Compact / Bridge camera for Florida holiday

[Gary Kinghorn]

I normally shoot with high end equipment and am used to the quality of the image it produces.

I have a family Disney holiday coming up to Florida. Photography normally plays quite a large part of my holidays and no doubt it will again this year. I had planned to take 5d3, 70-200 and 35mm sigma art. The only niggling thought in the back of my mind is that using it every day, which I will want to, will mean a fair lump to carry around with me. With a boy of 5 and a girl of 10 I'll be on family duty, so lugging stuff, while playing isn't always ideal.

I tried 3 or so years ago to buy a £250 Sony compact and used just that on a euro Disney trip. While it did OK, I want overly impressed and was somewhat disappointed. I like to process raw images and these weren't good.

The question is how far have things moved on?

If I threw a £500/£600 budget on the table is there anything I can buy which doesn't need lens changes, will give me up to around 135mm, has good functionality, a fast shutter release and most importantly good quality raw images which won't be massively worse than a decent DSLR?

I'll happily buy second hand.

Any thoughts or opinions please?

 

[GHP]

I bought a Fuji X Pro-1 for my travelling camera.
Although I use primes, there are some great zooms available for the Fuji range too.
S/H prices are very low for the X Pro-1 now, and the image quality is amazing.

 

[stevelmx5]

I took my Sony A6000 to Florida with me last year. I've got 2 kids as well (6/9) so had the same family duties and found the A6000 was perfect for it. I used a Capture Clip to attach it to my belt so no strap swinging around and used the kit 16-50, Samyang 12mm and Sigma 60mm. With one lens on the camera, the other two fit into one of the bags we were carrying anyway easily and added very little weight. I also took a Manfrotto Pixi tripod to give some stabilisation for longer exposures. All in it was the perfect setup for me.

Edit - I realise this isn't a fixed lens but for the very small size versus quality improvement I'd take it again over a bridge.

These are a few examples (all resized by the forum app upload so have lost their sharpness!);

16-50 Kit lens



Samyang 12mm on Pixi tripod



Sigma 60/2.8



The full size images are here https://www.dropbox.com/sh/m4zi1ez76i8znr8/AAA7HVHvmJPqXq2PLe0TtOlba?dl=0

 

[Snapsh0t]

A Sony DSC-RX10 or Panasonic FZ1000 might fit your requirements. They both use a Sony 1" sensor and have 24-200mm or 24-400mm lenses respectively.
I bought an RX10 when it was first released in November 2013 and sold my DSLR a year later.
If I'm asked, I might put a Mk1 RX10 in the sales section which would save you a good chunk of your budget.

 

[sbowler579]

Sony RX100mk 3

Purple by Stephen Bowler, on Flickr

At the feet of Giants by Stephen Bowler, on Flickr

Red Canopy by Stephen Bowler, on Flickr

Sunshine and Showers by Stephen Bowler, on Flickr

 

[odd jim]

Another vote for the RX100, mk 1, 2, 3 or 4! They all offer stunning raw files.

I had this quandary last year while deciding what camera to use whilst traveling as being highly mobile was important I needed something that fits in my pocket and can provide stunning images as the RX100 was perfect.

 

[Gary Kinghorn]

Thanks for the comments.

Will have a look at those suggested and make my mind up.

 

[Ian W]

For me it was a toss up between the RX100 or Fuji x30. The Sony has a larger sensor and is certainly more pocketable, but the Fuji just felt right.

It felt so right in fact I ended up selling my Nikon gear for an X-T10 (as well as an X30!)

 

[FishyFish]

I asked a similar question recently in this thread. My budget was smaller than yours, but you might find some other suggestions in there.

In the end I went for a Lumix GX7 MFT, because it's pretty small and compact (although not really pocketable), had a viewfinder, and will allow me to get other lenses if I choose (or use my existing Nikon F-mount lenses via an adaptor).

 

[Glenn Surtees]

I've just come back from Cyprus where I gave my newly acquired Panasonic FZ1000 a good try out. I normally shoot Olympus EM-1 but left it behind this trip. I also took my Sony RX100 IV, which is a cracking pocketable camera.

Here are a few from The Panasonic:

 

[Gary Kinghorn]

Had a good think about it and decided to keep the 7d2 I was going to punt on for an extra month or so. I Will take that, my 24-105 and 35mm as a back up. Perhaps not idea, but selling the 7d2 to start into another system would only end in tears. I know what a gear whore I am......

 

[ancient_mariner]

That may be sensible. I was going to suggest a M4/3 type with a 14-140 lens, since that's a very light combination.