Is it possible to buy a better P&S travel camera

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: greenjp
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete

Just fyi, but there has been a big jump in image quality from iPhone 5s to 7.

I'm sure there's been some improvement, but regardless an iPhone 7 has a 17.3 mm^2 sensor and a micro four thirds camera is 225 mm^2. APS DSLRs are in the 370 range. There's no getting past that.

I was responding in the context of the OP's original question, where he was asking if a $300 P&S camera can take better photos than iPhone 7. From what I've found iPhone 7 has a 32 mm^2 sensor, which is actually slightly larger than most $300 P&S travel cameras.

The OP ended up getting an M43 camera in the end, but I'm sure he blew way past his original $300 budget.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Just one last comment, to me, the main difference between iPhone7 camera and a $300 P&S is that the latter will normally provide some zoom capability, some more than others. In terms of low light performance - they'll both be weak.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
The OP ended up getting an M43 camera in the end, but I'm sure he blew way past his original $300 budget.

Ooops... I goofed. The A6000 has an APS-C sensor, of course.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
I just purchased mirror-less Sony A6000 with the dual lens package. The lenses are 16-50 and 55-210 I am in process of acquiring the necessary accessory list for it. The learning curve for this camera is quiet steep.

So, what's the verdict? Have you taken any trips with it yet? How did it work out?

 

[bunnspecial]

Originally Posted By: Al
Phone cameras do a good job but with smaller sensors and smaller lenses they have poor depth of field and once you blow picture up things go a bit down hill. I paid some extra $$ for a Canon G7X...very happy with it. Depends how important a better picture is to you.


What do you mean by "poor depth of field"?

The lack of control of DOF is usually one of the issues with compact and cell cameras. The small sensors mean that they are working with very short focal length lenses and under similar conditions to a larger formats they tend to have a lot more DOF.

When I shoot 4x5, which isn't a fair comparison since the film is bigger than a smart phone

, I'm often working at f/32 or smaller and using swings and tilts just to get ENOUGH DOF.

 

[Californiabob]

try an Olympus or Panasonic m43 camera but with a very small 12-32mm zoom. the
problem with anything else is that the lens sticks out 2 inches. the 12-32 does
not so it slips into a pocket well.

there are models that do HDR and have in body stabilization. the battery lasts
most of a week or charge every night.

some have a remote control so you can walk and have a movie by just hanging your
camera off your neck. try that with a phone.

with a wrist strap you can walk by and take pictures. otherwise phone-based
cameras are a two-handed three finger affair.