Sounds like the GPS is going to be a gimmick and suck no matter which brand/model I look for. Since I will be hiking through the mountains and forest, having to leave the camera on all the time to retain a connection with the satellite is not an option.
Just how good is the low light performance of the S95? Now that I think about it, I will be up in Yosemite close to the new moon, so I am thinking about trying to get some shots of the Milky Way. Think its possible with this camera?
The G12 looks nice but I think that might be a tab bit out of the price range that I want to stay in. As is, the S95 would be pushing it.
I see that there is a Panasonic DMC-ZS10 out. I assume its the next product in this series? The optical zoom on this camera is impressive.
to get stunning pics of night sky, sensor size and quality is most important. s95 has a bigger than avg sensor for compact cam and fantastic quality hw sensor and processor. however it will not compare to an aps or full frame sensor only avail on dslrs. 4/3rd cams have aps-c sensors but quality sux compared to good dslrs.
low light sensivity of s95 is great for takin nice low noise pics of normal scenes with shadey areas, overcast skys, or stopping camera or subject motion when not in direct sunlight. ive taken awesome pics of fireworks and other night shots on tripod with long exposures, wide apeture and low iso. but for awesome night sky shots, u need huge high quality sensor that can accurately count photons on a per pixel basis at high iso to minimize sensor noise.
one awesome advantage ull have with s95 is
CHDK Wiki
needed for very long exposures. powerful firmware that gives awesome control over all settings.
as far as big zoom goes, remember bigger zoom = less light gets to sensor at same focal lenth. unless yer a weirdo, u wont miss big zoom. big zooms are really only useful on big cams with big sensors and glass, less u mount on tripod.
for vacation pics u generally wanna capture wide angle close to what yer eye sees which the s95 can do nicely. just fyi, past 3 compacts ive had is g9, s90, s95. if u wanna save money and can find a used s90 on ebay thatll do ya fine. same as 95 just no hd vid (who cares). all the g series are good too, but much bulkier. g12 has same sensor as s90/95.
