Camera to travel. Compact....

Meeten

Meeten

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Meeten
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Friend of mine is wanting a camera to take on holidays with him. He wants to take some good quality pics and be able to take video.

Basically a step up from his phone, but with a £500 budget.

Not interested in changing lenses and he will be in Thailand, so something that I'd small enough to put in pocket and not have to worry about.

I suggested a Sony rx100 (think he will have to stretch budget to get the Mk iv), so perhaps the Mk iii.

Alternative options welcome. I don't really know what's good at the moment, so opening it out to the more educated......
 
I would recommend the RX100 but good alternatives might be the Panasonic LX7 and LX100 both fall into his budget.
 
Canon G7X? That's my camera for travelling light.
 
Herself has the Panasonic TZ70 and I have the Sony HX90. Either does an excellent job, though the Panasonic gives better image quality at the long end of the zoom while the Sony has a lot more facilities.

I would be happy with either one as my only camera, if the need arose...

24645508333_66413e6056_b.jpg
 
£500 buys a lot. I would suggest a used Fuji X series.
Check out whats on offer in the Classifieds.
 
Thanks all. Plenty of food for thought. I'll pass this on to my mate Harry and leave him to decide from the shortlist.

TP rocks....
 
Hi! I also have a Panasonic Lumix as in post#6 but a TZ55. It hasn't got quite the high specs of the TZ70 but I'm very happy with it and it's going for about £125 on Amazon at the mo' - more holiday spending money;)!
 
Been looking into this market myself. If they want a viewfinder then the RX100 M3, if not then the Canon G7x. Both have a 1" sensor and so image quality is about as good as it gets for a compact (barring fixed lens compacts) and both are pocketable. TBH going bigger/heavier than these and they stop being pocketable. I tried the RX100 M3 and it was excellent, barring two things for me. The Sony colours aren't as pleasing as Canon and Nikon imo, greens particularly were quite garish. Yes this can be fixed in post processing, but it's just another step to have to do. These reason I didn't keep it was the (very slight) inconsistencies in autofocus sharpness. This won't bother most folk, but it did for me as unfortunately I have a very keen eye for these things :( I tried two different models and both had the same behaviour. I tried the Canon G5x and this was more consistent, but was far too slow processing the shots and once you took a shot you couldn't take another for a couple of seconds. However, I'd rather this and have consistency.

I'm now in the market for a used Canon G7x (whilst I wait to see what the Nikon DL24-85, Panasonic TZ100 and Canon G7x-II are like when released, and also for the price to drop), which was initially number 1 on my list anyway due to the extra reach, it was just that I found a bargain used RX100. Whether I'll miss a viewfinder time will tell.
 
RX100 would be my choice. Great little lightweight camera
 
snerkler said:
Been looking into this market myself. If they want a viewfinder then the RX100 M3, if not then the Canon G7x. Both have a 1" sensor and so image quality is about as good as it gets for a compact (barring fixed lens compacts) and both are pocketable. TBH going bigger/heavier than these and they stop being pocketable. I tried the RX100 M3 and it was excellent, barring two things for me. The Sony colours aren't as pleasing as Canon and Nikon imo, greens particularly were quite garish. Yes this can be fixed in post processing, but it's just another step to have to do. These reason I didn't keep it was the (very slight) inconsistencies in autofocus sharpness. This won't bother most folk, but it did for me as unfortunately I have a very keen eye for these things :( I tried two different models and both had the same behaviour. I tried the Canon G5x and this was more consistent, but was far too slow processing the shots and once you took a shot you couldn't take another for a couple of seconds. However, I'd rather this and have consistency.

I'm now in the market for a used Canon G7x (whilst I wait to see what the Nikon DL24-85, Panasonic TZ100 and Canon G7x-II are like when released, and also for the price to drop), which was initially number 1 on my list anyway due to the extra reach, it was just that I found a bargain used RX100. Whether I'll miss a viewfinder time will tell.
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wouldn't the G7x processing speed be similar to the G5x ?
 
SsSsSsSsSnake said:
wouldn't the G7x processing speed be similar to the G5x ?
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Slightly faster, but pretty similar yeah. But for sub £300 used I'd be happy to use it whilst waiting for prices to drop on the G7x-II and DL24-85. Shouldn't lose much selling it on.
 
Rx100 would also be my choice if they don't want to swap lenses
 
Meeten said:
Friend of mine is wanting a camera to take on holidays with him. He wants to take some good quality pics and be able to take video.

Basically a step up from his phone, but with a £500 budget.

Not interested in changing lenses and he will be in Thailand, so something that I'd small enough to put in pocket and not have to worry about.

I suggested a Sony rx100 (think he will have to stretch budget to get the Mk iv), so perhaps the Mk iii.

Alternative options welcome. I don't really know what's good at the moment, so opening it out to the more educated......
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How competent is he, ie will he be shooting raw and processing or just taking JPEGs? I ask as the rx100 goes to another level entirely when shooting raw with good processing compared to JPEG output.

I took my RX100 travelling last year and it produced great results (see my threads in general photo sharing).
 
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Most decent compacts would do then, Sony RX100 mk1 is great, which I have and can be had new for £279 which is a bargain IMO, and any Canon s or g series will be good too.

The RX100 can fit in a picket, but still produces images such as these;

11 by -Odd Jim-

212 by -Odd Jim-

Ok I shot them raw and processed myself, but it shows what it can do when used to its ability :)
 
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Another recommend for the Panasonic LF1. Good range (28-200mm), decent video, large(ish) sensor, WiFi, built in EVF, fast operation and, most importantly, much smaller and lighter than any of the above - truly a pocket camera. If you don't want to pixel peep, it's grand.
Lots of great reviews online and can be picked up for £170 (fulfilled by Amazon).
Also recommend Canon s120 or previous models (110/100/95/90) if you can find one.. They do all the above with the same compact dimensions but slightly different colours.
Or, as suggested by many others, the Sony RX100 - I'd go for the Mk1 - does everything you could need on holiday (but a wee bit bigger than the ones mentioned above).
 
Eltheza said:
Hi! I also have a Panasonic Lumix as in post#6 but a TZ55. It hasn't got quite the high specs of the TZ70 but I'm very happy with it and it's going for about £125 on Amazon at the mo' - more holiday spending money;)!
Click to expand...

I have the Panasonic TZ55 and I find the photo IQ very poor, no better than a phone camera. Only thing I find it useful for, is for long distance video..
 
Meeten said:
Thanks. Perhaps one to knock off the list
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Most definitely,

I have an old Canon Ixus 82 that produces better quality still images than my Panasonic TZ55. I only bought the Panasonic for long distance video zooming, for wildlife in the park. Even the video quality from the Panasonic is nowhere near as good as my iphone video. As I say, only got it for getting closer..(y)
 
Another vote for the Sony rx100 or if it doesn't need to fit in a pocket the Panasonic LX100 which has a micro 4/3 sensor and 4k video.
 
davek said:
Another recommend for the Panasonic LF1. Good range (28-200mm), decent video, large(ish) sensor, WiFi, built in EVF, fast operation and, most importantly, much smaller and lighter than any of the above - truly a pocket camera. If you don't want to pixel peep, it's grand.
Lots of great reviews online and can be picked up for £170 (fulfilled by Amazon).
Also recommend Canon s120 or previous models (110/100/95/90) if you can find one.. They do all the above with the same compact dimensions but slightly different colours.
Or, as suggested by many others, the Sony RX100 - I'd go for the Mk1 - does everything you could need on holiday (but a wee bit bigger than the ones mentioned above).
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I'd be surprised if the RX100 is bigger, it fits in the palm of your hand and is smaller than my iPhone!
 
odd jim said:
I'd be surprised if the RX100 is bigger, it fits in the palm of your hand and is smaller than my iPhone!
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It's about half as big again than the Panasonic LF1 and Canon S120 etc, both in dimensions and weight.
 
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Trust me, I own both.........marked difference in size. The RX100 is not big but the LF1 is comfortably smaller/lighter (50g or 20%lighter). And slipped into your shirt /jeans pocket you do notice the difference .......as I said in my post, "a wee bit bigger" (-:
 
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The LF1 and RX100 sizes can be seen here > http://j.mp/1oOWJSD#sthash.nw49MqTI.dpuf ...................The LF1 is bigger than the Sony?

http://camerasize.com/compare/#456,332


odd jim said:
There's nothing in it, the rx100 is only 2mm wider and 1mm shorter :). Though the s120 is 7mm narrower, which is to be expected.

http://cameradecision.com/compare-size/Canon-PowerShot-S120-vs-Sony-Cyber-shot-DSC-RX100

Weight doesn't come into it with pocket cameras, they're all light!
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davek said:
Trust me, I own both.........marked difference in size. The RX100 is not big but the LF1 is comfortably smaller/lighter (50g or 20%lighter). And slipped into your shirt /jeans pocket you do notice the difference .......as I said in my post, "a wee bit bigger" (-:
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davek said:
Trust me, I own both.........marked difference in size. The RX100 is not big but the LF1 is comfortably smaller/lighter (50g or 20%lighter). And slipped into your shirt /jeans pocket you do notice the difference .......as I said in my post, "a wee bit bigger" (-:
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No I was replying to Steves post in the second one, I just thought saying it was half as big again was stretching it a bit, especially when the other cameras are both wider and taller :)
 
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Panny TZ100 came out yesterday, looks very interesting with longer FL (at the expense of aperture) and 1" type sensor.
 
Steve B said:
Yes but look at the difference in thickness http://camerasize.com/compact/#467,475,456,140,ha,t
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It's null and void in reality, for its given use, it still fits snugly in your pocket as it's still pretty thin! With compacts, height and width are really the crucial measurements. Mine went across Asia and NZ in my right pocket :)

TBH I wouldn't want the rx100 to be any smaller, or less thick as its small form is its only drawback :)
 
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odd jim said:
It's null and void in reality, for its given use, it still fits snugly in your pocket as it's still pretty thin! With compacts, height and width are really the crucial measurements. Mine went across Asia and NZ in my right pocket :)

TBH I wouldn't want the rx100 to be any smaller, or less thick as its small form is its only drawback :)
Click to expand...

Shows how we are all different, really regret trading in my Canon S95 for an RX100, nowhere near as convenient to slip into a pocket, for me anyway.
 
Steve B said:
Shows how we are all different, really regret trading in my Canon S95 for an RX100, nowhere near as convenient to slip into a pocket, for me anyway.
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Really?

Surely the performance advantages make up for its very slightly different form factor? I didn't even notice it in my pocket when I was travelling, and given how it performed it was the perfect pocket camera IMO. I've had others in the past and performance wise the RX100 is in a different league.

In fact, my phone was more intrusive than my camera!

I put a couple of photos in post 20, a few years ago I wouldn't have thought those possible with a larger camera, let alone a pocket camera.
 
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Sometimes you really do need a small slim camera. I've had fatter ones that are at risk of being left behind because it won't go into a small pocket when you might only be taking indoor flash shots.

The Panasonic LF1 is brilliant for its size. But if you really need the 1" sensor quality and a travel zoom, then the TZ100 is still quite pocketable.
 
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