Pocket compacts

[Stephen L]

I'm contemplating getting a truly-pocketable camera for, err, carrying in my pocket.

My budget is a very maximum of £700, and it should have an EVF.

I think I have narrowed it down to a Lumix LX100ii. I have previously owned two of the Mk 1 s and have been happy with the output, but I am aware that sometimes they can suffer from dust ingress, and a Sony RX100 Mk? - again, I have owned a Mk 3 some while back with good results but a bit fiddly. I want a wide-angle (24mm equiv) but am not bothered about anything longer than about 70mm.

I would welcome sensible comments please.

 

[Tricky01]

Not something I am or have been in the market for, but the Sony rx100 is certainly top of mind for me. Seems the discussion is quite popular, so read through these:

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/sony-rx100-vii-vs-panasonic-lx100-ii.736054/

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4681240

And then for more quantitative comparison…
https://cameradecision.com/compare/Sony-Cyber-shot-DSC-RX100-VII-vs-Panasonic-Lumix-DC-LX100-II

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

It depends a lot on what you want to achieve.

I've been happy with what I can get out of so-called "Travel Zooms", such as this shot out of a Panasonic TZ40...

 

[sjh2008]

Sony RX100 model before the VI / VII.
Probably the V / VA if it was my choice for the better AF, even if you don't need fast AF every day its a useful feature to have available to use.

I have the VI model and its got great AF / image quality for the size of the camera and my shooting style that makes use of the 70+mm focal length.

 

[redhed17]

I think most that are pocketable can be fiddly. I'm in the RX100 camp. I'm willing for it to be a bit fiddly for the features and image quality. I started with a M3, bought used here in about 2017.

Fancied and upgrade in 2022, and got the M5 off eBay. Was happy with that, but AF was so much better, I felt it would have been under utilised. I wanted that AF with a longer range, to use the amazing AF and high fps for more sports, got a M7, again off eBay.

And I got the M7 instead of the M6, because it has a timelapse option, which I was able to use on the M3 and M5 using downloadable apps.

The M5 was a big improvement over the M3. I got the M5 instead of the M5V because that version was the last that was able to use the downloadable apps. That is no longer an option, so I would try and get a M5V if I didn't need the longer focal range.

 

[Stephen L]

Thanks for the comments. Very helpful. I shall give them some thought.