Just In Case

[Bill Pierce]

Many folks carry a camera with them all the time. It’s their cellphone. Would you consider purchasing and always carrying a more fully featured camera with more megapixels and higher image quality if you could fit it into your pocket or a belt pouch. I ask because the Ricoh GR III fits in a loose shirt pocket or small belt pouch but has all the features we associate with semi professional cameras, a 24 mg APS-c sensor and the 28mm equivalent lens we associate with cellphones. Yes, it delivers very good image quality for $900. Too much? It’s predecessor, the GR II, is now available for $547.

Would you purchase an advanced but small camera in order to, like a cellphone, always have it with you? Or would you add another camera to your collection just because it was smaller and wouldn’t attract as much attention as your current camera when you were shooting candidly? I know two very good photographers who have bought cameras for that purpose - but also find that they now often pocket that camera all the time “just in case.”

 

[Deleted member 65559]

Well not being digitally inclined, i just bought an Olympus XA2 (smaller than the stylus & the Rollei 35 or Leica iii '35) for just that reason

 

[back alley]

i carry my fuji xe3 all the time...sometimes even around the house.

 

[presspass]

Always have a camera with me. I'm still not comfortable shooting something I have to hold at arm's length. If small matters, if it's digital, an old M8. If it's film, a IIIA and a Summar.

 

[Timmyjoe]

I'm on and off with "always carry". But those weeks when I'm "on", I carry a Leica M4 with a 35mm lens and Tri-X. That's how I see the world.

Best,
-Tim

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I have phone with me due to my job all the time, it takes pictures.
I used to have digital with me all the time as well, due to my nature.
Yet, I prefer M4-2 or else with film.
If you are really into something in-front of you, it is not size of the camera. It is where it is located. I lost some moments because I had camera in the bag.
Bag, pocket, trousers, underpants, pampers. Not gonna work. It is in your hand or at the neck strap and it should take less than three seconds to get it.
For me.

But who knows that OP was talking about. 🙂 Perhaps it is idyllic sunset and your SLK compartment could only fit pair of gloves and GR III.

 

[Larry Cloetta]

I almost always have a camera with me, no matter where I go. I could not care less if it fits in a pocket. If there was a pocketable one which was, in my opinion, “just the same” as the ones I do carry, I would not be opposed to using that one instead, but there isn’t, so I just grab what I have, and go. Not usually the 4x5, there’s a limit, even for me. That one isn’t for “just in case”, but pretty much everything else is, including the medium format ones.
I took a Rolleiflex to an American Legion game last night, just in case. Was there a lot of thought that went into that choice? No, hardly none, just felt like it would be fun. Would I have rather had a GRIII? Not at all. Did people think I looked stupid, or weird? Probably. I’m not particularly attractive at this point anyway, so that doesn’t change my calculus. I take the camera I like the results from, no matter how big it is. If I can physically carry it , it’s small enough. I had an XA2 I bought new, when they first came out, kept it for 20 years, mostly because it was cute. Were the results, and there were a lot of them, as good as what I got from other things? No, not at all, so I finally sold it for $50, which is pretty much what they are worth. Some love them I know, but for me itself main attraction was its cuteness, not the results, which I found to be, let’s say, workmanlike.

Why is keeping it in your pocket even a thing? It’s a factor, I’m not seeing that it has to be the deciding factor in what to take photos with. I can, and do, take an unpocketable camera with me almost everywhere, because those are the cameras I like the results from. It’s not difficult. Then, I can’t see why people say loading a Barnack poses difficulties either. Simple.
But, I’m hardly normative. Most people find small cameras somehow “easier”, I just don’t, and I have had them.

If someone feels that cameras are better when they are smaller, they should use those. I’m certainly not giving advice here, just answering the question. Everybody’s happy, since choices abound.

 

[Godfrey]

If I really just want something that fits in my pocket, I'll just carry my iPhone 8 Plus. It makes photos as good in quality or better than most other pocketable cameras, and there are excellent accessories and apps that extend its capabilities even further that also fit in my pocket.

Why spend money for something that is only marginally more capable when if I need a truly more capable camera, I already own several that I'll carry already?

G

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I carry a good camera with me at all times. Cellphone cameras give crap image quality. I know a million people will start telling me how awesome the photos they shoot with their iPhones are. No, they're not. They're crap. Make a 16x20 print and compare it to one made from a pro level camera. There's just no comparison.


Because I cannot carry a lot of weight due to my health, I use Micro Four Thirds. The higher-end M43 cameras give incredibly good image quality. Most of my work now is done with an Olympus OM-D E-M1 mark II with the 12-40mm f2.8 Olympus Pro lens. Its a large setup compared to most M43 cameras, but tiny compared to the Canon 5DmkII I shot with previously.

 

[ruby.monkey]

Yes, that's why I have a Ricoh GR. What I would like is for camera manufacturers to take a leaf out of the cellphone book and fully seal their cameras. Any camera that's likely to spend time in a pocket - especially ones with fixed lenses - should be dust- and moisture-proof.

 

[Michael Markey]

I always have a camera with me although this weekend whilst at an horse event I left it in the car because I was asked to shoot video instead.
Of course sod`s law came into play and I saw a still shot and only had my iPhone 6.

Horrible quality .
So never again and its back to carrying my GR2 as a minimum requirement when I`m out and about.

 

[nickthetasmaniac]

Would you purchase an advanced but small camera in order to, like a cellphone, always have it with you?

Well I guess so, given I've owned the GRI, own the GRII, and will probably buy the GRIII 🙂

 

[leicapixie]

I have a phone, with a great camera..
I don't carry my phone everywhere or ever all the time!
It's for being in contact with Family on that wonderful "app".
I carry a camera always, mostly a small point and shoot digital.
It's need due to age but often carry a real film camera...
Owning lots try using different one's with BW film.
Cameras are faster than phones to activate!
Leica-M fastest to focus, followed by my SLR's Nikons, Pentaxes, Canon A series.
I have prints made done every so many weeks..
I laugh at need for huge MP's as most post on facebook, Tumbler, etc..
I noted at a Nikon presentation that actual images projected were 640 x 480..

My favorite quote "Leica-m a pocketable camera". sigh!

 

[Rob-F]

Fuji X20 or Leicasonic D-Lux 6. One or the other is usually along even when I have the M9 or D700 with me.

 

[Dogman]

What? You can take pictures with a cellphone? Huh. I keep forgetting that.

I have a GRII for exactly the purpose mentioned. It fits nicely in a pocket. Usually I carry it when I don't think I'll be taking any pictures but I want to be prepared...just in case. It comes in handy.

A few weeks ago, a friend invited my wife and myself to his father's birthday celebration at the church his father pastors. I wasn't sure taking pictures would be allowed during the ceremony so I dropped the Ricoh in my pocket. Lots of people were using their cellphones or "real" cameras so I snapped a few shots from my fourth row seat. The quality of the Ricoh photos was excellent and I could crop the 28mm perspective Raw images fairly heavily without too much loss in details.

In addition to the GRII I also have the Fuji X100S, a great little camera as well. It's not pocketable but it's small and carries easily. I like using the X100 better than the GRII but neither camera can replace the other for me.

 

[emraphoto]

If I really just want something that fits in my pocket, I'll just carry my iPhone 8 Plus. It makes photos as good in quality or better than most other pocketable cameras, and there are excellent accessories and apps that extend its capabilities even further that also fit in my pocket.

Why spend money for something that is only marginally more capable when if I need a truly more capable camera, I already own several that I'll carry already?

G

For me, the pocketable camera far outpaces any phone i have tried, Including modern iphones, in function and image quality. I have been using pocketable cameras personally and professionally for a long time and would LOVE a phone that matched their useability. I have yet to find one.

 

[jsrockit]

Yes. I own a Ricoh GR III, but I am not enamored by 28mm.

If anyone ever makes anything like a GR, but with a 45-50mm lens (non-zoom), I might not use any other cameras. It would have to have an APSC sensor or larger though. It would be ideal if it had a pop-up EVF like the Sony RX1 or RX100 series currently does.

I just don’t like having a lot of stuff with me all the time... but I don’t like to completely compromise either. I’m in the cellphone isn’t good enough category (though I've made some photos I really like with the iPhone Xs in good light). So, currently, I use bigger cameras.

I hope someone will make my dream camera one day.

 

[shimokita]

I always carry a day pack so big pockets are not required... the current model is the "Deuter Spider 25 [liter]". It goes everywhere... except for formal events (weddings / funerals) and then it's a shoulder bag which can accommodate the Fuji x100t. I don't carry a camera when I buy groceries or have a local coffee, but I always carry my Kindle.

The x100t is about the smallest I would go... my cell phone is only used to take photos of supermarket items, books, signs, etc. rather than using pen & paper.

 

[zuiko85]

Well personally I never leave the house without my Speed Graphic.

 

[kshapero]

i carry my fuji xe3 all the time...sometimes even around the house.

Guilty of this as well, I carry my Leica M 262 pretty much everywhere ( Yes in the house). I have tried those little guys and I just didn't care for the performance or the feel. Since I am a Optical VF bigot, the Fuji X100 series got pretty close.😀