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Camera to complement your phone

Pao Dolina

Active member
Are you looking to buy a camera to complement your smartphone but dont know what to get? Then read on!

If size & weight are important and you have no plans to buy a 2nd lens then a point & shoot with a large image sensor like those found in a Four Thirds, APS-C, Full frame camera may be of interest to you.

Large image sensor allows for better image quality than any and all smartphones.

Their built-in lens tends to have faster f-number than the kit lens of mirrorless or dSLRs.

They also have WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC to complement and connect to your smartphone.

Listed below are some of these cameras that are smaller & weigh less than their mirrorless counterpart. These are accurate as of the date of this posting.

Full Frame
- Leica Q (Type 116) < looks like a Leica M camera but with auto focus and auto aperture
- Sony RX1R II
- Sony RX1R
- Sony RX1

APS-C
- Fujifilm X100F
- Ricoh GR II
- Canon G1 Mark III
- Fujifilm X70
- Leica X-U (Typ 113)

Four Thirds
- Leica D-LUX (Typ 109)
- Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100

Another option that offers higher utility may be buying a flagship phone like a Google Pixel 2 or iPhone 8.

You may leave your new camera at home but never your phone.

The best camera you can ever own is the one with you always.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
The Ricoh Gr II has given me a lot of wonderful service. I especially enjoy the fact that one press of the shutter can automatically deliver in rapid succession 3 bracketed images. It is so fast that often, even handheld shots of subjects further away than 5-6 meters, can be fused to HDR.

I have in addition the brilliant Ricoh GR-specific 21mm add-on supplementary lens and that is a dream to use.

In fortunately, the lens retraction mechanism needs to be serviced as it gets stuck and the camera automatically powers down after a few tries!

I can't recommend this tiny camera enough.

Asher
 

Pao Dolina

Active member
The Ricoh Gr II has given me a lot of wonderful service. I especially enjoy the fact that one press of the shutter can automatically deliver in rapid succession 3 bracketed images. It is so fast that often, even handheld shots of subjects further away than 5-6 meters, can be fused to HDR.

I have in addition the brilliant Ricoh GR-specific 21mm add-on supplementary lens and that is a dream to use.

In fortunately, the lens retraction mechanism needs to be serviced as it gets stuck and the camera automatically powers down after a few tries!

I can't recommend this tiny camera enough.

Asher

Great to know Asher.

It was pointed out to me that Nikon is selling a mirrorless system with a 1" image sensor. So for the purpose of completeness here are point & shoots with a 1" image sensor.

For the purpose of discussion here are point & shoots that have image quality between a mirrorless camera and a flagship phone.

1.5"

* Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark II

1"

* Sony RX0 1.0"-Type Sensor Ultra-Compact Waterproof/Shockproof
* Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II
* Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 V
* Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III
* Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100
* Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II
* Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX10
* Canon PowerShot G3 X
* Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-RX100 IV
* Canon PowerShot G9 X
* Canon PowerShot G5 X
* Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 V
* Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS100
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Can you comnent on the focal length choices?

Why is the GR series so popular at just 28mm and with a supplementary lens, 21mm?

Asher
 

Pao Dolina

Active member
Asher the focal length of these cameras tend to revolve around the standard zoom of around 24mm to around 70mm at f/2.8 or faster.

GR is popular due to it's physical size, APS-C sensor and focal length that is suitable to street photography.

Smartphones have a focal length in that range also but with sensors that are a fraction of the size.
 

Pao Dolina

Active member
The thread is a buyer's guide for casual photgs who want better image quality of the same photos they can take with their phones.
 
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