Compact Camera Reviews

Shutterbug, a member of the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA), once again joined forces with 30 other member magazines from around the world to choose the winners of the annual TIPA Awards for the best photo/imaging products in 40 different categories. The award process began in early 2017 with an initial selection of a wide range of products conducted by TIPA’s Technical Committee, on which Shutterbug’s Editor-at-Large George Schaub serves. 

The Panasonic Lumix DC-FZ80 is a superzoom bridge camera for photographers on a budget. It features a small, 1/2.33-inch sensor with a resolution of 18MP. A massive lens system in the Panasonic FZ80 provides a focal length range between 20-1200mm (35mm film equivalent) and a whopping 60x zoom. Using the digital zoom, photographers can take photos with a focal length equivalent of 4800mm.

I recently received a ruggedized WG-50 compact camera from Ricoh and immediately embarked upon a challenging, thorny photographic adventure—the likes of which you can’t imagine. I emerged with just a few scratches—although it does look like I’ve lost some blood. I can’t reveal the location of this treacherous place for fear that others might be tempted to defy this danger—but I can tell you this much: it’s no bed of roses.

Now that 2016 is done and dusted, we’ve had a chance to look back at all the cameras and lenses we reviewed this past year and have chosen ten of our absolute favorites. 

When it comes to Bridge cameras, Panasonic has established itself as one of the major players. The new Panasonic FZ2500 has a new 20x lens system (a Leica DC Vario-Elmarit) that covers a focal length range of 24 to 480mm (35mm film equivalent in 3:2 mode). The lens speed is f/2.8 in wide angle and f/4.5 at maximum focal length. Those very long tele settings require powerful image stabilization and the FZ2500 delivers with an optical and electronic hybrid stabilizer system which is able to level out up to 5 axis movements. We do note that when recording 4K videos only the optical stabilizer is available. The 13.2x8.8mm sensor has 20MP resolution.

We were at Sony’s press conference yesterday to unveil the blazing fast RX100 V compact camera and afterwards we got a chance to try out with this speedy little bugger. The biggest headline about the Sony RX100 V is that can shoot at 24 frames per second, which is the world’s fastest continuous shooting speed for a compact camera and faster than even the most expensive professional digital SLRs on the market.

The Sony Cyber-shot RX10 III has an impressive 25x built-in lens that’s equivalent to 24–600mm lens in the 35mm format. The Zeiss Vario-Sonnar super zoom lens in the Sony RX10 III also features a surprisingly fast aperture range of f/2.4 to f/4. (Offering an f/4 aperture at the 600mm telephoto end in a “bridge” camera has definitely turned quite a few photographers’ heads toward this “serious” superzoom model.)