The perfect compact camera at last ????

M

mkvrnn

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Finally there's a camera which (almost) satisfies my requirements for a carry-everywhere alternative to a DSLR. It must be compact (ie. pocketable) and it must have a viewfinder. Adequate picture quality is essential of course, and a reasonable zoom range is fairly important to me (24-200mm equivalent ideally). And decent build quality, although that's probably too much to hope for.

Previously everything on the market has been either too big, lacking in zoom range, or lacking a viewfinder. In fact there are lots of expensive cameras out there which fail on all 3 counts.

The camera? Lumix LF1. It lacks a 24mm equivalent wide angle disappointingly, but otherwise it looks good. I haven't tried one yet but I'm reasonably optimistic. Are there any owners out there
 
Chris. You're probably right, and a Leica M3 sized viewfinder would be marvellous but I don't think that's a realistic possibility in a pocket sized compact digital just yet. I remember buying an Olympus Pen S half frame film camera in the 1960s and being hugely impressed by the quality of the viewfinder in such a small camera. The build quality was also far better than any modern digital.
 
i hadn't heard about the LF1 until the leica c (its leica counterpart) came out recently. looks interesting, nice to see a VF on a compact. while the VF may not be great, i imagine it's better than the non-existent ones on the other compacts :eek:)
 
I'll chime in an opinion.

For me an RX100 or Ricoh GR would suit my Ideal needs, except it's too much $/€/₤.
I got an EPL2 and for the price I snatched it there is no complaint whatsoever. However, I find amusing that m4/3 (and many sub FF formats) claim minaturization... Yet it's as big as the good ole' OM-1. I guess it's either the electronics limiting the size or the manufacturers not wanting to unleash the full minaturization potential.
That with the kit zoom. A pancake prime would let it be more compact. However not enough to carry around on the jean pocket and it's very useful for some situations:

For me it would be: 1" to APS sensor. Wide to short tele in the former or 28-35mm EQ prime in the latter. Slim profile for jean pocket carry.
Carrying into the pocket deems useful for: areas where toting a camera around isn't ideal (thieves, assaults); Airplanes (flew with ryanair and had to put the EPL in the overhead bin) and second shooter (having a bigger/different one for the main shooting; Film)

OT. Just came back from the UK (went around Warwickshire in two of the days I stayed) and some fast paced touring in the cities have taken me to the above conclusions.
 
I must admit to being a fan of the Panasonic series of cameras. As a firm that is not a "traditional" camera company it has done very well in designing well thought out, high build quality and nicely performing cameras.

At this time I own an Lx5, a GF1 (m4/3 camera) and an older L1 (4/3) , none of which I can criticise in the slightest. For a small sensor camera the Lx5 with add on finder does very well as a pocketable go anywhere camera.

Although the finder is low res its not as bad to use as I had feared. When I swap it onto my GF1 it can even be used for manual focussing (just). I cannot speak for the LF1 and do not know it but I will stick my chin out and say that if its as good as Panasonic's other offerings it will be a very competent camera.
 
After too many bouts using the iPhone as my only digital, I got the Pentax MX-1 with brass top and bottom. Has the same sensor as the LF1 and NO EVF. Because of that I was about to return the cute little thing. Bright sunny days can be murder on the view-ability of an LCD. Then I saw on eBay an anti glare screen protector (Underline Anti Glare). Voila!! No need for an EVF on these compact cameras.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PENTAX-MX-1-Screen-Protector-GEARMAXX-Anti-Glare-/171051566443?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27d377c56b
 
To me, the RX100 II is the perfect compact camera. I have an RX100 and it just gets the job done, period. It will give subject separation well enough at both the wide and the tele ends, when wide open. High ISO is just fantastic. It's not the slimmest compact, but I can have it on a tight jeans pocket and it won't look like I am overly excited about something. Low light AF is good enough, if it's not working so well the manual focus does a decent job (actually even more responsive than the X100's prior to the latest magical firmware).

The mark II has WiFi, which makes sharing photographs a breeze and controlling the camera remotely is pretty useful sometimes. The swivel LCD screen also is useful sometimes. The possibility of using an EVF (ok, makes it bulkier) or an OVF (think of the Voigtlander mini-finder for shooting street at f8) due to the hotshoe is pretty sweet. And the better light sensitivity is a bonus.

I think that is, really, the best compact around, until they release an RX200 with a 24mm 1.4 at the wide end and 135 2.8 at the tele end with an aps-c sensor and hybrid built in viewfinder ;)
 
Some interesting replies there, but for me the LF1 easily beats the cameras mentioned.
If the RX100 had a viewfinder, a wider zoom range, a slimmer profile and a lower price, I might consider it!
Again, the Nikon P7800 seems much fatter and more expensive with no significant advantages, but does at least have a viewfinder.
As for the Ricoh GR, I remember cameras with fixed focal length from about 50 years ago! In fact I have around 100 of them but rarely feel the urge to use one.

Dfatty. I hadn't heard of the Leica C until you mentioned it just now, but I'm not sure I'd want to pay almost 60% more than the LF1 for the same camera, even with a Leica badge.
 
The RX100 (II) and the Ricoh GR are the cream of the crop right now regarding IQ. It seems this isn't your main concern, so you probably won't do better than the LF1 at this point for your requirements.
 
You might want to take a look at the Fuji X20. I use mine a lot and love it. The zoom range is not as wide (28-112 instead of 28-200) but the lens is much faster over the range (Fuji: f2 - f2.8; Lumix: f2 - f5.6). The Fuji's viewfinder is very nice although only covers 85%. I use the viewfinder a lot, especially when out in bright sunlight.

The Fuji has a great sensor and no anti-aliasing filter... produces outstanding images. And its much nicer to hold than the typical small compact cameras like the LF1.
 
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