Compact Travel camera - LX5 or G1X or X10

Ryan

Regular
Of the following, which would be your preferred travel and all around camera:

LX5 or G1X or X10

24mm most important or is 28mm sufficient?
 
Like Armanius said, what you plan to shoot is the most important factor in determining which camera is right for you.

Personally I'm a wide angle fan, I find my Samsung EX1's 24mm wide angle a bit restrictive to be honest :tongue: I'd be seriously bugged by having only 28mm. My sister on the other hand almost freaks out when she sees the 72mm maximum tele reach, which is barely enough for a head-and-shoulder portrait at typical distances. Of course you can still crop though...

The LX5 is definitely the smallest of the bunch, and the only one you might fit in your coat's inside pocket; X10 and G1X offer optical viewfinders, which might come in handy if the light is very bright, and the G1X has a rotating screen which I personally find absolutely priceless - it opens up a whole new range of compositional possibilities, which in the end is the most important factor in photography, not IQ.

In good light, the G1X will have the best image quality; in low light, at wide angle this will still be the case, but the others will probably catch up as you zoom more. You could also consider some other smallish-sensor serious compacts, like the Samsung EX1 (24mm + rotating screen and very fast lens), Olympus XZ1 (relatively small and super-fast lens), Canon G12 (jack of all trades, somewhat smaller than G1X and longer zoom) or Nikon P7100 (longest zoom of the 1/1.7" sensor bunch, tilting screen)
 
Kind of everything. Being for use on travel and everyday use, typical landscapes, sightseeing aspects, portraits, etc.

Looks like you do a little of everything.

I own the X10, so I might be a little biased. The interface is geared towards the enthusiast, and there's a higher learning curve, in my opinion.

What camera are you using now?
 
I think that is typical though when you travel and/or want a general camera.

Currently have a older Kodak that is badly in need of being replaced.

Forgot to mention before that of these (or a comparable camera), which would work best in Auto mode?

Looks like you do a little of everything.

What camera are you using now?
 
I can only tell you a bit about the LX5. I have been using the camera for over a year now. I got introduced to this camera by a street photographer who used an LX3.

Pros

1. Pocketability. Its great to carry around, if you're wearing a jacket. You can stuff it down your trousers but you can't get it out ;) This screw on lens cover makes it a 100 times more convenient.
Amazon.com: Auto Lens Cap for PANASONIC Lumix DMC LX5 LX-5 LEICA D-LUX 5 (Black) + Premium Goja Microfiber Cleaning Cloth: Electronics

2. Shoots great B&W. I love it's black and white film grain mode, and if you are primarily looking at web sized resolution the images you get are fairly usable once you reduce sizes.

3. Fast wide angle. At 24mm f2.0 this is the best wide angle lens out there in this class of camera. Period. (Moving on to another camera has been a difficult decision for me since I can't find anything this portable that has a 24mm lens, and I've gotten used to seeing landscapes this way).


Cons -

1. Piss poor jpeg image processing. (It might be an idea to check out the Leica D-Lux5, which is essentially the same camera which uses a different in-camera processing engine) With the LX5, you are forced to shoot RAW and tweak pretty much all your pictures, and if you're a casual shooter like me, it can be pretty irritating.

2. Manual focus is useless. Don't bother.

3. My main grouse with this camera though, is that it doesn't inspire you! I feel at most times I'm fighting the camera to get decent results. But then I see examples of what people have done with this camera and I'm left amazed.

Here are a few pictures I've shot with this camera - Flickr: boidie's Photostream

Best of luck!

edited - spelling, syntax, also forgot about the Samsung TL500, which is another good travel camera in my opinion with a 24mm f1.8 lens
 
LX5 , X10 , G1X are all excellent cameras for their size category
I'll add one more:
Canon Powershot S100 - for its tiny pocket size (smaller than the LX5)

If I was in a studio and had access to the above cameras then the G1X would be the best camera because of the image quality from its large sensor. Outside the studio I decide what camera to bring based on the camera size and the possible inconvenience of having to carry the camera on my person at all times.

I worry about theft from hotel rooms so for business travel I only bring cameras I can fit in my laptop bag. Concert halls don't allow cameras but having a S100 in my pants pocket or LX5 in a jacket pocket wouldn't raise any concerns and I wouldn't have to leave my camera behind. Its situations like these (engineers call them "use cases") that determine what camera I travel with.

I'm suggesting there's a "right size" camera rather than the "best" camera.
 
I had the impression that the LX5 was perfect for zone focusing because you get a focus zone displayed when in manual focus mode?

You do. But without a focus ring around the lens, you are left with a embedded dial at the rear of the camera which is impossible to use without shaking the camera.
 
Manual focus is roughly the same on all of these cameras (I obviously don't KNOW about the new Canon, but assume its pretty similar). They're terrible for actual critical focus on a shot that you're trying to focus as you shoot, BUT they just fine for setting the camera for zone focus and firing away. And the LX5 and X10 also have soooo much depth of field because of the small sensors that its VERY easy to establish a huge zone of focus and just fire away. The new Canon should be less good for this because of the larger sensor - you'll need a smaller aperture to get the same DOF which means its less good for zone focus in low light. In NO CASE should you believe the electronic depth of field scales these cameras provide - they're horribly inaccurate. The LX5 wasn't THAT bad, but the X10 is very bad (as are the small Ricoh models) and the S90 didn't have one, so perhaps the new Canon won't either??? Build your own DOF table and get to know what apertures work with what focus distances for the kinds of shooting you generally do...

-Ray
 
Good information, but I am not interested in raw or manual focus.

For Auto mode, do any of these cameras or others in the class outshine the other?



I can only tell you a bit about the LX5. I have been using the camera for over a year now. I got introduced to this camera by a street photographer who used an LX3.

Pros

1. Pocketability. Its great to carry around, if you're wearing a jacket. You can stuff it down your trousers but you can't get it out ;) This screw on lens cover makes it a 100 times more convenient.
Amazon.com: Auto Lens Cap for PANASONIC Lumix DMC LX5 LX-5 LEICA D-LUX 5 (Black) + Premium Goja Microfiber Cleaning Cloth: Electronics

2. Shoots great B&W. I love it's black and white film grain mode, and if you are primarily looking at web sized resolution the images you get are fairly usable once you reduce sizes.

3. Fast wide angle. At 24mm f2.0 this is the best wide angle lens out there in this class of camera. Period. (Moving on to another camera has been a difficult decision for me since I can't find anything this portable that has a 24mm lens, and I've gotten used to seeing landscapes this way).


Cons -

1. Piss poor jpeg image processing. (It might be an idea to check out the Leica D-Lux5, which is essentially the same camera which uses a different in-camera processing engine) With the LX5, you are forced to shoot RAW and tweak pretty much all your pictures, and if you're a casual shooter like me, it can be pretty irritating.

2. Manual focus is useless. Don't bother.

3. My main grouse with this camera though, is that it doesn't inspire you! I feel at most times I'm fighting the camera to get decent results. But then I see examples of what people have done with this camera and I'm left amazed.

Here are a few pictures I've shot with this camera - Flickr: boidie's Photostream

Best of luck!

edited - spelling, syntax, also forgot about the Samsung TL500, which is another good travel camera in my opinion with a 24mm f1.8 lens
 
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