compact cameras

So you want to upgrade from a smartphone camera?

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Most people who use smartphones have little, if any, idea about things like aperture and shutter speed. They just use their smartphone camera to take pictures, and tend to ignore functional specifics. Settings are whatever the smartphone deems appropriate for the situation. For example clicking on ×0.5 in the Camera app on a modern iPhone will get you an image automatically taken with the ultra-wide camera. Yes you have some control over things, or more control when using a 3rd-party app, but generally these things don’t matter to most people. The future will bring more AI to smartphone cameras to produce so-called “perfect” photos – and if you like point-and-click photography, that’s fine. But sometimes that’s just not enough.

So what happens when you are intrigued enough to upgrade from a smartphone to a “real” digital camera? Should you run out and buy a full-frame (FF), or should you opt instead for a compact camera? To figure out what you really need, you have to first determine why you want to upgrade. Is it because you want to learn more about photography, or perhaps you want better control of the pictures you take? Or because you feel hamstrung using smartphone a camera and want more megapixels, better optics, or just a better way of taking pictures. Regardless of what people say, a smartphone camera will never provide the same sort of control, or image quality of a dedicated camera. There are many reasons for this, but the big ones are optics, storage space, and battery life. But this isn’t a post about that, here I want to consider options for “upgrading” from a smartphone camera (I’ll cover those in a separate post).

Upgrading from a smartphone to a compact – some specs.

Once you have figured out why, then we move onto what sort of photography you will be focusing on. Do you just want a camera for better travel photographs, or are you interested in landscapes? Or perhaps macro-photography? At this stage it is best to make a list of things you would like to achieve with a digital camera. Some of these things will help you narrow down the type of camera is best for you. For instance if you like street photography, then the best camera might be a compact camera like the Ricoh GRIII/IIIx, or the Fujifilm X100V. Compact cameras offer several advantages over smartphones – a larger sensor is the most obvious benefit, while physical controls and ergonomics offer a more tactile shooting experience. Most compact cameras now also use touchscreen interfaces, making them very accessible. These cameras generally have a fixed focal length lens, and a sensor somewhere between 20-24MP (which is more than adequate). Compact and inconspicuous cameras are perfect for street photography – the last thing you want as a street photographer is lugging around a huge hunk of a camera – it makes you stick out like a sore thumb.

Some of the benefits of digital cameras

If you want a better camera for travel, then a compact is good as well, as are crop-sensor cameras. Here cameras with mirrorless APS-C sensors have become popular, like the Fuji-series of cameras. Cameras for travel have to be versatile, compact and light – the new Fujifilm X-S20 weighs only 491g (without lens) – add a general purpose Fujifilm XF 23mm lens at 180g, and you get a total of 671g (and frankly you don’t need to travel with a cornucopia of lenses). You could also go for a smaller Micro-Four-Thirds sized sensor, which provides a camera with an even smaller form-factor. Now you could even go for a full-frame (FF) sensor, but I would not really recommend it for people upgrading from a smartphone. They are generally heavy, ostentatious (for travel anyway), and are not a good fit for novice photographers. Learn on something smaller before deciding on whether you really need a FF (or buy an inexpensive, older FF camera). Then there are those that want a more specialized set-up for landscapes, macro, sport or wildlife. As these types of photography are much more specialized, requiring specialized lenses, I would not jump straight into them. They can be expensive, and often need a good amount of experience to be used in an effective manner.

Choosing a camera is about what you are interested in photographing, budget, future expandability (if that is important), camera ergonomics (it has to feel right to use, or you will hate using it), diversity of lenses, and a myriad of other things. Decisions on choosing a camera are often made based on sensor size, or ultimately megapixels, but upgrading should not be purely about megapixels. Most good cameras have around 24-26 megapixels, which is more than adequate. You don’t need 40 megapixels – really, you don’t. Choice of sensor size, Micro-Four-Thirds (MFT)/APS-C/FF, is often a factor of the type of photography a person is interested in. Every different camera sensor has its own advantages and disadvantages.

If you want to delve into the world of real cameras, it doesn’t have to be expensive. Start with a used camera, with a single, versatile lens. You can add other lenses as required, and even add vintage lenses from 35mm film cameras. For instance you can readily purchase vintage telephoto lenses for very little $. There are an abundance of them out there. They require manual focusing (that’s a good skill to learn), but it’s a good way to find out if you like wildlife photography before going out and spending thousands of $. There is no need to run out and buy the latest and greatest. When everything is taken into consideration, upgrading from a smartphone camera to an actual digital camera allows for increased flexibility and enhanced artistic opportunities.

The whole “compact” thing

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There was a time when the compact camera had quite a market. These cameras sat somewhere between the larger sensor cameras (full-frame/APS-C), and tiny sensor “pocket” cameras. The tiny sensor cameras died off with the evolution of the smartphone. Nowadays there aren’t many compacts left, perhaps victims to the success of the smartphone cameras, or to the success of mirrorless. Contenders now include the Ricoh GR series, the Fujifilm X100V, and Sony RX100. A mirrorless offers almost the same form factor with interchangeable lenses, and more features. Compacts often try to do too much, and maybe that is a function of modern technology where smaller does not mean reduced functional capacity. Many compacts do nothing at all particularly well, but maybe they were never meant to. They offer too many controls to be simple, but too few to show versatility. They are often built by trying to cram too much technology into the one thing that unifies them all – space. For a compact camera should be exactly that, compact. If they are compact, it is unlikely they will win awards for ergonomics. Compact cameras with small footprints, may not fit into everyone’s hands comfortably.

Compact cameras are exceptional for the purposes of street photography. The best example of this is legendary Japanese street photographer Daidō Moriyama. He has used Ricoh compacts for years, from the early GR film series to the digital GR.

“The GR has been my favorite since it was a film camera. Because I’m so used to it, I felt comfortable with the new GR III immediately. When I shoot with a 28mm fixed lens machine, I remember my old days. Comfortable enough to take photographs to your heart’s content. For my street photography, the camera must be compact and light-weighted.”

Daidō Moriyama

But here’s the thing, I don’t buy a compact to be the pinnacle of cameras. The job of the compact is to be compact. It should offer a good amount of features, but obviously cannot offer them all. The role of the compact in my life is simple – pocketable, easy to use, small, inconspicuous. It’s for that reason, my GR III sits around the kitchen for photographing recipes, or slips into a pocket for a walk about town. It’s small, compact, and oh so discreet. You can get into trouble in places like transit systems using mirrorless cameras because they seem too professional, but compacts? Compacts scream inconspicuous.

Comparing some features of the Ricoh GR III (compact) against the Fuji X-H1 (mirrorless). Both have the same 24MP APS-C sensor and IBIS.

It is of course impossible to find the perfect camera – it doesn’t exist. Compact cameras are even less so, but the modern ones offers a good amount of technology and convenience. The Ricoh GR III for example offers image stabilization, and snappy focus, at the expense of loosing the flash (not something I use much anyways), not a great battery life (carry an extra), and no weather sealing (not that big a deal). It’s low-light performance is impressive, and I don’t need much more than a 28mm equivalent lens. It’s role is street-photography, or kitchen-photography, or back-up travel camera, for taking photographs in those places where photography is technically “not allowed”. It also offers a 24MP APS-C sensor, which is more pixels than anyone needs. In fact these cameras could likely get even better if we ditched some of the onboard shrot. Compacts don’t necessarily need 4K video, or 300-point AF tracking. The more features, and customization, the more the likelihood that you will loose track of what is going on.

Prosversatility – Fills a niche between smartphones and mirrorless cameras.
macro – Many provide some sort of capacity to take close-up photos.
small – Unobtrusive, and lightweight, making them easy to carry.
automatic – No fiddling with settings and missing the shot.
Conslimited control – Lacks low-level controls found in interchangeable lens cameras.
low-light – Often not well suited to low-light conditions.
fixed lens – Not as flexible as interchangeable lens cameras.
battery – Shorter battery life because of the smaller battery.
Pros and cons of compact cameras

This is the fourth compact I’ve owned. The first was a Canon Powershot G9, then the Fuji X10, followed by the Leica D-Lux6 (likely the only Leica I will ever own). The Ricoh GR III provides me with the same sensor size as my Fuji X-H1, but is much easier to take some places when travelling, and provides much more in the way of versatility than does my iPhone 14, and twice the resolution.

Further reading:

Choosing a camera for travel

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Many people buy a camera for taking photographs when travelling. Yeah sure, you could use a smartphone, but it won’t provide you with the flexibility of a real camera. Really. Smartphones are restricted to having small sensors (with tiny photosites), a low-power flash, and uber-poor battery life. While they have improved in recent years, offering quite incredible technology inside their limited form factor, they will never replace dedicated cameras. Conversely, you don’t have to carry around a huge DSLR sporting a cumbersome 28-400 zoom lens.

There are so many posts out there which are titled something like “best travel camera 2022”, it’s almost overwhelming. Many of the cameras reviewed in these posts have never really been tested in any sort of real setting (if at all). So below I’m going to outline some of the more important things to consider when choosing a travel camera? Note that this is a list of things to think about, not a definitive and in-depth interpretation of requirements for cameras used for taking travel photos. Note that this discussion related to digital – choosing a good analog cameras for travel is another thing altogether.

What will you be snapping? − buildings? people? close-up shots of flowers?

① Budget − Of course how much you want to spend is a real issue. Good cameras aren’t cheap, but spending a reasonable amount on a camera means that it should last you years. You want a good balance of the items described below. If your budget is limited, go for a compact camera of some sort.

② Compactness − The first choice from the camera perspective may be whether you want something that will fit in a pocket, a small bag (e.g. mirrorless), or a complete camera backpack (e.g. full-frame, which I would avoid). For a compact, you could go with one that has a zoom, but honestly a fixed focal length works extremely well. Good examples include the Ricoh GRIII (24.3MP, 18.3mm (28mm equiv.) f/2 lens) and Fujifilm X100V (26.1MP, 23mm (35mm equiv.) f/2 lens, 4K video). Because of their size, compacts sometimes have to sacrifice one feature for another. You also don’t want a compact that has too many dials – their real benefit is being able to point-and-shoot.

Mirrorless cameras are smaller than full-frame cameras because they don’t need to fit a mirror inside – they use a digital viewfinder instead of an optical one. They have a compact size, and provide good image quality. The downside is that they generally have smaller sensors, like APS-C and MFT. I normally opt for both a compact pocket camera, and a mirrorless. Some are better suited to some situations, e.g. compact cameras are much less conspicuous in indoor environs, and places like subways – that’s why they are so good for street photography. More compactness = enhanced portability.

③ Resilience − When you travel, there is often very little time to worry about whether or not a camera is going to get banged up. Cameras made of metal are obviously somewhat heavier, but offer much better survivability if a camer is accidentally dropped, or banged against something. A camera constructed with a body made of magnesium alloy is both durable and lightweight. It is both corrosion resistant and can handle extremes in temperature well. A magnesium alloy body has less chance of cracking as opposed to a polycarbonate body.

④ Weather resistance − You can never predict weather, anywhere. Some places are rainy or drizzly, others environs are dry and may have particles of stuff blowing in the air. Obviously you’re not going to take photos in pouring rain, but dust and dirt are often a bigger concern. My Ricoh GRIII is not weather sealed, which seems somewhat crazy when you consider it is a street camera, but there are always tradeoffs that have to be considered. In the case of the GRIII, adding weather sealing would have resulted in less flexibility on lens barrel construction, button/dial layout, and heat dissipation. My Fuji X-H1 on the other hand is weather resistent. Of course you should also choose lenses which are weather resistent. If weather resistance is important, be sure to read up on the specifics for a camera. For example the Fuji X100V is deemed to be weather-sealed, but the lens is not. To achieve this you have to buy an adapter, and add a filter.

⑤ Weight − How much are you willing to lug about on a daily basis when travelling? You don’t want to choose a camera that is going to give you back or shoulder pain. Larger format cameras like full-frame are heavier, and have heavier, larger lenses. If choosing a camera with interchangeable lenses, you also have to consider their weight, and the weight of batteries, and anything else you want to carry. There are even differences between compact cameras, e.g. the GRIII is 257g, versus the X100V at 478g, 85% more.

⑥ Lenses − If you choose an interchangeable lens camera, then the next thing to do is choose some lenses… a topic which deserves numerous posts on its own. The question is what will you be photographing? In general it is easy to narrow the scope of lenses which are good for travelling because some just aren’t practical. Telephoto for example – there are few cases where one will need a telephoto when travelling, unless the scope of the travelling involves nature photography. Same with macro lenses, and fisheye lenses (which really aren’t practical at the best of times). In an ideal world the most practical lenses are in the 24-35mm (full-frame equivalent) range. I think prime lenses are best, but short-range zooms work quite well too. I would avoid long-range zooms, because you will always use the smaller focal lengths, and long-range zooms are heavy.

⑦ Batteries − Camera batteries should have a reasonably good use-time. Using camera features, and taking lots of photos will generally have an impact on battery life. For example using image stabilization a lot, being connected to wi-fi, or turning the camera on and off a lot will run down the battery. There are other things to consider as well. For example most batteries run down quicker in colder environs. Full-frame cameras are bigger, and therefore have a longer battery life than cropped-sensor cameras. Also determine if the camera just comes charging in-camera, you will likely need to buy an external charger. Some battery chargers are also slow. Ideally always carry extra batteries no matter what the manufacturer claims.

⑧ Use − What is the camera’s main use during travelling? Street-photography? Vlogging? Landscapes (for poster-sized prints)? Or perhaps just simple travel snapshots. If the latter, then a compact will work superbly. If you want to have the flexibility of different lenses, then a mirrorless camera makes the most sense.

⑨ Video − Do you plan to take videos on the trip? If yes, then what sort of capabilities are you looking for? Most cameras produce video in HD1080p, and some have 4K capability. Some cameras limit the length of a video. If you plan to use the camera mostly for video, choose one specced out for that purpose.

⑩ Stabilization − Many cameras now offer some form of image stabilization, which basically means that the camera compensates for rudimentary camera shake due to hand-holding the camera, and keeping the camera steady in low-light situations. This is more important for travel photography because it is cumbersome to lug around a tripod, and many places, like the Arche de Triumph won’t allow the use of tripods. Some compacts like the Ricoh RGIII do have stabilization, whereas others like the Fuji X100V do not.

The best way of choosing a camera is to first make a list of all the things you want from the camera. Then try and find some cameras which match those specifications. Then see how those cameras stack up against the considerations outlined above. Narrow down the list. When you have about three candidates, start looking at reviews.

I tend to stay away from the generic “big-box” style reviews of cameras, especially those who use the term “best of YEAR” in the title. I instead pivot towards bloggers who write gear reviews – they often own, have rented, or are loaned the cameras, and offer an exceptional insight into a cameras pros and cons, and provide actual photographs. Usually you can find bloggers that specialize in specific types of photography, e.g. street, travel, video. For example, for the Ricoh GRIII, here are some blog reviews worth considering (if anything they provide insight into what to look for in a review):

Lastly, don’t worry about what professional photographers carry when travelling. Chances are they are on assignment, and carry an array of cameras and related equipment.

The photography of Daidō Moriyama

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Daidō Moriyama was born in Ikeda, Osaka, Japan in 1938, and came to photography in the late 1950s. Moriyama studied photography under Takeji Iwamiya before moving to Tokyo in 1961 to work as an assistant to Eikoh Hosoe. In his early 20’s he bought a Canon 4SB and started photographing on the streets on Osaka. Moriyama was the quintessential street photographer focused on the snapshot. Moriyama likened snapshot photography to a cast net – “Your desire compels you to throw it out. You throw the net out, and snag whatever happens to come back – it’s like an ‘accidental moment’” [1]. Moriyama’s advice on street photography was literally “Get outside. It’s all about getting out and walking.” [1]

In the late 1960s Japan was characterized by street demonstrations protesting the Vietnam War and the continuing presence of the US in Japan. Moriyama joined a group of photographers, associated with the short-lived (3-issue) magazine Provoke (1968-69), which really dealt with elements of experimental photography. His most provocative work during the Provoke-era was the are-bure-boke style that illustrates a blazing immediacy. His photographic style is characterized by snapshots which are gritty, grainy black and white, out-of-focus, extreme contrast, Chiaroscuro (dark, harsh spotlighting, mysterious backgrounds). Moriyama is “drawn to black and white because monochrome has stronger elements of abstraction or symbolism, colour is something more vulgar…”.

“My approach is very simple — there is no artistry, I just shoot freely. For example, most of my snapshots I take from a moving car, or while running, without a finder, and in those instances I am taking the pictures more with my body than my eye… My photos are often out of focus, rough, streaky, warped etc. But if you think about I, a normal human being will in one day receive an infinite number of images, and some are focused upon, other are barely seen out of the corners of one’s eye.”

Moriyama is an interesting photographer, because he does not focus on the camera (or its make), instead shoots with anything, a camera is just a tool. He photographs mostly with compact cameras, because with street photography large cameras tend to make people feel uncomfortable. There were a number of cameras which followed the Canon 4SB, including a Nikon S2 with a 25/4, Rolleiflex, Minolta Autocord, Pentax Spotmatic, Minolta SR-2, Minolta SR-T 101 and Olympus Pen W. One of Moriyama’s favourite film camera’s was the Ricoh GR series, using a Ricoh GR1 with a fixed 28mm lens (which appeared in 1996) and sometimes a Ricoh GR21 for a wider field of view (21mm). Recently he was photographing with a Ricoh GR III.

“I’ve always said it doesn’t matter what kind of camera you’re using – a toy camera, a polaroid camera, or whatever – just as long as it does what a camera has to do. So what makes digital cameras any different?”

Yet Moriyama’s photos are made in the post-processing stage. He captures the snapshot on the street and then makes the photo in the darkroom (or in Silver Efex with digital). Post-processing usually involves pushing the blacks and whites, increasing contrast and adding grain. In his modern work it seems as though Moriyama photographs in colour, and converts to B&W in post-processing (see video below). It is no wonder that Moriyama is considered by some to be the godfather of street photography, saying himself that he is “addicted to cities“.

“[My] photos are often out of focus, rough, streaky, warped, etc. But if you think about it, a normal human being will in one day perceive an infinite number of images, and some of them are focused upon, others are barely seen out of the corner of one’s eye.”

For those interested, there are a number of short videos. The one below shows Moriyama in his studio and takes a walk around the atmospheric Shinjuku neighbourhood, his home from home in Tokyo. There is also a longer documentary called Daidō Moriyama: Near Equal, and one which showcases some of his photographs, Daido Moriyama – Godfather of Japanese Street Photography.

Artist Daido Moriyama – In Pictures | Tate (2012)

Further Reading: