Crazy for Compact Cameras

01/04/2025

Look to the past for the best deals.

These days, the collective impulse of influencers and "creatives" is to get the Fujifilm X100 MkVI. If you can find one, it's sold at its MSRP if not more - north of $2,000. It's the Mercedes G Wagon of the trendy cameras. Rather than being regarded on its merit, it's more of a symbol that the user has "made it." Not that the Mercedes isn't a capable performer, it is. But few buy the vehicle for its ability to tear up on the Rubicon Trail. Likewise, the Fuji is more about the user than it is about what it does. Think: folks who still shoot with a Leica rangefinder.

Having gotten that out of the way, here's my next point - today's coveted camera model is next year's has-been bargain. There will probably be a MkVII and after that, the MKVIII. Even if Fuji releases models with a new name and new features, nothing will diminish the competence of the MkVI. No newer camera ever reduced the ability of any current or past camera. It's why I've always recommended that shooters save money by exploring the cameras of yesteryear.

I shot professionally for years and remember buying a new camera only to meet the requirements of a client. For myself, I only buy used. I'm sure I get the same thrill using a second-hand camera for the first time as I would using one right off the camera store's shelf. (Do they still have camera stores?) Understanding the specs of older models and, nearly as important, handling them, I am happy when I finally get a camera I wanted for years and knowing I saved money - usually LOTS of money.

If there's one point I want to emphasize in this post is: When you're lusting after the latest camera, look at the camera's previous one or two versions. You may discover that the new camera includes a feature or two you can live without. One example is rather buying the latest Sony RX100 model (the Mark VII), consider a used Mark VI and save at least $400. Both will deliver the same picture quality with the same amount of ease. If you want to save even more, look at the MkV while getting a faster lens albeit with less zoom range. BTW, there are shooters who prefer the MkV BECAUSE of the faster lens and its performance in low light settings.

By looking to the past, you may discover this whole photography habit is more affordable than you originally thought.

The Sony RX100 MkV is a great example of an older compact camera with great features at a much discounted cost from its original pricing. There are many other examples as well. Shoot lots!

01/03/2025

A New Year and a new name!
But I'm still offering advice and news on cameras.

I am considering changing the name of this page to better reflect the nature of my posts. Originally, I created this page as a non-commercial extension of my photo and video business. I gave advice including how to market businesses and brands using visual media.

Following my retirement, my page focused on all types of cameras. These days, you may have noticed that I've been all about small, "non-professional" (whatever that means) but still useful or at least fun and quirky cameras. Therefore, a name-change is warranted.

I hope you don't mind the change. I also hope you share this page with others who still have or are considering using real cameras that are easy and fun to use and produce images beyond what a phone can produce.

My best wishes and big thanks to those who follow this page. I still keep my promise to answer your questions about photography and cameras and hope the joy of shooting photos continue into the New Year!


Taken with a point-and-shoot of course!

12/21/2024

A reason why I don't shoot weddings...

11/13/2024

Even MORE about affordable, compact cameras

I'm encouraged as I see more people, usually, younger people, clutching compact cameras rather than their phones as they explore places. While they may be driven by popular social media trends, I expect that many of them are discovering what experienced photographers have known for some time - real cameras, small cameras, and cheap cameras are fun AND deliver more than what a phone can.

As someone who has used all types of cameras from unwieldy 4X5 film cameras to medium format to hefty, high resolution professional full-frame bodies and lenses, I find myself holding my old compact cameras more and more. And for the same reason as the kids do.

Before you spend a grand on your next phone just because you believe it'll somehow make you shoot better photos, why not cheap-out and consider some oldies but goodies.

Who doesn't love a pocket camera from Lumix? The GX1 comes in as one of the most affordable street photography cameras with an interchangeable lens mount. Wh...

11/06/2024

Continuing with my advocacy of compact cameras...

I believe, I'm convinced, that all the generations following the Baby Boomers have nearly totally missed out on the benefits of compact cameras. I say nearly because of the few who continue to shoot on the oldie goldies because it's a trend that will probably pass too quickly.

Anyway. I'm not naive enough to be that even when the kids discover just how great and useful proper compact camera are, there will be no resurgence in sales in that segment of cameras. Phones have made their play and they're rightly winning. Still in the world's most dedicated camera people country, compacts still make a compelling argument.

But a guy can dream

BCN Retail data suggests buyers in Japan are resurrecting the ailing compact camera market against a backdrop of rising interchangeable lens prices

10/24/2024

Are compact cameras really making a comeback or is their popularity a passing trend?

Earlier this month, I posted an article on compact point-and-shoots and their sudden rise in use on social media used by millennials and younger kids. It's not untypical to see the increasing use of proper cameras for photos and videos on social media and also, photos of young adults using proper cameras. No one expects a significant re-emergence of actual cameras. Nevertheless, it's curious that people are discovering what long-time photographers have known for decades: Shooting with a proper camera not only results in superior images but is fun at the same time.

I recently read that the camera market in Japan, unlike in other modern countries, is still very much alive. The trend is toward small mirrorless cameras, of course. There is only one DSLR in the top-50 most popular cameras sold there. (It's the Nikon D7500 that is being discontinued.) DSLRs, while capable of professional results and have the greatest image quality to price ratio, are dead.

Another surprise, at least to me, was that an Olympus-branded camera remains in the top-50. Olympus as a company sold to JIP six years ago which produces cameras and lenses as OMDS. A year ago, you could buy the six-year-old E-P7 for less than $500 used. Today, you're lucky to find one in good shape for $600. While a great travel and everyday carry camera (I'm a big fan of Olympus) the E-P7 is one of several compact cameras gaining popularity among young bloggers and are helping to raise the price of them on the used market.

BTW, I owned an E-P5 for a short time as well as an E-PL7. I sold both to my students who borrowed them and couldn't let them go.

Verdict: 4.5 stars There's a lot to find fault with in the E-P7's specs. It has an MFT sensor, it has no viewfinder, it doesn't even have phase detect AF and it's expensive for what you get. What changes your mind is using it. It's pocket sized but handles brilliantly, its 14-42mm kit lens is compac...

10/07/2024

In an earlier post, I mentioned the sudden popularity of using older point and shoot cameras by millennials and others. Social media have revved up the market for these decade old or so cameras. Cameras I saw going for $20 a couple years ago are now fetching more than $100 today. I'm not sure if the rise of compact cameras is a trend or a sign that people truly want to see makers bring back the cameras we took for granted years ago.

Followers of this and my DB Photo Tours page have already seen several photos I've shot with years-old point and shoots. When used within their intended range and purpose, they can produce compelling images. Forget the sensor type and what some say is obsolete tech. In this video, Robin Wong shoots with a 12-year-old compact that used to sell for about $20. Have a look at some of the results and ask yourself why you wouldn't want to use one.

Join this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjUwaonD9QVeDzEdSqwrGmA/joinThere is a resurgence of CCD compact cameras in general...

09/01/2024

Like others who never needed TikTok or other social trends to determine how they’d share their images, I’ve always preferred point and shoot cameras to phones. This despite using professional cameras for work. My favorite compact camera of all time has become the darling of a new generation who is only now discovering the benefits of a proper camera.

https://petapixel.com/2024/08/30/manufacturers-were-unprepared-for-the-point-and-shoot-camera-revival/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0BF-NpfeI06b6xqjboDz4pT8uiluiCSsfnp1WYdSVIXEqdmUpzRNuQB-Y_aem_been

Point and shoot cameras are selling with high markups on eBay and used marketplaces, and the latest generation of pocketable compact models from 2019 are widely sold out.

07/31/2024

Like the author of this article, I'm stumped why the subject camera never caught on with the market with which it would fit perfectly.

Those following the trend of highly- performing, ergonomic, retro-styled cameras seemed to have missed the Olympus digital Pen-F. Today, you can't buy the retro-oozy Fujifilm X100VI as it's back-ordered for months. Yet, the Olympus offering has far more features for photographers and costs less than half the price. And it's no longer produced. Was Olympus too far ahead of its time? Yes. And other stuff.

Olympus no longer exists as a company but its legacy lives on in OMDS, OM Digital Solutions. Dumb name for a camera company. OMDS decided to no longer produce the Pen-F instead concentrating on the DSLR-style, mirrorless models which are fantastic in their own way, BTW.

While the Fujifilm X100VI has a fixed (non removable) lens, the Pen-F can use dozens of fantastically-competent Micro-Four-Thirds, MFT, lenses. A detractor may mention that the Fuji has a larger sensor, therefore, better. And that's true but at the same time, professionals and their clients are quite happy with the images that emerge from MFT glass. I've owned several Olympus MFT cameras and find their photos excellent.

Yet, the best thing about the Pen-F is not its capabilities, not its great photos, not its price but, man, does it feel great in your hand. Its size, weight, and form seems to be molded for my hand and is a joy just to hold. I've yet to own one but using it is fun even when not actually shooting. I've probably shot with 50 or more cameras and the Pen-F fits me the best. Another camera body, the MFT Olympus EM1-MkII is a close second.

More than a few who have tested a myriad cameras have mentioned that the Pen-F may be the perfect travel camera for its balanced set of form, function, and image quality.

I've seen the Pen-F go for a hair below $1,000 in the used market and could very well be my next camera buy. Yours maybe?

I FINALLY found a good used Olympus PEN-F – and it's even better than I remember

07/03/2024

Real or fake

I'm highly suspicious of this "photograph." It took third place in a photo contest whose rules prohibited overly manipulated images. There are, to me, obvious problems say "not real."

What do you think?

07/03/2024

Wha!?

Bridge cameras are not dead.

Probably the most versatile, some would say "perfect," amateur travel camera genre are "bridge" cameras. So called because they "bridge" the styles of DSLRs and compact point-and-shoots. Their characteristics are a fixed, long-range zoom lens, ergonomic form, and better than compact performance.

In a day when smartphones boast about the reach of their telephoto lens which has an equivalent focal length of 70mm, models of bridge cameras go ten times longer and more. One model offered by Nikon goes to 3000mm.

I've used and owned at least a half dozen such models and still yearn for a model announced seven years ago. My current and only bridge model is the under-rated Panasonic Lumix FX300. Lumix and Sony are considered the top brands for bridge cameras even if they haven't introduced a model in years. Until now.

The Lumix FX80 was and is still a coveted bridge camera for its handling, versatility, and performance to price ratio. Lumix recently introduced an update and it looks to be even a more useable one.

Panasonic bucks the trend and launches a newish superzoom compact camera with 20-1200mm lens

05/31/2024

And you thought Kodak was dead

It's dead like a fox.
Kodak branded cameras have the greatest market share in the whole country. Oh sure, that country is Japan. Still, Japan is the birthplace of Nikon, Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Fujifilm, and Olympus. The Japanese know a bit about photography and taking pictures. They shoot and store more photos per person than the citizens of the U.S. do and they are more savvy about photography than Americans are. Also, didja know that despite the lead by Sony, Nikon, and Canon in the advanced interchangeable lens compact camera segment in the U.S., in Japan it's OMDS (née Olympus) outselling all other brands.

Sure, Japanese millennials as American millennials lead the charge in the surging point-and-shoot market. They are rediscovering the fun of using a proper camera rather than the unwieldy handling of smartphones even if the picture quality of the cheapest point-and-shoot isn't visibly better.

Kodak, like Freddy Krueger, has never really died. Its latent presence is mostly hidden. But it has found customers in a market yearning for a novel way to photograph. Essentially, the same company that invented the consumer photography industry a century ago is touting its cameras not so much as photographic tools but as a fun way to experience life. If you remember Polaroid's Sw***er of 1967 (I do and to hell with you young kids who have never shot a photo with a real camera.). The Sw***er was never about image quality or pocketability. It was about the fun and carefree lifestyle experience. I argue that the Polaroid model was the first bit of electronics carried as a fashion statement. Prove me wrong.

The Kodak line of cameras, if they ever make it to American soil, will be a hard sell. But, then, 12-year-old, pink Sony point-and-shoots are selling for $300 on Craigslist.

Kodak has more market share than Canon, Sony, Fujifilm and Nikon in Japan, owning almost a quarter of the market

05/27/2024

05/15/2024

Why your phone is cheating you

About 99% of all photos shot on a smartphone are viewed, big surprise, on a smartphone. Even as Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi boast 12 to 200-megapixel resolution, what they deliver to your screen is 4 megapixels or fewer. Four megapixels. (BTW, most phones that claim greater than a 12-megapixel resolution still have a 12-megapixel sensor but that's another story for another time.)

Your iPhone 15 Pro Max has a screen resolution of less than 4 megapixels. Not 4K as some keep saying. So why are you believing that the "better" cameras on newer phones beat the cameras on older phones?

Of course it's marketing and some clever software that you're buying. But it ain't resolution. And that gets to a reason why your (and my) phone is the place where most folks view their photos (if they ever view them at all) - they don't look so good on a computer monitor and worse on a typical flatscreen TV monitor.

The bottom line for aspiring photographers is to consider buying a proper camera and, perhaps, learn a simple editing application, and really begin to appreciate your images on a screen larger and with more resolution than a phone.

04/24/2024

An updated and very welcome icon

When I was a college student in Germany, the camera I wanted was the Rollei 35. It was an odd duck characterized by pure function regardless of looks. Very Teutonic. I mean, who puts the hot shoe on the base plate? That's the reason I wanted the little gem and I wasn't the only one who thought so. The Rollei was hugely popular and became an instant icon. Folks continued to use the original well into the digital age.

Today the latest version of the still film based Rollei 35 is updated with autofocusing ability and a new lens but with the same old specs.

I wouldn't own one anymore but if someone told me I'd have to buy a 35mm film camera again, I'd probably go for this one.

The new Rollei 35AF features a 35mm f/2.8 lens, autofocus, and other user-friendly features bring new life film to analog!

04/24/2024

Smallest Mirrorless Camera?

Not by a long shot (or wide-angle shot).
This Kickstarter campaign is not exactly accurate nor is its offering compelling given the vast number of smaller and cheaper mirrorless cameras using interchangeable lenses available today.

For instance, the Olympus E-PL 2 (no longer made but hundreds available in the used market) goes for less than $130 with a lens. Olympus has a huge variety of lenses that are all superior in performance and image quality to Yashica. You can get an Olympus E-PL7 with a couple of zoom lenses for the same price as this Kickstarter camera. Again, smaller than this camera, has a flippy screen so you can see yourself. and can accept a viewfinder. I know the price and performance because it's what I paid for mine.

If tiny is your desire but you want a camera that takes interchangeable lenses and photos that can be amazing, choose the Olympus E-PL line of cameras. Also, Panasonic Lumix has some small mirrorless cameras including the the actual smallest ever made.

The little big one has arrived. The smallest mirrorless ever invented!