Are compact cameras still a thing??

99% of my photos these days are taken on my phone, I have a DSLR which takes great photos but never gets used because of its massiveness.

Sometimes some decent optical zoom would be nice, is there anything really compact, with built in GPS and a reasonable zoom lens. How small can you go before it’s not worthwhile?

Oh and ideally cheap and does something clever to get my photos onto my phone / into iCloud library. If not putting an SD card into an adapter in the phone isn’t too much of a hardship.

No

Edit: alright I’ll try a bit harder than flippantly replying to the subject in case it sounds rude 🙂

I’d recommend switching paradigms and looking at upgrading your phone camera before upgrading your non-phone camera. I moved to a pro level iPhone for the telephoto Lens and that’s been the death nell of my dslr days, similar camera upgrades in the android world also.

unless we’re talking proper telephoto (wildlife?) in which case we’re not talking compact cameras either.

The best (super compact) for me was still not that great – these days and that was the Sony rx100 vii.

Dynamic range was pretty poor and can be beaten with a Xiaomi 13/14 ultra these days.

And that what I moved to afterwards.

The Sony RX100 is not cheap though. There are better value alternatives.

It depends on what you mean by ‘cheap’ and ‘decent optical zoom’.

But the short answer is no.

I have an rx100 iv

I don’t think I’ve switched it on since I got an iPhone 14 Pro

We use Olympus TG-6 at work, i’m fairly impressed.

So the Pro thing is a good point. I have an iPhone 13 non pro, in hindsight I probably should have got a 12 Pro at the time.

My wife now has the 13 Pro – and yes I do wish I had her camera.

I’m not ready to change phone again yet, but but guess I will suffer with the inferior zoom until I am.

We use Olympus TG-6 at work, i’m fairly impressed.

I have one. Its great for paddling and cycling in winter (actually given the current weather possibly all year now) where my phone is hidden away but for random bimbles where I cant be arsed with my dslr my phone wins out.

I have a pixel 6a which takes great photos but the other day I was looking at some pictures that I took an age ago on my Fuji XF10. They are so nice, and although the hit rate is much lower in terms of good photos, I much prefer them. They seem to have a much richer and softer image to the phone. It is a pain in the arse to use though!

So I don’t think we’ve seen the end of compact cameras yet. Plus the other day I saw a small outlet in tresco solely printing your photos. Which I never thought we’d see again

Edit that is Tesco not tresco although I’m sure they have a small grocer’s too

Just got a TG 7 ( now O M Systems rather than Olympus) . Also mostly for kayaking where a phone isn’t very practical. Impressed so far and the photos can be transferred via WiFi to photos app/library.

An iPhone 15 Pro has something like a 15-75mm lens range, shoots 48mp Raw and ProRes 4K video. It’s always in your pocket, waterproof and automatically backs the images up.

I’m not sure how any compact camera can compete with that. Other than not being £1500 of course!

I have a (now old) Lumix TZ40 that I still occasionally pack with me on longer trips on account of having a 20x optical zoom. For some shots that zoom still has a bit of punch.

I too have an old Lumix  16x optical zoom and full HD which cost a lot more than my Motorola phone, but the pics are no better except on max zoom and the phone does infinitely better vids.

and ideally cheap and does something clever to get my photos onto my phone / into iCloud library

So good quality , full featured and cheap? I think at best you can choose 2 of those 3.

I’ve been down the DLSR and compact camera route, and am now happy that my iPhone pro does 99% of what I want.  It would be very slightly better with an additional even more powerful optical zoom, but that’s about it.

There seems to be a bit of a thing among the youth at the minute to buy up old compacts on eBay to use instead of phones for that retro feel.

Apart from that, the compact (sadly IMO) seems to have had its day.

I’ve got a few still kicking around. A Fuji XP120 that I’ve modded to take ND filters, etc., a Lumix TZ10 (only 12MP but a brilliant little thing – would still use it as my go to EDC camera if it didn’t annoyingly have dust on the sensor), and a tiny little Sony WX220 that has a stuck lens now (might head to eBay in a minute and see how cheap I can pick up another one). The little Sony was my most fun to use camera ever.

Although my phone (Pixel 6) can take ‘better’ photos than all of those, I still prefer to have a dedicated tool sometimes (proper optical zooms are a factor in this). I also find modern phone images a bit ‘too good’ – they all look the same (once you know what the processing looks like that’s all you can see – you end up comparing algorithms rather than images) and lack a bit of character. To the point (and I know I’m an outlier here) my decent phone only really gets used for ‘snaps’ or if I’ve got nothing else with me. I’ve even bought some old phones (my modded Oneplus 2 and it’s screw on lenses is an absolute joy) to use as cameras for ‘proper’ photography and use those (or my old compacts, or my instax analogue cameras, or my old Lumix G3 with some vintage lenses) when I want to be serious about things.

Got sidetracked. Proper answer – get on eBay and find a nice looking Sony or Lumix compact with a decent optical zoom and a manual mode to take a punt on.

Can’t remember if my Lumix does it, but both Sony and Fuji have had wireless image transfer for years now.

My TZ40 does have wireless image transfer.

Don’t see the point of a compact camera these days as if I am going to take photos by looking at a screen then a phone does that.

What I like about ‘proper’ cameras is how it feels when taking photos, looking through viewfinder, changing some settings etc,. which feels like I am taking photos rather than snaps even if the end result is largely the same.

I take photos on

iPhone 12

Sony rx100 (the original)

Olympus Omd with 28-300 equivalent zoom

All can take pictures. All have problems.

I put photos on social media but i print books and calendars too.

If dipping a toe in the water a used original rx 100 is a good bet. Image quality is great and the zoom useful. The quality is good enough to reliably crop increasing the reach. But no electronic connection at all. It’s really small. You could get an sd card reader for your phone

The Olympus has great ergonomics and I love the zoom range. It transfers good jpgs to my phone after which I can edit in Snapseed. I find this really useful. But it’s not a small camera

The iPhone normally takes great photos. Mine has no zoom. I like and use the ultra wide although quality is much lower. Some times in low light and bright sunshine the quality drops.

I’m tempted by a phone with more zoom. But I’ve got a record of destroying phones so reluctant to invest heavily. Plus with iPhones there is a dilemma. The models with x3 clearly with work well, but that’s less range than my rx100. The x5 looks better but then you lose the mid range, x3 in these models is just a crop

compact cameras and zoomies don’t really go together. There are some bridge cameras under 1k that have great zoom, but they are horribly compromised in other ways and will take worse pics than a good phone camera in most circumstances. Built in GPS isnt a thing for cameras. Olde ones didnt know they could have it, new ones (mirrorless) are struggling for battery life as it is and really dont need the GPS drain.

fwiw, all the cool kids are buying these atm: https://www.wexphotovideo.com/fujifilm-x100vi-digital-camera-silver-3152725/?_gl=1*1wrdakj*_up*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAjw_LOwBhBFEiwAmSEQAcFgSHtJy2kixvbPNrm1u7bt0hn3Z5YQmO5T5HMyPCOPftcQjP5Q-xoCh5oQAvD_BwE

I have used the Lumix TZ series with 30x optical zoom for years now. Pictures on full zoom are a bit hit and miss but generally it is a superb travel camera.  My iPhone is much better for low light shots. The LUMIX  has wireless transfer via the Panasonic image app.

Built in GPS isnt a thing for cameras.

My old TZ40 has built in GPS. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I bought it. When I was surveying routes and signs, having the images geotagged was really handy.  Now I’d mostly use my phone for that though.

Never understood the love for the RX100.  I’ve got the 4 and I’ve borrowed the latest one (7?) for a couple of weeks to see if it had improved. It had but not enough to justify the price. On paper it should be perfect but it just feels awkward to use with badly placed buttons, a terrible interface, awful viewfinder and the pictures just don’t look great no matter what I do. Basically I don’t enjoy using it.

Contrast that with my old Fuji X-E2 which was just lovely to use, took good pictures even with cheap chinese lenses and was capable of amazing ones with expensive glass. I wish I’d never sold it – just looked on MPB and they have gone up in price, not down!   I think if I was buying another compact camera then one of the X-E range would be top of my list with the 27mm lens.  I wouldn’t bother with a zoom as half the fun of using a ‘retro’ camera is slow photography. There is something zen about being restricted to one focal length and it feels different enough to the iPhone that its worth carrying both. However I prefer to have the option to switch lenses if needed hence not lusting after the X100 range

I fully agree on the rx100 range. They are the most frustrating camera I have ever used. More missed shots trying to remember how to change a setting than any other camera

‘Paradigm’…🙄

If you’re into photography, cameras are nicer to use than phones IME. But if phones mostly take better snaps and are almost always available, they’re the default.

I have a drawer full of film SLR kit and a collection of film and digital compacts that never comes out to play. Never. I’m hoping that I’ll get back into the creative (rather than merely recording) side of photography at some point and all that kit will see daylight again.

Until then, it’s a phone 😔

Thing I’ve found with phones, SLRs and compacts is the different level of engagement the device allows/inspires/demands from you when you’re taking a picture.

old film slr. You’ve got it in your hand because you want to take a picture. That’s all you’re doing with it – lovely, big, clear, bright viewfinder, you’re got the camera in your face and the frame is all you can see, manual focus demands further attention. You’re looking only at the image you’ll see later, framed by black. film means you’re careful when you push the button, too.

Phone – you’re looking at a screen you look at plenty anyway, you’ve got loads of photos you spin through on there every so often, most only for a second. You hold it at arms length, the image on the screen is a poor second to the actual view you’ve got in front of you, particularly for landscapes. You can take a few and pick the best later – that’ll do.

Obviously it’s possible use a phone like a camera as a serious image capture device, with as much discipline and attention as you can muster but, certainly for me, it doesn’t get the best of my creative efforts!

I had an LX7 that I really liked for the manual controls, really liked the aspect ratio switch on the bezel as well.

Currently looking at the X100s, thanks!

@nedrapier Well thats what I meant but much clearer 👍 A ‘proper’ camera (especially filum) is about the occasion of photography. A phone is just about snapping and I don’t feel the same involvement as I do when holding my old OM 1, 2 or 4.

Sounds a bit wnky but that’s ‘art’ for you… 🙃

For use on the bike? Always likes those Olympus Toughs. 7 looks similar spec to the 6, so might be a deal on the older one.

There must be something about a camera, cos people always ask if I’m bring a camera along to dos.

Always have my Pen with me. Usually prime lens, but it does have a cute pancake zoom which is handy and small enough to carry around.

Do use my phone too, but cameras are lovely IMO.

The influencers going on about Sony Coolpixs prompted me to find my Nikon P1, been using that. Hilarious, like a toy but pics not bad. Was the first compact with WiFi I think.

After singing the praises of modern phone cameras above, I should probably point out that I do use a Panasonic LX100 compact camera very occasionally and get great results from it considering its tiny size. Here’s a few examples I shot in Stockholm:

Using a phone versus a camera is a bit like touch screens in cars. I hate not having physical dials and buttons.

My compacts are a little different to most. I have really got tired of millions of photos to sort through sitting on a computer. Take one or two snapshots then just enjoy whatever the moment was. Then a few weeks later I spend a happy hour or so developing.

Damn! My folks had one of those Agfamatics, I remember taking it on a school trip. 28mm cartridge isn’t it? Something like that.

IMO computer trickery can only do so much and it’s only getting worse with AI editing. Look at the Samsung fake moon pictures for an example. No replacement for displacement, in this case lens area.

I’ll qualify my comments about the rx100.

Firstly mine was genuinely cheap, £250 brand new

For me the ever ready case helps with the bar of soap feel. Also having a strap does elevate it above my phone in situations where dropping it would be a problem

I have eventually got it set up so I can use fairly effortlessly. ISO front dial, aperture rear dial and down press for exposure compensation

It’s been in quite a few trips and to me really delivered. It’s the zoom that sets it apart from my phone. That and the images often print better and with stand B&W conversion much better. I should add that I shoot raw add run everything through Lightroom. Shooting jpg would be harder to justify

Here is a link to section of what my rx100 pictures showing west the rx100 has done for.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/john_clinch/4Z26K0650e

For use on the bike? Always likes those Olympus Toughs. 7 looks similar spec to the 6, so might be a deal on the older one.

Almost identical spec , The TG-7 has a USB C port for charging rather than micro USB. Possibly an extra scene mode as well. I found the TG-7 for a better price than the TG-6.

More than one picture on the front of national newspapers have been taken on an iPhone. And I know this how? Well my friend is a one of the staff photographers for a red top. He says the best camera is the one you have with you, and the iPhone is an excellent camera for snaps. That said, I’d like a Leica, and will have one. One day. Fuji mid-format at the moment. Phones take great snaps, and can be processed reasonably and of course are backed up trivially. But sometimes it’s nice to ‘craft’ an image. I also shoot B&W on a Nikon FM with 24mm f2.8 Nikkor. That’s not much bigger than a compact camera.

Lovely, supernova. Are the panos cropped or stitched?

Mostly I use my GoPro if I want a better photo than my phone. No optical zoom, I just crop the image.

Pentax k5+ 50mm f1.4 lense mostly stays at home.
Sometimes it comes out with a pancake lense on and fits in a big jacket pocket.

Very occasionally my old cannon g9 comes out. Big pocket sized, with an optical zoom

Damn! My folks had one of those Agfamatics, I remember taking it on a school trip. 28mm cartridge isn’t it? Something like that.

16mm film in a 110 cartridge.

What is missing in digital cameras is a very high quality sensory with a very high quality lense and nothing else.

That’s where I think film cameras have an advantage. The Olympus the the tiny Minolta 16 in my photo are straight up great lenses. Put a high quality sensor in it… Eg modern 100iso film. And you don’t need anything else.

Even old folders. I have a voiglander that fits in a pocket that takes a picture that’s 6x9cm at whatever quality the film is. That’s a lot of pixels.

I still use a Canon G16 when I want to take better photos

It’s only 12Mp but the lens is decent and good at low light levels

An iPhone 15 Pro has something like a 15-75mm lens range, shoots 48mp Raw and ProRes 4K video. It’s always in your pocket, waterproof and automatically backs the images up.

I’m not sure how any compact camera can compete with that. Other than not being £1500 of course!

I bought a second hand Sony mirrorless a6400 to use as an actual camera and because I did not really fancy strapping a pro iPhone to my camera helmet when I film FS or tandems. The camera itself takes great photos, but is dependent on the lens for a lot of the response and quality, so the kit mini-zoom is ok, but needs bright light and the 16mm pancake I have, while lighter than the kit lens, is a bit slower to focus.

Ideally I’d like something like the pancake, but with better low light capability and higher quality glass, but those are the prime lenses and they are heavy. The camera is heavy enough as it is with the cheap/small lens on and, yes, lightness helps when you are decelerating under a canopy. A lot of the time, the GoPro is enough, but stills are nice for the passengers.

I love the feel and styling of my fuji x100f, I spent a lot of time thinking about getting it as the ‘right’ simple fixed lens camera. It’s a thing of beauty, I now spend a lot of time not using it sadly.