Compact Digital Camera

Secteur

Hello all,

For years, I took a small compact digital camera on every holiday. When I got my first iPhone about 5 years ago or so, I switched to this as it was so convenient, compact and geo-tagged my photos.

However, looking through my old photos, the ones with the (relatively cheap) compact camera from as far back as 10 years ago are so much better quality, with better depth of field and (I think) a bigger pixel count (i.e. far more zoomable). The more recent iPhone photos are brighter and better colour, but somehow flatter.

With the compact camera I'd also have to lug a laptop with me (left in the hotel room) to download and back up the photos every night, and carry a spare battery with me all day as they don't last long (the iPhone much better when cell service & wifi switched off i.e. when I go to USA).

With the iPhone, I just air-drop each night to an iPad - so much more compact solution for daily backups as I take an iPad with me on every trip.

So, is there a system to get a compact camera that can geo-tag photos, and get them directly to my iPad each evening without needing to bring a laptop with me just for that purpose (or some other way of backing up the photos till travel back to the UK)? Perhaps a small device which can copy photos over to a second memory card or something?

As for the compact camera, I see they go from £30 to £1000 - I have a flexible budget and would be happy to spend a couple of hundred £ or so, if anyone could suggest a camera, but since it'll only see use on the occasional holiday (maybe twice a year) I don't want to spend a fortune.

Sorry for the long post, and thanks to those who read it all and got this far!

Secteur.

Redbaron1

The wife has a Sony s7 which takes great pictures

tangled_metal

You can get a few.geo tagging cameras. Samsung, not surprisingly, does a few WiFi cameras and a few others too.

Battery life doesn't always have to to be shorter with cameras. Our phone batteries all last a lot shorter than our simple canon compact camera. That's a case of phone batteries never seem to be effective after close to 2 years. It's like a built in obsolescence which is annoying if the battery is not easily accessible for replacement.

You could get cameras that take AA batteries. Bridge cameras often take them.

My preference might be rugged cameras like the Pentax ones. Pentax used to do one that geo tagged with its built in GPS chip. Not sure of downloading though.

BTW why download every night? Large capacity card, perhaps a few and you just replace when full then.download after your trip. Unless you've got into posting everything on social media straight after it happens of course. In that case keep a phone for that with remote battery pack for recharging.

Secteur

Reason for downloading each night is simply in case of loss of camera. I don't have a social media account, and never share my photos!

Secteur

Ah-ha!

Turns out Apple do this little device to allow you to get photos from the compact camera's memory card directly onto iPad, thus meaning I don't need to take my laptop just for this.

Perfect!

Now to research cameras!

markhewitt1978

I've been looking for a camera for my Mum to replace her Kodak from 2009 which takes terrible pictures. It would need to be ridiculously easy to use (honestly the Kodak you turn a dial between OFF and AUTO and see messes that up more times than not. It would have to take good quality photos with some sort of stabilization and be super easy to get the pictures off.

Ideally that sort of thing would suit an iPhone but no chance in hell she'd be able to work one of those.

tangled_metal

Secteur wrote:

Reason for downloading each night is simply in case of loss of camera. I don't have a social media account, and never share my photos!

Memory cards. Stash them safely every so often. Perhaps smaller memory cards replaced daily. Then leave your iPad plus chargers at home. If tyre camera gets nicked your iPad and phone could too. Memory cards stashed or even posted home perhaps. Just an idea
Alternatively smaller card reader somehow linked to phone or iPad to upload images from card. Or even just get a micro sd card (can get an adaptor to turn into full SD card if that's what the camera needs). Then you use your micro SD card slot on your phone to upload easily. Leave your iPad safely at home.

BTW I'm not telling you what to do just trying to be helpful in giving potential options. I'm assuming this is on tour. I'd be worried taking loads of gadgets so would prefer little more than phone and camera. That's why I'm suggesting alternatives to having an iPad as well as phone and camera.

You are right that most camera phones aren't as.good as dedicated cameras, that's my opinion and I also accept that there are good phone cameras available just not many.

Anonymous

Canon Ixus always seem very user friendly.

Photoshot for the level up

I have an Olympus XZ-1 which is amazing for taking good photos but a little larger. Not sure if it has Geotagging.

Ben6899

Just in case you don't go down the iPad/USB route... my DSLR has WiFi and NFC functionality - I can transfer photos from its memory card to my phone very easily and very quickly.

So you could look out for that as well.

Gromson

My Panasonic DMC-TZ40 compact digital camera has wifi and location tagging. And it talks to my iPhone. The only frustrating thing is that it only uploads 30 pictures at a time, so it can take several rounds of selection to get a heavy days worth of photography uploaded.

Zendog1

I checked out photo file transfer a month back.

This https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1

worked and is that bit cheaper than the Apple rip off. Worth a try for £3.99.

Wheelspinner

There's loads of decent options out there that tick all your boxes. If you want a small and convenient form-factor, look at things like Panasonic ZS100, or others in their range. Their LX10 is a fine tool too, but has less zoom, and is dearer.

As Ben says above, look for NFC in the spec sheets to get wifi connection to your iPad, or that dongle works just fine too.

This website has plenty of reviews in depth of all sorts of cameras, from mega-buck to point-and-shoot pocket jobs.

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews?category=cameras

I use Sony cameras mainly, but had a pocket Leica for a while (which is basically a Panasonic with a badge) which was superb. Found the colour rendering of that one nicer than the Sony defaults, but that's all fixable in software these days anyway.

rolf_f

Secteur wrote:

Ah-ha!

Turns out Apple do this little device to allow you to get photos from the compact camera's memory card directly onto iPad, thus meaning I don't need to take my laptop just for this.

Perfect!

Now to research cameras!

Actually, that thing is seriously sh1t rather than perfect! It's only necessary because the deranged idiots at Apple think that they are above USB (which they aren't). Don't get me wrong, most of the time that unnecessarily specific cable is OK but where it goes wrong is if for any reason you need to put something back on an SD card (as might happen if your iPad gets low on memory) because, Apple have deliberately engineered that cable to be a one way only trip - you can only copy from camera to iPad and not vice versa. They've actually gone to the trouble of making the product deliberately crapper than it needs to be! If you are on a long trip and take a lot of photos and the odd movie it is surprising how quickly an iPad can run out of space.

But anyway, plenty of compact cameras can now synch with a Smartphone. I just bought a Fuji X300 - and now for the first time I have a digital camera that feels like a real camera and not like a cheap piece of plastic with a load of buttons and a lens attached. A real pleasure to use - tactile and with a bit of weight thanks to a metal frame and a perfect balance between not being too low tech nor too high tech. There's lots of nice stuff out there.

Alex99

Compact??? I feel sick. What you want is 53x39 with 11-32 on the back. Sorry, sorry, wrong thread.

Secteur

Thanks for the replies so far, and the advice re: dongle thingy...

I plan to go to curry's to try and handle some of these cameras and see how much lighter / smaller they have got since the last one I bought years ago!

iPete

Bigger is better in photography but you can get surprisingly large sensors in small bodies these days.
Seeing as you said flexible budget, check these out (probably overkill for twice a year!).

Sony RX100 III
Ricoh GR II (fixed lens)
Fuji X70 (fixed lens)

FatTed

I have a Fujifilm XQ1, which is small enough to fir into a jersey pocket. I'm sure there is something better now.

earth

I got a Panasonic Lumix TZ70. 30X zoom, a useful viewfinder for use on sunny days. Sharp pictures and HD video. The new one does 4K video.

pinno

Alex99 wrote:

Compact??? I feel sick. What you want is 53x39 with 11-32 on the back. Sorry, sorry, wrong thread.

Make no difference unless you've got the right crank arm length and if you don't, your legs will fall off.


Don't know why you want Geo tagging. I think it's just complicating matters and if you can do without (or buy a note pad - you know - pencil and paper, remember them?), your needs will be more easily met.
I have a 'fun' Sony Cyber shot (DSC-W630/W650)

They have stopped doing that model so equivalents are available pretty cheap:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sony-Cyber-sh ... SwmLlYA2zB

It's a great little camera and has video mode. I cannot fault it for ease of use and if you keep it still enough, the zoom is good and the picture quality is as good as £200 plus compacts and a hell of a lot cheaper than an iphone or self combusting Samsung. Click on both bike links on my signature - both taken on the this little camera.

I had an LG phone. Not very good phone but it had a cracking lens. I took this shot of Toots 1 with it. It's a deliberately very grainy B&W shot which I love.



Don't know why you want Geo tagging. I think it's just complicating matters and if you can do without (or buy a note pad - you know - pencil and paper, remember them?), your need will be more easily met.

I recently acquired a Sony DSC H400 but it's hardly a compact. However, it's a simiilar mode and menu set up to the mini Cyber shot. Sony - can't beat them.
Other cameras:
Minolta SRT 101b with Zoom lens (35mm film), Fantastic piece of equipment.
Box Brownie (110mm film).

rolf_f

Pinno wrote:

Sony - can't beat them.

No, you definitely can! I got one when I broke my Panasonic Lumix in Norway. Annoying menus, flimsy build quality and ultra short battery life not endearing. It does take a nice picture despite its small size and it doesn't have the dreadful touch screen of the Panasonic so I forgive it an awful lot but it can definitely be beaten and pretty easily!

Recently did repair the Panasonic but now it has the dreaded dust on sensor problem that seems to afflict a lot of Lumix cameras so I will have to pull it apart again.

Alex99

Pinno wrote:

Alex99 wrote:

Compact??? I feel sick. What you want is 53x39 with 11-32 on the back. Sorry, sorry, wrong thread.

Make no difference unless you've got the right crank arm length and if you don't, your legs will fall off.

...only if you legs go flappity

Secteur

Thanks folks!

Geo-tagging is, perhaps, not neccessary - I think i've just got used to that feature on my iPhone and it's sometimes helpful to remember exactly where the photo was taken when it is one of many taken in an urban metropolis.

briantrumpet

Rather love my Sony HX50 (I think they've updated that one) - not the smallest, but nice to hold, fits in a jersey pocket, seems to be robust, and the image stabilisation on 60x zoom (30x optical, 30x digital) is pretty stunning, for a £200 camera - I took this at a distance of about 0.5 mile, just resting the camera on a railing:



A pro photographer friend of mine tells me that the Sony chip thing that captures images is well regarded.

pinno

Alex99 wrote:

Pinno wrote:

Alex99 wrote:

Compact??? I feel sick. What you want is 53x39 with 11-32 on the back. Sorry, sorry, wrong thread.

Make no difference unless you've got the right crank arm length and if you don't, your legs will fall off.

...only if you legs go flappity

That's why you should ride a fixed 54x11 at a cadence of 20 rpm for 250 mile rides once a week. It's dangerous not to.

Secteur

Pinno wrote:

Alex99 wrote:

Pinno wrote:

Alex99 wrote:

Compact??? I feel sick. What you want is 53x39 with 11-32 on the back. Sorry, sorry, wrong thread.

Make no difference unless you've got the right crank arm length and if you don't, your legs will fall off.

...only if you legs go flappity

That's why you should ride a fixed 54x11 at a cadence of 20 rpm for 250 mile rides once a week. It's dangerous not to.

Pah! Sounds like a recovery ride for me, except I use 56x10. For 275 miles.

pinno

Secteur wrote:

Pinno wrote:

Alex99 wrote:

Pinno wrote:

Alex99 wrote:

Compact??? I feel sick. What you want is 53x39 with 11-32 on the back. Sorry, sorry, wrong thread.

Make no difference unless you've got the right crank arm length and if you don't, your legs will fall off.

...only if you legs go flappity

That's why you should ride a fixed 54x11 at a cadence of 20 rpm for 250 mile rides once a week. It's dangerous not to.

Pah! Sounds like a recovery ride for me, except I use 56x10. For 275 miles.

I've heard that getting a full set of Acrylic nails is as good as going to the gym. So, if your feeling a little peaky, go and get a manicure. Then you'll be fast as fook.

machman

You can get one of these at the Sony direct site, refurbished for £139, bargain, got mine!
https://centresdirect.co.uk/p-14427-son ... -wi-f.aspx

Secteur

Hi everyone,

I'm back as I still haven't decided what to do!

I think I might have got sucked into the digital camera thing and am now looking at better and better cameras, which are probably way above my needs. I have spent so long looking at online reviews that I am completely fatigued & confused.

I just can't get a fix on how much better newer cameras will be compared to my years old Samsung ST600.

The two that seem to come up again and again are the Sony RX100 (£350) and the Panasonic TZ70 (£270).

Here's a handy comparison chart: http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/s_action/c ... 18735.html

As someone who isn't a photographer, but very much likes to take lots of photos whilst on holiday, and spends a lot of time looking at them, I want a good but simple camera, and I wonder if the Sony Rx100 is a bit above my "point & shoot on fully automatic mode" style of photography, but if i'm going to spend £250-£350, I feel like the I should get the best I can.

My old Samsung ST100; 1/2.33", 14MP
Panasonic TZ70: 1/2.3", 12MP
Sony RX100: 1", 20MP (note the large sensor - 1")

So clearly, the Sony will take the best photos by far, but it seems that it's more of a serious-amateur compact camera.

It's really hard to find anywhere locally that has any cameras on display, without a big trip to the next major city. I went to Curry's and they had three (three!) digital cameras, all entry level and none of the above, so I am going to end up buying blind online.

Maybe I should just stick with the old ST600 and buy a new battery etc to ensure it's fresh.

Or forget it all and just stick with the iPhone camera (+ battery charger bar), since I will have that with me the whole time.

Yours confusedly,

Secteur.

keef66

Don't forget the old adage that the best camera is the one you have with you. So don't get suckered into wanting more and more features and extras that it ends up too big / too expensive / so complicated that you tend not to take it out with you.

Colleague of mine who researches his every tech purchase to the nth degree speaks very highly of the Sony RX100. Boss bought one too and her pics of alpine hols are excellent.

Secteur

keef66 wrote:

Colleague of mine who researches his every tech purchase to the nth degree speaks very highly of the Sony RX100. Boss bought one too and her pics of alpine hols are excellent.

Yes, every review and comparison I can find rates the Rx100 on top - my only concern is whether it requires the user to be more technically expert than I am... or if it produces the excellent photos in the hands of a point-and-shooter like me. Dare I ask, but is your boss a "photographer" or a pointy-shooter?? And were the images noticeably good quality / colour / depth etc to the regular untrained eye? I won't be exhibiting or displaying, but I want the images to be as rich as possible, and not flat like my iPhone produces.

mamba80

You can almost get round the buying blind bit by getting it from John lewis, they ve zero issues returning via a waitrose and i got my Canon G7X mk1 from there, fantastic little camera, the newer but cheaper G9x might be worth a look?