afternoon….
i have decided that a new camera is in order this year but dont want a point and click and am thinking that a dslr might be a bit much for me.
so i have been looking at the compact systems, up to around £400ish, the chap in jessops recomended the cannon eos m.
so who’s got one and are they worth it?
cheers

Putting it politely the eos m isn’t the best bet.

Look at Olympus and Panasonic for m4/3 or Sony NEX for aps/c.

I’d look at a Sony Nex 3 or 5 personally (there’s a couple of generations of each available to suit the budget). Molgrips will be along shortly to recommend Olympus, closely followed by Cougar to recommend Panasonic. Nobody will recommend an eos m (probably).

tbf i thought it was strange as the chap didnt even go through any of the other brands!

I expect he’s got a storeroom full of eos-ms he can’t shift 😉

😆

There’s a huge amount of Canon/Nikon fanbo-ism, for some reason. I don’t think it’s entirely justified and it edges out other manufacturers who make good stuff.

5e is the Eos-m supposed to be bad? I read a few good tihngs about it.

shuffles in…..

looks sheepish……

…..Nikon 1……cough….

wanders off……

(PS – I am not a professional camera advisor)…..

why the cough and shuffle? i thought the 1 was a fairly good camera (judging by the reviews)?

You might like to have a shufti at this:

Fujifilm X20: A classically styled, 12oz compact camera with an upgraded sensor and optical zoom
http://www.coolhunting.com/tech/fujifilm-x20-camera.php
The price is in your ballpark, too.

conuntzero…reminds me of the cameras my dad had! would like something a little more modern in apperance as i’m nt a big fan of the retro look

Depends on the type of photography you do.
Is it to take pics of bikes/riders or take landscapes/snapshots whilst out riding?

I am a photographer and a mtb rider so tell me what you want to take photos of and whether you are prepared to carry multiple lenses…

Basicly
avoid the eos-m – focus speed so slow its useless for anything except still life
For landscapes / snapshots – sony nex 5R is good (best quality sensor)
For action shots / olympus e-pl5 or e-pm2 as focus speed is unbeatable
Panasonic GX1 or GFs are ok, produce funny reds but ok if you dont mind post processing

The best compact camera out at the moment is the sony RX100 hands down.

hi rich… it will be for general pic taking. wildlife shots whilst out with the dog/fishing (have several kingfishers that regulaly fish next to me at my club lakes, buggers catch whilst i dont!!!). small enough to take out riding but with more control and better quality than a point and shoot. plus landscapey stuff when out walking. i dont really want to take a mahoosive slr around with a load of lenses and i dont think that i would use it to its full potential…hth

Loving my Panasonic Lumox GF1 with 20m lens here.

Also like my lumix G1 which I got as a small handy camera to use when the Nikon D300 was a bit too much.

The D300 got sold not long after my Lumix G1.

i use the realativley small olyympus epm1, good qulity pics for the price i paid, also got a huge deal on the fantastic panasonic 20mm f1.8 pancake lens.
the focus on the epm1 combined with the pany f1.8 is not as quick as the stock lens.
whilst it is a small setup when on the mtb i often stil reach for the water/shockproof sony tx5 that is tiny and fast.
walking and sight seeing etc i go for the epm1 and at night of course the pany 1.8 lens
also worth noting the video capability on the epm1 is not great nor is macro unless you get different lens

Lumix GF5, sir?

conuntzero…reminds me of the cameras my dad had! would like something a little more modern in apperance as i’m nt a big fan of the retro look

The retro look IS the modern look, currently!

also worth noting the video capability on the epm1 is not great

Better on later models though. The E-PM2 has the great sensor from the top of the line Olys, which is apparently really good.

Panasonic GX1 user here. Nice camera – significant step up from a point and shoot, lots of control. Size is good too, not too big (especially if you go for the powerzoom lens), but a good heft to it.

🙄 its as bad as asking which bike!!! 😆
i guess its a case of demoing a few in the shops then? see which feels best?

reminds me of the cameras my dad had! would like something a little more modern in apperance as i’m nt a big fan of the retro look

That’s rather the point, though, as it’s often the case that trying to make a camera look whizzy and über-modern just ends up compromising ergonomics and usability. Photographers often prefer those older camera layouts, because the controls are where they need to be, not where some design-school graduate thinks they look better, or removed completely and replaced with a bunch of cascading menus.
Plus cameras like that tend to be a lot tougher, using more metal than plastic.

fair point count… especially as it’ll be in a bike bag quite alot..

daftvader….I was being ‘funny’ after the comment from molgrips about Canon and Nikon fanboi-ism.

2 of my mates have got Nikon 1’s and they do take really good pictures. We’ve also got one in the lab at work and it works really well. Better than I thought it would ,to be honest.

stumpy…guess its on the list as well then!

5e is the Eos-m supposed to be bad? I read a few good tihngs about it.

Oh yes. I’m surprised you’ve found a good review, even from die-hard canon fans.

I’d look at an Fuji X20 and of Canon G15 if you want a view finder

If you camera is to over lap with biking then good AF is a must

SO phase detect autofocus will help

That’s Nikon 1 or Fuji X20 od Nex 5r

I found this X20 review compelling

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/fujifilm_x20_review/

hi rich… it will be for general pic taking. wildlife shots whilst out with the dog/fishing (have several kingfishers that regulaly fish next to me at my club lakes, buggers catch whilst i dont!!!). small enough to take out riding but with more control and better quality than a point and shoot. plus landscapey stuff when out walking. i dont really want to take a mahoosive slr around with a load of lenses and i dont think that i would use it to its full potential…hth

OK know one has mentioned anything remotely wildlife capable. Me included. You need lot of zoom. I have taken ok wild life shots on an older zoon. Panasonic Fz5

This list might help for finding a compact super zoom

http://www.imaging-resource.com/WB/WB.HTM?view=dp_long

http://www.cameralabs.com/buyers_guide/superzoom/best_superzoom_camera.shtml

On you budget you could almost do a pocket camera and superzoom. One for biking and one for fishing. Most camera should give good IQ these days

theres the thing, i dont mind getting a second lense with high zoom capability. it isnt going to be on there for the cycling side of things, but when i am out doing other stuff an extra bit of kit isnt going to be a problem.

Olympus do a 70-300mm zoom for micro 4/3. I have a full sized lens with the same specs, and it is usable hand held in many conditions. It’s equivalent to 600mm in old money, any more and you would start needing support.

Quite small too.

i am used to holding long things!!! 😉
its just another tech minefield isnt it?

Olympus e510 here got it off ebay and so far so good 4/3 so not as weildy as a full size

sorry for stupidity…. whats 4/3?

earl_brutus, e-510 is an SLR, although they are pretty small for an SLR they’re still quite a bit bigger than compact systems. However, it’s worth noting that I picked up an e-420 SLR, which is apparently the smallest ever made, in sparkling new condition for £120 including lens. No image stabilisation, limited ISO range, and not the fastest continuous shooting speed but a tiny real SLR for peanuts!

daftvader – 4/3 is the lens fitting system used by Olympus. Micro 4/3 is a different (but related) smaller system used on compact system cameras, and is used by many manufacturers. Most manufacturers have their own lens fit system, but micro 4/3 is supposed to be an open standard.

cheers molgrips. may look for a small body slr for comparison. lots to learn and even more choice than i initially thought…. my brain hurts!

I don’t think it’s an open standard.

Ok Good plan. Mirrorless with 2 lenses

So not Nikon 1 the long lens isn’t long enough

Not NEX as longer lenses are limited and pricey and not long enough

Not Canon EOS as its slow to focus and feautures 2 lenses

So Micro fourthird it is. I’d look for a twin lens kit with the longer lens at least 200mm

You might find a used G3 twin lens kit for that. Or is it £400 and extra for the second lens?

i think it’ll be about £400 for the initial get me started kit… then once i get the hang of it i will look at extra lenses etc

I wouldn’t worry too much about ‘long’ lenses. Anything around 150mm on m4/3 or 200mm on nex is as long as you need unless you start to get into specialist uses.

cool. thanks for all the advice everyone.
hopfully i will be able to get what i need/want and start taking some non phone pics 🙂

I’m a big fan of the Micro 4/3rds system – there’s some great lenses available and the sensors are really quite good now. I still use the first generation G1/GF1 with decent results.

Biscuit by Grum Wynne, on Flickr

GF1 and 20mm Macro – w/ Raynox DCR 250 by Grum Wynne, on Flickr

Helvellyn April 2013 (17 of 22) by Grum Wynne, on Flickr

20100308-Lancaster March 8th 2010-1040746 by Grum Wynne, on Flickr

Crashing Waves by Grum Wynne, on Flickr

Williamson Park Butterfly House by Grum Wynne, on Flickr

I’m not a big fan of my 45-200 though – it’s very soft at the longer end. Some people seem to have better copies than me though. The 100-300mm looks much better.

nice grum! looks like 4/3 is the way forward….
how trustworthy is the second hand market for lenses?