Yikes!
I went away for a short Thanksgiving vacation and all of a sudden, there are 50 replies.
Let me just start with some background, and this is not to take issue with anyone's comments.
I'm 67 years old. I've probably had cameras and taken pictures for about 60 of those 67 years. Starting with a Brownie, I've had Instamatics, rangefinders, a twin lens reflex or two, and film SLRs with multiple lenses, before going to digital cameras. (I've had a variety of digitals too.) I've worked with exposure meters, and developed and printed my own black and white. I've been through a number of the manual focusing systems (ground glass, split image, microprism).
I'm decidedly an amateur. Prior to Flickr, I almost never exhibited my work. Nor did I make any money (I only spent it). Along with Flickr, I put some shots up on Zazzle. (To say that they're not amenable to street photography would be a gross understatement). To date, I've probably made about $15 from Zazzle. I use them mostly in private mode (images that no one else can purchase) for making personal New Years and other greeting cards. (Most could not be sold publicly as they would violate Zazzle's content policies - and no, not because they are in any sense what people would find objectionable, but that's a story for another time.)
Two things have always attracted me about street photography. First is the sense of being in the here and now, taking shots while life goes on around you, rather than taking the time to focus, find exposure, choose settings, etc prior to shooting. (I know it's not quite that bad.) Still, there is an immediacy to street photos. The second is randomness, which is partially due (at least in my case) to not framing precisely, and to the fact that often other characters or activities often make it into the photo, unintended, unnoticed at the time, but captured in the image where they can be seen in retrospect.
I've had these interests for a long time, but they came together with the advent of digital photography, first, because cameras were becoming increasingly competent in their automation of focus and exposure, and second, because I no longer needed to shoot, develop and print 36 exposure rolls, (or have them developed and printed, in the case of color, which I prefer). This was a significant relief for me, not to mention savings of cost and space.
So everyone has their own definition of street and documentary photography, and their own techniques. Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank may have used zone focus; Diane Arbus apparently spoke to and received permission to photograph each subject. I wanted to make use of automation for the details of the shot (I know of the principles of zone focus, but have yet to give it a try), and both because of my own timidity, and my interest in capturing scenes where there is as little awareness as possible of being photographed (think Heisenberg uncertainty principle) I have gone to hip photography, where my presence may be apparent, but hopefully, my photographic efforts are unnoticed. I have also worked with wireless RF shutter releases which all me to shoot with my finger visibly off the shutter release.
And so, I was looking for a new camera, having sent two to Amazon for trade in. I drew up my list of four likely suspects and one unlikely one and decided to "poll the panel". That was the purpose of my post. Of the five cameras I listed, I got a vote for one (Pan GX85) as well as suggested alternatives including Olympus Pen F and E-PL7, the Ricoh GRD series, the Sony 6000, 6300 and 6500, and the Pan GX-7. And that's all well and good. I would have liked some more feedback from people who do own or had owned the cameras on my list, but I surely don't want speculation from people who haven't owned them, and I appreciate contrary suggestions.
So that's perhaps enough about me and my background. To those who have asked, no, I'm not on the verge of starting to build a system. Time, budget, and the desire to walk around with a minimum of equipment all argue against it. Why an ILC then? Sensor size and resolution. Other than the LX100, it's hard to find a large sensor camera that's not an ILC. Why not a prime or fixed FL lens? Because I want to have some limited freedom to zoom. Am I committed to hip shooting? No, but I'll have to learn something that suits me as well.
I would like to thank everyone who weighed in , and especially those who took some time to look at my photos and comment. I do appreciate it, and I will appreciate anyone else who weighs in.
And finally, did someone suggest that it was illegal for men to ride the NYC subway with their legs apart? It is not. It is a fact though, that men have been criticized for "manspreading", which is to say, occupying more space than necessary on a crowded train by insisting on sitting with their legs apart.
