petermcwerner
Member
I am using various “Pro” cameras that all have their merits: Leica M8, Leica R9 with DMR, Panasonic G1 and Nikon D700. All of them give excellent results but all are quite heavy and bulky to carry around. I was missing many shots because I did not have a camera on me when I needed. The best camera is the one you have with you, so I decided to look for such a camera. A cell phone would not provide the IQ I required
I set up the following list of criteria:
- shirt pocket size
- excellent lens, preferably Leica or Zeiss
- wide angle coverage at least 28mm
- RAW capture
- possibility to attach a lens hood
- movie capability not needed, I only take stills
- Capable of good prints up to A3 (12x18)
- reasonably priced
Why RAW? I want the possibility to postprocess and thus rescue shots that do not turn out as I wish them, e.g.
- over- or under-exposed,
- too much or too little contrast,
- white balance off
- in need of perspective and/or distortion correction
Sony, Canon and Nikon encrypt all or portions of the RAW file in an attempt to prevent third-party tools from accessing them and thus were out; I want to use the same RAW converter for all of my cameras and do not want to be dependent on the camera makers’ specific software
Although there are hundreds of shirt pocket cameras on the market, I did not find much choice: After googling and reading many reviews, the Panasonic LX5 aka Leica D_Lux 5
seemed a valid contender but fell short on size, not really shirt pocketable. I would not carry it on me at all times.
Finally the best compromise seemed to be the Panasonic Lumix FX150 (see Detailed Review). Although on the market since 2008, it fulfilled all of my criteria except one, the possibility to easily attach a lens hood, but this is common to most if not all shirt pocket cameras.
I found a good bargain on ebay and bought one at around 200$. I have now used it for two months and am very satisfied, so much so that my other cameras sit most of the time on a shelf. Here a few examples:
Sunflower – original JPEG – re-sized and slighlty sharpened - no need to use RAW
Billboard – Original JPEG (resized)
Billboard after distortion, perspective and white balance correction and optimization from RAW
House of painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) in Cagnes (French Riviera) – Original JPEG (resized)
House of painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir in Cagnes (French Riviera) – after perspective correction from RAW
I set up the following list of criteria:
- shirt pocket size
- excellent lens, preferably Leica or Zeiss
- wide angle coverage at least 28mm
- RAW capture
- possibility to attach a lens hood
- movie capability not needed, I only take stills
- Capable of good prints up to A3 (12x18)
- reasonably priced
Why RAW? I want the possibility to postprocess and thus rescue shots that do not turn out as I wish them, e.g.
- over- or under-exposed,
- too much or too little contrast,
- white balance off
- in need of perspective and/or distortion correction
Sony, Canon and Nikon encrypt all or portions of the RAW file in an attempt to prevent third-party tools from accessing them and thus were out; I want to use the same RAW converter for all of my cameras and do not want to be dependent on the camera makers’ specific software
Although there are hundreds of shirt pocket cameras on the market, I did not find much choice: After googling and reading many reviews, the Panasonic LX5 aka Leica D_Lux 5
seemed a valid contender but fell short on size, not really shirt pocketable. I would not carry it on me at all times.
Finally the best compromise seemed to be the Panasonic Lumix FX150 (see Detailed Review). Although on the market since 2008, it fulfilled all of my criteria except one, the possibility to easily attach a lens hood, but this is common to most if not all shirt pocket cameras.
I found a good bargain on ebay and bought one at around 200$. I have now used it for two months and am very satisfied, so much so that my other cameras sit most of the time on a shelf. Here a few examples:
Sunflower – original JPEG – re-sized and slighlty sharpened - no need to use RAW
Billboard – Original JPEG (resized)
Billboard after distortion, perspective and white balance correction and optimization from RAW
House of painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) in Cagnes (French Riviera) – Original JPEG (resized)
House of painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir in Cagnes (French Riviera) – after perspective correction from RAW
. It will take a hood but the hood would have to be removed to make it pocketable. The lens is quite recessed when extended so it kind of has a hood anyway. Take a look at one and see if it fits the need!
