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Canon, where is your compact bokeh king?

Started 11 months ago | Discussions thread
RLight Senior Member • Posts: 4,427
Re: Canon, where is your compact bokeh king?
2

Bas Hamstra wrote:

Which compact is the blur king? With F-stop equivalencies:

G1X - F3.6 to F7 - 120mm tele

G1X2 - F3.6 to F11 - 120mm tele

G5X2 - F5.4 to F8.4 - 120mm tele

G7X3 - F5.4 to F8.4 - 100mm tele

MFT12-40 F5.6 to F5.6 - 80mm tele

Actually I thought the G1X series would have a bigger advantage here, but as you can see below the G7X3 keeps up well with the best G1X up till 100mm. The G5x2 then has the same range as the G1X-2, so these are comparable.

So it seems the LX100 still is the clear winner and outperforms for example an Olympus EM1.2 with 12-40PRO lens (in terms of DOF control).

But what is the limit? How much lower can we theoretically go in the graph below, still in a compact body? Well, the A7C is a fairly compact full frame camera, say with a pancake 40/2.8 type of prime (a la the existing Canon 40/2.8) it would seem like a dream machine. But Sony doesn't have it. But maybe even a fixed, folding zoomlens (a la G1 design) would be an option? Have they really hit a brick wall yet? Or havent they been trying?

Kind regards,

Bas Hamstra

Compact and bokeh don’t usually go together due to the reality of optical physics. “Fast” lenses are not usually compact unless a compromise exists.

The Canon compact bokeh king is the G1X mark II, but, due to its archaic sensor and processor, I’d say the G5x Mark II is the only relevant Canon compact bokeh king.

The other is less obvious; an RP or M6II married to a fast prime. As I said about physics… Those are much larger offerings.

The LX100 is still the king of compacts, but like the G1X Mark II, it suffers due to sensor design… Despite it’s fast optic the LX100 suffers in low light. I think the best explanation I’ve heard as to why is poor amplification. That’s a thing I might add. Poor sensor design can rain on the parade of a larger sensor. Just ask Canon’s G1X mark II with its poor DR. Simple stuff can make or break an otherwise good thing.

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