I am in need of a new camera. I already have a large bulky one that takes excellent pictures, but it is inconvenient for everyday use. My smaller compact camera has been lost by my wife.
What I want is something that is compact and portable, so I can take the pictures whenever and wherever; but, I'm also interested in getting decent quality. A quick look on the internet reveals that technology has greatly advanced since I last bought a camera. There are cameras with large sensors for example, that seem to offset the reduction in lens size that a compact necessarily has.
Anybody had any experience, good or bad, with a recent-ish compact camera purchase?
Get a mirror-less Sony.
My research continues.
Mirrorless seems to be a straightforward advantage given what I'm looking for. Sensor sizes are all over the place but larger is better, you can get quite large sensors on smallish cameras. Optic size and quality is the same as it always was, you cannae change the laws of physics.
Any reason you don't just use your phone as a camera?
I get having a large-ish DSLR in addition to a phone, but I don't think there's much need for a compact stand-alone camera these days. Phone cameras are pretty darn good these days.
My phone doesn't have a camera :lol:
Anyway, there is no zoom on phone-cameras and quality is not high enough.
(To be fair I did think of getting a better phone, it would have the great virtue of being able to take the photos with very little fuss).
Just make a pinhole camera with a shoebox. ;)
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on July 05, 2016, 09:48:21 AM
My research continues.
Mirrorless seems to be a straightforward advantage given what I'm looking for. Sensor sizes are all over the place but larger is better, you can get quite large sensors on smallish cameras. Optic size and quality is the same as it always was, you cannae change the laws of physics.
Do you have optics you still want to use?
@GF - no, there is just a zoom on the DSLR which i will leave on that.
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on July 05, 2016, 09:59:49 AM
My phone doesn't have a camera :lol:
Anyway, there is no zoom on phone-cameras and quality is not high enough.
(To be fair I did think of getting a better phone, it would have the great virtue of being able to take the photos with very little fuss).
How old is your phone that it doesn't have a phone? :lol:
Quote from: Barrister on July 05, 2016, 11:14:38 AM
How old is your phone that it doesn't have a phone? :lol:
????
Eerily it seems that Barrister may be right, I can't get it to work as a phone at the moment either :)
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on July 05, 2016, 11:32:06 AM
Eerily it seems that Barrister may be right, I can't get it to work as a phone at the moment either :)
Seriously though - just get a new phone (iPhone or Android). The new ones have really good phones built in. No, there is no optical zoom, but an optical zoom is no reason to carry around a whole separate device.
You still have your large camera when you want really good pictures.
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on July 05, 2016, 09:00:40 AM
I am in need of a new camera. I already have a large bulky one that takes excellent pictures, but it is inconvenient for everyday use. My smaller compact camera has been lost by my wife.
What I want is something that is compact and portable, so I can take the pictures whenever and wherever; but, I'm also interested in getting decent quality. A quick look on the internet reveals that technology has greatly advanced since I last bought a camera. There are cameras with large sensors for example, that seem to offset the reduction in lens size that a compact necessarily has.
Anybody had any experience, good or bad, with a recent-ish compact camera purchase?
RH I was in a similar dilemma too you, have a DSLR with kit that's too big to carry and finding various compacts weren't hacking it for more than just representational snaps. Also don't like using a phone for taking pictures.
So I got a mirrorless compact system, by Nikon, really nice little camera which isn't too heavy and small enough to sit on the palm of one hand.
Straight out of the box it takes JPG that I like the look of, whilst still having RAW file route. Lots of fast shooting options and the movies it takes look rather good. Cheap too at about 250 quid.
And you have the option of picking from a good range of prime and zooms if you want to be more adventurous.
edit:I just took a picture of it siting on my hand:
Coat pocket size :thumbsup:
My youngest son (the autistic one) has turned 14 and the death marches that keep him fit get longer and longer. I think that adding some photography to the mix would make some of the silent walks more interesting for me. I was thinking of documenting our town and local area, gives the walks more purpose.
My neighbor, also autistic, also does death marches. Everyday, no matter the weather.
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on July 05, 2016, 12:00:00 PM
Coat pocket size :thumbsup:
My youngest son (the autistic one) has turned 14 and the death marches that keep him fit get longer and longer. I think that adding some photography to the mix would make some of the silent walks more interesting for me. I was thinking of documenting our town and local area, gives the walks more purpose.
With a smart phone you could listen to music, or a podcast, or the news... and take pictures.
I strongly advice for a 4/3rds or slightly larger sensor.
I'm a bit out of touch with the recent developments, but I have a Fuji X-Pro 1 and it's an excellent camera.
It's a bit larger than mongers' one, but it sports a quaint optical viewfinder (completely useless, except for luddites), a nice and crisp back display (plus a very good digital viewfinder, given the right finder mode) and a very good range of lenses, both primes and zooms - the sensor is a 1,5X. It has a nice, solid metal body and all the bells and whistles of today's cameras.
The only drawback is, there is no built-in flash (but the very good high sensibility can partially compensate this), and the external ones are not very good.
L.
Quote from: Pedrito on July 05, 2016, 01:59:38 PM
I strongly advice for a 4/3rds or slightly larger sensor.
I'm a bit out of touch with the recent developments, but I have a Fuji X-Pro 1 and it's an excellent camera.
It's a bit larger than mongers' one, but it sports a quaint optical viewfinder (completely useless, except for luddites), a nice and crisp back display (plus a very good digital viewfinder, given the right finder mode) and a very good range of lenses, both primes and zooms - the sensor is a 1,5X. It has a nice, solid metal body and all the bells and whistles of today's cameras.
The only drawback is, there is no built-in flash (but the very good high sensibility can partially compensate this), and the external ones are not very good.
L.
That's a nice camera, pretty much tick all of the boxes for me, especially the Optical EV viewfinder.
But just a bit too big and heavy to carry around my neck/shoulders on long bike rides.
edit:It or it's successors might stir the Cartier-Bresson in RH.
Quote from: Maladict on July 05, 2016, 02:03:38 PM
Quote from: Pedrito on July 05, 2016, 01:59:38 PM
(completely useless, except for luddites)
:huh:
Maybe I wasn't clear: it's a rangefinder, like the ones in Leica manual cameras.
L.
Quote from: Pedrito on July 05, 2016, 02:59:29 PM
Quote from: Maladict on July 05, 2016, 02:03:38 PM
Quote from: Pedrito on July 05, 2016, 01:59:38 PM
(completely useless, except for luddites)
:huh:
Maybe I wasn't clear: it's a rangefinder, like the ones in Leica manual cameras.
L.
So with the optical you get a bit of parallax, but in EVF mode that's corrected for?
Quote from: mongers on July 05, 2016, 03:01:49 PM
Quote from: Pedrito on July 05, 2016, 02:59:29 PM
Quote from: Maladict on July 05, 2016, 02:03:38 PM
Quote from: Pedrito on July 05, 2016, 01:59:38 PM
(completely useless, except for luddites)
:huh:
Maybe I wasn't clear: it's a rangefinder, like the ones in Leica manual cameras.
L.
So with the optical you get a bit of parallax, but in EVF mode that's corrected for?
Yes. The viewfinder has two main modes:
a optical one, and not being a pentaprism it suffers from rangefinders' drawbacks - but superimposed you can have a whole lot of info, i.e. aperture, ISO, grid lines, speed, and even a histogram - I call it useless because either you know a function rather well hidden in the menu, or you'll always suffer from parallax error - and even with the correction mode turned on, for near distance shoots the rangefinder is not the way to go;
a purely digital one, and it replicates the view in the back display - this is the mode I almost always use.
L.
Quote from: Pedrito on July 05, 2016, 03:22:08 PM
Yes. The viewfinder has two main modes:
a optical one, and not being a pentaprism it suffers from rangefinders' drawbacks - but superimposed you can have a whole lot of info, i.e. aperture, ISO, grid lines, speed, and even a histogram - I call it useless because either you know a function rather well hidden in the menu, or you'll always suffer from parallax error - and even with the correction mode turned on, for near distance shoots the rangefinder is not the way to go;
a purely digital one, and it replicates the view in the back display - this is the mode I almost always use.
L.
Thanks for that, I like EV for the reasons you outlined but have a softspot for the whole rangefinder approach, controls and handling.
edit:Cropped before Yi kills me.
I'm looking at this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fujifilm-Compact-System-Camera-Sensor/dp/B00XW6936Q/ref=sr_1_7?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1467751182&sr=1-7
It looks bigger than the one mongers recommended though, surprised they didn't hire a model with enormous hands :D
Fairly sure it will take excellent pics, but there is a fair amount of compromise with size there I think :hmm:
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on July 05, 2016, 03:45:21 PM
I'm looking at this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fujifilm-Compact-System-Camera-Sensor/dp/B00XW6936Q/ref=sr_1_7?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1467751182&sr=1-7
It looks bigger than the one mongers recommended though, surprised they didn't hire a model with enormous hands :D
Fairly sure it will take excellent pics, but there is a fair amount of compromise with size there I think :hmm:
Oh I'm sure it will, looks nice too, pretty much like a 8/10th scale model of a Pentax K1000 film camera.
How expensive and available are the non-kit lenses?
Heh, maybe I should hire out my mits for photographers of electronics?
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on July 05, 2016, 03:45:21 PM
I'm looking at this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fujifilm-Compact-System-Camera-Sensor/dp/B00XW6936Q/ref=sr_1_7?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1467751182&sr=1-7
It looks bigger than the one mongers recommended though, surprised they didn't hire a model with enormous hands :D
Fairly sure it will take excellent pics, but there is a fair amount of compromise with size there I think :hmm:
I don't know about the body specifications, but it can use all the rather excellent lineup of Fuji lenses (the same I'm currently using on the X-Pro 1), and I cannot recommend them enough : thumbsup:
I'll try to post some pics taken with the X-Pro1 in the photography thread tonight.
L.
Think I'll have a 24-hour cooling-off period, then I'll buy it :cool:
Ordered. They'll probably go up by 10-20% once new stock has to be ordered from Japan :contract:
It is a beautiful thing this new camera, a real wonder of technology to an old guy like me :cool:
Now to learn how to use it. Since it arrived it has been more or less continual rain of course :P
Did you get the Fujifilm X-T10?
Quote from: Grey Fox on July 12, 2016, 08:28:42 AM
Did you get the Fujifilm X-T10?
Yes, with a 16-50 lens.
Gotta say I like that old school look.
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on July 11, 2016, 10:50:53 PM
It is a beautiful thing this new camera, a real wonder of technology to an old guy like me :cool:
Now to learn how to use it. Since it arrived it has been more or less continual rain of course :P
Nice.
Now please do something about the weather. :P