Compactness is Overrated.

[zane0777]

I like light cameras but not small ones. I have large hands.

 

[Archiver]

I started photography in earnest with a digicam, and progressed to larger and larger cameras until a full sized DSLR, then back down in size to the point where my main everyday camera is the size of a DSLR battery. Much of the time, all I want is high quality snapshots, and the Sony RX0 or Panasonic LX10 suit that just fine. When i want something more 'camera like' then the Panasonic GX85 with grip is the thing. For dedicated photography, the Leica M9, Panasonic G9 or S5. But walking around every day with a 5D Mark II + 24-105 and 35L in the bag is no longer appealing.

 

[p.giannakis]

...as someone who travels quite a lot and likes to travel "light" (always too much gear, but packed into surprisingly small bags), I definitely value compactness.

Me too. How this translates in my case is that i take one pants, two socks and one pair of trousers less to make space for an AF SLR with two lenses and film 😁

 

[Ko.Fe.]

For me, compactness without ergonomics is pointless.

I had Olympus XA on the belt pouch. Pooling out by wrist strap would open lens cover and set to "all in focus" distance. Best ergonomics for walking. But larger cameras over-lasted it. With film gear of these days it is not about size or ergonomics, but is it still working.

 

[neal3k]

I've carried my Leica II or III with collapsed Elmar f.3.5 in my pocket. I think Oscar Barnack had a great idea in making it as compact as possible.

 

[Dralowid]

I thought my Leica III compact until I found a Ricoh GR1 (film). That used to travel everywhere with me.

 

[retinax]

There is a place for small cameras, for me it is carrying one when I'm not going somewhere with the explicit goal of photography, or when deciding whether or not taking it along as a second camera, or when traveling very light (hand luggage only). Yes, it's sometimes a compromise w.r.t ergonomics or of course features or optics. Like the OP, I find the Pentax MX a little too small for my hands, but the marginally larger Minolta XD is perfect for me.

 

[Rick Waldroup]

For years I lugged around heavy camera systems for work. I was a photojournalist for a while and used Nikons. Then, I did architectural photography for about 30 years using medium format and large format, all the way up to 8x10 field cameras. However, my personal work was with smaller cameras, such as rangefinders. The day I semi-retired from shooting for a living, I started selling off all that gear I had and moved to the m4/3 system and never looked back. That was in 2009. I really enjoy using the small, lightweight cameras and lenses. I dabbled around with other systems, but always came back to m4/3. At this stage in my life, I doubt I will ever change systems again.

 

[Disappointed_Horse]

I agree that small differences in size/weight should not matter. For example, I had an OM-1 for a while that I liked, but the ~90–120 g weight advantage and ~10% smaller size over my other 35mm SLRs (Nikon FE, Pentax K1000, and Pentax Spotmatic) made no meaningful difference whatsoever. The 35RC, at about half the weight and size of my SLRs, on the other hand was notably easier to carry around but still more of a neck strap camera than something that fits in a pocket. I ended up selling the 35RC. I still have the Nikon and Pentax SLRs and still use them all.

With digital, I was much happier carrying my D40 (approximately 525 g with battery) around on a week-long vacation than I was carrying my D7000 (780 g with battery). The D7000 weighs 255 g or about 50% more than the D40. With compact digicams, I got a lot more use out of the tiny Canon Powershot SD880 (180 g) than the much larger Canon G9 (~400 g) I had previously. I had a handy little belt pouch for the SD880, and it also fit easily into a pocket of my laptop bag. The G9 was again a neck strap camera similar in size to the 35RC, and I usually felt that if I was going to carry a camera that size, I might as well just use the D40.

Oddly enough I just realized that the SD880 was lighter than the larger iPhones I've been carrying around all day every day for the past five or so years.

 

[splitimageview]

That is why I can walk around a whole day with an F5 hanging around my neck.

Ugh!

Never again for me. Bear in mind I love the F5. These days I’d only carry that with a rolling camera bag. 😉😄

For one thing, a motor drive on a film cam is useless to me today. I have zero need to burn a roll of film in a few seconds. Give me a plain old wind lever. I do have two SLRs with built in winders but they aren’t film eaters. One is the lightweight plastic masterpiece F80. The other is the superb Contax ST, which is much heavier. The Contax 159 or 139 are much lighter lever winders.

 

[Godfrey]

I do remember, fondly, a very compact little gem of a 35 mm camera - the Contessa. Fold up the 45/2.8 Tessar and it'll fit in your pocket easy enough, just make sure you have a good belt because that much metal is HEAVY 😉 Beautiful though and took exquisite photos. Don't remember why I got stupid enough to sell it...

Zeiss Contessa at CameraQuest

That Contessa is similar in appearance and likely overall size/weight to my favorite 6x6 folder, the Voigtländer Perkeo II. When folded, it slips nicely into a jacket pocket. Could be my trousers pocket, but I dislike having my pants fall down when I'm out walking... 😉 And it makes beautiful BIG negatives with the Color-Skopar 75/3.5 lens. 😀

Fun stuff. It's still a bit more to manage than the Rollei 35S or Minox 35GT-E.

G

 

[Godfrey]

This is my modern, digital super compact camera:

Camera vs Keychain by Godfrey DiGiorgi, on Flickr
Light L16 in case next to my keys

It's about 20% bigger in all dimensions than my iPhone 15 Pro, Zoom gives 28-150mm FoV, output is up to 50 Mpixel resolution, fits nice in a jacket pocket. It's been my favorite travel camera for several years.

Yesterday's pic:
Walkway by Godfrey DiGiorgi, on Flickr

G

 

[Coldkennels]

Me too. How this translates in my case is that i take one pants, two socks and one pair of trousers less to make space for an AF SLR with two lenses and film 😁

I went to Somerset for a few days a couple of weeks ago to visit my partner's family.

Very similar arrangement: two Leicas, three lenses, some filters, a bunch of film... and just the bare essentials for clothing. No suitcase needed!

I'm generally okay with weight, and would much prefer something heavy and small over something large and light... as long as I can strap it to my body in some way so I'm not having to use my hands all the time. Much easier to hop on and off trains that way.

 

[Disappointed_Horse]

This is my modern, digital super compact camera:

Camera vs Keychain by Godfrey DiGiorgi, on Flickr
Light L16 in case next to my keys

It's about 20% bigger in all dimensions than my iPhone 15 Pro, Zoom gives 28-150mm FoV, output is up to 50 Mpixel resolution, fits nice in a jacket pocket. It's been my favorite travel camera for several years.

Yesterday's pic:
Walkway by Godfrey DiGiorgi, on Flickr

G

Impressive photo. Sorry for the thread drift, but I'd be interested in a comparison between the L16 and the iPhone 15 Pro. I'm curious whether the iPhone, now having a 48MP sensor, has caught up to where Light was with its dedicated camera 8 (?) years ago.

 

[aw614]

For work trips, I found myself lately bringing my Olympus XA2 or XA4. I had an XA that I recently sold, but found my copy was way to finicky with the RF patch and viewfinder being hazy and dim and I found myself enjoying the XA2 and XA4 a lot that I didn't miss the rangefinder.

I also bring my Olympus EPM2 with either of the Panasonic or Olympus pancake primes.

 

[Kai-san]

The only advantage I can see in using small cameras is to be unobtrusive. I often carry heavy cameras out in the field such as Mamiya RB67, Polaroid 600SE or Contax 645 that can weigh up to 3kg. When I'm "focused" on the shooting I dont notice the weight. But I never carry cameras round the neck, I carry them on the shoulder with a broad strap.

 

[Dogman]

Handling is more important to me than the size. I have cameras from the Nikon D3 at the largest to the Ricoh GRII, the smallest. I like them all for the purposes I use them for because they fit the circumstances and my handling equally well.

 

[Bill Clark]

I sure like my iPhone.

 

[gzisis69]

Size is really important. There is a huge difference if the camera fits in a bag or in a pocket. If it fits in a pocket many more photos will happen. That doesnt apply to professionals where weight and size are not important.

 

[Ororaro]

Vilia camera. Light but not really compact. Super zippy. Oddly enough it always goes unnoticed, even when I’m in people’s faces.
I got some astounding shots with Vilias.