Hi guys! I’d like to consider a small portable camera to carry around whenever traveling, that takes about as little space and weight as possible. The idea is replacing the mobile phone on a stick, as a lot can go wrong when attempting a silly picture near a lake or waterfall (you get the idea).
So I guess no additional lenses or similar, just a portable camera that takes good pictures. As it might be also for my gf’s use, one of the features I’d like it to have probably would be a reversible screen so it can be used to take selfies. And perhaps another one might be an optical zoom, but this might not be mandatory. I am lucky to be in a country where a lot of the models might be available, and even second hand, but I’d need some direction about what would be recommended.
Thanks!
I’ve just done a whole bunch of investigation into this because my daughter had succumbed to the current Gen Z compact camera trend resurgence, and had asked for one for Christmas. The bottom line is that the market has almost entirely been wiped out by smartphones. There are only either very cheap trash compacts or very expensive high quality travel cameras on the market these days, and there’s little to no middle ground.
As a result, her generation seem to have latched onto “vintage” 10yo+ compacts that we all used to take out on nights out or on holiday.
The best option I discovered was getting hold of “new” old cameras. I found a new Panasonic Lumix T-57 on eBay for about £200 which was originally sold in 2015. It ticked all my boxes - decent optical zoom, flip-selfie screen, WiFi, pocketable, and good picture quality.
The lack of new middle-tier options has really inflated prices. Anecdotally I bought a second hand Sony RX100 some time ago for £200. I sold it 3 years later for £250. Similar quality ones are now going for closer to £300.