Best Compact Camera

chrischris

G.O.A.T.
We are headed on a nice trip soon and want to document it and take pics of our 1st born and need a swift , small crafty compact camera that has a solid build and great image quality toboot.


Some insiders i spoke with say Fuji makes some very capable compacts like the x20 while
others swear by the more known brands..

Anyone got some ideas suggestions to share?
 

chrischris

G.O.A.T.
K,will check that out..

Budget , we = i :) are willing to spend a serious buck here as its once in
a lifetime kind of trip...

i would say 600 to ( dont tell my wife )1000 .
 

TrevorTdogR

New User
If that is your budget I think your money would be best spent on a dslr.

With dslr's, you would have the option of changing different lenses but would add to your purchase unless you get one with a kit lens or just buy a body and 1 or 2 lenses.

Nikon, Canon, Sony all have great dslr's so you can't go wrong with either of those brands.

I would suggest you learn to shoot in manual as it is very easy once you get the hang of the triangle exposure(ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speed).
http://digital-photography-school.com/learning-exposure-in-digital-photography
 

chrischris

G.O.A.T.
Regular DSLRs r just feel too heavy and are not nimble enough especially when junior is around and kickin:)

.. but maybe a Fuji X T1 could be good ?
'Semi compacts/ lightweight Dslr' style cameras ..yes !

Anyone used the GX7 Panasonic? Or Om D Olympus?
 

hrstrat57

Hall of Fame
Sony NEX-6 now bargain priced. With the 16-50 SEL kit lens it fits in your pocket thus it is a pocket APS-C DSLR! Video is outstanding as well.

With EA2 adapter added to kit you can explore bargain priced Minolta Maxxum magic glass.

As a standalone camera the Sony RX10 is absolutely sick with a fixed Zeiss zoom lens. You will drop $1200 on it tho vs less than $600 for the NEX-6 which is more versatile allowing experimentation as I describe with either E mount (expensive) or A mount lenses with the EA2. Also nice about the NEX is it works brilliantly with old 35mm manual focus lenses via additional adapters. I have a few M42 (Pentax screw mount) lenses which I use (with adapters) with the EA2 on the NEX. The EA2 provides full auto focus with all of my A mount lenses both Sony and Minolta Maxxum. The EA1 only auto focuses with a few Sony lenses and should be avoided IMHO.

Best resources for all things Sony digital cameras?

www.talkemount.com
www.dyxum.com

Both of the above have super friendly members and any snarky stuff is quickly snuffed out by capable moderation.
 
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chrischris

G.O.A.T.
Sony NEX-6 now bargain priced. With the 16-50 SEL kit lens it fits in your pocket thus it is a pocket APS-C DSLR! Video is outstanding as well.

With EA2 adapter added to kit you can explore bargain priced Minolta Maxxum magic glass.



BUT heard that kit lens wasnt so good...
 

hrstrat57

Hall of Fame
Chrischris we cross posted.

I am pleasantly surprised by the 16-50 but it is a JPEG only lens IMHO as the software corrects huge distortion on the wide end.
I am also pleasantly surprised to be shooting usable images up to ISO 1600 with all my lenses. My A100 and A700 are sketchy above ISO 800. So far the NEX-6 has blown me away and I am super fussy about my camera gear (kinda like I am with my racquets LOL!)

I have a good internet review somewhere on the SEL 16-50 kit lens, I will post the link when I find it.

I think I answered your 2nd question during the edit?
 

hrstrat57

Hall of Fame
Here is a review of the Sony 16-50 SEL E mount kit lens which is so far spot on with my experience....

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/sony_e_pz_16_50mm_f3_5_5_6_oss_review/

If you have any inclination towards purchase of used gear I highly recommend you spend some time on www.keh.com.

A great resource for Maxxum glass!

If you need any recommendations I can assist of course on what lenses present the best value. I own over a dozen, many dating back to my Maxxum 9000 film kit.
 

chrischris

G.O.A.T.
Thanks a lot man! yes if you have time, let me know what Minolta lens is best to use with the Nex for portraits and what Minolta is best for macro
 

hrstrat57

Hall of Fame
Easy.

A good copy of cheapo Maxxum 50 1.7 sourced from KEH is a must for family portraits or low light sniping.....Maxxum 50 1.4 is a little faster a lot more expensive and IMHO no better.

The plastic Sony 35 1.8 and 85 2.8 are both excellent as well on the budget end.

I own the best macro lens on the planet Minolta Maxxum 100 2.8....absolutely sick sharp, buttery bokeh and also an excellent mid range tele with focus limiter on.

The 3 favorite lenses in my kit are Maxxum original 35-105, the above mentioned macro and my piece of white magic Maxxum 200 2.8.

Other than KEH keep an eye on your LCS (local camera shop) Maxxum glass is often traded in by folks who think they need a Canikon DSLR or their lives will end.....you can often take advantage of their mistake. I have sourced a lot of nice glass this way.

If I were doing a starter kit on the cheap I would grab a NEX-6 with the 16-50SEL OSS and an EA2, a Maxxum 50 1.7 a Maxxum 28 2.8 and either a Maxxum 100-200 or 70-210 F4 Beercan. That would keep you stoked and busy for months!

Last time a checked KEH had a nice supply of everthing mentioned above.

I bought my NEX-6 3 weeks ago at best buy for $599 (it was marked $799 in the store and they matched the $599 bestbuy.com price) and there may be even better deals out there now. For buying new agree with above B/H Photo is excellent and of course see what is up at Amazon.
Don't forget to investigate the joy of vintage legacy glass on a NEX as well. I am about to get adapters for both Canon FD and Nikkor lenses too as I have a bunch of nice copies of those laying around as well. Results posted on talkEmount taken with Canon FD lenses look real promising!
 
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hrstrat57

Hall of Fame
....you could also investigate E mount glass, I likely will not for a while as I have the EA2 and a huge quiver of A mount and I am loving the results!

Check out talkEmount for recommendations.....it appears the Sony 50 1.8 OSS is getting rav reviews and the pancake 20 2.8 is pretty good too.....again tho = pricey and presently for obvious stated reason not for me at this time.

The newly released Sony Zeiss E mount 24-70 F4 looks fantastic but all that stuff is way out of my budget presently and I have all focal lengths covered with A mount glass in good nick.
 

hrstrat57

Hall of Fame
No with the Sony EA2 adapter 100% full auto focus!!!

With the EA2 my Maxxum glass actually focuses faster on the NEX-6 than my A700's!

A couple more resources (again Dyxum and TalkEmount linked above are gold standard)

http://www.mhohner.de/sony-minolta/lenses.php?lg=e

http://www.kurtmunger.com/index.html

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/

http://www.kenrockwell.com/minolta/maxxum/100mm-f28.htm

http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/LensReviews.asp

http://www.dynaxdigital.com/index.php

http://friedmanarchivespress.com/ashop/index.php
 

chrischris

G.O.A.T.
Wow.. seems a nice setup I combo.

good glass at a moderate price coupled with a fast small body with a good sensor .

Do you find the glasses to cause the body to become 'weightless' unbalanced or is it a matter of adjustment and one gets used to it quick?
 

hrstrat57

Hall of Fame
Wow.. seems a nice setup I combo.

good glass at a moderate price coupled with a fast small body with a good sensor .

Do you find the glasses to cause the body to become 'weightless' unbalanced or is it a matter of adjustment and one gets used to it quick?

Another huge surprise, even my huge old Maxxum 70-210 F4 Beercan and my 200 2.8 tele handled easily and smoothly on the NEX-6. Of course you balance the combo with the weight of the lens/EA2 in the palm of your hand vs. the small camera.

I posted a thread on Dyxum asking about video quality on recent/current production A mount cameras (A55,A57,A65,A77) and I ended up with the NEX-6 based largely on advice received from forum members. It was not even on my radar!

Couldn't be more pleased it is a fabulous piece of kit added to my collection!
 

Noisy Ninja

Semi-Pro
I think the Sony RX100 is something you should consider. It's very small (can fit in your back pocket), has excellent (metal) construction, capable of high image quality, and has a very good Carl Zeiss lens in a useable range.

I do a lot of freelance photography work and utilize a lot of high end photography equipment...but find that less (in terms of size & weight) is more at times.

For travel and family shooting purposes...I highly recommend the RX100. If you can find the first iteration of that camera, it can be an excellent bargain (~$400). The newer RX100 MK2 doesn't really improve that much over the first model and goes for ~ $600; a bit pricey but still worth it when you consider that Sony packed so much capability into such a small package.

As much as I value and use my Sony A99, Sony A7r, and large inventory of optics for those cameras...they only come out to play when I'm paid to shoot. The RX100 is the camera I am most likely to bring with me on a regular basis because it's very capable and compact. Highly recommended.

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/sony_cybershot_dsc_rx100_review/
 

hrstrat57

Hall of Fame
K , so no TriPod needed?

Not for me, remember F4 and F2.8 on those 2 big beasts is fast glass....usable ISO up to 1600 I can get plenty of shutter to hand hold.

Don't mis understand me tho I expect many times I will head out with my little NEX-6 in pocket with the kit lens only for extreme convenience!

I have had the NEX-6 for 3 weeks now - my DSLR's have not been out of the bag!!! It is that good!

Agree the RX100 is a nice camera BTW but you cannot expand it, fixed lens. The RX10 is a camera I strongly considered despite the smaller sensor. The 24-200 Zeiss zoom was amazing and it was a strong video performer as well.

The bargain priced NEX-6 at 1/2 the cost and retaining the ability to use my Maxxum/Sony huge A mount collection and my M42 manual focus glass too via the EA2 adapter and my long unused Canon and Nikon manual focus glass via additional adapters sealed the deal for me.

RX10, RX100 and my NEX-6 all will be plenty of fun for you and produce good images. If you decide to go DSLR the A65 and A77 are plenty cheap right now and getting cheaper. Both are outstanding. They also love vintage Maxxum glass the A77 has micro adjust to dial in perfection. I have 4 DSLR's now and the NEX-6 just pushed the right buttons for me. I had both the A65 and A77 in my hands on different occasions and didn't conclude the deal. Glad so much that I didn't! I will eventually add full frame via an A900 or A99 to take full advantage of all my full frame lenses but right now I am having an absolute blast with the NEX!
 

chrischris

G.O.A.T.
Not for me, remember F4 and F2.8 on those 2 big beasts is fast glass....usable ISO up to 1600 I can get plenty of shutter to hand hold.

Don't mis understand me tho I expect many times I will head out with my little NEX-6 in pocket with the kit lens only for extreme convenience!

I have had the NEX-6 for 3 weeks now - my DSLR's have not been out of the bag!!! It is that good!

Agree the RX100 is a nice camera BTW but you cannot expand it, fixed lens. The RX10 is a camera I strongly considered despite the smaller sensor. The 24-200 Zeiss zoom was amazing and it was a strong video performer as well.

The bargain priced NEX-6 at 1/2 the cost and retaining the ability to use my Maxxum/Sony huge A mount collection and my M42 manual focus glass too via the EA2 adapter and my long unused Canon and Nikon manual focus glass via additional adapters sealed the deal for me.

RX10, RX100 and my NEX-6 all will be plenty of fun for you and produce good images. If you decide to go DSLR the A65 and A77 are plenty cheap right now and getting cheaper. Both are outstanding. They also love vintage Maxxum glass the A77 has micro adjust to dial in perfection. I have 4 DSLR's now and the NEX-6 just pushed the right buttons for me. I had both the A65 and A77 in my hands on different occasions and didn't conclude the deal. Glad so much that I didn't! I will eventually add full frame via an A900 or A99 to take full advantage of all my full frame lenses but right now I am having an absolute blast with the NEX!

K,sounds like buck well spent.. I was thinking FF lately too. the a7 seems very sorted and together. but the $$$$..

do you like the HDR mode on Nex6? im a sucker for dynamic range .
 

hrstrat57

Hall of Fame
I have shot exclusively in Aperture Priority or Manual so far......still many gizmos, tricks and features to try and test.....primarily I have manually controlled white balance and ISO as per my normal photo taking practice. I haven't really turned the little beast loose on her own yet.
 

chrischris

G.O.A.T.
Picked up a NEX 5n! It seems to be a well rounded little bugger. Bargain deal4 sure and got 2 lenses ,a 18 to 55 mm kit lens + a Minolta adapter and a 50mm 1.7 Minolta MF lens.
This is gonna be fun...
 

TrevorTdogR

New User
That 50 1.7 has excellent reviews on amazon, so I bet that glass captures some good photos.

Congrats on your purchase hopefully it does everything you want and more.
 

chrischris

G.O.A.T.
Thanks.. yes i already test drove it.. looks nice feels nice is nice.. may add a 85 mm 1.4 Samyang MF glass too make even more Bokeh magic with this baby.
 

scotus

G.O.A.T.
For me, the best compact camera is whatever I have with me all the time, so naturally it has to be a cell phone camera. So when choosing a cell phone, think about how good its camera is. My Samsung Note 3 does a great job.

However, if you need better pictures or more zoom, then I would recommend that you invest in a bridge camera.

I have a Cannon that has 50X optical zoom, and this thing is great when I am sitting way back in the auditorium taking pictures of my kids performing on the stage, or when I go to a pro tennis tournament and take close-up pictures from the top of the stadium.

If I wanted to achieve 50X optical zoom with a DSLR camera, that would cost me a small fortune. But with a bridge camera, you have choices well under $500.

I think a good combination of cameras to have is:
(1) a good cell-phone camera for ultimate portability
(2) a bridge-camera with super zoom
(3) a nice DSLR for superior picture quality.
 
We are headed on a nice trip soon and want to document it and take pics of our 1st born and need a swift , small crafty compact camera that has a solid build and great image quality toboot.


Some insiders i spoke with say Fuji makes some very capable compacts like the x20 while
others swear by the more known brands..

Anyone got some ideas suggestions to share?

How compact? A panasonic GH1 (around $200 2nd hand) is quite compact and has an interchangeable lens body, plus the video quality is superb.

This short movie was shot entirely with the GH1 and Nikon manual lenses: http://vimeo.com/15010463

The problem with truly compact cameras is the low light performance is crap. Either just use your smartphone camera, or go at least up to the Panasonic GH1.
 

chrischris

G.O.A.T.
Thanks..

I have now been fiddling around with it a bit.. seems tohave a lot goin for it.
I like the size and i like to creative modes ,.. So far i prefer vivid and HC bw.Taken down abit in contrast in PS they look quite nice.
Got a M42adapter and have tried some older Helios glass on there ..gets a nice velvety retro time look.

Cant wait to do more and even compare to scans ive done of 120 film color negs from way back. ( 400 asa Fuji and Kodak 400 asa VC film)
Prolly the analog is hard to beat but thats only to be expected given the math and dimensions.

Have to forget the a7 FF!
 
Thanks..

I have now been fiddling around with it a bit.. seems tohave a lot goin for it.
I like the size and i like to creative modes ,.. So far i prefer vivid and HC bw.Taken down abit in contrast in PS they look quite nice.
Got a M42adapter and have tried some older Helios glass on there ..gets a nice velvety retro time look.

Cant wait to do more and even compare to scans ive done of 120 film color negs from way back. ( 400 asa Fuji and Kodak 400 asa VC film)
Prolly the analog is hard to beat but thats only to be expected given the math and dimensions.

Have to forget the a7 FF!
Vimeo.com is a great site to check out for video, and dpreview.com for photography.

That vintage Helios glass is very good but the quality is hit and miss. Good because the optical formula is Zeiss (obtained when Germany was split between East and West). Hit and miss because of typically inconsistent quality control in Soviet factories.
 
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chrischris

G.O.A.T.
Luckily ,my Helios is working quite well.Nice feel to it and good bokeh.
I like the 5N. It does most things well.
Maybe a Voigtlander or aMeyer Gorlitz lens would be the next purchase but they are way more pricey than Helios .. anyone used some Voigt or Meyer glass ?
 
Luckily ,my Helios is working quite well.Nice feel to it and good bokeh.
I like the 5N. It does most things well.
Maybe a Voigtlander or aMeyer Gorlitz lens would be the next purchase but they are way more pricey than Helios .. anyone used some Voigt or Meyer glass ?

Voigtlander has a good reputation (especially the very fast glass). But it is expensive.

Does the Nex 5n work with Canon FD and old Nikon manual lenses?

If you want an awesome vintage zoom lens, get a Vivitar 28-90mm. You won't regret it. Make sure the mount is something will work on the 5n
 

chrischris

G.O.A.T.
yes it does with an adapter..i got a Nikon and also a Minolta adapter now for i have access to a very good 85 mm 1.4 Samyang (with a nikon Mount ) and Minolta lenses soon. Im
STOKED.
 

hrstrat57

Hall of Fame
Don't know where you are from Chris Chris but if you are from NE Midstate Camera Repair on Warwick Ave in Warwick RI has a great selection of used Minolta MC/MD, M42, and Nikkor MF glass guaranteed and at great prices....

I just picked up a Pentax Takumar 50 1.4 to add to my collection yesterday. The MF stuff on the NEX is so much fun!
 

chrischris

G.O.A.T.
Don't know where you are from Chris Chris but if you are from NE Midstate Camera Repair on Warwick Ave in Warwick RI has a great selection of used Minolta MC/MD, M42, and Nikkor MF glass guaranteed and at great prices..

I just picked up a Pentax Takumar 50 1.4 to add to my collection yesterday. The MF stuff on the NEX is so much fun!



Ok, thanks for the suggestion.. Guaranteed, how?

yes isnt it a blast..?Im even considering adapting Mamiya 645 glass that i have and see what it can bring.
 
A ok..good to know, thanx.

Best lens to your mind to acheive a 60s /70s soft retro look? Canon FD lenses ?

Canons are very good with the GH1 and GH2 because they soften up the image.

Canon FDs are my go to lense also because they are cheaper than the Nikon mount lenses, since they can't be adapted easily to the popular Canon DSLRs, and thus there is less demand.

I would recommend these within the Canon FD line: 24mm, 28mm, 50mm f1.4 and the cheaper 50mm f1.8, 85mm, and 135mm.

Start with the 50mm f1.8 which is already great and can be had mint for less than $50.

Or if you are a multimillionaire, just buy Zeiss Ultraprimes. ;)
 

chrischris

G.O.A.T.
will check the Canon FD and the Vivitar 28 90...

Anyone got some cool good sites for leads and tips on cult lenses and combos and oddities .. dpreview i know already but find it a bit limited and boring.
 
will check the Canon FD and the Vivitar 28 90...

Anyone got some cool good sites for leads and tips on cult lenses and combos and oddities .. dpreview i know already but find it a bit limited and boring.

I found a great site on manual glass but I forgot the address. I'll look it up.
 
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hrstrat57

Hall of Fame
Midstate Camera has a good selection of Canon FD too, as mentioned above they are not expensive. I have a 50 1.4 chrome nose I plan on using, just need to pick up an adapter.

There is lots of info on adapting Canon FD to E mount on talkEmount forum. Many fans of that set up and I am looking forward to trying the FD glass I have soon.
 
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