Based on my G16 experience I suspect you would be pleased with the Canon’s
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Five years ago, my sister asked me to select a good compact camera for her. So, by way of comparison, I ordered a Canon G7X II, a Sony RX100 II, and a Panasonic LX10. At the time, these three were readily available on the used market for the intended budget of €300.
I found the Canon by far the nicest to use. It’s well-built, has a good user interface, and ergonomically sound. The optics are decent as well, perhaps excluding the wide end (which vignettes so hard that it is cropped to 2/3 the area). But that’s a reasonable compromise for getting a wider zoom range. I wouldn’t hold it against the Canon, it’s a neat little camera. I’d prefer it over the Sony and Panasonic any day.
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Hi,
I have a G5X mkII which is nowadays my main camera. It’s the best photo-related purchase I made recently, as it’s a very good compromise between compact and capable. I did consider also a G1 X at the time, but concluded it was a bit too large, and the slower lens negated the advantage of the bigger sensor.
Given its goals, the only weakness of the g5x is the autofocus, which can be a bit slow. And the price which has gone insane, even used (I think it’s out of production now, so it’s also very hard to find new). I was lucky and paid 450€ in like new condition with an extra battery and case, but this was before the “compact revival” that seems to be happening now (on eBay the price goes around 900€ now which I find absurd).
The g7x should be pretty similar to the g5x, so if you can find one at a decent price I think it would be worth it.
HTH
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I had that two years ago and ended up selling it. Optical performance was reasonable given that it is a small compact, but I found the AF disappointing even for stills. Also, the rear control dial is nearly unusable.
I think that they are two very different cameras for very different audiences. The G16 has a ton of dials and controls, from the era when manufacturers were still competing for enthusiasts with compacts. Note how the G15 and G16 still sell for above 400 EUR, despite the vintage. Frankly, if a tiny micro 4/3 is too big, I would probably get a second hand G15 or G16.
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I disagree. It will be smaller, but for any given smartphone, I think I would have a better photography experience with a used camera for the same money (incl lens).
Mid-tier smartphones (like the Samsung A5… series you mention) now start around 300–400 EUR. For this, or maybe a little bit more, you can have a decent micro 4/3 camera with tons of controls and a reasonably sharp prime lens of your choice. Or an older premium compact like the Canon G15/G16 mentioned above. Or a Sony A5xxx (around 200 EUR these days) with a lens. Or anything similar. All of these have a lot of tactile controls, enough resolution for casual fun photos, and a selection of great lenses that beat a smartphone hands down.
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Recently, we bought, and then subsequently sold, a Canon M50 with the collapsible kit lens (my child preferred the DSLR over that) for CHF 300. It’s a dead system, so the cameras are quite cheap.
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Well I not selling mine anytime soon. The performance is impressive for a compact. What I also like is the f1.8 wide angle lens of 6mm which gives it great DoF even wide open. It also has 12800ISO, but is rarely needed because of the F1.8 lens. Image stabilisation is very good. Sometimes I shot at a 1/5th of a second and usually still get sharp images. Optical performance is very good because it only has a x5 zoom with high quality optics. It is also good for macro photography as are most compacts.
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YMMV. I have a Samsung Galaxy S23, which most people would consider to be a “good” smart phone. Can it take good photos? Yes. Can I take photos with it that are as good as what I would take with even a small “real” camera? Seldom. For example, some of the techniques used to stabilize a handheld shot are not available with a phone because there is no viewfinder. Adjustments via sliders on the phone screen are harder to do accurately.
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The Samsung NX system is another dead system that represents fantastic value on the used market.
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Yes 28mm (typo)
The Canon M50 system may be dead but with a adapter that costs maybe $40AUD it can use EF Canon lenses seamlessly. So the M50 body will not become useless, but the lens specific for the M camera will not mount on the R camera. Still the M50 is a nice compact camera. Very small for an APC sensor.
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I was expecting this as it has been true for a long time. However, it is not true anymore. The current A55 seems to be able to shoot raw, but most of the A-series phones cannot shoot raw anymore these days (including, e.g., the A54), even using third party apps. I read somewhere that it has to do with the chipset, but don’t remember if it was SOC, camera itself or something else. But maybe this was not correct and it is solely about marketing and product differentiation.
Furthermore, I never had a phone that supports a mode with fixed shutter speed. This is crucial for me as I photograph my children a lot, and I need shutter speeds of 1/000 s or less most of the time. However, even in the pro modes of the stock app or OpenCamera it is not possible to set such a combination. You can only shoot with fix aperture and variable shutter speed, which is totally pointless as the little focal lengths are anyway sharp from 0 to infinity for most of the cases (except extreme close-ups, maybe).
I am searching for a new phone now for years (still running a Galaxy S7 with broken charging port, only wireless works, and I have to delete more and more apps to have enough storage for those that are allowed to stay), and the options become worse every year. I don’t want a china phone (and of course no apple), which leaves me with little options. The samsung S series is missing the SD card option, which is a no-go as the cloud[TM] is simply no replacement for it. Even in the A series, it slowly gets patched out (the A55 might or might not have an SD card slot, dependent on the actual model, but it’s almost impossible to find out what “model” means), and furthermore don’t support crucial features such as miracast or HDMI. The fairphone has really crappy cameras, raw support unknown, and it also lacks fairness to the customer regarding the software. The google phones also lack an SD card, and I think now only sony is left. They have a nice option with the 1 VI, at least data sheet-wise, but maybe I have to wait a bit more as it is still really expensive.
Sorry for the rant, but somehow I was triggered by the idea to replace the pocket camera with a phone. I am trying hard, but industry goes the opposite direction than my needs. Is it just me?
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I still love my trusted Panasonic LX-100 mk 1 as it has this wonderful Leica optics (F1.7-2.8 FFeq 24 - 70, very good close range focus) which is unachieved to my knowledge with any other compact camera. Only 2nd hand available I assume. Leica sells (I think there is an Mk 2 now) / sold virtually the same camera for 5x the price 
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I don’t know about the newer model but at least my Fairphone 3 has raw support. I agree, though, that the camera is rather poor, so I don’t use it much.
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Thanks for the info. Last time I checked is already a while ago, so my information may be outdated. I did not ponder too much anyway due to the second reason you give.
But it’s a big issue for me anyway, that most of the companies don’t write into their data sheets if there’s raw support, and if they do, they don’t tell for which camera. (Un)fortunately (and I never thought I could say this), the fruit company is a positive exception here as they mention raw support and they have a very decent data sheet that tells users most of the features. Still only 80 % of what would be useful, but better compared to the 50 % of samsung and others.
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What was this supposed to say lol.
A stray $ turning text into LaTeX-formatted math.
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Oh, I see, probably a $ instead of %.
It indeed looked familiar 
Thanks for the ongoing discussion … it is fruitful (but not in the iPhone sense).
I have an aversion to using a cellphone as my pocketable camera because:
- since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic I have eschewed a discreet wallet and have instead a wallet-phone-case which includes my licenses and credit cards. This makes using the phone for more than a quick snapshot or selfie difficult to use.
- Although I have previously had Samsung Galaxy S2 and S4 devices and carrier lock-in, since then I have gone with medium-spec Android devices that I outright purchase. It is my experience that flagship devices do not last longer than mid-range devices, and cost considerably more; even if that cost is hidden in the carrier subscription bill.
- Moreover the days of a “free” handset with a 24-month or 36-month connection subscription are long gone in Australia.
- Getting a cell-phone that has minimal compromises for photography purposes will mean spending at least AUD 1000, and such a device may have a working life of only 2-3 years. Furthermore, it may mean compromising other functionality that I look for in a cellphone.
You may agree or disagree with some of my objections above; that’s ok. Some (or most) of them are due to my personal choices.
On the other hand, if someone were to be able to recommend a cellphone that ticks all my boxes I may also be prepared to reconsider my choices:
- 4G-5G compatible
- camera with sufficiently
** large sensor
** quality lens
** manual control
to make paying a premium acceptable - some sort of lens cover or other methodology (e.g. bespoke case) to prevent lens surface degradation over time
- Octa-core or better processor
- wireless charging possibility
- headphone jack preferred but not essential
- longevity that can be expected to be more than 3 years, preferably more than 5.
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You may try a ‘Pro’ model from Google’s Pixel line.
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