Advice - Camera for travelling

Eriedor · 3 Sep 2012 at 21:45

So decided to head out in to the world and do some travelling soon which means I need to address my lack of camera, currently I take terrible quality photos on my phone.

I've been toying with the idea of a CSC camera for awhile as I love the quality of photos my friends take on their DSLRs and would like to take better pictures at track days etc but I really think if it won't fit in my pocket I won't use it enough as I'm not "into" photography I just want as good photos as I can get without the hassle of dragging round an extra bag just for a camera!

Hence I'm looking at compacts along the lines of the Sony HX20V and the Canon s100 purely because they seem to get really positive reviews.

However the whole process is quite overwhelming as there's so many options and so many opinions so looking for advice!

So what would you recommend for a camera for travelling but also competent at things like track days?

Ant84 · 3 Sep 2012 at 22:32

What's your budget?

Can you stretch far enough for the new Sony RX100?

Eriedor · 4 Sep 2012 at 00:15

Tbh in my mind I expected to drop around 300 +or- £50 but it's not really a constraint. If there is a strong case for the RX100 of the s1-- and hx20v for my needs then I can push the budget to one. I guess the question is - is the extra £150-200 cost worth it?

a1ex2001 · 5 Sep 2012 at 08:46

We have an s100 and it's brilliant, the picture quality is fantastic and the go anywhere pocket size of the camera means it's brilliant for travelling. On our recent trip to South America we took both the s100 and my 5d mkii and to be honest in most scenarios viewing the pictures on our tv there is very little in it. The only thing that really makes the slr pictures stand out is when a shallower dof is used as the smaller sensor in the s100 doesn't really make this possible.

Nymins · 5 Sep 2012 at 09:53

If you need to the extra zoom, go for the HX20, if not, then I'd go for the S100. Both are around £260 and they both have advantages and disadvantages.

I have the HX20, and I think its great. The overall IQ is not as good as the S100, but its only noticeable if you view the photos are 100% and pixel-peep.

Cosimo · 5 Sep 2012 at 10:23

I use an S100 as my pocket camera. It’s very good and so small that you don’t notice it in a shirt pocket. The lens coverage, 24-120mm makes it perfect for travel photography. The video quality is good and of course you get raw and full manual control. The control ring feature is nice and it is well built. The charger is small as are the batteries so again good for travel. You can get one for £325 from a reputable source. It is a real gem and highly recommended.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 5 Sep 2012 at 10:39

Eriedor said:
Tbh in my mind I expected to drop around 300 +or- £50 but it's not really a constraint. If there is a strong case for the RX100 of the s1-- and hx20v for my needs then I can push the budget to one. I guess the question is - is the extra £150-200 cost worth it?

I have an S95 and the S100 is a good camera and I like Canon higher end compacts. However,the RX100 is simply better and being objective the RX100 is worth the extra money. It can do 1920X1080 at 60FPS as opposed to the 24FPS of the S100,has better highlight range and is better in low light too. Since the sensor is much bigger,you have lower depth of field which is very useful for portraits.

Eriedor · 5 Sep 2012 at 15:48

Well I've narrowed it down to S100 or the RX100, the question is simply is the RX100 worth the extra for me.

I had nearly settled on the RX100 until i saw this comparison

http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon-S100-vs-Sony-Cybershot-DSC-RX100

Boils down to

S100
£210 cheaper
GPS
240fps/24p Video
Better zoom
Faster processor

RX100
Nearly twice the money
Better IQ
Better low light performance
Panoramic Stitching
Better battery

Out of interest would there be much difference in AF speed between the two?

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 6 Sep 2012 at 10:51

Like I said the S100 is a good camera,but the RX100 is closer to SLR quality.

The RX100 does 1920X1080 video capture at 60FPS and the S100 only 24FPS. It is the first compact to do 1080/60p.Here is an example of the video quality of the RX100 from DCRP:

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/sony/dsc_rx100-assets/train.mov

Look at this review of the RX100 on EOSHD:

http://www.eoshd.com/content/8499/sony-rx100-review

It has a video taken with the RX100.

The RX100 has lower depth of field which can be exploited for portraits. Unless you want to spend well over £700,the only other real alternative is the Canon G1X which is around £600 to £650 and a bigger camera overall,but also has video limitations too.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 6 Sep 2012 at 11:16

Had another look at the OP - you want to use the camera at track days? It means the upper ends of the zooms on the S100 and RX100 might not be enough. OTH,the pocketable superzoom cameras have tiny sensors and slow autofocusing, which might not be so good for taking pictures of fast moving vehicles.

Nymins · 6 Sep 2012 at 12:16

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
The RX100 does 1920X1080 video capture at 60FPS and the S100 only 24FPS. It is the first compact to do 1080/60p..

Not entirely true. The HX20/30V does 1080p60 as well (not sure about the HX10), and I'm pretty sure it was released before the RX100.

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
Had another look at the OP - you want to use the camera at track days? It means the upper ends of the zooms on the S100 and RX100 might not be enough. OTH,the pocketable superzoom cameras have tiny sensors and slow autofocusing, which might not be so good for taking pictures of fast moving vehicles.

The HX20V has very similar AF speeds to the RX100 at the wide and fast at the telephoto end. Think its around 0.5-0.9 at telephoto and 0.1-0.3 at wide.