Review: Best Compact Cameras

This article is written for you if you are thinking about buying an advanced compact camera. There are several reasons you might be considering this level of camera.

1) Maybe it’s your first camera or a step up from your too-simple point and shoot and you’d like to grow into a more “capable” camera.

2) Maybe you’re looking for something smaller and more agile than your DSLR, but you still want advanced features to create stunning images.

This article took a LONG time to create, but I really wanted to provide the most complete and excellent information for you. I’ve been slowly chipping away at it for days. I’ve spent a LOT of time researching, reading and selecting the best cameras to include in this article, for you to consider.

Before we get to the cameras, first a note: There are a LOT of very capable cameras out there! A genuine Gigashamullion of them! The competition is thick and the offerings are wide. No sane list could include them all and still be selective enough to give you the best choices to consider. In order to reduce my list from a Gigashamullion to something you’d be willing to read, I’ve limited my scope to the following features. I realized as I was creating this list, it was really being formed of cameras that I would most likely buy or be VERY interested in. The cameras that made the cut and remained on this list are, at the current time, what I consider to be the best out there with these features. All of the cameras in this review will have most of these features.

Browse my recommendations and if you like what you see, you can buy it through my link to Amazon. You’ll pay the same as you normally would, but a small portion comes back to me to help support the site. Thanks!

Important Features for an Advanced Compact Camera 

No ILCs 

I limited my selection to only those cameras that had non-interchangeable lenses. There are a bunch of GREAT cameras that will allow you to swap out lenses. For this review, I tossed those out. An Interchangeable Lens Camera (ILC) has some great advantages, but also muddies the waters a bit. Which lens do you choose? What will the final cost be? The size of the camera will often depend on the size of the lens you choose at the time. For the purpose of this review, I wanted to simplify matters and only include those cameras that had a lens that was permanently stuck to the camera. This may disappoint some of you, but if you’re looking for a review of ILCs, I’ll have to write one at some future date. For now: one stuck on lens, light and agile!

Hot Shoe

Another feature that is really important to me is a hot shoe (for an external strobe / flash). Most onboard flashes are … “cute” and might provide enough light in a pinch (a very tiny pinch), but SO many times they’re simply just not enough and I find myself yearning for a bit more punch and reach. If you don’t need the hot shoe at the time, it doesn’t add much bulk, but if you need the extra illumination and you’ve got a decent external flash, you’ll be glad you’ve got a hot shoe.

OVF or EVF

One camera trend that I’m not fond of is the elimination of the traditional eyepiece. There are just too many times that I’ve found a large LCD screen is simply not good enough. Bright daylight can make for difficult (if not impossible) framing and composition situations. Having an Optical or good Electronic Viewfinder (OVF or EVF) can make your shooting experience much, MUCH better. Being able to isolate, focus and compose your shot can mean the difference between a mediocre image and a great image.

Advanced controls

It’s critically important to me to be able to intentionally select how much to control the camera at a given time. There are (very rare) times that I’ll shoot in full auto mode, but for the most part I’d prefer to tell the camera what to do and not have it spit out an image guessing what it thinks I wanted it to do. I’ll shoot in aperture priority, shutter priority or full manual mode depending upon the situation. The nice thing is, on the most simplistic level, (let’s say that I needed to hand my camera to a photo newbie to take my picture) I could still set it on full auto and hope for the best. I like to have my options though, so having advanced controls is a must.

Sensor size

I wrote an extensive article about this one subject and why it’s one of the most important aspects when selecting a camera. I suggest you read that article so you’ll have a better grasp of some of the numbers that you’ll see in this review.

WiFi

Cameras made today should have WiFi. Nuff Sed.

1080p Video

Some cameras will claim HD video, but will only record at 720p. I was looking for cameras that would shoot at 1080p.

A Fast, Zoom Lens

If you’ve only got one lens, it should be fast, capable and have a good range.

Megapixels (MP)

Alright, this used to be the ONLY thing that people looked at when considering a new camera. I had to throw it in here because it is a factor to consider, but it shouldn’t be the only one.

Here’s a chart I created to summarize the features

Let’s get to the cameras! 

Canon PowerShot S120: About $450: BUY IT HERE

Hot Shoe: NO. (This is the only camera on the list that does NOT have a hot shoe, but the S120 is such a capable, very small camera that I couldn’t leave it out of this review.)

OVF / EVF: NO

Advanced Controls: YES! A tiny camera of this size is actually quite capable and packed with some of the controls found in it’s bigger SLR brethren.

Sensor Size: 1/1.7” The larger of the smaller, point and shoot sized sensors. (1/2.3 is smaller and 1/3.2 is even smaller still).

WiFi: YES

1080p Video: YES

Lens: A pretty fast optically stabilized lens (f1.8 – f5.7) 24mm on the wide angle side with a 5x zoom (24mm – 120mm)

MP: 12.1MP

This is a tiny “shirt pocket” camera that has gotten heaps of praise from amateurs and pros alike. The touchscreen is a nice feature to help you make adjustments on a camera of this size. It’s a fast and reliable camera, with good image quality. This all adds up to a highly competent package.

Canon PowerShot G1x Mark II: About $800: BUY IT HERE

Hot Shoe: YES

OVF / EVF: NO! (Very sad they removed it from the previous model, the Mark I) Although you can buy an optional electronic viewfinder.

Advanced Controls: YES

Sensor Size: 1.5″-type CMOS sensor. Big for a camera of this size. Bigger than 4/3rds and just under APS-C sized sensors.

WiFi: YES

1080p Video: YES

Lens: 24-120mm F2-3.9 lens with optical image stabilizer (5x optical zoom)

MP: 13.1MP

The G1X Mk II is one very nice camera. It’s got a huge sensor and a tilting touchscreen. The original Mk I was a great “pro-sumer” camera and the Mk II steps it up another notch.

Canon PowerShot G16: About $500: BUY IT HERE

Hot Shoe: YES

OVF / EVF: YES

Advanced Controls: YES

Sensor Size: 1/1.7”

WiFi: YES

1080p Video: YES

Lens: Pretty fast, image stabilized, 5x optical zoom (28mm-140mm),  f/1.8 – f/2.8

MP: 12.1MP

I’ve had several Canon “G” series model cameras and love their capability. They’re really designed for people who want to “grow” in their skills as they are packed with almost pro-level features that allow for robust control of your images.

 Fuji X100S: About $1300: BUY IT HERE

Hot Shoe: YES 

OVF / EVF: YES

Advanced Controls: YES

Sensor Size: A large sized APS-C sensor

WiFi: NO

1080p Video: YES

Lens: 23mm F2 fixed focal length lens. No zoom.

MP: 16MP

This is one nice looking and capable camera!  People reviewing this camera have raved about the images and interface. Although the 23mm fixed lens might be a drawback for some, for others the simplicity and quality of a fixed lens is appealing.

Fuji X30: About $600: BUY IT HERE

Hot Shoe: YES

OVF / EVF: YES

Advanced Controls: YES

Sensor Size: 2/3″ sensor. Larger than 1/1.7”  but smaller than 1” or  4/3rd

WiFi: YES

1080p Video: YES

Lens: F2.0-2.8 Fujinon 4 x Optical Zoom Lens. 28mm – 112mm

MP: 12MP

The Fuji X30 is one of the newer cameras, the most recent sibling to the X10 and X20 model line. The recent reviews have been saying some pretty impressive things about this camera. At about $600 it looks to be a good value considering all of it’s features.

Nikon Coolpix P7800: About $550: BUY IT HERE

 Hot Shoe: YES

OVF / EVF: YES

Advanced Controls: YES

Sensor Size: 1/1.7”

WiFi: YES

1080p Video: YES

Lens: 28mm – 200mm  7.1x Zoom f/2

MP: 12.2

A very nice little enthusiast level camera with an articulating LCD screen and can shoot up to 8 FPS.

Olympus Stylus 1: About $650: BUY IT HERE

Hot Shoe: YES 

OVF / EVF: YES

Advanced Controls: YES

Sensor Size: 1/1.7”

WiFi: YES

1080p Video: YES

Lens: f2.8, 10.7x zoom (28mm – 300mm)

MP: 12MP

A nice little camera with some style! Reminds me of a super tiny SLR of old. The Stylus 1 has a flip out touch LCD screen.

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX7K: About $400: BUY IT HERE

Hot Shoe: YES

OVF / EVF: NO

Advanced Controls: YES

Sensor Size: 1/1.7”

WiFi: NO

1080p Video: YES

Lens: F1.4-2.3, 3.8x optical zoom lens (24-90mm)

MP: 10.1MP

This is the least expensive camera in this review. It’s got a decent amount of features, but compared to the others on this list, it might be better to spend a bit more and get a lot more.

Sony DSC-RX100M III: About $800: BUY IT HERE

Hot Shoe: NO

OVF / EVF: NO

Advanced Controls: YES

Sensor Size: 1”

WiFi: YES

1080p Video: YES

Lens: 24-70mm F/1.8-2.8 lens

MP: 20.9MP

Considered by many to be THE current compact camera to own. Packed with features that help produce great images, check this one out if you’re in the market for a high end, but pocketable advanced compact.

Sony DSC-RX1: About $2800: BUY IT HERE

Hot Shoe: YES

OVF / EVF: NO

Advanced Controls: YES

Sensor Size: FULL FRAME

WiFi: NO

1080p Video: YES

Lens: Fixed 35mm F/2 lens. No zoom.

MP: 24.3MP

I just had to put this one in here to show you what is possible today. Yes, the price is steep, ridiculously steep, and yes, it has a fixed, non-zooming lens, and yes, its missing a viewfinder and WiFi … but they packed a FULL FRAME sensor in this puppy! That’s the sensor size found in pro level DSLRs! Impressive.

Here’s a chart I created to summarize the features

Summary

I hope the reviews give you an idea of what’s out there today and help you make a decision if you’re in the market for an advanced compact camera.

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