Help with choosing compact camera please?

Kerioak

Kerioak

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Name
Christine
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I currently have assorted joint problems which mean I have difficulty carrying, lifting, using my Canon dslr's so am looking for a reasonably lightweight compact that I can easily carry and use. I did try buying a small camera without asking here first but after the quality of the pictures on my Canons, I just could not get on with it and gave it to my husband as it is ideal for his needs.

I want:
to be able to photograph birds/wildlife so it needs a long reach
preferably have a viewfinder
to be able to get quality images equal to my 50D and 5MkII

I am sure there are other things but it is a decent reach and image quality that I am really looking for - does anyone have any recommendations please?
 
Christine

You could look at a micro 4/3rds camera like a Panasonic G6 or G7 which would give you 2.0x focal length (28-280mm) with a 14-140mm lens. You could also look at the Sony Rx10 with a fixed 24-200mm lens.
I guess there's smaller bodies, however you'd still be carrying around a large lens. If either of the above will give you the shutter speeds, focal length or desired quality its up to you. I think you will have to compromise.

Compare image quality in this link
http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM
 
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Kerioak said:
I currently have assorted joint problems which mean I have difficulty carrying, lifting, using my Canon dslr's so am looking for a reasonably lightweight compact that I can easily carry and use. I did try buying a small camera without asking here first but after the quality of the pictures on my Canons, I just could not get on with it and gave it to my husband as it is ideal for his needs.
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Which camera didn't work out for you? (little traps like this embedded in a question will often get people wondering but not replying).

You want to match the quality of a 50D (APS-C) and a 5Dii (full-frame) and have it lightweight and with a long-zoom. It's a tall order. Generally when there are three desired criteria the response is "pick two" - decide which is least important.


Have you ruled out the mirrorless systems? - the Panasonic/Olympus MFT systems and the Fuji APS-C based system. Anything more compact than these with a long zoom is likely to have a smaller sensor which may affect your quality criteria.
 
Let us know, through experimentation, what the maximum possible weight is, that is acceptable. Then we can eliminate some of the choice.

The larger sensor bridge cameras with long zooms seem the most appropriate to me. Such as the Sony RX10 mentioned above, or the longer lensed Panasonic FZ1000.
 
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Hi Christine, I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus so can understand how you must be feeling. I have settled on the OMD E-M5 MKII. However continuous AF and tracking is not the best for birds in flight, but practice can help. The 40-150mm f2.8 Pro lens with the 1.4 TC is a great combo but certainly won't get you the length you are used to having, and although not nearly as heavy as I'm sure you're used to, could also be too much if you have bad days like I do. There should be a 300mm f4 coming out next year.
Recently, I have been struggling with even the weight of the Olympus system at times so I have bought am Olympus Stylus 1 which is an Olympus Bridge camera. Obviously the quality of images won't be as good as what you are getting now, but with joint problems I'm afraid it really is all about compromise.
I think the short answer to your question is that anything light enough than the gear you have won't have the same quality. If you can come to terms with that, and want minimal weight I can recommend the Stylus 1 although high ISO will be noisy. But it has a bigger sensor than most bridge cameras which of course helps image quality. It has a constant 2.8 lens, with the range being 28-300mm. I have purchased a 1.7TC that goes on the front via adaptor so the long end becomes 510mm while still retaining the f2.8 od the lens.
There is also a very good Panasonic bridge, the FZ1000, but it is bigger and heavy but I do know that it is very highly thought of!
I hope some of this helps, and good luck for the future
 
Thanks for responding, - it was a Lumix TZ70 I could not remember what it was, and it was not in the house when I typed my query.

No, I have not ruled out mirrorless sytems, I had not heard of them so had to do some research and it looks like they need separate lenses which increases the weight again?

To add to my problems I also have frozen shoulder which means I cannot lift my left arm high enough to support a camera nor take its weight
 
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The m4/3 mirrorless system used by Panasonic and Olympus make better use of the lens area than aps-c sensors due to to the 4:3 ratio of height to width. So are smaller and lighter for the similar sized sensor.

One size smaller than m43 is the 1inch sensor as used in the Bridge cameras I mentioned above. As well as the Nikon 1 mirrorless system. This also has a 4:3 ratio sensor.
Let us know if you like the quality from a 1 inch sensor cameras.
 
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Yes. The TZ70 has a small 1/2.3" sensor. Great for parties and family shots, but can't handle much processing.
Next up is 1/1.7". Very compact cameras and better quality. But still limited. The next up is the Fuji 2/3" Then 1" then m43, APS-C, FF,35mm and medium format. I hope I didn't miss one.
Take a look at the results from these sensors on DPReview.com. Who have a camera database and sample images.
 
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Kerioak said:
79 views and no replies :) Does this mean that what I am asking for does not exist :-(
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Sure does ;)

Joking aside, you're not going to get the quality of your FF camera with long telephoto from the equivalent CSC, bridge or compact camera. CSC's will come very close though, but I'm not sure of any that have really long telephotos other than the m4/3's, which have two 600mm equivalent zoom lenses. I have the EM5-II m4/3 camera and with the Panasonic 100-300mm (200-600mm eq) lens the IQ is about 90-95% of my FF D750 and Tamron 150-600mm which is pretty impressive IMO. The biggest problem is autofocus, especially continuous AF which I found a bit frustrating being used to the D750. But it's less than a 1kg combo compared with nearly 4kg of the Nikon/Tamron combo and MUCH smaller.
 
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