Quality "budget" point and shoot

[recstar24]

Hello,

Wife's birthday Friday, and I've been wanting to get her a quality point and shoot for a while. I got her a nice Nikon DSLR a while back but notice she sometimes doesn't bring it as its somewhat bulky. I'd love to get her something I know she will use more portably, take quality pics and she can do all her downloading and Facebook uploading with ease  thanks for any recommendations!

[grawk]

iphone 7S

[TMoney]

I'm with Dan on this. If you already own a DSLR then the cameras on the current-gen flagship phones have all but killed the need for a point-and-shoot.

[dsavitsk]

Agree that you need to get a pretty high quality P&S to be much better than the top end phones these days. There is a camera space between top end phones and DSLRs, but even the least bulky of them are considerably more bulky than a phone. And if a digital screen is your end viewing option, then there is no quality benefit to a P&S, but many drawbacks. The biggest other advantage is probably that you can get a zoom lens, if you are the sort of heathen who likes such things.

That said, if you want a serious camera for prints but a DSLR is too bulky there are a few good options. I recently got a Fuji X70 for travel. It is just small enough to carry around when I am actively wanting to take pictures, but I would never take it with me on just a day out. But it is a lovely camera built for old school camera types who want the ability to easily closely control the technical aspects of photography. The best feature of it is that it has a flip out screen that essentially emulates a medium format waist level finder of old. That's how I learned to really take pictures, so I really like it.

If you want a zoom lens, the Canon G9x is pretty cool, as is the Sony RX100 series. Here are some options:

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/2017-roundup-compact-enthusiast-zoom-cameras

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/2017-roundup-consumer-long-zoom-compacts

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/2017-roundup-fixed-prime-lens-cameras

Edited July 10, 2017 by dsavitsk

[MexicanDragon]

Colin has the X70, and I've used it on a couple of trips. It's brilliant, and it will connect to your phone easily to upload photos from the phone.

That being said, one can do a lot with a good phone.

Taking pics of kids, though, has left me wanting something faster than my phone for action shots/trying to get shots in rapid succession to catch the perfect expression... typically too much motion blur with phones.

**BRENT**

[n_maher]

I realized the other month that I haven't touched my DSLR in almost a year and have taken (in my opinion) some perfectly wonderful photos.  So I'm in the camp that says ~90% of the time the phone is all you'll need and a good chunk of that is because the phone will always be with you.  There's no camera that can be there when it isn't there, you know?  I do look forward to replacing my phone (iPhone 6) with something a little better and admit to being drawn to the 7+ specifically for it's camera.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think I've gotten to a place where I'll only use my phone as a camera but it's closer than I imagined it'd be 5 years ago and wouldn't be surprised if we're pretty much there in less than 5.  Shooting sports is about the only place I think to bring the big rig and most days it just doesn't happen.  

[Grahame]

Like guns, the best camera is the one you have on you at the time.
I've used an RX100 (II), as an adjunct to a phone, primarily for (sensor) low light / depth of field / (lens) zoom capabilities, while still being pocketable, with NFC/WiFi to transfer photos to on the go.
Sometimes convergence is overrated.
Another alternative (especially for the video crowd) would be to get a gimbal.
Although looking at other people with them, it only feels one step removed from a selfie stick.

Of course, if you are serious about "Point and Shoot, Camera"

https://petapixel.com/2016/10/07/watch-army-photographer-switch-camera-rifle-combat/