which fixed lens compact for you...and why?

[bobby_novatron]

Quick scan of this thread reveals much love for: [in no particular order]
(a) Fuji X-series
(b) Ricoh GR series
(c) Hexar AF
(d) Olympus XA
(e) Rollei / Minox / others ...

My vote:
Film -- Olympus 35RC, small, compact, killer lens.
Digital -- Fuji X100T, great IQ, pleasure to use.

 

[Addy101]

Thank you Shawn. Sounds good to me. The GR sounds also good, but it will be a larger sized camera.

No, the GR isn't larger, take a look over at Camerasize.com. The Ricoh is wider (117mm v 111mm) but also lower (61mm v 64.3mm) and has less depth (34.7 v 40.3mm) - They're comparable.

 

[raid]

You are right.

 

[In the Lowlands]

Film, Fuji 645 GA, not really compact. Very nice results and a joy to use.
Digital, Fuji X100 with WCL. Also a very nice camera with great results and also a joy to use.
All my SLR gear stays at home these days.

Best regards.

 

[ampguy]

DP2 Merrill, as mentioned on LL, this is "not a camera for pussies"

 

[jsrockit]

Trying to get my hands on a Sony RX1R II as my ultimate compact.

 

[daveleo]

I just ordered an LX7.
Had the LX3 and have been sorry every day since I sold it.

 

[jsrockit]

I have to say the Fujifilm X100F is the one as of late for me.

 

[Mark A. Fisher]

What he said^^^^

 

[Big Ursus]

I've been through great steaming piles of them and enjoyed every one but none enough to make a commitment to. Canon G10, Fuji X100, Fuji XF1, all three Sigma Merrills and finally, the one I took home to meet Mom, the RX1.
I love the quality, the ease of using in manual exposure mode, the close focus and I don't at all miss the EVF. My knees are shot and I do a lot of close focus work of objects on the ground. I can bend over just fine. I just can't get up once I get down.
The RX1 is the keeper.

My Sony RX1R is small, its lens is terrific, and the optional EVF tilts upwards almost 90 degrees. Too bad about the prices, and the .jpgs don't look as good to me as Fuji's - but I can make great prints from the RAW files.

 

[Dogman]

The Fuji X100S and the Ricoh GRII.

Why? They are two different types of cameras but both work perfectly for my type of shooting. No super fancy features or eye-popping performance, just solid picture taking machines. I set them up for how I use them and then I ignore them.

 

[Archiver]

My now-retired camera pusher, er, dealer, once asked me what I do with all these 'exotic compact cameras' that I bought from him. We're talking most of the major ones including the X100, X10, Ricoh GRD III, Sigma DP1, DP2, and on and on. My reply was that I shoot them, and they go into rotation after a while.

Film:
Contax T3 or Fuji Natura Black. They are my favourite film cameras, ahead of the Leica M7, Zeiss Ikon ZM, Pentax ME, Olympus XA2, everything. At the end of the year, I'll be going overseas for a week and taking the Natura Black and a bunch of XTRA400. The T3 has ridiculously good image quality and a rendering which I love. The Fuji is more automated but has that fantastic 24mm f1.9 lens, unique in compact cameras.

Digital:
Most used are the Ricoh GR, Sigma DP1 original and Panasonic LX7. The GR has been on hiatus because of a shutter issue, and the DP1 only comes out for special occasions. The LX7 is my everyday snapshot and documentary camera. I love the 21mm 16:9 images, the sharpness and colour of the raw images, the snappy response, the very quiet shutter, the very reasonable video. The GR and DP1 have a depth and richness that small sensor cameras can't deliver, so they are the complementary cams to the LX7.

Tomorrow I'll be interstate with the LX7 and Sigma DP1. Fun times ahead!

 

[Rayt]

I like using the GR1v because of the SNAP mode. Set it to 2 meters and shoot away.

 

[sepiareverb]

... The T3 has ridiculously good image quality and a rendering which I love...

Just printed a T3 negative of a snowy woods yesterday. Hp5+ in Studionol, and it just sings. Ridiculously good at the least!

I shoot the GR2, T2 and T3 and the Nikon TI28.

I like how they handle, and the lenses.

And for the GR, a native Square.



Scan from print on ILMG Classic

 

[JB-Dancer]

I like using my Olympus Pen "W" 1/2 frame camera.
Why?. - because it is a very small camera to carry and easily slips into the pocket.
It is a fully manual camera that has a very good 5 element 25mm f2.8 E-Zuiko-W lens
with an 6 speed Copal-X shutter (speeds of 8/15/30/60/125/250 of a sec + B) that is
synchronized for flash if required.
You get 40 exposures on a 20 exposure 35mm film.
It has full manual focusing lens which is equivalent to a 35mm wide-angle lens on a full frame camera.
Importantly it doesn't require any batteries.

 

[narsuitus]

My Mazda/Vivitar 35mm point and shoot with 27mm wide-angle lens and my Samsung cell phone are my preferred fixed-lens compact cameras.

They about the same weight and volume. Both have built-in flash. Both produce acceptable images. The Samsung does movies and phone calls, the Mazda/Vivitar does not. I prefer the ergonomics of the Mazda/Vivitar.

When shooting in a location where there is a great chance that my compact camera will be lost, stolen, or damaged, I would prefer to sacrifice Mazda/Vivitar.


Mazda/Vivitar and Samsung by Narsuitus, on Flickr

 

[aizan]

I like using my Olympus Pen "W" 1/2 frame camera.
Why?. - because it is a very small camera to carry and easily slips into the pocket.
It is a fully manual camera that has a very good 5 element 25mm f2.8 E-Zuiko-W lens
with an 6 speed Copal-X shutter (speeds of 8/15/30/60/125/250 of a sec + B) that is
synchronized for flash if required.
You get 40 exposures on a 20 exposure 35mm film.
It has full manual focusing lens which is equivalent to a 35mm wide-angle lens on a full frame camera.
Importantly it doesn't require any batteries.

yes! i use the pen s because it's such a simple but well-made camera that gives me twice as many photos for the same price. i don't miss the extra image quality over 35mm since it actually looks nice.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Well, my Minox 35 didn't last for long. Failed electronics. I tried older, yet, working Olympus Trip and ... can't connect with it, but with Smena-8M.
I liked more and more the digital compact as well, since I posted here in 2015. It just not fixed, but tiny 8MP Lumix with CCD sensor and Leica zoom lens with stabilizer.

 

[agoglanian]

I've been dying to try more of the classic compacts but they're so popular now that the prices have gone into the stratosphere (for what they are).

I use (and love) my Ricoh GR (the one from 2013) and have had it since it launched. It's my favorite compact digital camera by far. I'd love for Ricoh to put out a newer one with a more modern sensor, but in all honesty the existing one is just fine for how I use it.

That being said with film compacts there's SO many on my list. I had the Nikon 35Ti for a little bit and I really enjoyed it, but I wound up selling it for some reason. I'd love to try the Contax T2 or T3 one day but not at the $1000 price point. The original GR1 series is extremely appealing to me as well but I still haven't found one for a reasonable price that isn't beat to hell. I'm going to try out a Nikon L35AF shortly as it seems fun to use too!

Anyways. I love the concept of compact cameras quite a bit and I would like to see more of them on the market.

 

[Archiver]

The interstate trip in November went swimmingly, and the Panasonic LX7 and Sigma DP1 classic worked very well. The LX7 was more of a snapshot camera due to its speed, and the DP1 did well with beaches and landscapes as usual.

Oddly, I found that I enjoyed the DP1 a little less than previous trips, something about my colour preferences changing in the last year or so.

For this reason, I left the DP1 at home for my trip to Hong Kong in December, and the LX7 took a surprising number of images alongside the M9.

I'm now looking at the LX10 as an upgrade from the LX7, and possibly replacing the M9 with a Sony RX1r II or Leica Q as primary travel camera. I started with compact cameras and I keep coming back to them, no matter what other things I get.