UKC

Hello.

I’m after a compact camera that fits some of the following requirements, but I have no idea what’s good currently, so I hope some of you might be able to give some suggestions?

The camera will be primarily for climbing and mountaineering. I have dSLRs and have a digital rangefinder etc, have tried all of them for climbing and mountaineering and don’t really get on with them, so I’m definitely after a compact. 

I would like the following. 

Properly weather sealed/water resistant. Able to withstand Scottish Winter.

 Shock resistance/actual waterproofness not really necessary.  

A wide lens, not less than 20mm equivalent. I don’t mind if it’s fixed wide, but a good zoom is okay too.

Good quality sensor and lens. The last small camera I bought was a Fuji x100t, prior to that it was a Canon s95. I’d expect picture quality to be between the two of these models, ideally closer to the x100t. 

Decent ISO range and performance and accompanying facility to shoot long exposures. I’m not expecting 5diii quality here, but mid-range acceptability would be good.

Given the above, some manual settings are obviously required.

It needs to actually be compact, more like the S95 than the x100t.

Wifi would be good, not absolutely necessary. If no WiFi, then will need to take SD Cards, which is assume they all still do?

Don’t really mind what make it is.

That’s about it, if it’s not already too much. Not bothered about manual focus, viewfinder, etc. 

Thanks in advance for your help.

Tom

Actually, bump that focal length a bit. I see there's not much at 20mm, so 24mm or similar will suffice. 

What's your budget? 

Ah sorry, up to about £600 I guess. 

Cheers.

My wife had a Pentax optio a decade ago, that was waterproof. Maybe look at the successor, it seemed pretty good.

I wouldn't spend £600 though. Any camera used outdoors, regardless of proofing, is at risk of damage or loss.

The classic option is either Sony RX100 or Panasonic LX100 (or what ever the current model is).

Both have good IQ and enough weather sealing, plus around 24mm equavalent wide end. 

Canon might also have something, but not sure. The problem with all these cameras, is the lens, which comes out when powered. And this is What will break (you power it, when something is blockin’ the way).

I’ll throw a curveball and suggest to look at the smallest MFTs on the market, like Pany GX800 with a tiny prime pancake (pany 14mm/2.8, so 28mm equavalent). This is What I’m After, albeit already have the camera but missing the lens. 

https://m.dpreview.com/products/ricoh/compacts/ricoh_grii

For this spec I use a Olympus Omd em5 with a panasonic 15mm (30mm equivalent) compact, (will fit in jacket pocket, harness) decent sensor and spec.

Another vote for Sony RX100 series, though there has been discussion on here about their vulnerability to damp. (Check Robert Durran's posts, in particular.) I've been very pleased with my Mk. 2, though a viewfinder, which comes with later, more expensive versions, would be an asset.

I haven't looked into it in detail but I suspect that weight/lens quality/overall performance/price ratios of RX100s are hard to beat.

Another vote for RX100 - we're using a mark 1 version, and a newer mark 4 with viewfinder, which I really like - especially in bright conditions, when find screens next to useless. Image quality stunning on both, just depends whether you value a viewfinder or not. The newer versions mark 4 & 5 also shot in 4k video, if that is a consideration.