Let's talk travel cameras

Guy Parsons · Apr 14, 2019

Pixel boy said:
So my question to others is how good a camera do you really need on vacation?

Just left meeting with friends from England who visited us in Australia and today met up with us for the day in Singapore on their way back home. We are in Singapore for a couple of weeks holiday. OK that's the preamble... ..

Usually I take M4/3 gear for holidays but this time we are both using Sony RX100 M6 as convenient pocket cameras as a trial for an intended trip to Ireland and England later this year. So far the 20MP pocket cameras have done all that I need. With 24mm to 200mm equivalent and useful results at up to ISO 6400 not sure that I ever need to carry the M4/3 gear at all for overseas trips, reserve it for at home or car trips.

Meanwhile our English visitors are doing very well indeed with their smartphones making our pocket cameras look a bit overkill ? .......

Ah, but there's nothing like a real camera with genuine optical zoom, so I'm 100% happy with the Sony and still even see a future for my M4/3 gear with a neat fisheye lens for some of those impossible situations that the Sony cannot cover.

So back to the OP question, the camera you need on holidays needs to have a useful zoom range plus have internals that can deliver a useful image in poor light, and the little Sonys do that with ease. Way back in film days we came to the conclusion that the best travel lens was 28-200mm as the best compromise between size and useful framing ability, now the current 24-200mm equivalent fills the bill nicely.

The sensor size matters as well and for me it appears that the 1" sensor is my personal low limit.

If smartphones ever get a 1" sensor combined with a genuine optical zoom to deliver 24-200mm equivalent then I may become interested in buying one. Meanwhile a real camera works just fine.

Regards...... Guy

vallhall · Apr 14, 2019

Guy Parsons said:
Pixel boy said:

So my question to others is how good a camera do you really need on vacation?

Click to expand...

Just left meeting with friends from England who visited us in Australia and today met up with us for the day in Singapore on their way back home. We are in Singapore for a couple of weeks holiday. OK that's the preamble... ..

Usually I take M4/3 gear for holidays but this time we are both using Sony RX100 M6 as convenient pocket cameras as a trial for an intended trip to Ireland and England later this year. So far the 20MP pocket cameras have done all that I need. With 24mm to 200mm equivalent and useful results at up to ISO 6400 not sure that I ever need to carry the M4/3 gear at all for overseas trips, reserve it for at home or car trips.

Meanwhile our English visitors are doing very well indeed with their smartphones making our pocket cameras look a bit overkill ? .......

Ah, but there's nothing like a real camera with genuine optical zoom, so I'm 100% happy with the Sony and still even see a future for my M4/3 gear with a neat fisheye lens for some of those impossible situations that the Sony cannot cover.

So back to the OP question, the camera you need on holidays needs to have a useful zoom range plus have internals that can deliver a useful image in poor light, and the little Sonys do that with ease. Way back in film days we came to the conclusion that the best travel lens was 28-200mm as the best compromise between size and useful framing ability, now the current 24-200mm equivalent fills the bill nicely.

The sensor size matters as well and for me it appears that the 1" sensor is my personal low limit.

If smartphones ever get a 1" sensor combined with a genuine optical zoom to deliver 24-200mm equivalent then I may become interested in buying one. Meanwhile a real camera works just fine.

Regards...... Guy

I am sure the Huawei phones can do the same as your little Sony, maybe not as good, but not far from it

jwilliams · Apr 14, 2019

Pixel boy said:
So my question to others is how good a camera do you really need on vacation?

Really the question is what will you do with your travel photos? Show them to others on your phone or computer? Then a good phone camera is fine if it has the focal lengths you need. If you want to make a large print of something to hang on your wall then at least a decent ILC and lens. Probably the best middle ground for IQ and size are 1" compact cameras. Something like a RX100 VI would make a powerful compact travel camera and at low ISOs can make large prints.

Panasonic used to make the GM series of m43 cameras that were incredibly compact and had 12-32 (24-64 35mm equiv.) and 35-100 (70-200) lenses that were compact and had very good IQ. The cameras are no more. Maybe the RX series of cameras killed the need for them. I own a GM1 w12-32 and 35-100, but I think a RX100 VI would basically accomplish the same thing with no need to change lenses, Not cheap though.

dmartin92 · Apr 14, 2019

Asking the question: how good a camera do you need on vacation ?

For myself, I have been taking digital photos since December 2002.

I have good images from lousy cameras and bad images from great cameras. And all the other combinations.

Clearly the smartphone cameras are getting better, but the traditional cameras with good lenses are still superior. As the lenses are the real issue, things will always be that way, I think. There is nothing better than good lenses.

But what does any of it matter ? More good images ? Why ? Did I ever need them ? But some days, even now, it’s fun.

It’s not just « YMMV », Your Mileage May Vary, but even more so... your mileage may vary from day to day, week to week, or month to month.

Some days, or some vacation trips, you may bring along camera-X and be glad you did, or other situations you may not, and be glad about that too.

It’s not really a question you can ask in a forum and get an answer. Just do whatever you want, and see how it goes. If you get some images that please you, terrific. And if you miss a few, well, that’s not really a huge problem. Your life will go on, either way.

Just do whatever you feel like in any situation. Don’t be surprised if you feel differently in the same situation at some other time.

Corkcampbell · Apr 14, 2019

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Guy Parsons · Apr 14, 2019

vallhall said:
Guy Parsons said:

Pixel boy said:

So my question to others is how good a camera do you really need on vacation?

Click to expand...

Just left meeting with friends from England who visited us in Australia and today met up with us for the day in Singapore on their way back home. We are in Singapore for a couple of weeks holiday. OK that's the preamble... ..

Usually I take M4/3 gear for holidays but this time we are both using Sony RX100 M6 as convenient pocket cameras as a trial for an intended trip to Ireland and England later this year. So far the 20MP pocket cameras have done all that I need. With 24mm to 200mm equivalent and useful results at up to ISO 6400 not sure that I ever need to carry the M4/3 gear at all for overseas trips, reserve it for at home or car trips.

Meanwhile our English visitors are doing very well indeed with their smartphones making our pocket cameras look a bit overkill ? .......

Ah, but there's nothing like a real camera with genuine optical zoom, so I'm 100% happy with the Sony and still even see a future for my M4/3 gear with a neat fisheye lens for some of those impossible situations that the Sony cannot cover.

So back to the OP question, the camera you need on holidays needs to have a useful zoom range plus have internals that can deliver a useful image in poor light, and the little Sonys do that with ease. Way back in film days we came to the conclusion that the best travel lens was 28-200mm as the best compromise between size and useful framing ability, now the current 24-200mm equivalent fills the bill nicely.

The sensor size matters as well and for me it appears that the 1" sensor is my personal low limit.

If smartphones ever get a 1" sensor combined with a genuine optical zoom to deliver 24-200mm equivalent then I may become interested in buying one. Meanwhile a real camera works just fine.

Regards...... Guy

Click to expand...

I am sure the Huawei phones can do the same as your little Sony, maybe not as good, but not far from it

As far as I'm concerned the Sony is the limit, so it's that or M4/3 or maybe some FF thing in the future. Not an avid pixel peeper but I like to be able to do crops when needed and not have the quality suffer too much.

It's the artificial look of the computational efforts from smartphones that disturb my eye, things like those really false looking "shallow depth of field" efforts that just look plain wrong most times.

So the "not as good" part of your post just does not work for me. I do not post to Facebook or Instagram so do not need that poor quality that is "good enough". But that's just me.

Regards....... Guy ( old amateur photographer witnessing the death of cameras :-( )

Gerry Siegel · Apr 14, 2019

Well, PixelBoy you got more than you asked for. The question of whether a smart phone can replace a full camera camera is going to be a moving target. Both are converging. With GPS tech in cams and face recognition in phones. And maybe stabilization is already enroute to phones. A dilemma indeed.

Buzz Aldrin, on getting an earth rise shot in free fall space capsule: " Hell, this Hasselblad is a damn massive sucker to wind in space and I rotate with it... Why didn't they just let me bring my slick lil Ricoh." ;-)

Sorry, I could not help myself. A point is that it does all depend..I think of the days I schlepped a Century Graphic and roll holders. (My friends FWIW learned to suffer my hobby for the payoff...fingers crossed payoff. I wish you well.

alcelc · Apr 14, 2019

...

Guy Parsons said:
As far as I'm concerned the Sony is the limit, so it's that or M4/3 or maybe some FF thing in the future. Not an avid pixel peeper but I like to be able to do crops when needed and not have the quality suffer too much.

It's the artificial look of the computational efforts from smartphones that disturb my eye, things like those really false looking "shallow depth of field" efforts that just look plain wrong most times.

Guy Parsons said:
So the "not as good" part of your post just does not work for me. I do not post to Facebook or Instagram so do not need that poor quality that is "good enough". But that's just me.

Same here as well. Might be the common opinion among the old fellows?

Guy Parsons said:
Regards....... Guy ( old amateur photographer witnessing the death of cameras :-( )

I am more optimistic than you. I don't think camera is dying, just will and actually is returning to where as it was before.

Back to the film era, cameras (especially slrs) were for those who have certain requirement on the craft. Not every household would own a camera in the early days and later, there were disposal and P&S etc were for the soccer mum etc.

We had a digital camera boom in the early digital camera era was because of the low cost shooting of digital photographing, booming of information and social media era, a lot of low cost models (most had been replaced by smartphone) flooded the market and there had no actual alternative at that time. No matter a camera would really be needed or will fit, people rushed for digital camera to join the tide. IMHO they were once the majority of the demand in those days.

When there are more convenience smartphone, and indeed it is my must carrying item more important than my wallet/watch, majority of those camera owners would either stop to buy/upgrade, or even dump their old camera. So the demand dropped.

When the market can adjust itself, we shall just return to the old days that camera be reserved for people who have interest more than record an image... Demand will still be there, so will the camera I think.

Guy Parsons · Apr 15, 2019

The "death of cameras" was just a flippant remark and it fits in with what I see in Singapore at the moment. Years ago I seem to remember often walking past the occasional interesting camera shop. Now I see none in the average shopping mall or shopping street.

Sure I saw a Leica shop in the super up-market Ion centre on Orchard Rd and also the well presented Cathay Photo shop at Peninsula Plaza, but I knew of Cathay from before and knew how to find it.

Watching the tourists I do see a few system cameras but most are certainly using smartphones now for all their photography. I guess mainly because it's so easy to use and so easy to add photos for messages back home. Old school here, I take the photos, back up each night to WD wireless Passport and only get a good look at what we both shot when we get home. If you want a shot of us currently eating cake for afternoon snack in our air-conditioned 48th floor rented apartment, then too bad, I will only see that in about a week's time.

Regards...... Guy

Zabalint · Apr 15, 2019

Pixel boy said:
With the arrival of some excellent phone cameras (Huawei P20 Pro) compact cameras are pretty much a thing of the past.

I don't think so. These cameras still have limited focal length range, and that's the advantage of compact superzoom cameras. On the other hand, there are also 1", 4/3 and APS-C compact cameras, and those are still better in IQ, and especially in ergonomics.

biza43 · Apr 16, 2019

Pixel boy said:
With the arrival of some excellent phone cameras (Huawei P20 Pro) compact cameras are pretty much a thing of the past.

If phones have replaced the compact cameras (for the most part), it must mean that phones are the new type of compact cameras.

Pixel boy said:
The dilema I have always had is do I really need to take a mirrorless or DSLR with a variety of lenses or just say a 24-70. However in reality justifying the use of pro gear has got increasingly challenging, given the opportunities that present themselves during a vacation.

Pro gear was never needed to snap photos during a vacation. It is easy to buy lots of stuff just because "I read on the internet that I need A or B gear", and then leave it at home. Imaging companies like those type of customers

Pixel boy said:
So for me it's rare that I would get up for sunrise or even be out taking images at sunset, normally having dinner with my wife. Yes there are odd times when I would wish I had a more capable camera.

There you go, you proved my point. You bought stuff you don't need.

Pixel boy said:
So my question to others is how good a camera do you really need on vacation?

The one that I have chosen to take the photos I want.

Gerry Siegel · Apr 16, 2019

''...........So for me it's rare that I would get up for sunrise or even be out taking images at sunset, normally having dinner with my wife. Yes there are odd times when I would wish I had a more capable camera......... quoted from previous comment.....

If I may riff on your comments, Biz, this be the revelation of a non true believer. huh. What is a true believer? Theory" One who uses the photo craft/ passion to spur the tired bones to turn around car to catch the spectacular cloud formation when the passengers are weary too... To stay in a spot and wait for the sunset to kiss the horizon.Damn the mosquitoes !

The true believer will carry a bag of trail mix and pass on the roast beef and cabernet ......

Now, wait, I didn't say I am still always a true believer, but I got a lot of damp feet during my true believer years. Yes a clever phone is useful when photography is incidental to the day's events.

(Now, where did I put my true believer membership card.Filed it somewhere //s//)

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Let's talk travel cameras

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