Compact to complement my 5D

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puggie

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Bill
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I'm looking for a nice small compact to complement my EOS 5D, it will probably be funded by the sale of my EOS 1v so looking at the £250-350 region and I'm happy to consider second hand but want something in VGC/as new.

My criteria are:
Reasonably small but still comfy in the hand, I don't want an awkward camera-phone type handling.
Good IQ and colours out of the camera, if I'm going to spend ages in photoshop I may as well get the 5D out.
Would prefer a fixed lens (no dust/dirty sensor), esp one that retracts to be nice and compact (MFT type thing and a pancake would be ok).
Something that feels decent, I'd rather not buy a 'plastic' camera, yes I know some modern engineering plastics are very solid and make a nice solid feeling camera I would be fine with those.
Something that looks nice, I'm being a tart I know but this may primarily be the OHs birthday pressie.

I don't need the DOF separation I get from my SLR, but would like some. A bit of simple video would be nice and I kinda like the panorama stuff the sonys do. I want something fairly intuitive that myself or the OH can just pick up and get decent pics with, but sill be able to have a reasonable degree of manual control when we want.

I've looked at the Fuji X100 and like but too expensive, the X10 is very nice but felt a little slow and clunky, it was in Jessops so no card in there and I didn't know what I was doing. Canon Gsomething left me feeling a bit meh and while very flexible and competant didn't exactly stir the soul. Not played with the olympus or pentax offerings, the Nikon J1 looks quite nice and not tried that either.

any thoughts on what I should be looking at?
 
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Buy one thats actually small enough to go in your pocket so you will have it with you, I got the canon s95 and it takes excellent pics, for a compact, same sensor as the canon g_ cameras. Spend a bit more and get the s100 which is the same but a bit faster/ better.
I have quite large hands and don't find it a problem to use.
 
I've just picked up a Nex-3 along the Sigma 30 for when I don't feel like dragging my D300 kit around.

Only really messed around with it in the house so far, but initial impressions are very favourable, the Sigma is compact and one hell of a lens for the money. The only downside in my view is the slow contrast based AF on the Nex, but then for sports/wildlife I'd use my D300, for almost everything else it's no big deal.
 
Panasonic GX1 with pancake or 14-42 X lens?
 
Thinking along the same lines myself here, would like a compact to go in my pocket/bag for when needed out and about for a bit of street photography or when the SLR set up is not welcome, for indoors at book signings etc. This can be a minefield and like the Leica range, and now they have a dedicated black & white model, just need to win the lotto now!!
Seriously looking at the G12 and possibly he Fuji system, like the idea of the Sony NEX range but it means another set of lenses!!

Any ideas people?

Oliver
 
mrwaverley said:
Buy one thats actually small enough to go in your pocket so you will have it with you, I got the canon s95 and it takes excellent pics, for a compact, same sensor as the canon g_ cameras. Spend a bit more and get the s100 which is the same but a bit faster/ better.
I have quite large hands and don't find it a problem to use.
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I'd go with this if buying now.
Currently have an SX200, the update, SX210 is pretty good and has bigger optical zoom than the S95
They do impress me with these quite decent zooms and also able to macro surprisingly well - the whole thing about the size of pack of cards!
 
ollied said:
Thinking along the same lines myself here, would like a compact to go in my pocket/bag for when needed out and about for a bit of street photography or when the SLR set up is not welcome, for indoors at book signings etc. This can be a minefield and like the Leica range, and now they have a dedicated black & white model, just need to win the lotto now!!
Seriously looking at the G12 and possibly he Fuji system, like the idea of the Sony NEX range but it means another set of lenses!!

Any ideas people?

Oliver
Click to expand...

The thing is: are you willing to compromise on image quality? i wasn't that's why I got a NEX. I m not planning to buy other lenses than the 30mm in the near future as it's just a casual shooting gadget when my DSLR is not around that gives me same image quality as my DSLRs

The advanced compact will do the job well but once you go into higher ISOs the Nex has the edge.

On a sidenote the nex+sigma 30mm combo is not stabilised while some advanced compacts are
 
I'm using a 5D & Canon S90 and I find they work well together. The S90 is pocketable, but still shoots raw and if I'm going to be taking a bag I take the 5D.
 
Camera world have my old G11 in, it was only 6 months old and never been out of the house when I PX'd it for a lens I needed.

Cracking compact and it comes with a 6 month warranty from them.
 
I have just purchased the Canon G1X from kerso,just waiting for it to arrive tomorrow hopefuly,after reading a lot of reviews on this & other cameras i settled on this one.
I was thinking of getting rid of my 5D & down sizing but i might keep it now as they are still great bits of kit:)
 
One of the Canon G series I'd say.

Nice cameras and similar controls to your SLR. For the money your talking you should be able to get any of them (may be a bit tight on a G12) second hand I would say.
 
i second the sx210 its small , very good zoom and macro , low light (as expected ) is pants but you can pop it on a tripod - do long exposures quite well , and its got all the bells and whistles a 'proper' camera should , ive got good images with it , nothing id ever 'crop' but as a backup to leave in the car ive always been happy, you do have to ramp up the iso sometimes to get a decent 'shot' but stick it in grain and b&w and they are always quite plesant
 
I also use a Canon SX130 IS as a compact all in one solution. It's very small with a zoom capable of something like 30-300, image stabilised and capable of HD video. Low light performance is dismal, but give it enough light and it's pretty good. I'm running the CHDK firmware which allows Raw shooting, it's one of the cheapest ways to get a Raw capable compact.
 
Well I spent FAR too long in Jessops playing and kept going back to the Fuji X10 (Canon G12 a close second), its not perfect but I liked the rotary zoom, position of the viewfinder (I know its basic but I feel such a tit looking at the lcd on the back of the camera to take a shot) and it just felt 'right' when I picked it up, I found the SX220 and similar a bit much like a camera phone in their handling.

So I'll get shot for the EOS 1v and use the proceeds to fund one of those.
 
exactly what drew me to the X10. Holding a camera at arms length looking at an LCD screen and zooming in and out with a button just feels wrong to me.
 
ernesto said:
exactly what drew me to the X10. Holding a camera at arms length looking at an LCD screen and zooming in and out with a button just feels wrong to me.
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Thats what i hated about the compact we used to have.
 
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