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Travel + small kids, minimizing from 550d

Started Feb 14, 2014 | Polls
dr567 New Member • Posts: 22
Travel + small kids, minimizing from 550d
1

I currently have a Rebel T2i (550d) that I've had for 2 years.  The problems I have with it are:

  • I've never found a good, affordable indoor low-light lens.  the 35mmF2 is close, but I mostly shoot with my 430exII flash.  This makes the camera bulky and so
  • my wife won't use it.  
  • it's not easy to carry the whole kit + kids
  • I'm going on a fishing trip to Alaska this summer and will need to have something small

I think my lead contender right now is the G16 for the fast lens.  This would make it a good all-rounder for kids and indoor stuff, I hope.  The S120 would be great because it has the wider 24mm and is more pocketable.  G1Xii looks good if they have really improved the AF enough is the question.  And the SX50 just because everything I've read about alaska says you can't have too much zoom there.

I welcome thoughts or ideas.

 dr567's gear list:dr567's gear list
Canon EOS 550D Canon EF 35mm F2.0 Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
POLL
G16
33.3% 3  votes
S120
11.1% 1  vote
G1XII
33.3% 3  votes
SX50
22.2% 2  votes
  Show results
Canon EOS 550D (EOS Rebel T2i / EOS Kiss X4) Canon PowerShot G16 Canon PowerShot S120
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phazelag
phazelag Veteran Member • Posts: 3,376
Re: Travel + small kids, minimizing from 550d

dr567 wrote:

I currently have a Rebel T2i (550d) that I've had for 2 years. The problems I have with it are:

  • I've never found a good, affordable indoor low-light lens. the 35mmF2 is close, but I mostly shoot with my 430exII flash. This makes the camera bulky and so
  • my wife won't use it.
  • it's not easy to carry the whole kit + kids
  • I'm going on a fishing trip to Alaska this summer and will need to have something small

I think my lead contender right now is the G16 for the fast lens. This would make it a good all-rounder for kids and indoor stuff, I hope. The S120 would be great because it has the wider 24mm and is more pocketable. G1Xii looks good if they have really improved the AF enough is the question. And the SX50 just because everything I've read about alaska says you can't have too much zoom there.

I welcome thoughts or ideas.

I say look at the G1X M2.  You can still use your flash, but with the leaf shutter you can use the on board flash or 430 EX either one at full power up to 1/4000th.  Also it looks like the on board flash allows it to be pulled back and pointed up for bounce.  I loved this feature on my GX1.

The G16 looks cool but the sensor wont match your 550D.

 phazelag's gear list:phazelag's gear list
Sony RX100 III Canon G9 X II Ricoh GR III Sony RX100 VII Canon EOS M50 +10 more
OpticsEngineer Veteran Member • Posts: 7,822
Re: Travel + small kids, minimizing from 550d

"I'm going on a fishing trip to Alaska this summer"

Well in the land of the midnight sun, I guess you don't need to worry much about low light performance.

I would look for water proof though.   You said small was important.    I think maybe an Olympus Stylus 1 (small, I think it is water resistant)     SX50 is reasonably small too though.  My SX40 fits in the pocket of my ski jacket.    Consider a Sony RX10 though too (water resistant.)   Much larger sensor and I expect better image quality than an SX50, but without the long zoom range of course.

 OpticsEngineer's gear list:OpticsEngineer's gear list
Fujifilm XF1 Olympus XZ-2 iHS Canon PowerShot G7 X Olympus Tough TG-4 Pentax *ist D +27 more
phazelag
phazelag Veteran Member • Posts: 3,376
Re: Travel + small kids, minimizing from 550d

OpticsEngineer wrote:

"I'm going on a fishing trip to Alaska this summer"

Well in the land of the midnight sun, I guess you don't need to worry much about low light performance.

I would look for water proof though. You said small was important. I think maybe an Olympus Stylus 1 (small, I think it is water resistant) SX50 is reasonably small too though. My SX40 fits in the pocket of my ski jacket. Consider a Sony RX10 though too (water resistant.) Much larger sensor and I expect better image quality than an SX50, but without the long zoom range of course.

The Sony RX10 is water resistant, but the stylus is not.  But the Stylus 1 looks cool.

 phazelag's gear list:phazelag's gear list
Sony RX100 III Canon G9 X II Ricoh GR III Sony RX100 VII Canon EOS M50 +10 more
OP dr567 New Member • Posts: 22
Re: Travel + small kids, minimizing from 550d

OpticsEngineer wrote:

"I'm going on a fishing trip to Alaska this summer"

Well in the land of the midnight sun, I guess you don't need to worry much about low light performance.

That's for 1 week.  The rest of the time, it has to handle indoor kid candids.

I would look for water proof though. You said small was important. I think maybe an Olympus Stylus 1 (small, I think it is water resistant) SX50 is reasonably small too though. My SX40 fits in the pocket of my ski jacket. Consider a Sony RX10 though too (water resistant.) Much larger sensor and I expect better image quality than an SX50, but without the long zoom range of course.

I should have mentioned budget is in the $500-800 range (depending on how much I can get for my dslr gear).  So a GX1mk2 would be the max and the RX-10 is out.

Since I posted this, I've also been going round and round between going to a small MFT system (panasonic gm1), to the rx100 (mk1), etc.  Analysis paralysis.

Thanks again.

 dr567's gear list:dr567's gear list
Canon EOS 550D Canon EF 35mm F2.0 Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
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