Responsive digital compact ?

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Murchu

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I'm looking for a small compact camera that I'm hoping will be a constant companion, available to capture the smaller moments in life, when my usual larger camera tends never to be at hand when needed (if I even have it with me).

I would like something that I can quickly draw to to hand, and both snap fleeting moments with friends and family, as well as be a camera that won't frighten the terminally camera shy, like a larger camera might.

It struck me, I'm looking for a compact digital camera I can use like I would a zone focussed M with a 35mm, which I could adjust the settings with the camera at hand, and simply draw it to my eye when the moment presented itself, simply needing to click the shutter.

The Ricoh GRD series would seem to be just what I'm looking for with its snap mode, if it were not for the 28mm equivalent focal length which I suspect would be too wide for me. Am I fooling myself thinking there are any other compact digitals as remotely responsive as a snap-focussed Ricoh ?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions
 
Many smaller cameras can be zone focused. The Ricoh snap focus is convenient.

With an APS-C camera, a simple approach would be to use an adapter to mount an 24mm manual focus lens with a focus scale you trust. Since the lens was intended to be used with 24 x 36 mm media, the DOF will be deeper than indicated on the lens. This is probably a good thing. A m4/3 camera would require about a 17mm focal length to give a similar field of view as the 35 on a zone focused M and the DOF would be even deeper (compared to the lens barrel marking estimates).

By responsive I assume you mean minimum shutter lag. Once automated features are turned off, most mirror less cameras are responsive.

Mirror less cameras can be responsive with native lenses too. Setting up the camera for to operate with the maximum response requires a bit of experimentation with camera set up parameters. The Fuji X-Pro 1 can be rather sluggish if a certain set of menu parameters are used, or it can be very responsive just be changing the parameter selections. Other cameras are equally responsive as well.

I'm sure other forum members will share their direct experience with the responsiveness of their compact mirror less compact cameras.
 
For true responsiveness, you don't want to use AF; you want to turn AF off and zone focus or focus manually with any advanced point and shoot or TTL electronic system camera.

Most of the APS-C fixed lens compacts allow pretty flexible use this way, but I find most of them (including my Leica X2) a little sluggish now and then. The X2 has a 35mm EFoV (24mm lens on APS-C format) and works very nicely, however.

Something a little special: Ricoh GXR fitted with A12 Camera Mount (GXR-M) and your choice of M-mount lens. This is as close as you can get, currently, to a Leica CL in a digital camera regards size and weight, and is a delightfully usable design. Put a 24, 28 or 35 mm lens on for your choice of wide to normal EFoV. A favorite setup of mine is the GXR-M fitted with either Color Skopar 28mm f/3.5 (or Ultron 28mm f/2) for a one lens outfit, or fit a Nokton 40mm f/1.4 MC for a slightly longer than normal, low light shooter. Great camera.

It's not as responsive as the Leica M9, however it costs several thousand dollars less.

The new Panasonic GX7 looks like it will be another great option. One of those with the Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8, or any one of a bunch of other super Micro-FourThirds mount lenses now available from Panasonic/Leica, Voigtländer, and Olympus, should be delightful. I'm sure I'll end up with one of those bodies some time soon as I have a small set of Micro-FourThirds gear that I use occasionally already. (A used Olympus E-PL1 that cost me $100 fitted with any number of interesting oddball lenses works great in this context.)

G
 
i don't think it exists yet.

i wish fuji would make a mini-x100s with a 1'' sensor, scaled down viewfinder w/o the evf, and ricoh-style snap focus. stranger things have happened. 😉
 
Ricoh GR, if 28mm is too wide, put it in 35mm mode.

I don't think you'll find a smaller, lighter, faster responding camera for the situation you are describing, and the bonus is that it is a large sensor, and it's sharp enough to draw blood...no AA filter.
 
I saw a utube video af shoot out between x100s vs Coolpix A vs gr. surprisingly Coolpix took last place and x100s was a hair faster then gr. I should have book marked it, can't find it now. The x100s is a lot aster then te original x100. Anyway Coolpix and gr fit the compact description and I would say gr would be possible contender.. I like the 35 mode that the gr has.

Btw I don't own x100s or gr or Coolpix.

On the other hand, after using snap focus on the a12 50 from the gxr, I would agree that that is really really nice that they have it on the gr. I wish my dp Merrill had it.

Good luck w/ your hunt.
Gary
 
If you could be comfortable with micro four thirds the OMD is as fast as anything I've ever used.
 
Murchu said:
I would like something that I can quickly draw to to hand, and both snap fleeting moments with friends and family, as well as be a camera that won't frighten the terminally camera shy, like a larger camera might.

It struck me, I'm looking for a compact digital camera I can use like I would a zone focussed M with a 35mm,
Click to expand...

a zone focused M is a different beast. It's always ready. The biggest problem you are going to face if you want something that you can "quickly draw to hand" is that you are going to have to turn the camera on and wait for it to start up. If you leave it on all the time, so it's ready, then you'll quickly drain your battery. So you need to look at start up times, and wake up times. AF is quite fast, much less of a factor than the time it takes the camera to go from off to ready.
 
The Fuji X20 is superb. Its fast to start, fast lens (28/2.0 - 112/2.8), macro to 1cm, Xtrans sensor (2/3") with no anti-aliasing filter, very nice grip. Image quality is excellent in all kinds of conditions.
 
Pablito said:
a zone focused M is a different beast. It's always ready. The biggest problem you are going to face if you want something that you can "quickly draw to hand" is that you are going to have to turn the camera on and wait for it to start up. If you leave it on all the time, so it's ready, then you'll quickly drain your battery. So you need to look at start up times, and wake up times. AF is quite fast, much less of a factor than the time it takes the camera to go from off to ready.
Click to expand...

I leave my Leica M-E on all the time. It has an excellent sleep mode that wakes instantly by touching the shutter release. I can could go for a few days in sleep but then I shoot the camera a lot so I usually charge the battery at night.

Since I always have mine with me at my side by the time the camera comes to my eye its ready to shoot.

I had the Ricoh GXR and its a great camera. Its doesn't have the great standby feature the Leica has.
 
The x20 really is all that. I have the Sony RX100 as well.

The x20 is much, much easier to navigate. Setting a focus zone and leaving it set does not require entering into the menu to return back to AF.

The exposure comp is a dial on the top of the camera as is exposure mode. Zoom is a ring around the lens. The Q button get's you quickly to the most frequently used menu items (iso, film emulation for jpegs, RAW/jpeg file size ... etc)
It's just a really natural camera with nearly 100% traditional controls and...... FUJI HAS AN OPTICAL VF built right into this baby. 😀
The Sony RX100 does excel in low light low hi ISO performance. It also has a pretty groovy tilt-able flash for bouncing (although fiddly to hold with a fingertip)
Using that damn bar of soap RX100 is like fiddling with a smart phone you're not accustomed to.
You get it eventually but it's anything but natural.
Best of luck in your choice!
 
Sony RX100 is good and so is the Panasonic LX7. The Rx100 probably has the best sensor, but is a bit pricey. IMHO the LX7 offers a lot of bang for the money ( currently $348.00 at B&H).
 
Thanks for all the suggestions so far. A few of you hit the nail on the head, that what I am looking for really is a camera that can easily be zone focussed and let the camera take care of metering. This is similar to how I shot with an M and a 35mm in the past, where exposure and zone focus could be dialled in as you anticipated taking an image, so all that was left was to draw it to the eye and click as the right moment presented itself.

Responsive was probably not a great word to use in my initial post, but the one closest to approximating what I was thinking of at the time. I suspect shutter lag on cameras now is pretty good, and that it is the autofocus finding something to lock onto, that is the bottleneck in the chain from clicking the shutter to getting an image on camera.

From the suggestions here, I can see a few very valid options, although not being very familiar with compacts these days, hoped there might be some way of shoe horning one of your enthusiast compacts like the LX7 etc. to act more like the glorified point and shoot I was hoping for.

Please keep the suggestions coming, I'm hoping for the impossible - something compact, zone focussable and reasonably inexpensive 🙂
 
another vote for the Ricoh. Just got mine and its fast and crucially for me small, fits in my pocket no problem. Its also easy one handed operation.

Good luck with your decision.
 
My OMD is my good camera, and I recently got a Ricoh GR IV (the discontinued one) as a pocket camera to augment my phone's cam.

It's incredibly customizable, easy to use one-handed, and very fast. No complaints whatsoever. If I'd had a few extra bucks and wasn't hesitant to carry an $800 camera on the bike, I'd have gone for the new version.
 
How small?

For always have with you, the camera on your phone is going to be the smallest and most likely to be there. I use mine more and more. Plus you probably already own one.

One step up is going to be a GRD of some variety but you get 28mm there or the cropped 35 mode on the new GRD.

The thing about most digital cameras, especially the higher end ones is that they have a lot of settings to mess with and you don't know how they are set till you fire them up.

The thing I love about a zone focused manual film Leica that I haven't been able to duplicate in the digital world is being able to glance at the camera and see aperture, focus and shutter speed in a moment and shoot immediately.

Even on the Ricoh (I have a GRDIII) everything is a bit of a mystery till you turn it on and look at the screen.

With my iPhone camera using the stock photo app, you can get to camera from the lock screen and it's a quick point and shoot.
 
Forgive me if this has already been mentioned, but perhaps the Leica X1 would fit the bill?

Set it in manual focus - with it's depth of field scale visible and "real" dials for shutter and aperture, it's great for zone focussed shots.
EDIT: not forgetting about the big sensor either..

/Meakin
 
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