Camera Point and shoot within 30k

A

angie

Disciple
Hi,

I am looking to buy a P&S preferably with RAW support. My budget is 30k max with 25k ideal. Any brand goes.
I think 1080p video recording is pretty standard in any cam these day, so it goes without saying that is must. 60 fps would be better.

I will be using the camera primarily for taking family pictures etc. As per my needs, I figured that going for a low end DSLR (within my budget) doesn't make sense + its very cumbersome to carry it during trips. A few of my friends have Nikon D5100 now replaced by D5200 which costs around 33k with 18-55 mm lens

Is is advisable to spend 30k on a point and shoot?
Can a P&S provide similar performance to D5200?

I read that P&S models get outdated frequently as new models keep getting launched. It won't be a concern for me as I am not looking sell the camera in the future.
 
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If you know plus and minus of PnS vs DSLR, and you know what you get from them... YES, spending 30k on compact is more than fine.

Weigh your priorities, and you can narrow down from these choices.
XQ1, P340 - If you opt to go for sub 20k models.
RX100, G16 - In your comfort zone (budget)
RX100 II, X20 - Need to stretch your budget a little.
 
I'll suggest 2 models - Sony RX100 and Nikon P7800. The first one has 1" type sensor and very good lens (28-100mm , f/1.8-4.9 ). The P7800 on the other hand has much more reach and brighter at tele end (28-200mm F2.0-4.0) but a smaller 1/1.7" type sensor. If your main need is to take casual pictures, I'd suggest the Nikon P7800 a sit has more reach (zoom) , articulating display, arguably better JPEG and more controls. But if your focus is more on Image Quality, landscapes and low light then get the RX100 (1st gen). You should be able to get both of them within 23-25k depending on source and discounts.

You can also search for Fuji XF1 which is a bit old model but has a 2/3" type sensor and pretty good lens. It used to be available at 12-13k a few months ago.
 
angie said:
I figured that going for a low end DSLR (within my budget) doesn't make sense + its very cumbersome to carry it during trips.

Is is advisable to spend 30k on a point and shoot?
Can a P&S provide similar performance to D5200?
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Have you considered mirror less models ? sensor is much bigger ie APS-C than compacts for little more bulk.

I will be using the camera primarily for taking family pictures etc.
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Fast focus and good low light capability required.
 
Buy Sony Nex5rl on Snapdeal at 24k ! Or Nex 6rl at 36 k !
Much better than RX100 first Gen , with ease of P&S
 
I suggest you get a fixed focal length lens rather than a zoom lens for p&s. with the equivalent focal length some where around 50mm.
 
booo said:
I suggest you get a fixed focal length lens rather than a zoom lens for p&s. with the equivalent focal length some where around 50mm.
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Why ?

A zoom offers a lot of flexibity over a fixed lens which has better image quality. 28-105 or anything upto 4x will work great for people photos at the higher end.

Now for some one trying to get better at photos a 50mm forces a change of mindset and concentrates the mind on composition. Is the OP looking at this ? doubt it.

Interchangeable lenses means choice of both.
 
Sony RX100 is best bet in your budget.

If you don't mind getting camera that won't fit in your pocket look for mirrorless camera.
Sony's mirroless camera (NEX series, A6000) have APS-C sensor i.e same size sensor of an entry level to most prosumer DSLR.

Micro Four Third( Micro 4/3rd)- Micro four third camera have sensor smaller than APS-C but bigger than P&S camera. You can consider them, as body of Micro 4/3rd camera is as compact as P&S camera. Olympus E-PL6 is going for 29k on flipkart.


booo said:
I suggest you get a fixed focal length lens rather than a zoom lens for p&s. with the equivalent focal length some where around 50mm.
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like?
 
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blr_p said:
Is the OP looking at this ? doubt it.
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OP doesnt know what he is looking for. lol :D but anyway, primes are usually sharper than zooms. I am slowly understanding this the hard way. what would you like 1 sharp pic or 100 blurry pics? you can always crop the image if you are not sure about the composition but you can never make a blurry image sharper.

anyways I would buy an mft with a prime like voigtlander. thats just me though.
 
I get the point of sharper but balancing it with flexibility is the thing. And 50mm is the way our eyes see things. If flexibility isn't required then 50mm is the std to go with (has been for decades).

How good are your portraits at 50mm, stand further away and crop and they will be better but you throw away those expensive megapixels. Would your prefer 85mm+ ?

What do you make of this article
 
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Sudarshan_SMD said:
Sony RX100 is best bet in your budget.

If you don't mind getting camera that won't fit in your pocket look for mirrorless camera.
Sony's mirroless camera (NEX series, A6000) have APS-C sensor i.e same size sensor of an entry level to most prosumer DSLR.

Micro Four Third( Micro 4/3rd)- Micro four third camera have sensor smaller than APS-C but bigger than P&S camera. You can consider them, as body of Micro 4/3rd camera is as compact as P&S camera. Olympus E-PL6 is going for 29k on flipkart.
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Okay, I looked into the mirrorless cameras and it seems to be the next big thing. Photo quality is getting there upto the DSLR and for videos its better than DSLR in terms of ease of use.

What I am still unclear of is , do they also need separate lense kits?
Although they won't fit in the pocket but still the size difference from a DSLR is significant.

P.S. I checked a review of Sony Nex 5R, the pics were quite awesome. Sony RX100 has universal acclaim in P&S. I am in no hurry though, going to give this purchase some research.[DOUBLEPOST=1422147541][/DOUBLEPOST]I think the NEX series isn't there any more and has been replaced by A series. Would it be okay to go for a NEX series camera?
Also, in the mirrorless segment, are there any other good models from other companies except Sony upto 35k?
 
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angie said:
What I am still unclear of is , do they also need separate lense kits?
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mirrorless are same as DSLRs but since they dont have that mirror&pentaprism hence they are compact. so yes, they need lens kits. in a DSLR what you see in the view finder is basically from the lens which is reflected through the pentaprism.

mirroless are better because they provide electronic view finder as opposed to optical view finders so they give you much more information in the view finder than optical view finder. just like when you use live view in the DSLR for shooting.

Now, there are another kind of cameras called range finder cameras. the legendary Leicas etc... the Lenses for these cameras are extremely compact yet with the same/better optical quality. but since they are usually manual focus only, you cant use them on DSLRs(basically its very difficult to use them on dslrs) but where as the mirrorless cameras make it very easy to use. cameras like olympus omd em10 and sony a7II take this a little further by providing in-body image stabilization (IBIS).

bottomline: if you want small camera with dslr quality. you should consider mirroless. MFT is the new sensor format like APS-C which is being adapoted by all the camera manufacturers except canon and nikon. Virtually any lens can be used if you have an adapter.
 
chiron said:
If it is for trips why not look at the travel zoom category?
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Bulk and sensors are much smaller so image quality will be less at smaller focal lengths. The zoom is very handy though so its more niche.[DOUBLEPOST=1422179931][/DOUBLEPOST]
angie said:
I am in no hurry though, going to give this purchase some research.
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That you need to do, no croma nearby to play ?

How does the rx100 feel in hand compared to mirrorless.
 
Pocketable is a primary question the OP will have to grapple with.

Pocketable means more use for little less image quality. If reduce zoom from 10x to say 4x then you get an improvement in quality.

eg rx100 over the 10x pocketable zooms

To do better still is to go mirrorless but lose pocketabilty yet have the option of interchangeable lenses.

From what i can tell rx100 is acceptable for those that own a dslr, a mirrorless less so. But if one does not own a dslr then a mirrorless is better than say rx100. mirrorless offers a noticeable improvement over say a flagship camera phone or similar compact.

What will OP be comparing with ? what camera or kind of camera does OP currently own ?
 
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blr_p said:
mirrorless offers a noticeable improvement over say a flagship camera phone or similar compact.
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if you are implying that mirrorless are worse than DSLR then you are wrong. They are as good as DSLR in terms of image quality. They lack at autofocus if you are talking about sports or nature photography.

for example, nothing can beat a sony A7R with a leica noctilux 50mm f/0.95. something that will come close would be a nikon 800 with zeiss otus lens.
 
angie said:
Okay, I looked into the mirrorless cameras and it seems to be the next big thing. Photo quality is getting there upto the DSLR and for videos its better than DSLR in terms of ease of use.

What I am still unclear of is , do they also need separate lense kits?
Although they won't fit in the pocket but still the size difference from a DSLR is significant.

P.S. I checked a review of Sony Nex 5R, the pics were quite awesome. Sony RX100 has universal acclaim in P&S. I am in no hurry though, going to give this purchase some research.[DOUBLEPOST=1422147541][/DOUBLEPOST]I think the NEX series isn't there any more and has been replaced by A series. Would it be okay to go for a NEX series camera?
Also, in the mirrorless segment, are there any other good models from other companies except Sony upto 35k?
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  • Mirrorless and DSLR are both inter changeable lens systems. So you need to choose proper lenses according to your needs. You should be interested/passionate about photography and need higher budget as well to justify getting those systems. The main difference between Mirrorless and DSLR cameras is mirrorles don't have the separate autofocusing system along with the mirror and penta prism which makes them much smaller but still bigger than normal P&S. Unless you are thinking to take photography as serious hobby, I'd not suggest getting an interchangeable lens camera - the pictures you see from NEX 5R or other DSLR are usually taken using great lenses which cost much more. If you only intend to get the kit lens or a generic superzoom lens, the image quality is not gonna be that much superior as you think.
  • Sony has deleted the NEX naming and made a simple single Alpha line up. Earlier there were 4 NEX line up- 3,5,6 and 7 series. Now its A3000, A5000, A6000 series and in addition they have the full frame A7 series. NEX 5R is a pretty good camera, I own it. But as I said before, if you only get the kit zoom - it won't wow you in terms of image quality. I do think a good bigger sensor P&S like Nikon P7800 or Sony RX100 make sense for your requirement. But if you are seriously interested in photography and want to continue in future then getting a Interchangeable lens system will serve you better.
 
blr_p said:
Bulk and sensors are much smaller so image quality will be less at smaller focal lengths. The zoom is very handy though so its more niche.[DOUBLEPOST=1422179931][/DOUBLEPOST]
That you need to do, no croma nearby to play ?

How does the rx100 feel in hand compared to mirrorless.
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Yes, there is a croma store nearby. Will try to check if they have these models.
 
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