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Compact camera for vacation photography and video


Fábio Pinto
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I'm looking for a new compact camera for my vacation photography and video. For professional work I have my other cameras, this one is just for vacation and travel. I'm tired of carrying big cameras and lenses. I have a Canon SX40 but it's not good enough.

This is what I'm looking for:
- Very compact and discreet (pocket)
- Raw pictures
- 4k video
- Slow motion
- Mic input
- Under 500€/600€ (used)

I found these two: 
Panasonic LX100 and Sony RX100 IV/V

Any other suggestion? The LX100 has a bigger sensor but Sony has slow motion and S-log2, which may be useful if I ever want to use it with my a7s. None of them have mic input.

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Well a used, heck even new Panasonic G7 comes pretty close to what you want. As to the "Raw pictures", sure the G7 does that also. Put a 20mm 1.7 pancake lens on it. It is pretty small. I don't know about discrete though. Coat pocket, not pants pocket.

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36 minutes ago, webrunner5 said:

Well a used, heck even new Panasonic G7 comes pretty close to what you want. As to the "Raw pictures", sure the G7 does that also. Put a 20mm 1.7 pancake lens on it. It is pretty small. I don't know about discrete though. Coat pocket, not pants pocket.

It's too big, I just want a camera that I can put in my pants pocket and take everywhere. Most of the time I'll be shooting jpeg and 1080p but I wanna have the option to shoot raw and 4k if needed.

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Play around with this.     

https://***URL removed***/products/search/cameras#!

LOL, the Nikon DLs are still showing, maybe one of those would have been ideal.    Pity.

 

You might have to make some compromises as I think the LX100 or RX100 pair you have listed might be it (minus the mic).

In the end, a lot of cameras that are almost there are about as big as your A7s or bigger in some way or other.

https://***URL removed***/products/compare/side-by-side?products=sony_dscrx100m4&products=panasonic_dmcg7&products=sony_a7s&sortDir=ascending

Take out 4k and you have a LOT more options.     Maybe something from left field like one of the later Nikon 1 cameras?  (1AW for travel interest me somewhat).     It can shoot 4k for a second or two (sort of) I think.

 

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I have the Sony RX100 iv. It's pretty amazing for the form factor. The 120fps 1080p is awesome.

Only thing is that it is basically always overheating. They say it has a 5 minute record time for 4k I believe. I usually only make it half that length if it's a warm day. The higher frame rates also cause it to overheat pretty quick.

If you're just filming short clips here and there, it's a great choice. If you want to shoot a bunch in a half hour period, you might have a hard time.

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31 minutes ago, tellure said:

iPhone 7

Yeah the Plus one with the 2 lenses would not be too shabby. I have a iPhone 6s Plus, and other than the ability to zoom, it is damn hard to beat for the ease of use, and the crazy good output. And they can do Raw and they have a Mic input.

Now are you going to print 16x24 with them, No. But who prints much anymore anyways.

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Not sure any camera in this class has mic input, but...

If you like the flexibility of using different glass on a body, there is a decent pocket option.

For a long time I used the Lumix GM1 for "low-profile" doc film shooting.  Man, it worked great.  It's very stealthy.  No one assumed I was doing anything worthwhile when filming with that camera.  Also, when I was on the road for myself as a tourist, it also became my most used travel camera.  I even had a small set of A110 Pentax prime lenses for it.

https://youtu.be/EyBGPzNzGog?t=6m27s

The GM1 (and slightly larger GM5)  is discontinued, but Panasonic now makes a similar model (slightly larger) that shoots 4K.  

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1304864-REG/panasonic_dc_gx850kk_dmc_gx850_micro_four_thirds.html

If 4k ain't a big deal, you can get the GM1 used for $200-$300 on ebay.  Man, you got me wanting to buy that camera again...

 

 

 

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I have the Sony rx100 iv like Tars and it's great to carry around. The evf is surprisingly good for sunny outdoors for a camera this size. I mostly use 1080 and it looks nice, so I don't know about overheating. My gripes are that it's hard to get shallow dof because of the sensor size but the photos do look nice, and you need to get a leather or rubber case which is fine because it's hard to hold since there is no grip. You also get good af, once it holds it doesn't hunt hardly ever, as well as all the really nice slo-mo. Also lens is sharp but the battery life is atrocious. I actually bought 5 more for when I travel. And there's no touch screen so you have to press to get center focus at times on video. There's also auto-iso on manual and there's s-log if you want to play around with grading. All in all it's more than enough for travel unless you need more than ~70mm if you intend to only use optical zoom.

*edit - I forgot it has one ND setting which is also convenient.

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31 minutes ago, Hanriverprod said:

I have the Sony rx100 iv like Tars and it's great to carry around. The evf is surprisingly good for sunny outdoors for a camera this size. I mostly use 1080 and it looks nice, so I don't know about overheating. My gripes are that it's hard to get shallow dof because of the sensor size but the photos do look nice, and you need to get a leather or rubber case which is fine because it's hard to hold since there is no grip. You also get good af, once it holds it doesn't hunt hardly ever, as well as all the really nice slo-mo. Also lens is sharp but the battery life is atrocious. I actually bought 5 more for when I travel. And there's no touch screen so you have to press to get center focus at times on video. There's also auto-iso on manual and there's s-log if you want to play around with grading. All in all it's more than enough for travel unless you need more than ~70mm if you intend to only use optical zoom.

*edit - I forgot it has one ND setting which is also convenient.

Speaking of the handling, I got the Sony stick on grip for the front of it and it helps quite a bit. It's still doesn't have the best handling being so small, but it's worth getting if you don't use a tight fitting case. 

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Its funny, Canon get a lot of flack for drip feeding features or crippling them for various ends but Panasonic are just as bad in this particular sector of the market.

I have the LX100, the GX80 and the G7 and between them they've got all the features that I want for a small travel camera but none of them have got it all.

LX100 - Big plus point is the lens. 1.7 at the wide end, 2.8 at the long end and used sparingly the digital extender gives it a good overall range. But no articulating screen at all, no cinelike D and worst of all no mic input.

GX80 - IBIS is brilliant, the collapsible kit lens is better than you'd think if you only want a small footprint, that auto function to do simulated slider moves is very useful and of course access to a billion lenses. But the screen has limited movement, no cinelike D and, yes, worst of all no mic input.

G7 - At last, a mic input and cinelike d !! Plus a fully articulating screen which is incredibly useful for travel and especially vlogging. But no IBIS and the form factor just looks like a small dslr so it doesn't fit in your pocket but also isn't very discreet. No one cares if they see you snatching a few shots with the a pocket compact but they do if they think its a dslr.

I'm going on a trip tomorrow where I want to record some vlogging type stuff and I've been torturing myself about which compromise to make. I used the G7 a couple of weeks ago for it and that was OK but the IBIS and the discretion/size thing will rule it out. I thought it might be the LX100 that made it but again the IBIS issue was a flaw and much as I like the built in lens, I'm going to have a need for the 45mm 1.8 and that rules it out.

So the compromise is the GX80 with the collapsible kit lens, the 20mm 1.7 and 45mm 1.8 for lower light and better reach. I'm going to have to use an iPhone to compensate for the screen not fully articulating (which is OK because it does offer other advantages) and a little zoom H1 for recording audio and hope that I remember to hit record on both! 

As a result, I'm now going to have to carry far more than I wanted and jump through more hoops than I wanted because I've got the audacity to want to record a bit of audio to go with my pictures.

Years ago someone would have cracked open the case of an LX100 or GX80 and be offering a mod to put a mic input on them but now we just settle for waiting for the next instalment of the drip feed from the manufacturers.

I think I'm going to bite the bullet when I get back and chop them all in for a G80/85. Form factor isn't ideal but its got the other key features. I'll just have to get combat pants. Better the slight inconvenience to have decent audio and steady shots.

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11 hours ago, webrunner5 said:

It overheats and quits!! You want a camera that does That on a Vacation???  :astonished:

I won't probably need 4k that much and when I do it will be just a few 5/10 second clips, so overheating won't be a problem, I hope. But I'm still open to suggestions.

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