What is a compact camera?
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Compact cameras have come a long way in recent years, and as well as basic snappers, there are plenty of cameras suitable for enthusiasts and experts. To help you choose your perfect model, we've put together this straightforward buying guide.
The term 'compact camera' isn't actually very helpful, though. It made sense at one time, when they were almost always pocket-sized cameras you could take anywhere, but they've moved on since then, and 'compact' cameras now come in all shapes and sizes.
It's probably more helpful to think of them as 'fixed lens' cameras. This remains the big difference between compact cameras and digital SLRs and mirrorless compact system cameras.
You need to keep this in mind when you're choosing a camera, and we'll talk more about lenses as we go through this guide. You can't change the lens on a compact camera, so you have to be sure it covers all the subjects you want to shoot.
The fact is, compact cameras cover a whole spectrum of uses and users, from basic point-and-shoot party cameras to powerful high-end compacts that can match the sensor size, image quality and controls of an SLR.
There are so many compact cameras on the market that it can quickly get confusing, so we've broken them down into five types:
- Regular compacts: pocketable snapshot cameras
- High-end/advanced compact cameras: SLR features and/or quality in a pocket-sized body
- Bridge cameras: huge zoom ranges, SLR styling – 'do-it-all' cameras
- Travel/superzoom cameras: the size of a compact but the zoom range (almost) of a bridge camera
- Waterproof/adventure cameras: compact and waterproof, shockproof, even freeze-proof!
Once you know what type you're looking for, it's a whole lot easier to pick the right model for you.
Point-and-shoot compacts
If you just want a camera that's small enough to slide in your pocket and simple enough to take care of all the technicalities, a regular compact camera is ideal. These range from the cheap and cheerful but perfectly adequate, right up to stylish fashion accessories.
But it's these regular compact cameras, particularly the cheaper ones, that are facing the biggest competition from smartphones.
A compact camera does have certain advantages, such as a zoom lens, different 'scene modes' for different kinds of subject and probably better picture quality.
But smartphones are catching up. The image quality from a smartphone is often perfectly adequate for casual snapshots, and you get the added convenience of instant sharing via the cellular network. Many compact cameras have wi-fi which connects to a smartphone, but still rely on the smartphone for sharing them with the wider world.
The other advantage of smartphones is that they can run a wide range of applications. They can shoot a photo, edit it, apply a wide range of special effects and them with others really easily.
But many people still prefer to keep their phones and their cameras separate. Regular compact cameras do have the edge over smartphones for quality and they are easier to handle when taking pictures.
But what do you look for? Most regular compact cameras use tiny 1/2.3-inch sensors, so there aren't too many differences here. These are large enough to give them a quality advantage over smartphones for the most part, but the gap is shrinking.
Some regular compacts have larger sensors than this, and the Fuji XQ1 is a good example. They cost more, but you do see an improvement in picture quality. If you do want a pocket-sized point-and-shoot camera with a little more quality, though, be careful not to get drawn into the world of high-end compacts (more on these later), because the cost, complexity and size can take a jump.
The other thing to look for is the lens's zoom range. Most have a 4x zoom range or thereabouts, offering a wideangle view at one end of the range and a modest telephoto effect at the other.
If you think you might need more than that, take a look at the section on travel/long zoom compacts – these are a very popular alternative to the regular point-and-shoot camera and offer a much bigger step up from a camera phone.
Don't worry too much about megapixels. In the early days, when compact cameras had just 8-10 megapixels, it might have made a difference. Cramming more megapixels into a small sensor brings very dubious benefits. Any increase in sharpness is offset by increased noise (random speckling) and image smoothing (to get rid of it).
Back-illuminated sensors are a recent development that helps reduce noise, though only to a degree.
The better point-and-shoot compacts do now have much of the tech you see in smartphones, such as touch-screen control, built-in wi-fi and even GPS. You should expect to get full HD movie modes, too.
High-end compacts
High-end compact cameras are designed to offer the controls and sometimes even the image quality of a digital SLR or mirrorless compact system camera – but it's not necessarily an either/or decision. Lots of photographers with SLRs will go looking for a smaller camera that will fit in a jacket pocket on occasions when their main camera would just be too bulky – but they still want a serious level of control and image quality.
The emphasis here is on larger, better sensors, high-quality lenses and lots of manual shooting options, and this is the area that's seen some really big changes recently.
Point-and-shoot compacts have a plethora of time-saving exposure presets and scene modes, and these are fine for those who don't have the time or the inclination to get involved in the technicalities.
But if you want to take creative control of your camera and try more advanced photographic effects, you need a camera that lets you select and adjust PASM exposure modes – these are Program mode, Aperture priority mode, Shutter priority (or Tv) mode and Manual.
Many advanced photographic techniques rely on being able to control the camera's shutter speed and lens aperture manually, and that's what these PASM modes do.
A high-end compact camera will also let you shoot 'raw' files as well as JPEGs. The JPEG format is fine for everyday use because the camera delivers a ready-made digital image you can share and edit straight away. But for the best possible quality you need access to the raw data saved by the camera's sensor. This creates much bigger files (you won't be able to store as many on the memory card) and you'll need to raw conversion software on your computer to turn them into editable images, but you will be able to get better quality from the camera.
Look out for cameras with viewfinders, too. You may be used to composing pictures on the screen on the back of the camera, or your smartphone, but apart from making you walk around like a glass-eyed zombie, they can be really hard to see in bright light.
Some high-end compacts have optical viewfinders, but these only work with relatively short zoom ranges. They can be quite cramped, with lots of distortion and don't always show the full area the camera will capture.
Increasingly, camera makers are using EVFs, or electronic viewfinders instead. Early examples looked grainy and responded sluggishly, but today's EVFs are sharp, bright and much more responsive.
High-end compacts with EVFs are more expensive and may be larger, but it's definitely a feature worth having.
Most of all, though, look out for the sensor size. Until recently, high-end compact cameras mostly used 1/1.7-inch sensors or thereabouts – large enough to offer a useful improvement in quality over regular point-and-shoot cameras, but a long way short of the sensors used in SLRs and compact system cameras.
But that's changed. Canon started the ball rolling with its PowerShot G1 X and a sensor just a tad smaller than APS-C, but this is a pretty expensive and bulky camera. Since then, Canon has launced the G7 x, a high-end compact with a 1-inch sensor roughly half way in size between normal compact camera sensors and those in SLRs.
For many, this will give the best of both worlds – a big jump in quality but a camera that's still small enough to slide into a pocket. Sony uses a 1-inch sensor in its excellent RX100 cameras.
Perhaps the most impressive technical advance, though, is in the Panasonic LX100, which has a Micro Four Thirds sensor. This is just a little smaller than APS-C and used in Panasonic and Olympus compact system cameras.
This is the other key area for high-end compacts – the lens is a key element of the package. Most come with a 3-4x zoom range, which is fine for everyday photography. But do look out for lenses with a wide maximum aperture – and one that stays wide across the whole zoom range. This will give better performance in low light and more attractive depth of field effects.
Really keen enthusiasts, however, may be prepared to sacrifice a zoom lens for a larger sensor. The retro-styled Fuji X100 series, for example, has an APS-C sensor and a fixed 35mm equivalent lens. You're more restricted in your compositions and you have to use your feet more, but many find a fixed focal length lens encourages better photography.
Bridge cameras
So-called 'bridge' cameras have been around almost as long as regular point-and-shoot models. They're designed to 'bridge' the gap between compact cameras and digital SLRs, by providing many of the manual controls you get on a digital SLR with huge zoom ranges, so that this one camera can shoot almost any kind of subject, from wideangle landscapes or interiors to long-range telephoto or sports shots.
This kind of camera is ideal as a kind of do-it-all solution, but only if you're prepared to accept some compromises.
For a start, bridge cameras aren't small. They have the body shape and styling of a digital SLR, and in some instances they're almost the same size. These are no longer pocket-sized cameras! At the same time, though, most have the same ½.3-inch sensors as regular point-and-shoot compact cameras. This is because the size of the sensor and the size of the lens are closely related. You need the small sensor size to get superzoom lenses of a manageable size.
Or at least that's how it's been until now. Panasonic and Sony have broken the mould with the FZ1000 and RX10. Neither can quite match the zoom range of the Canon SX60 HS or other traditional bridge cameras, but both have far larger 1-inch sensors which deliver a big boost in picture quality.
The Panasonic and Sony aside, this is another area of compromise with bridge cameras. Small sensors deliver decent enough results within their limits, but the quality plummets at high ISO (sensitivity) settings, and you'll never get the same level of quality as an SLR or compact system camera, or even a high-end compact.
The lens can be a weakness too. The longer the zoom range, the more complex the lens – and compromises can creep in with the quality, too. At full zoom, the lens will generally be noticeable 'softer', and may see more distortion and chromatic aberration (colour fringing) than you get with a regular lens.
This means that although these cameras look perfect for extreme long-range photography, the quality may not be quite what you're looking for. The autofocus system may struggle to keep up with moving subjects, and although bridge cameras come with image-stabilisation systems, the level of magnification they're capable of will still amplify any camera shake.
Don't let this put you off buying a bridge camera, but do keep these limitations in mind. If versatility is more important to you than outright quality – or if you've seen the results from a bridge camera and you're perfectly happy with them – then a bridge camera can offer an unbeatable combination of versatility and value.
There are other features which can make them more useful still. Bridge cameras usually offer the PASM exposure modes you need to take control of the camera's shutter speed and lens aperture, but some also offer the option of shooting raw files as well as JPEGs. This offers the opportunity to process the files yourself to eke out a little more image quality.
Some bridge cameras have articulating rear displays, and these are extremely useful for shooting at low angles, in confined spaces (where there's no room to get behind the camera) and maybe for grabbing the odd selfie!
Wi-fi and touch-screen control are also worth having – it's especially useful to be able to control your camera remotely using your smartphone, and wi-fi enabled cameras will have free apps for this.
Travel zooms and waterproof cameras
Of course, lots of photographers fancy the zoom range of a bridge camera but in the pocket-sized body of a regular compact. That's why travel/long zoom compact cameras are a big growth area. We call them 'travel' cameras because that sums up what they're best at. They're small enough to carry anywhere when you're on a trip, and they have a big zoom range – big enough for wideangle shots in narrow city streets and long range shots of animals, architecture and people.
There are compromises, but not as many as you might think. Travel compacts mostly use the same ½.3-inch sensors found in regular compact cameras, so the quality is adequate rather than exceptional – but most people will be looking at these cameras as alternatives to regular compacts anyway, so that's not necessarily a problem.
Now you see it… now you don't. Panasonic's legendary TZ60 travel zoom packs a huge zoom range into a pocket-sized body.
And the zoom range isn't as wide as that of a bridge camera, though travel compacts can often get surprisingly close. Early models might sport a 10x zoom range, but today you can get pocket-size travel cameras with 20x or even 30x zoom ranges. Not so long ago, that would have been pretty good for a bridge camera.
Lens quality does vary. For the makers, it's quite a challenge to get such a long-range lens to retract into the camera body when you switch the camera off, and yet still get good picture quality all the way through the zoom range. As with bridge cameras, you can expect to see some drop-off in sharpness at longer zoom settings.
But some travel zooms are more than just souped-up point-and-shoot cameras. The Panasonic TZ60 is a prime example because it brings in a lot of the features you find in high-end compact cameras. It offers PASM exposure modes, for example, and it can shoot raw files as well as JPEGs. Panasonic has even managed to squeeze in an EVF (electronic viewfinder).
Waterproof/adventure cameras
This is a whole new area for compact cameras that started slowly but is now really capturing people's imagination. For not much more than the cost of a regular point-and-shoot compact you can get a camera that will survive being immersed in water, dropped or even frozen.
You do need to look out for the usual camera specifications, including sensor size and zoom range, but these don't vary a great deal for this kind of camera. Most have 1/2.3-inch sensors and a 3x zoom lens.
The key specs relate to the camera's physical construction – its waterproofing, shock-resistance and cold-proofing.
The waterproofing is easiest to measure. Water pressure increases with depth, so it's easy for makers to specify a maximum depth rating for their cameras. Basic models may be waterproof to a depth of 3m, but the better ones can go down to a depth of 10m or more. If you want to go deeper than that then you have to enter the specialised world of waterproof housings and diving equipment.
Shock-proofing is not quite as clearly defined. For most of these cameras, the makers say they will survive a drop of up to 2m, but the circumstances will clearly have an effect on this. Dropping a camera on a domestic floor is not the same as dropping into on to a jagged rock.
Cold-proofing is harder to define, too. Makers might say their camera is 'cold-proof' down to a temperature of -10 degrees, for example, but you may want to shoot in colder places than this, and you may find that a regular camera will still work as long as you keep it protected between shots.
In any event, these waterproof/adventure cameras are far more rugged than the regular sort and the ideal camera for mounting biking expeditions, swimming, climbing or even trips to the beach with the family.
If you want a camera to capture your adventurous lifestyle, you're rapidly becoming spoilt for choice, and while there are tough point-and-shoot compacts that can take real punishment, they're no longer the only choice.
Hopefully, this has given you a clearer idea about the range of compact cameras on the market, and it's helped you narrow down when you need. To find out what cameras we really rate on Techradar right now, click the links below:
- Best advanced compact camera
- Best small compact camera
- Best bridge camera
- Best cheap camera
- Best travel/superzoom compact camera
- Best waterproof camera
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