Looking for a decent compact but can’t justify spending a fortune. Lots of choice at £300-500 but I think that about £200 would suit me better.

Its mainly for taking photos and videos of the kids doing their sports and carrying in pocket when I’m out.

Wishlist: Pocketable, fast focus, decent in low light, good picture quality, HD movies (possibly slo mo), handles nicely/ easy to use, flash.

Camera of the moment at that price would be the Sony RX100 mk1 which you can still get and can be had for around,d £230.

There was a very recent thread about it….

Here:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/anyone-own-a-sony-rx100

Would a GoPro Session work? I keep thinking about one as a stills/video compromise

Thanks – I think you are right about the RX100 and that may be where my money goes. I just wondered if there was anything else I had missed. Lots of cameras in the price bracket below this, I just find it hard to make head or tail of them.

Also wondered about ebay/ second hand as I know the camera crowd can turn their kit around even quicker than MTBers.

Had not considered a GoPro at all – will take a look

djflexure – Member

Thanks – I think you are right about the RX100 and that may be where my money goes. I just wondered if there was anything else I had missed. Lots of cameras in the price bracket below this, I just find it hard to make head or tail of them.

Get yourself to a camera shop (or somewhere like John Lewis) & have a fiddle with some cameras around your budget. A lot of the time they will all perform very similarly, but things like how the menus work, where the buttons are placed, is the camera easy to grip can be more important that outright performance – especially for images that are likely to be reviewed on a monitor or printed out relatively small.

I’ve had a good play with the RX100 now and the only reason I would choose a different £200 camera is if I needed something smaller, or if I really couldn’t live without a viewfinder (I easily can).

the only reason I would choose a different £200 camera is if I needed something smaller

So if small size was high on the MoSCoW list what would be the STW camera of choice? I’m looking for something smaller than the RX100.

The Canon G9x is smaller, is it not ?

So if small size was high on the MoSCoW list what would be the STW camera of choice? I’m looking for something smaller than the RX100.

A decent phone.

Ended up going for the RX100 II after trying out the different models. Look forward to posting some pics.
Found it a bit easier to handle than the Canon G7x. Mark I was ace but wife wanted wifi.
Thanks for the advice.

What made you go for the mkII over the mkI? Much different in price?

Get some pics up when you’ve had a fiddle.

The RX100 is pretty small for such good image quality. Not the most ergonomic thing in the world. Obviously there are smaller cameras out there.

Mk 2 had wifi thats all (backlit sensor and tilt screen too). Mk 1 felt better balanced. Wife wanted wifi as she is out most days with kids at sports events and wanted to be able to send pics directly.

Cost was a bit more 320 v 250. I did get the 70 quid case thrown in as well to sweeten the deal.

I recently got a Panasonic TZ70, will come in at £160 once I get my cashback offer.

30x optic zoom, WiFi, GPS and can shoot in RAW.

You may find you need some spare batteries. I keep WiFi off on my Sony because of this.

The tilt screen is a big deal. The only time I ever use the rear screen is when it’s folded out so I can use it at chest level (which is quite a lot).

Sony DSC-TX30 is a great pocket camera for outdoor sports – water resistant to a 10 metres, so doesn’t need a case, sliding lens cover and really quick start-up – way better quality than a phone.

Yes I thought a spare would be needed – they charged another 10 which seemed OK.

I thought tilt would be useful but was not a deciding factor. I don’t have much experience – always had a viewfinder in the past.

Got the Mk2 book off Amazon for Kindle too which seems good value for 4 quid.

2nd hand fuji x10. Sony RX100 is far better image wise but x10 ergonomics are very good and it’s pretty dinky in size. Anything in this price bracket generally struggles in low light and aint great for action shots. Having had a bit of a camera fetish for a number of years, these camera’s aren’t much better than a decent phone these days, but I still buy them!

The Tx30 sounds pretty good actually…

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sony-cyber-shot-dsc-tx30/3

Fuji X10 isn’t what I’d call pocketable unless you have 3x too big trews. I’d go as far as to say the RX100 is a struggle in that dept and at the very limit of ‘pocketable’.

Compact cameras are rubbish for sports but you should find a v small Canon or Panasonic that would fit the bill regarding dynamic range, HD video and pocketability.

Used Powershot S110, S120?

The Sheldon Brown of the camera world rates the Olympus TG 4 (as well as the Sony RX100)

http://www.kenrockwell.com/olympus/tg-4.htm

The Sheldon Brown of the camera world

More the village idiot of the camera world to be fair.

Sheldon Brown was universally respected.
Ken Rockwell seems to be very divisive. I’ve never really looked enough to form my own opinion.