A pocket compact - is it worth me adding one?

Crotal Bell

Crotal Bell

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Was toying with the idea of picking up a used pocket compact zoom camera, around 50 quid off the bay, thought it could be fun for walks and talking pics of buildings nice views and street scenes etc, but not sure if there's any point.

I have a Pana FZ82 bridge camera, ok it's not fitting in a pocket, bit bulky, and poor in low light, but not sure I can pick up a compact that would be any better or at least the same image quality.

I don't know enough about sensors, I've seen some nice pictures from @swanseamale47 with a compact but that's a bigger price tag which I think I would need to enjoy the results? I get the impression that anything compact in the 50quid range will come out for a couple of walks and then end up in a drawer?

Interested to know peoples thoughts.
 
I dislike using phones for photography as the ergonomics are terrible and the screens can be hard to see so yes, a compact with some sort of vf is a good idea.

Be careful though as I've bought a couple and sent them straight back due to contamination on the sensor or controls being iffy. There's a lot of dross out there on ebay.
 
I bought a pocket compact for just such a thing and haven't regretted it. I know it's an old saying that the best camera is the one you have with you, but being able to stuff a camera in a pocket and go is really useful. There have been a number of occasions when I didn't want to tote a non-pocketable camera with me and was grateful of having something. Like Alan, I also dislike phones.

I work in a charity shop and we see a LOT of cheap compact digital cameras go through our eBay shop. The one thing I've noticed is that build quality varies greatly. Anything over about 6Mp though tends to be great and some of them are really small. There's also a resurgence in "vintage" digital compacts for the lo-fi look. I'd be looking for anything made past about 2010. Older camera ISO quality in low light won't be great - and I tend to use mine for walks as well as things like meals out and gigs which are often poor light, so bear this in mind when looking for something. Also, for convenience, getting one that runs on normal batteries (usually AA) makes life a bit easier. No one wants Yet Another Charger....

I say go for it! Better to have a poor quality picture than no picture.
 
Harlequin565 said:
I bought a pocket compact for just such a thing and haven't regretted it. I know it's an old saying that the best camera is the one you have with you, but being able to stuff a camera in a pocket and go is really useful. There have been a number of occasions when I didn't want to tote a non-pocketable camera with me and was grateful of having something. Like Alan, I also dislike phones.

I work in a charity shop and we see a LOT of cheap compact digital cameras go through our eBay shop. The one thing I've noticed is that build quality varies greatly. Anything over about 6Mp though tends to be great and some of them are really small. There's also a resurgence in "vintage" digital compacts for the lo-fi look. I'd be looking for anything made past about 2010. Older camera ISO quality in low light won't be great - and I tend to use mine for walks as well as things like meals out and gigs which are often poor light, so bear this in mind when looking for something. Also, for convenience, getting one that runs on normal batteries (usually AA) makes life a bit easier. No one wants Yet Another Charger....

I say go for it! Better to have a poor quality picture than no picture.
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I didn't realise I could get good results with say 6MP - 10MP to be honest I have been looking at 12MP and above like the Pentax Optio RZ10, although one review said the image quality was disappointing. For me it's not really a case of better than no picture at all, as I will always carry at least the FZ82, but sometimes it would be nice to have zero bags and something in a pocket that can take a respectable image just for viewing on laptops and sharing on media.
 
My “stick in a pocket” and travel camera is a Sony RX100vi. It’s tiny.
Yes, expensive new, but image quality is excellent from the 1” sensor and all the control you need and a 200mm equiv lens.
 
SimonH said:
My “stick in a pocket” and travel camera is a Sony RX100vi. It’s tiny.
Yes, expensive new, but image quality is excellent from the 1” sensor and all the control you need and a 200mm equiv lens.
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Yeah I would love one of those.
 
Definitely there's a place for a compact in your armoury. It's worth paying for a good one. I would suggest anything from Canon from 10mp up. I tend to use mine in an urban environment where you don't notice the MP so much. Not street photography exactly, but great for those little scenes and oddities.
 
It's way over priced for you £50 target but I bought a Panasonic TZ100 which is a 1" sensor compact with a 25-250mm zoom. I hardly ever use it but I have taken it on some holidays to compliment my Sony A7 and prime lens. I didn't even consider the Sony RX100 series as the vf needs to be popped up and down and I just knew I couldn't live with that.
 
6MP is enough (just about!) for an A4 print and more than enough for web use.

Like Simon, my pocket compact is an RX-100vi which slips into a shirt pocket and has a decent OVF along with a useable zoom range. Not within your budget though!

I'd keep an eye on local charity shops and see what crops up. Plenty of modern compacts charge through their USB port so there's no need for yet another charger, just (possibly!) another lead.
 
You can get older compacts with larger than std sensors too. I used to use a Samsung S850 and the pictures were better than my wife's much later Panasonic TZ7 would produce. There was also a canon G series with good optics and a bigger sensor.

My snow scene in the 'old digital picture ' compo was taken with the Sammy.
 
Crotal Bell said:
I didn't realise I could get good results with say 6MP - 10MP to be honest
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The publishing standard (?) is around 300ppi for magazines. Assuming a standard magazine page is A4 (11 x 8 inches) that's 3300px x 2400px = 8Mp. That's for folks with 20/20 vision who like to scrutinise. If you go bigger, you tend to need to be further away and the resolution the eye can resolve drops dramatically. Realistically, 8Mp is all you need as long as your viewer isn't a pixel peeping photographer with their nose up against a huge print and is viewing your image from a realistic distance based on the size of the presentation.
 
v small - - inexpensive, (relatively) - good value used - CanonS95

I upgraded to the Sony RX100v, didn't need to but that's what the photography hobby does - the Sony RX100v is very good
 
I already coincidentally have one - actually two: Pentax Q and Q7; but they are not commonplace and well outside that budget; and an acquired taste if I'm honest, wiuitrh no viewfinder, but control and quality is good. My wife has a little Sony SX210 though which is very good and tiny to slip into a pocket.
 
In my opinion, the ultimate pocket digital camera is Canon's IXUS 70.

Tiny (about the same volume as a Minox C), efficient, with a surprisingly good optical finder and an adequate rear screen. 7 Megapixels and they seem to go for around £30 at the moment (mine was £25)

Canon Ixus 70 and Minox C SP570uz5020017.JPG

Surprisingly good for close up work as well...

Beetle on shed patio Ixus 70 IMG_4320.JPG
 
Crotal Bell said:
I didn't realise I could get good results with say 6MP - 10MP to be honest I have been looking at 12MP and above like the Pentax Optio RZ10, although one review said the image quality was disappointing.
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I had a 3mp photo from a bridge camera used as a double page spread in a fishing magazine back in 2006. It looked fine.

What I see looking back at my older pics from bridge cameras they not only struggle at higher ISOs they lack dynamic range so blown highlights have to be considered.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
In my opinion, the ultimate pocket digital camera is Canon's IXUS 70.

Tiny (about the same volume as a Minox C), efficient, with a surprisingly good optical finder and an adequate rear screen. 7 Megapixels and they seem to go for around £30 at the moment (mine was £25)

View attachment 428050

Surprisingly good for close up work as well...

View attachment 428052
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You got a bargain looking at the price of them on ebay now.
 
An RX100VI or VI looks to be an ideal light weight hill walking option over my current body and twin lens. £1k is steep though.
 
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