Best Compact for ....

A lot of hard won knowledge has already been shared, and I have to agree with Don; FOV first.

You mentioned:
My main interests are (or so I like to think):
- Street Photography
- Portraits
- Landscapes
- Buildings (facades and interiors)
- Some macro

Depending on how you weight those interests, it looks to me as if the zoom on the LX5 might come closest to getting them all, of the three cameras on the short list, leaves a little to be desired in the macro department.


Good Luck...
 
Thanks everybody, for the well thought out and unstinting advice.

Despite weighing the LX-5 and the GRDIII in the balance and finding them equally desirable, the GRDIII won based (I think) more on the fact that I have never owned a fixed lens compact before.

I have ordered the same from B&H, on the understanding that I can return it within 30 days if I decide that this camera is not for me.

Don and Michael, do you have any preferred settings for the camera that you can share?

Thanks
 
Oh yeah, we got settings... You get the camera and we all will get ya going...
Forget the 30 return period. You'll never send it back.
Post when ya have the camera....
 
I'd suggest the XZ-1. It has turned out to be a great camera for me. And it's even better than my GRD3, so much so that I think there may be something wrong with my GRD3.

At any rate, this summer I've used the XZ-1 more than anything else. I took it on a 2 week vacation and I just took it backpacking in Yosemite.

The caveat with the XZ-1 is that you have to shoot RAW.

Edit: Just saw that you purchased the GRD3. Great camera! I'm seriously concerned that there is something wrong with mine. Hard to pin down what yet. It has always been my all-time favorite camera.
 
I found the XZ-1 horrible for street photography. No external "My settings" controls, no "FN" buttons, no easy access to ISO, horrible Auto ISO no AEL/EFL and lens was prone to flare in light sources other cameras handled easily. I quickly gave the camera back. Also this camera really needs a grip to for better handling.
 
I found the XZ-1 horrible for street photography. No external "My settings" controls, no "FN" buttons, no easy access to ISO, horrible Auto ISO no AEL/EFL and lens was prone to flare in light sources other cameras handled easily. I quickly gave the camera back. Also this camera really needs a grip to for better handling.

I am a little surprised by your comments. For street photography you would normally pre-set controls like ISO, exposure compensation etc. so that shouldn't be an issue.

I've even used a Samsung Galexy S II for street shooting which has a fairly crude control setup and no direct access to the types of control you mention.



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P.S. I love how the phone/Tapatalk load the image in sideways.

Fixed image...

6068595495_43105bb24c.jpg

Opera House Steps street scene by peterb666, on Flickr
 
Thanks everybody, for the well thought out and unstinting advice.

Despite weighing the LX-5 and the GRDIII in the balance and finding them equally desirable, the GRDIII won based (I think) more on the fact that I have never owned a fixed lens compact before.

I have ordered the same from B&H, on the understanding that I can return it within 30 days if I decide that this camera is not for me.

Don and Michael, do you have any preferred settings for the camera that you can share?

Thanks

With the 3 "My Settings" buttons on the mode dial you can completely customize each for Bright Light, Low Light and Night.
 
I found the XZ-1 horrible for street photography. No external "My settings" controls, no "FN" buttons, no easy access to ISO, horrible Auto ISO no AEL/EFL and lens was prone to flare in light sources other cameras handled easily. I quickly gave the camera back. Also this camera really needs a grip to for better handling.

That's great, but street photography was just one of the OP's needs. If street photography is all you do then, no, the XZ-1 is not the best option.
 
That only works if you're standing in one place with no changing lighting conditions.

Don't know how you would cope with my Robot Star IIa then.

I neve seemed to have a probem with my Nikon F (no meter) or Nikon FM (fully manual but with a meter).

With film, ISO is not something you can change on the run. I am sure that exposure compensation would not be hard on the XZ-1.
 
Don't know how you would cope with my Robot Star IIa then.

I neve seemed to have a probem with my Nikon F (no meter) or Nikon FM (fully manual but with a meter).

With film, ISO is not something you can change on the run. I am sure that exposure compensation would not be hard on the XZ-1.

Not familiar Robot Star IIa. I use a Nikon FM, FA, Olympus OM-1, Minolta SRT201, Canon AE1, Pentax K1000. Could have fooled me you can't change film ISO on the run by two stops. Not sure what this has to do with digital or what you're trying to get at.

..::MICHAEL PENN PHOTOGRAPHY::..
 
Not familiar Robot Star IIa. I use a Nikon FM, FA, Olympus OM-1, Minolta SRT201, Canon AE1, Pentax K1000. Could have fooled me you can't change film ISO on the run by two stops. Not sure what this has to do with digital or what you're trying to get at.

..::MICHAEL PENN PHOTOGRAPHY::..

Without changing the film you cannot change the ISO at all. You can only under expose or over expose.

My point is that taking photographs in virutally any situation is easier with an automated compact camera. There were no features such as exposure compensation in cameras like the Nikon FM, Olympus OM-1 and similar cameras as they were essentially mechanical devices with a meter that gave a guide to exposure. You had to change the aperture opening or shutter speed as a reaction to what you saw on the meter. This was a slow process. That didn't stop people.

Compare that to a camera like the XZ-1 which most people would have on either aperture priority or shutter priority - some even on program mode or dumbed-down iAuto mode. Now how hard is it to change the

Now you can automate and speed up the process with very little imput. How hard is it to acess a feature like exposure comentation on the XZ-1 - a single press of the rear dial up, then use left or right presses to change. I don't see what is so difficult about that.

Now changing the ISO, don't you press the OK button like other Olympus cameras to bring up the shooting menu, select ISO and then use left and right presses on the rear dial. Now if you intend to change the ISO frequently, then just leave the shooting menu on ISO - the camera will remember. If that is too difficult, use auto ISO.

Now how do you change the ISO on a film camera. Well you have to rewind the film rembering to leave the end out if you want to take the remining frames on the film, put in a new film with a different ISO rating and then you can start with your new ISO rating. Repeat the process for ever ISO change. Which is easier, the XZ-1 or a flim camera?

I wonder how of Cartier-Bresson managed?

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I think you completely missed the point. The Olympus is not an easier or better camera than the Ricoh GRD 3 or the Panasonic LX5. Of the four photographers that I know that used one including myself all quickly got rid of it because of the reasons I stated.


PS: Bresson is over-rated.:eek:
 
I must beg to differ with some posters here about the XZ-1; one can easily change both ISO and exposure compensation.
In P Mode the lens ring allows one to change ISO and in any mode one upward click on the back control wheel accesses exp comp which is then adjusted by turning said wheel.
It does not require delving into any menu.
 
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