Need help choosing a smaller camera than my DSLR

[grahamfitter]

2 birds, one price. Get the iPhone 4s. Excellent camera, shoots video, can directly upload both, and handle calls while doing it (if on AT&T). And you'll always have it handy due small form factor. Battery lasts days, NOT a week, but chargers are plentiful and very compact, including right off your laptop as you sync your images.

Did you just suggest an iPhone as a replacement for a D70s?... That's awesome!

Yeah, so awesome one has to pay a monthly fee to take pictures with it.

Actually for an all-in-one travel device the iPhone isn't such a daft idea; its adequate for occasional email, web, skype, etc. and backs up photos it takes to the web. I'd love a smartphone but the fact is I'm too cheap to pay the data rates (times four because the rest of the fam wouldn't accept me having one while they're stuck with SMS!). And the one day battery life would drive me nuts for living with here.

When I go on vacation I try to leave as much of my life behind as possible but I've found my original Asus EEE 4G netbook is handy for staying in touch, web and backing up pictures from the camera onto a suitably large SD card. (Although it doesn't have enough RAM to display the 7MP NEFS that the D70 takes.)

I guess it really depends what is most important to Graham. If portability, and usefulness are formost the primary features he is looking for, then ya, the X10 might fit that bill perfectly. And coming from a D70s he may actually find the image quality to be a fair bit better, especially at higher ISO's. The X10 certainly wouldn't be my first choice for shooting landscapes or portraits though, it's more of a generalist camera. For landscapes and portraits I'd want at a minimum an APS-C sized sensor, that's why I mentioned the NEX cameras. If it boils down to having just one camera for everything the NEX 5n or 7 might be a ticket.

Graham, if you're wonding what were talking about with the X10, I just bought one for my carry around camera and gave some impressions of it here.

Every day another cool camera pops out of the woodwork!

The X10 is very appealing for a travel camera: Fast camera, fast lens, workable viewfinder, Velvia colors, looks like a polarizer can be attached, reasonable price. Hopefully the small sensor really is up to it and the raw images can be processed by iPhoto to fix the white balance, occasionally make a good picture better and even salvage the odd junker.

To clarify what I'm looking for here, I'm definitely not a serious landscape photographer and I'm not willing to devote the time to getting up early, waiting for the right light, carrying a tripod, that all go into great landscapes as much as the composition, which I'm not too patient at either.

When I'm taking pictures I'm more opportunistic and simply try to capture the scene as best I can with whatever (usually too much or too little) light is on hand and I enjoy doing it. If I could get the same results as the D70 with a camera that is nice to use but significantly smaller I'd probably be happy. That's probably good reason enough to buy the X10.

The EP3, GH2, GX1 and NEX7 are also very tempting for bigger sensors and choice of lenses albeit with a correspondingly bigger price tag. The biggest draw here would be for a trip where I could take a longer 200mm or so lens that works with the same compact setup that gets used all the time.

(Wondering aloud whether the Nikkor MF 135mm f2.8 I have at home somewhere would be practical to focus?)

I'm also wondering what else will emerge in the next few months. There is way more choice here than I expected which is a high class problem.

Thanks for all the advice, ideas and questions, folks. Please keep them coming!

[nwoods]

I really don't see the 4/3 thing working out well. Yes, good photos, fun lenses, smallish form factor, but lugging around additional lenses and needing a kit bag defeats the whole purpose. I'd rather use my full size dSLR at that point. I have a Canon G10, and it's similar in size to the X10. It's handy, but still needs "somewhere to go" because it does not fit in most pockets other than jackets... Which maybe is more useful where Trevor and Graham live now that I think about it... But certainly not here in Sunny SoCal!

[BillTex]

I really don't see the 4/3 thing working out well. Yes, good photos, fun lenses, smallish form factor, but lugging around additional lenses and needing a kit bag defeats the whole purpose. I'd rather use my full size dSLR at that point. I have a Canon G10, and it's similar in size to the X10. It's handy, but still needs "somewhere to go" because it does not fit in most pockets other than jackets... Which maybe is more useful where Trevor and Graham live now that I think about it... But certainly not here in Sunny SoCal!

yep...ulitmately that's why I went with the LX-5...couldn't see the advantage if you still need to carry lenses.
The X10, S95, LX5...can't go wrong with any of these...

[grahamfitter]

I really don't see the 4/3 thing working out well. Yes, good photos, fun lenses, smallish form factor, but lugging around additional lenses and needing a kit bag defeats the whole purpose. I'd rather use my full size dSLR at that point. I have a Canon G10, and it's similar in size to the X10. It's handy, but still needs "somewhere to go" because it does not fit in most pockets other than jackets... Which maybe is more useful where Trevor and Graham live now that I think about it... But certainly not here in Sunny SoCal!

To be honest I haven't handled any of these cameras so I haven't got a feel for their real size. Homework required. One question I still need to wrangle with is how big is small enough?

You're right that the M4/3 is larger -- The X10 is definitely a more convenient size for travel -- but something like a EP3/GX1 with the compact kit zoom or the 20mm prime lens looks like it would still be small enough to wear round ones neck comfortably and also fit in the pocket of a backpack. Not sure about the NEX7 -- the lenses seem to be more bulky than M4/3.

On the subject of camera bags, I'm talking about living out of a small rucksack which is the everything bag. The camera would be round my neck or in the pack. A second lens, if I had one, would be in the pack in a foam tube.


More importantly, because its another day, that means that another camera pops out of the woodwork: Pentax Q. Small camera, tiny sensor.

Homework required...

[ywen]

From my personal experience.. The difference in image quality between a regular sized DSLR and m4/3 is much less than the difference in weight/portability between the two camera types.

For me hiking with 8-9lbs of DSLR + lens is a huge difference vs hiking with 1.5lb of m4/3 body+lens... the 20mm prim is 100g the 14-42 zoom is 190g.. It doesn't really matter if you're lugging additional lenses.. the additional lenses weigh almost nothing.

When not using the camera, I put the small lowe pro camera bag inside my 65L backpack.. I tried fitting a small 5D kit but the camera bag took up almost the entire volume of the backbag.

In fact, if portability is high on the list, I would recommend checking out the GF3 or Olympus Pm1.. either one is barely larger or same size as an advanced P&S http://www.steves-digicams.com/camer...ni-review.html

[grahamfitter]

From my personal experience.. The difference in image quality between a regular sized DSLR and m4/3 is much less than the difference in weight/portability between the two camera types.

For me hiking with 8-9lbs of DSLR + lens is a huge difference vs hiking with 1.5lb of m4/3 body+lens... the 20mm prim is 100g the 14-42 zoom is 190g.. It doesn't really matter if you're lugging additional lenses.. the additional lenses weigh almost nothing.

When not using the camera, I put the small lowe pro camera bag inside my 65L backpack.. I tried fitting a small 5D kit but the camera bag took up almost the entire volume of the backbag.

In fact, if portability is high on the list, I would recommend checking out the GF3 or Olympus Pm1.. either one is barely larger or same size as an advanced P&S http://www.steves-digicams.com/camer...ni-review.html

Somewhat off topic: Yeah I get the weight thing. I can't imagine backpacking with a 65L pack anymore, unless maybe I had to carry a couple of weeks worth of food and a similar quantity of scotch. The last time I carried it, it was full of both heavy camping and rock climbing gear and I swore never to do that again! I've been using a 1990s 50L alpine pack packed as light as I can but the DSLR weight (less so the bulk but that is an issue too) is noticeable. I'd like to replace the backpack with something lighter and more comfortable when the time AKA price is right. And, of course, the camera.

I can't see any practical advantages of the EPM1/GF3 over EP3/GX1 other than the cost; the bodies aren't that much smaller and the lenses are the same size. Thinking about it, when the viewfinder is added they're probably in the G3 size and price range too. Homework: See all of them close up.

[ywen]

[targa88]

I would think that a GF2 would be good (with interchangeable lens)

[nwoods]

Did you just suggest an iPhone as a replacement for a D70s?... That's awesome!

Not only do I think it's a valid consideration, check out what Annie Leibovitz says!
http://9to5mac.com/2011/11/16/annie-...int-and-shoot/

[ssssnake529]

You're right that the M4/3 is larger -- The X10 is definitely a more convenient size for travel -- but something like a EP3/GX1 with the compact kit zoom or the 20mm prime lens looks like it would still be small enough to wear round ones neck comfortably and also fit in the pocket of a backpack. Not sure about the NEX7 -- the lenses seem to be more bulky than M4/3.

The X10 is actually not that small compared with a Micro 4/3 camera.

Look here:

http://camerasize.com/compare/#155,129


And here:

http://larsonweb.com/size2.jpg