and Canon T3i
I like the colors and sharpness of the E-PL1 the best: