Compact Camera Options

jefff100

Let me say first off that I'm admittedly a little out of touch with what the latest offerings are out there. Have done some reading on B&H website & a couple of others but I'm guessing the proliferation of cell phone as camera has decimated the compact camera segment.

I do use my phone for casual snapshots, however I find that it's not a very satisfying camera, as I struggle with finding the desired settings quickly and the lack of shutter speed control, DOF and other things

I have a couple of DSLR bodies and nice iglass. Sometimes though, I don't want to carry that weight & buld around. Years ago I aquired a Canon G7, and that was eventually replaced by the G12.

Some major life events transpired and photography took a backseat for a few years; and the G12 never came out of its case for 3 or 4 years.

Some months ago a vacation was planned. I considered replacing the G12 before the trip but after reading a bit I decided that since it was working; I would just use it. That went fine at first but 2nd day into a 2 week vacation it locked up, lens extended with some kind of auto shutdown error.

Balance of trip photos were taken via iphone. 😕

In a quandary as to consider one of the new
mirrorless camera systems or the G7X Mark III (or similar)

I live in a rural area and it's nearly a 2 hour drive to get to an actual camera shop now.

ziggy53

If you want an interchangeable lens camera, the Canon M50, and newer M50 Mark II, are pretty reasonable in the used market, as are used Canon M-series lenses. Lens adapters are also available and I have several adapters, including adapters for Leica m39 screw mount, Pentax screw mount and Pentax bayonet manual focus. (I used to be a Pentax-ian years ago, and many of their manual focus lenses had/have wonderful image qualities.)

The Canon M6 Mark II has better autofocus, but a digital viewfinder is optional and uses the flash hotshoe. All the Canon M-series bodies are APS-C crop bodies, but the appropriate lens adapters allow using Canon D-SLR lenses, both APS-C lenses and FF lenses will fit, but the FF lenses will be cropped in, unless you get a speed-booster type lens adapter.

Similarly, the Sony mirrorless A6x00 series bodies can be great buys on the used market, but I greatly prefer the Canon M50 over my Sony A6000. Just saying a newer model Sony would probably serve better. Sony mirrorless system does have a ton of used mirrorless lenses available, both Sony branded and third-party lenses.

ziggy53

If you should desire a modern compact camera body, but would appreciate a ruggedized version, the Olympus Tough TG-6 Waterproof Camera is a truly remarkable camera, and I use it frequently when I just need an image in run-and-gun situations. 12 MPix imager is fine for my applications.

It can shoot in rain and snow with few issues, and I purchased the Olympus 1.7x front-mounted teleconverter to get additional reach over the built-in 4x zoom lens (25-100mm zoom equivalent, so 170mm equivalent with the teleconverter). It has enough exposure controls that I'm not lacking. It is a small sensor so you have to use the built-in flash indoors, and then it's typical p&s lighting.

It's not very fast shooting, but image quality is very good for this type of camera. Also shoots usable video, again you need good light for that.

ziggy53

October 6, 2023, a good sized spider showed up in my bathroom. I euthanized the spider, collected it into a glass jar and used my Olympus Tough TG-6 to photograph it.

This is a crop from the original and used Curves plus Sharpening.

Another image with a U.S. Penny to show size. No edit corrections to this image.

I measure the length of the spider overall to be 2 - pennies, 38mm or 1.5 inches.

I was shaking during the capture.
(When I was maybe 2 years old my folks lived in a house with a huge backyard flower garden, created by my great-grandmother. One night, when I was in bed, I awoke to something biting me. in the morning I had spider bites all over my back and the spider was still in the bed with me but now dead. I got pretty badly sick following that and have hated spiders ever since.)

sarasphotos

If you're thinking of NOT getting a compact camera, you might also want to consider M43. While it's not exactly a budget camera, last Spring I bought the M43 OM Systems (formerly Olympus) OM-5 to replace my aging Panasonic G81 (which still takes fine pictures). The image quality is great, it's loaded with bells and whistles and there's a huge line of Olympus, Panasonic and generic Micro Four Thirds lenses.When I'm traveling I mostly use it with the Panasonic 14-140 superzoom lens. It fits in my purse and with the lens weighs in at under 2lbs.

Here's a sample shot:

Info:
Camera OM Digital Solutions OM-5
Lens LUMIX G VARIO 14-140mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length 84.0 mm (168.0 mm in 35mm)
Aperture f/5.4
Exposure Time 0.00625s (1/160)
ISO 1000

@ziggy53 I'd like to know how you "euthanized" that creepy looking arachnid without making it flat... (I, too am very squeamish about spiders, although I don't have such a dramatic story as yours!)