Compact Recommendation Please - Up to £500

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MissingMan

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Hi all.

I'm looking to buy a compact for use when travelling light, and I'd appreciate some pointers please. My budget would be £500, though of course I'm happy to spend less. Here's a list of things that are and aren't important to me:

Important:
Shoots RAW
Full manual control plus Aperture and Shutter priority
Trick modes: I do like automatic panorama capture.
Size - Small is good
Decent image quality of course.

Not important:
Video of any kind
Zoom range - a simple 3x optical zoom will be fine
Vast numbers of megapixels
Interchangeable lenses
WiFi
GPS

There seem to be a lot of models to choose from and the RX100 at £250 would seem to fit the bill. However, the opinions of those on here would be most welcome.
 
The RX100 is a stunning little camera, punches well above its weight with a great sensor, and it fits in the pocket.

Have a look at the RX100 thread, or my travelling photo threads I posted over the last few months, I took mine around Asia and New Zealand last year.
 
I recently got the Sony RX100mk3 bought second hand and cannot fault it, apart from the battery life which could be better. Here's a shot from today with it.

Purple by Stephen Bowler, on Flickr
 
Do you want a viewfinder? That would be my other must-have.

The RX100 is the answer regardless, probably. Mk3 instead of 4 if you want to save a bit. If you want some alternatives to look at I'd suggest the Lumix LX100 (bigger, brighter lens, possibly slightly nicer handling but, well, you know bigger - you won't be using the 4k video I guess, and it doesn't have a flash). I spent a lot of time in a local John Lewis and an airport where they have most of the decent candidates out in the open powered up so you can play with them, it ruled a few out for me.
I
 
The best version of the Sony RX100 you can afford, as already said, or a Panasonic LX100. It depends how important a viewfinder is to you.
 
Thanks all. I do like the look of the Panasonic and an optical viewfinder appeals. Can anyone tell me about shutter lag on these models please?
 
I recently bought a higher end compact camera. Did buy the Sony RX100-III and whilst a really great camera there was sharpness inconsistencies (tried a second and this was the same) although for most folk (ie those that aren't incredibly picky like me) this is a none issue ;) Also I didn't like the colours from Sony, I found the greens a bit too garish. Can be fixed in post but with the sharpness inconsistencies I sent it back and swapped to the Canon G7x. Overall I prefer the G7x. Sharpness is consistent, colours are nicer SOOC and the extra 30mm over the RX100-III makes a bigger difference than you might think. There is a Mark II version due out this month, but not sure this offers a great deal over the original. Certainly not £200 more. They also do the G5x which has a viewfinder and more DSLR like controls. Not quite as small as the G7x and RX100 but still fits into an inside coat pocket.

Nikon should have been bringing some very interesting higher end compacts in June but they've been delayed and I've not seen any new release date yet.

Finally there's the Panasonic TZ100 which has the longer zoom, viewfinder but slower lens.
 
MissingMan said:
Thanks all. I do like the look of the Panasonic and an optical viewfinder appeals. Can anyone tell me about shutter lag on these models please?
Click to expand...


Shutter lag, virtually none. OVF lag is a different matter, which you'll find on any model with a digital viewer.
 
I am still VERY happy with my Nikon P7800 - to the point I would buy a second to keep for when this one packs up.
I like it because it has a good zoom range of 28-200
f2.8 lens, which is actually good enough for me to use it professionally (fairly frequently) for magazine features, not newspaper rubbish.
The screen turns round so you can see it from the front for taking pictures with you in.
Infra red remote available from e*** for about £5 - and it works perfectly.
Flash built in, which can be used as a commander for remote speedlights.

Downsides. RAW download is slow, but it does have a burst mode of 5 frames. Typically a couple of seconds to save a RAW file, especially with the review thingy turned on.
SDHC card, I think limited to 16GB - I never use more than 8Gb so it doesn't effect me.

My son has had Lumix....bloody unreliable things. He has had three fail on him on the trot now. After sales back up is shocking, both from Panasonic and Curry's where he bought the first one and the replacements came through, eventually after many letters written and Trading Standards contacted because they basically were fobbing him off and refusing to honour the Sales of Goods Act. He was without a camera for over 6 months in the fight.
 
Being a Nikon bloke that P7800 does appeal. Google doesn't seem to be conclusive on whether the AE-L/AF-L button can be used to focus like I'm used to on my D700. Are you able to let me know if it can. If so that would be VERY tempting.
 
The lx100 I picked up and played with was like an Uzi for shutter lag,i.e. there was none! I pressed the shutter and it went off like a machine gun
 
Sorry to bump this but as so many people helped I wanted to say that I bought the LX100 in the end. I'd have preferred something smaller and I was tempted by the cheapest RX100, but the manual controls and general loveliness won me over. The lens is an absolute peach as well.
 
Bumping this again, rather than starting a new thread.

I am looking to compliment my DSLR with a go anywhere, travel camera.

Initially I thought I wanted the infamous RX100 in M3 guise but having read up a bit more, it seems there is more choice out there !
The Fuji cameras tempt me but their poor (in comparison) video quality has put me off.

The Panny LX100 (or Leica D-Lux sibling) do sound good though.

My primary requirements are:
+ Excellent Photos, at all zoom lengths, sharp, fast focusing, fast-ish burst mode
+ Good, sharp 1080P video ideally with manual controls
+ God tracking AF in video
+ Easy to use
+ No interchangeable lenses and ideally some flexibility in focal length i.e.not fixed

At the moment, I like the LX100 external control buttons that should make it quicker and easier to use (like my Canon DSLR) but obviously it is not as pocketable as the RX100.

Do people think the LX100 will perform better than the RX100 and worth compromising on the size ?

Any other camera I should be considering ?
 
RX100 or stretch it to the TZ100
 
Spy said:
Bumping this again, rather than starting a new thread.

I am looking to compliment my DSLR with a go anywhere, travel camera.

Initially I thought I wanted the infamous RX100 in M3 guise but having read up a bit more, it seems there is more choice out there !
The Fuji cameras tempt me but their poor (in comparison) video quality has put me off.

The Panny LX100 (or Leica D-Lux sibling) do sound good though.

My primary requirements are:
+ Excellent Photos, at all zoom lengths, sharp, fast focusing, fast-ish burst mode
+ Good, sharp 1080P video ideally with manual controls
+ God tracking AF in video
+ Easy to use
+ No interchangeable lenses and ideally some flexibility in focal length i.e.not fixed

At the moment, I like the LX100 external control buttons that should make it quicker and easier to use (like my Canon DSLR) but obviously it is not as pocketable as the RX100.

Do people think the LX100 will perform better than the RX100 and worth compromising on the size ?

Any other camera I should be considering ?
Click to expand...
In terms of IQ the LX100 will be a smidge better due to the bigger sensor. As for AF performance and all the other functions I'm not sure.
 
Thanks for the replies.

@littleted, Why the RX100 or indeed the TZ100, over the LX100 ?
In fact, the TZ100 has a 1" sensor like the RX100 and although a greater zoom range, apparently it is softer as certain focal lengths.

@snerkler That was my thought, larger sensor should be better on paper but not sure if it is reflected in real use
 
RX100III has a very fast 24-70 F1.8 lens and is crystal clear i had one for 3 months but sold it because for a Travel Camera it wasn't long enough
I now have the TZ100, and in all honesty i cannot tell the difference in picture quality only at the very end of the zoom does it go a little soft.

The LX100 is a great camera but not as pocket able as the TZ and RX , when i was running the RX100MK3 i also ran the FZ1000 same 1 inch sensor and an Olympus EM5II, and on some occasions the FZ1000 was the sharpest.

the RX100mk3 or 4 if you can live with 24-70 is the best of the bunch in my book, i did lust after an LX100. i suppose any of them will be fine but i wanted something for my pocket in my Jeans and the TZ and RX did that
Panoramic mode on the Lumixs is great..
 
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Thx for the explanation. I have looked at the TZ100 and it does sound interesting.

Did you ever find that the speed of the TZ100 lens compared to the RX100 M3 caused any issues, frustration or less than ideal results eg under low light etc ?
 
Not really f1.8 is nice to have but I prefer the reach over the F stop on this unit anyway as its a travel compact and thus mainly used by me outside, I suppose if you do plan to use it inside churches and low lit areas the the Sony may be better for you....just weight up what your going to be using it for most and go with that, being able to zoom 200+ was what I wanted.

One thing though the EVF on the Sony is better but both are pretty poor what annoyed me on the Sony was its a pop up evf and lumix is fixed
 
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Thanks @littleted

I will go for the TZ100 as most of it will be for travelling and out and about. Also, the 4k video may come in handy.
 
It's a good camera post focus is fun
 
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