Upgrade suggestion from Stylus 1

Firstly, welcome to DPR fora! I hope you enjoy your stay.

Secondly, I don't think there is a path you can take that will let you have it all. A lot of us have tried it.

If you want the better dynamic range, while still having this zoom range, it means you'll need a bigger sensor, which means bigger lenses and something bigger to carry around.

As someone suggested, you could go with a Lumix FZ300, but you will actually LOSE dynamic range and low light capability. (because it has a smaller sensor)

In essence, you have to pick your poison.

I can tell you from my experience that I started with compact, fixed lens digital cameras with smaller sensors. I started with 1/2.3" sensors, like everyone. Then went to 1/1.7" sensors in the Olympus XZ-1 and Pentax MX-1. Then on to 1" sensors in a couple of Canons. I've also tried APS-C, µ4/3 and FF.

For compact, fixed lens cameras, the sweet spot is 1/1.7" with an excellent lens.

When I went to the Canons with their 1" sensors, the lens designs were so compromised that the sharpness was noticeably degraded from 1/1.7", so I wouldn't go that path. I had a G9x and a G7x II.

Going up to µ4/3 and keeping your Stylus-1 seems like a good way to go: you would not be committing to something that needs huge lenses, but bigger than you're used to with the Stylus-1. When you decide to take the µ4/3, you would buy and choose your lenses carefully. Decide whether you want a point & shoot style body with only the rear screen or if you want something a bit bulkier to have a proper viewfinder.

The setup I have is an E-M10 III, which is a compact SLR-style body. It has a viewfinder, which I wanted, but is still light and relatively compact. It's not trying to be heavy and pro like the E-M5 and E-M1 models. I have a nice array of lenses for it, and try to choose just a few, sometimes just one that I might need for the day's shooting. The "prism housing" on the camera makes it pocket-hostile, but that's the cost of having a viewfinder.

If you want it to still be (jacket) pocketable, you could go with a late E-PL body, which are more compact, and have Olympus' excellent collapsible "pancake" zoom mounted. That gives you a 28-86 eq. rig that is very small. Then, have a simple telephoto zoom in another pocket in case you need it. Olympus 40-150 f/4-5.6 is great and not expensive.

By the way, "pocketable" is just a size and bulk reference. I don't recommend putting ANY of these cameras in your pocket without some kind of case, or the cameras will end up with lint and dust inside them, either jamming up the works or making the sensor dirty.

A very common kit that I take is the E-M10 body, the 12-60 zoom lens (all around), the 17/1.8 (fast prime for low light), and the body cap fisheye (ultra-wide, takes up almost NO room)

When I don't want to deal with that, I take the Pentax MX-1 and accept that I won't have ultra-wide or super-tele.

Hlouis wrote:

I am looking to upgrade from my now old Stylus 1 and was wondering if anyone has found a better all in one system that the Stylus 1? I would like a bigger zoom range like 400-600 in about the same compact size than the stylus. Also looking for a better dynamic range SOOC. I shoot jpegs and always have to do a batch adjustment with auto tone correction to get the best result. I have tried various in camera settings for gradation but it seems not as efficient as the OV3 auto tone correction. I shoot a mix of animal, scenery and city. Thanks for your recommendations.