What £1500ish 'pro' compact or pocket sized camera?
Discussion
Afternoon all,
I have quite a pile of Nikon gear which I have acquired over the last 10 years or so, mostly good quality Nikon lenses etc, and I have had a lot of fun with it and produced many good images (good to me anyway
) but over the last 2-3 years I simply haven't used it.
The reason I haven't used it is that I bought a Sony RX100 mk1, and was amazed by it so much that I then bought the much improved mk3 when it came out, and I'm fairly obsessed with it. All my really good photos of the last few years have been out of an RX100 and I still stare at some of the large prints on my walls and can't quite believe they came out of a compact. It's definitely got me back into my photography, mostly because I can slip it in a jacket pocket or 'man bag' and take it many places.
But... I just can't stop thinking about more 'pro' compacts such as the full frame ones etc. Sony RX1R and suchlike. It's an itch I just have to scratch! I've enjoyed being able to take a good compact to so many places that I fancy one with even more knockout quality and ability to handle low light etc. I don't mind it being a little larger than then RX100.
A quick look though Ebay puts my current Nikon stuff at about £1500-1600 and I feel I might as well get it all sold off while it's worth something and go out and buy another small camera.
I certainly don't mind buying secondhand, but the pro level compact market is now somewhat crowded with models that I don't really know what to look at.
I'm tempted to stay with Sony and my budget certainly stretches to an RX1R, but is it a bit old hat now compared to other stuff?
Your suggestions please!
I have quite a pile of Nikon gear which I have acquired over the last 10 years or so, mostly good quality Nikon lenses etc, and I have had a lot of fun with it and produced many good images (good to me anyway
) but over the last 2-3 years I simply haven't used it. The reason I haven't used it is that I bought a Sony RX100 mk1, and was amazed by it so much that I then bought the much improved mk3 when it came out, and I'm fairly obsessed with it. All my really good photos of the last few years have been out of an RX100 and I still stare at some of the large prints on my walls and can't quite believe they came out of a compact. It's definitely got me back into my photography, mostly because I can slip it in a jacket pocket or 'man bag' and take it many places.
But... I just can't stop thinking about more 'pro' compacts such as the full frame ones etc. Sony RX1R and suchlike. It's an itch I just have to scratch! I've enjoyed being able to take a good compact to so many places that I fancy one with even more knockout quality and ability to handle low light etc. I don't mind it being a little larger than then RX100.
A quick look though Ebay puts my current Nikon stuff at about £1500-1600 and I feel I might as well get it all sold off while it's worth something and go out and buy another small camera.
I certainly don't mind buying secondhand, but the pro level compact market is now somewhat crowded with models that I don't really know what to look at.
I'm tempted to stay with Sony and my budget certainly stretches to an RX1R, but is it a bit old hat now compared to other stuff?
Your suggestions please!
I have had Nikon DSLRs forever.
Also have RX100 Mk 1 and Mk 3
I suggest you look at Sony A6300 or a6500
6300 >>> https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/ibn/Sony-ILCE6300-Inter...
I have a6300, which sits in my coat pocket with a 30mm lens, and takes photos of a quality much better than the RX100 mk3. Pancake makes it even smaller.
Still love the RX100 mind you!
Also have RX100 Mk 1 and Mk 3
I suggest you look at Sony A6300 or a6500
6300 >>> https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/ibn/Sony-ILCE6300-Inter...
I have a6300, which sits in my coat pocket with a 30mm lens, and takes photos of a quality much better than the RX100 mk3. Pancake makes it even smaller.
Still love the RX100 mind you!
It depends how compact you want to go and what exactly you want to use it for.
The RX1R is capable of absolutely beautiful images but it's a quirky little thing and the AF is pretty appalling. I owned the RX1 for about 6 months after dreaming about it for ages but in the end I simply couldn't justify it when my son arrived as it stood no chance of even remotely keeping up with his movements.
If you don't need to be really compact the world is your oyster for £1500. I'd personally pick up a Fuji X-T20 and 23mm 1.4. Still pretty small but far more usable and has the option to expand in future if necessary.
The RX1R is capable of absolutely beautiful images but it's a quirky little thing and the AF is pretty appalling. I owned the RX1 for about 6 months after dreaming about it for ages but in the end I simply couldn't justify it when my son arrived as it stood no chance of even remotely keeping up with his movements.
If you don't need to be really compact the world is your oyster for £1500. I'd personally pick up a Fuji X-T20 and 23mm 1.4. Still pretty small but far more usable and has the option to expand in future if necessary.
As for what I want it for:
Mostly cityscape, architecture, night photography, street scene, travel, that kind of thing.
That's what 99% of my photos are.
The RX100 has done me proud, but occasionally I want something that will do handheld night photography around cities and offer better low light capability.
Mostly cityscape, architecture, night photography, street scene, travel, that kind of thing.
That's what 99% of my photos are.
The RX100 has done me proud, but occasionally I want something that will do handheld night photography around cities and offer better low light capability.
NinjaPower said:
Afternoon all,
I have quite a pile of Nikon gear which I have acquired over the last 10 years or so, mostly good quality Nikon lenses etc, and I have had a lot of fun with it and produced many good images (good to me anyway ) but over the last 2-3 years I simply haven't used it.
The reason I haven't used it is that I bought a Sony RX100 mk1, and was amazed by it so much that I then bought the much improved mk3 when it came out, and I'm fairly obsessed with it. All my really good photos of the last few years have been out of an RX100 and I still stare at some of the large prints on my walls and can't quite believe they came out of a compact. It's definitely got me back into my photography, mostly because I can slip it in a jacket pocket or 'man bag' and take it many places.
But... I just can't stop thinking about more 'pro' compacts such as the full frame ones etc. Sony RX1R and suchlike. It's an itch I just have to scratch! I've enjoyed being able to take a good compact to so many places that I fancy one with even more knockout quality and ability to handle low light etc. I don't mind it being a little larger than then RX100.
A quick look though Ebay puts my current Nikon stuff at about £1500-1600 and I feel I might as well get it all sold off while it's worth something and go out and buy another small camera.
I certainly don't mind buying secondhand, but the pro level compact market is now somewhat crowded with models that I don't really know what to look at.
I'm tempted to stay with Sony and my budget certainly stretches to an RX1R, but is it a bit old hat now compared to other stuff?
Your suggestions please!
My suggestion would be to keep what you have. What do you think you'll benefit from getting another camera system over what the Nikon already offers?I have quite a pile of Nikon gear which I have acquired over the last 10 years or so, mostly good quality Nikon lenses etc, and I have had a lot of fun with it and produced many good images (good to me anyway
) but over the last 2-3 years I simply haven't used it. The reason I haven't used it is that I bought a Sony RX100 mk1, and was amazed by it so much that I then bought the much improved mk3 when it came out, and I'm fairly obsessed with it. All my really good photos of the last few years have been out of an RX100 and I still stare at some of the large prints on my walls and can't quite believe they came out of a compact. It's definitely got me back into my photography, mostly because I can slip it in a jacket pocket or 'man bag' and take it many places.
But... I just can't stop thinking about more 'pro' compacts such as the full frame ones etc. Sony RX1R and suchlike. It's an itch I just have to scratch! I've enjoyed being able to take a good compact to so many places that I fancy one with even more knockout quality and ability to handle low light etc. I don't mind it being a little larger than then RX100.
A quick look though Ebay puts my current Nikon stuff at about £1500-1600 and I feel I might as well get it all sold off while it's worth something and go out and buy another small camera.
I certainly don't mind buying secondhand, but the pro level compact market is now somewhat crowded with models that I don't really know what to look at.
I'm tempted to stay with Sony and my budget certainly stretches to an RX1R, but is it a bit old hat now compared to other stuff?
Your suggestions please!
You clearly love the freedom of using the rx100 but like many others, find dragging around a full sized camera bit of a chore. These modern mirror less camera bodies are indeed small, but a full frame sensor still requires a full frame lens. That fancy new body soon becomes just as much a chore as the clunky old DSLR.
By all means, go for it, the sony will be a great camera, just don't expect it to be as much a revelation as the rx100.
MysteryLemon said:
My suggestion would be to keep what you have. What do you think you'll benefit from getting another camera system over what the Nikon already offers?
You clearly love the freedom of using the rx100 but like many others, find dragging around a full sized camera bit of a chore. These modern mirror less camera bodies are indeed small, but a full frame sensor still requires a full frame lens. That fancy new body soon becomes just as much a chore as the clunky old DSLR.
By all means, go for it, the sony will be a great camera, just don't expect it to be as much a revelation as the rx100.
Pretty much agree with all of this in terms of RX100 vs any type of full frame camera. There isn't actually that much choice anyway. The A7 is nice and is smaller than a DSLR and there are some small lenses out there but it is not going to be life changing in terms of space saving. There's the RX1 which is lovely but has some quirks and its shape doesn't lend itself to sliding into many pockets. After that, I can only think of leicas.You clearly love the freedom of using the rx100 but like many others, find dragging around a full sized camera bit of a chore. These modern mirror less camera bodies are indeed small, but a full frame sensor still requires a full frame lens. That fancy new body soon becomes just as much a chore as the clunky old DSLR.
By all means, go for it, the sony will be a great camera, just don't expect it to be as much a revelation as the rx100.
There is a a lot of middle ground where decent IQ can be balanced against size. Sony have already been mentioned. I'm a big fan of m4/3 which is a nice step up in sensor size vs Rx100 and some absolutely amazing lenses available as a well as a bodies in all shapes and sizes from Olympus and Panasonic. New Fuji XT20 looks nice and compact and capable too.
Thanks for the advice and suggestions so far.
It's a fair point about the RX1/RX1R being fairly unique in so far as there isn't much like it unless you start going for Leica and other really nice and horrendously expensive options.
I suppose that's why I like the idea of it, it's RX100 size just with a bigger lens on the front of it, although when you see the schematics you realise how far Sony have managed to jam the length of the lens inside the camera body to save even more space. Although as pointed out, you can't beat the laws of physics and bigger sensors are always going to need bigger lenses.
It's a fair point about the RX1/RX1R being fairly unique in so far as there isn't much like it unless you start going for Leica and other really nice and horrendously expensive options.
I suppose that's why I like the idea of it, it's RX100 size just with a bigger lens on the front of it, although when you see the schematics you realise how far Sony have managed to jam the length of the lens inside the camera body to save even more space. Although as pointed out, you can't beat the laws of physics and bigger sensors are always going to need bigger lenses.
These (LUMIX LX100) are excellent for ex-slr users, and handle low light conditions well.
https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonic-lumix-d...
https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonic-lumix-d...
WindyCommon said:
These (LUMIX LX100) are excellent for ex-slr users, and handle low light conditions well.
https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonic-lumix-d...
They're a step backwards in many ways compared to an rx100 which he already has. I had an lx100 and hated it coming from a Nikon d7000. It was too big to be a compact and the evf was useless if you wanted to pretend it was a dslr. Image quality was nothing to shout about either imo. https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonic-lumix-d...
I now use a Lumia g7, which is still a little lower image quality than the d7000 but at least it's about half the weight and size.
I've had the RX1R for almost two years now. Shot weddings with it, cars at Nurburgring, all kinds of travel and landscape photos and it never ceases to amaze me. I OFTEN carry it in my jacket pocket. AF could be faster, apparently on MK2 is but that's crazy money for me to only improve the AF. Plus I don't really need 40mp + file sizes.
Go for it, you won't regret it.
Go for it, you won't regret it.
MysteryLemon said:
WindyCommon said:
These (LUMIX LX100) are excellent for ex-slr users, and handle low light conditions well.
https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonic-lumix-d...
They're a step backwards in many ways compared to an rx100 which he already has...https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonic-lumix-d...
Here's what imaging-resource had to say:
"To recap -- and bearing in mind that we've not yet completed our Panasonic LX100 testing, so we'll likely have more to say soon -- we'd say that the LX100 is the camera to go for if you're a frequent available-light shooter, mainly shoot through the electronic viewfinder, want external flash or more manual controls, or have / plan to buy a 4K display on which to view ultra high-def movies. If pocketability, high resolution for larger print sizes, an approachable consumer-friendly design, or the almighty dollar are more important, then the Sony RX100 III is the camera for you."
http://www.imaging-resource.com/cameras/sony/rx100...
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