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Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog

Exploring the World of Outdoor Photography with Tips, News, Imagery and Insight

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Tag Archives: point and shoots

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The Fujifilm XP200 Rugged Point and Shoot Camera

Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog Posted on October 16, 2013 by DanOctober 16, 2013

Fujifilm_FinePix_XP200_962962I recently got my hands on the Fujifilm XP200 point and shoot camera and have been trying it out for about a month.

It’s got a 16MP 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor, a 3″ LCD screen, built in Wi-Fi image transfer that allows you to instantly send photos to your smartphone or tablet, a 5x optical zoom lens, Full HD 1080p video, and a max continuous shooting speed of 10 frames per second.

While I don’t normally these smaller cameras, there are times when you’re out in the elements, a DSLR wouldn’t be practical, and you don’t want to destroy your nice little X20 or iPhone 5S. That’s when these little rugged, adventure point and shoots like the Nikon AW110 and the XP200 really come in handy.

The XP200 is waterproof to 15m, and shockproof, which means you can drop it onto the rocks from about 6′. I didn’t try this, but from what I’ve read, it’s indeed completely waterproof to the stated depth and stands up to just about any abuse you throw at it.

It’s got a few different color/bw settings and enough creative filters to offer lots of fun. Image quality is pretty good; obviously not as sharp as something like the X20, but the lens is good and photos holds up well and is good enough for anything that you’d normally use a point and shoot camera for.

Best part about the XP200 is the price. Right now, they’re only about $200, which is way cheaper than the Nikon AW110 and most other cameras in its class. Not bad for a camera that can accompany you into the dirty, rainy, dusty, muddy and rugged places in the outdoors and come out unscathed.

If you’re looking for an inexpensive point and shoot to take on your adventures, I’d definitely check out the XFuji XP200. It’s a great all-around camera or what it does, you certainly can’t beat the price.

DSCF0035-2DSCF0127DSCF0131DSCF0114-2

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Posted in Camera Gear, Reviews and Recommendations | Tagged adventure photography, camera, camera gear, Fuji X10, fujifilm, outdoor photography, photography, photography gear, point and shoots, Reviews and Recommendations | 1 Reply

The Sony RX100: Ultra High Resolution Compact Camera

Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog Posted on November 28, 2012 by DanNovember 28, 2012

Following up on yesterday’s post about how to get the best performance out of compact cameras, let’s take a look at what is perhaps the sharpest and highest resolution little camera on the market today.

The Sony RX100 has a impressive 1-inch, 20.2 MP CMOS sensor that’s a whole lot bigger than any other camera its class. For comparison, it’s twice as large as the sensor on the Fujifilm X10 and 2.7 times as big as most other pocket sized cameras. In fact, it has almost four times the area than the 1/2.3″ sensor found on the Nikon P7700.

Although sensor size doesn’t count for everything, we do know that Sony makes very good sensors. They manufactured the sensor on the Nikon D800, which has been given the highest DxOMark score of any camera.

Coupled with a 28-100mm f1.8-4.9 Carl Zeiss zoom lens, a continuous shooting speed of 10fps at full resolution, on board flash, RAW capture, fast autofocus with tracking, a full range of PSAM exposure controls, panorama mode and other creative options, 1,080p Full HD video and built in stereo microphones, the RX100 is an extremely capable camera, especially when you consider just how small it is. For what it’s worth, The New York Times called it the “best pocket camera ever made.” Not sure I’d go that far, but it’s still a high performance little camera.

So, what do you give up?

No, it’s not perfect. Yes, there are a few tradeoffs, but depending on your needs and your shooting style, you probably won’t find any of them to be deal breakers.

1. No optical viewfinder. I do like having the optical viewfinder on my X10, but in truth I don’t use it that often. It comes in handy when I’m shooting in really bright light, but I’d say that much of my imagery is shot from the live view LCD screen.

2. No hotshoe. Hardly an issue for most people. I’ve never stuck a flash on my X10, and if I woke up one day and found it missing, I probably wouldn’t care. The RX100 does have a pop-up flash.

3. No grip. In their attempt to make the camera as small as possible, the RX100 has a straight body shape with no contoured grip. Having a grip is nice, and in certain shooting situations, it does make holding the camera a bit easier. Considering that the lens sticks out a bit anyway, even when the camera is turned off, it seems like there would have been space for a tiny grip, although, that would have certainly added to the price.

4. Slower zoom lens. The RX100’s Carl Zeiss zoom lens is extremely fast at the wide end, (f/1.8) but when you zoom out to 100mm, you’re down to f/4.9, which limits both light and shallow depth of field options. By comparison, the 28-112 zoom lens on the Fuji X10 ranges from f/2.0-2.8. That’s almost two stops faster. That said, the larger sensor on the RX100 handles lower light conditions better than most smaller sensor cameras, so that would certainly make up for some of the speed loss on the lens. Again, Sony went for reduced size and a brighter lens would have been bigger.

5. Only one dial. If you’re one who loves the classic look and feel of cameras like the X10, X100 and the Nikon P7700, which have an array of metal dials and buttons, the RX100 may not excite you very much, it’s only got one dial; you need to go into the menu to change just about any setting. Again, Sony went for size, and when you’re talking pocket cameras, this is pretty standard. The new Fujifilm XF1 only has one dial as well.

Overall: Like I said above, when it comes to quality vs. size, the Sony RX100 is without a doubt the best, sharpest and highest resolution point and shoot sized camera out there. And it will still fit in your shirt pocket. Sure, it’s missing a few features that other small cameras have, but if your main concern is getting the best image quality from the smallest package, at 7.5 oz, you can’t beat the RX100 for going light and fast. It costs a little bit more than other cameras in its class, but remember, you’re paying for 20 whole megapixels there.

Support this site: If you’re in the market for new gear, please consider visiting and purchasing gear through these links. This help cover the costs, effort and time that it takes to run this site and produce these reviews and articles. As always, thanks for reading!

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Posted in Camera Gear, Reviews and Recommendations | Tagged camera, camera gear, compact cameras, Fuji X10, Nikon P7700, outdoor photography, photographers, photography, photography gear, point and shoots, Reviews and Recommendations, Sony RX100, travel photography | 4 Replies

Review: The Rugged Pentax Optio WG-2 Point and Shoot

Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog Posted on September 26, 2012 by DanSeptember 26, 2012

 

Today I feature a guest gear review by Anthony DeLorenzo, a guy from Whitehorse who likes to ride bikes and shoot photos. Not always at the same time, though.

This past summer, Anthony took me for a kick ass mountain bike ride with his mad Yukon trail dog, Starbuck. Look for his photo (second shot below) in the current issue of Dirt Rag magazine.

Camera Review: The Rugged Pentax Optio WG-2, by Anthony DeLorenzo

When I saw Dan’s rugged outdoor camera review, I mentioned that he should include the Pentax Optio WG-2. A few tweets back and forth led to this guest review. Please keep in mind as you read this that I don’t shoot cameras or review them for a living, so bear with me!

By way of introduction I’m an enthusiast photographer. I shoot whatever interests me which ends up being a lot of outdoor activities and landscape type shots. My other cameras are a medium format film SLR and a compact mirrorless digital camera.

In the past I’ve used a pocketable, rugged Olympus Tough camera. They’re great things to have when you don’t want to take a larger camera with you. I was getting ready for an 8-day bike/packraft expedition on the remote Canol Heritage Trail, so I decided to shop for a similar camera and ended up with the Pentax WG-2.

What I Like

Size: The Pentax WG-2 is small, durable and waterproof. I normally just have it in my pocket so it is always ready for quick shots. And of course, as they say the best camera is the one you have with you. It can shoot underwater and, more importantly, I’m not afraid to take it out and shoot while floating down a remote northern river.

Floating the Twitya

Easy to use: I find this camera dead simple. I almost always leave it in P mode, Auto ISO (max 800), infinity focus (the small chip and aperture don’t give you much depth of field anyways) and auto white balance. I shoot just about everything fuly wide although occasionally use the zoom or myabe some focus tracking. It is a true point and shoot, I just grab it from my pocket, hit the power button on the way up, frame, shoot, and back into the pocket.

That isn’t to say that you can’t take your time and compose your image. I feel like I got one of my best shots this year so far by having this along on a ride when the light was right.

Rory shreds a corner

Decent image quality: Sure it’s not as good as an SLR or even a high-end point and shoot but you can get some good shots with this camera. The image above was printed as a double-page spread in the current issue of Dirt Rag magazine.

What I Don’t Like

No manual control: Lacking A, S, M modes means no way of controling your shutter speed or aperture. Ansel Adams would hate this camera. Now granted, the lens only stops down from F3.5-5.5 which really doesn’t give you much to work with. But it would be nice to be able to set, say, a 1/60 shutter for a panning motion shot. I’m not sure if any of the competitors have those modes or not.

Noisy: Even at ISO 100 there is a fair bit of noise in the images. I use Lightroom and almost always need to add at least 20-30 points of luminance reduction. Then of course you lose some sharpness and the images can come out looking a little like a painting.

Mountain

Slow burst mode: Unless you want to shoot tiny .jpeg images, the burst mode is really slow. Like 2 frames per second slow which means that for shooting fast action, for example a mountian biker, you basically have one shot to get it.

No lens cover: There is no sliding lens cover so your lens is always exposed. I believe it is some sort of mineral crystal which has been resistant to scratches so far. The bigger problem is just getting water/dust on it all the time. I find myself trying to wipe in on my shirt which is probably already wet and/or dirty.

Other stuff you should know

Shooting modes: This camera has a whole pile of modes that I never use. I use P mode 95% of the time and have used landscape, sports and underwater modes a few times. There are modes that will recognize faces, recognize your pet, shoot a picture when someone smiles, shoot at night, etc. It also has a ring of LED lights around the lens for super close-up macro shots and comes with a little tiny stand for ‘microscope’ shots like if you wanted to shoot grains of sand or something. One pretty cool feature for people who like to shoot outdoor selfies, the camera can use the LED lights on the front to tell you where you are located in the frame.

Video: There are video modes including 1080p and it also has an intervalometer setting for time lapse shots which is pretty cool. I don’t do a lot of video so haven’t used these at all.

Remote: Mine came with a little waterproof remote but it needs line of sight and the range seems really limited. I tried to shoot a group photo with the camera about 10 m away and it wasn’t close enough. Thankfully it has the usual self-timer option.

Batteries: The battery life isn’t great but it is good enough. Between two batteries my camera lasted for the twelve days of our trip. I got about 300 shots on the first one before it died and took about 500 total.

Bottom Line

The Pentax Optio WG-2 is a true point and shoot camera. If you want something you can climb mountains and wade through rivers with, then pull out, shoot and stuff back in your pocket, this is the camera for you. You sacrifice some control and image quality but in the end you get the shots you might not have gotten otherwise.

Carcajou valley

Thanks for reading! Happy to answer any questions here in the comments or on Twitter. You can see some of my photos at blog.delorenzo.ca.

Support this site: Give your virtual thumbs up for the time, energy and research that it takes me to bring you reviews like this one by shopping through these links. Thanks! -Dan

Follow @Danbaileyphoto
Posted in Camera Gear, Reviews and Recommendations | Tagged adventure photography, backcountry, camera, camera gear, guest blogger, outdoor photography, Pentax, photography, photography gear, point and shoots, Reviews and Recommendations | 3 Replies

Shooting In Manual Mode With The Fujifilm X10

Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog Posted on April 9, 2012 by DanApril 9, 2012

The more I use the Fujifilm X10, the more enamored I become with its flexibility, its selection of very usable features and it’s overall image quality. I’ve had the camera for about three months now, and every week, I find … Continue reading →

Posted in Featured Images | Tagged camera, camera gear, creativity, Fuji X10, fujifilm, photography, point and shoots | 2 Replies

5 Things to Consider when Shopping For a Compact Camera

Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog Posted on March 8, 2012 by DanMarch 8, 2012

During the past couple of weeks, I’ve veered away from DLSR land and explored a few compact cameras with my full review of the Fiji X10, my writeup of 4 rugged adventure point and shoots and my look at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Camera Gear, Personal and Pro Insight | Tagged action, camera, camera gear, creativity, outdoor photography, photography, photography gear, point and shoots | 4 Replies

The Nikon 1 Camera System – Great for Shooting Action

Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog Posted on March 7, 2012 by DanMarch 13, 2012

  The Nikon 1 is Nikon’s first offering in this current trend of small, mirrorless, high quality compact cameras. Essentially a bridge between a point and shoot and a DSLR, the Nikon 1 J1 offers the flexibility and quality of an interchangeable lens system … Continue reading →

Posted in Camera Gear, Reviews and Recommendations | Tagged camera, camera gear, digital cameras, Nikon, Nikon 1, outdoor photography, photography, point and shoots, Reviews and Recommendations | 4 Replies

4 Rugged Adventure Point and Shoot Cameras

Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog Posted on March 6, 2012 by DanJune 20, 2012

When you’re wrecking on your mountain bike, falling down in waist deep powder, bombing through the rapids, or scraping up alpine granite walls, it’s just not always practical to bring along the heavy DSLR. Believe me. Sometimes you just want … Continue reading →

Posted in Camera Gear, Reviews and Recommendations | Tagged action, adventure photography, camera, creativity, Cyber-Shot, landscapes, Lumix, Nikon, Olympus, outdoor photography, Panasonic, photography, photography gear, point and shoots, Reviews and Recommendations, Sony | 5 Replies

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