Last week I was on vacation up in Michigan and took a brand new camera that I had purchased especially for the trip with me only to figure out that it was too bulky to carry around. The Olympus OM-D EM-5 is a fantastic mirrorless camera if you don’t mind the size and weight. I did. So I ended up using my iPhone for most of the trip. When I got back home, I sold the Olympus and another mirrorless camera I had recently purchased (Sony NEX-7) and decided to just be happy with my iPhone… at least till my next vacation this Fall. But then yesterday I saw the announcements for the Sony DSC-RX100 camera and it looks like it might be a perfect travel camera for me. The RX100 is very compact, but boasts 20.2 MP, houses a 1″ CMOS sensor and a 3.6x Carl Zeiss 28-100mm zoom lens. The $648.00 price seems high for a point and shoot camera. but I might splurge on the Sony DSC-RX100, which is currently available for pre-order from BHPhoto (affiliate link).
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sexy ain’t it? very Leica-esque 🙂
@Anson very… I was actually tempted about a Leica DLUX-3 recently…
I’d take Canon’s S100, available now, for $300 less, and not cuz it’s cheaper. 12MP instead of 20, slightly slower but much more versatile lens, same RAW and true HD, plus Canon’s image quality is second to none…
@Mark do you have the S100? I’m wondering how easy it is to manipulate settings / manual mode.
@Julie… are you looking for portability, or upgrading from your current G11?
Because the when i bought my G11, canon had the S90 (at the time) which uses the same sensor as the G11, just less settings and smaller body. So i imagine the new S100 uses the same sensor as the G12- which means it isnt much of an upgrade in sensor quality compared to your existing G11
@anson When I was going to go mirrorless (Sony NEX-7 or Olympus OM-D EM-5), I was ready to upgrade from the Canon G11. But then I realized that the G11 takes perfect macro shots for my reviews and I don’t need to upgrade at all. So what I’m looking for is a very compact travel camera that is nice enough to make me want to use it instead of my iPhone.
If you’d rather use your iPhone instead of the OM-D or the NEX-7, then maybe serious travel photography isn’t your thing. That’s ok.
@Mark
Not sure how S100 comparison is even possible here. Look at the size of the sensor! 1″ vs 1/1.7″, the area of Sony is more than 3 times the size. Talk about bringing a gun to a tea party.
This camera works great the cheapest one i could find was 648$ on amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-DSC-RX100-Sensor-Digital-Camera/dp/B00889ST2G/?tag=207nor-20
It looks good but have you seen the latests Samsung range with WIFI? Easy on the go way to backup and share your pictures.