Need a grab and go camera

mark

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I want something small that can live in the daypack I take with me everywhere that can shoot raw. My iPhone 11 is just not cutting it.

I can search cameras on the net but do not live anywhere near a place that I can try them. Anyone have an every day carry camera they really like, or have suggestions?
 
OP
OP

mark

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Fixed zoom lens I think.
500 or lower.
 

Disappointed_Horse

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In what ways is your iPhone 11 not cutting it?

You aren't going to get a fixed lens camera with an M43 or larger sensor for that price new, and it would be a struggle to find a used large-sensor compact for less than that. Maybe look at something like the Olympus TG or the Pentax WG series tough cameras, although I don't know if the images from those will be much better than what you're getting from your phone.

Personally, I haven't bothered with compact digital cameras since I got my iPhone 4S. Before that I had a Canon G9 and SD880is that I liked fairly well. You can get either of those on ebay for less than $500, although looking at the files from those cameras today I don't think they are as good as what I'm getting from my iPhone 13 Pro.
 

claudefiddler

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Do you carry a phone with you? If so, and you can bear the cost of, the new iPhone 17 can give you excellent results. With pano stitching results are exceptional.

I have tested and used the Ricoh GR and the results are superb but the cost is over $1,000.
 
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OP

mark

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I would like to get an 8x10 enlargement. The iPhone image falls apart. My iPhone is too old and does not have Apple’s RAW, but it still works just fine for everything else. I have problem with the used market. None of my cameras were bought new.
 

RezaLoghme

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#Leica Q2 is extremely versatile and small enough to carry
 

jeffreyg

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I can easily get very good 11x14s from my Panasonic ZS100. More features than I will ever use and it fits in a pocket. More than $500 when I bought it new several years ago. It has a Leica lens.
 

Paul Howell

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Not a fixed lens, I use a Pentax K2000, very old at this point, CDC sensor, ISO good to 1600 but 800 is as high I go, uses AA batteries, I normally carry a 28 to 100 Pentax Zoom, witch is of course more like a 35 to 140ish on a cropped sensor. Not weather resistant, I carry a plastic bag that I use to shoot in the rain. Just bit bigger than fixed lens camera and has a standard APS C sensor and SLR viewfinder.
 

blee1996

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My suggestions of large sensor, stellar lens, and still portable and affordable digicams: earlier variants of Fujifilm X100, Sigma DP2M, Sony RX1. They are stretching your budget a bit, but the results should be quite rewarding.
 

4season

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Olympus / OM System TG-3 and newer offer raw output, and I consider them very good all 'round cameras with great macro capabilities, particularly with inexpensive ring illuminator accessory. And they incorporate GPS receiver, so there's never a question of where a photo was taken. Good resistance to water and dust too.

Am also very fond of Sony RX100 and Ricoh GR cameras but would recommend a neoprene pouch, rather than tossing them directly into a pocket or pack, because while we might consider them to be "pocket cameras", pockets are actually hostile environments to cameras, full of camera-killing dust.
 

Sirius Glass

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I use the Nikon Z7ii. It will take slr Nikon lenses with an adapter as well as its own lenses.
 

Pieter12

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Not a zoom, but the Fuji X100 cameras are compact, simple and the fixed 35mm equivalent lens is excellent. You don't need the latest model, either, the original is quite good.
 

ezphotolessons

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Leica-Panisonic Lumix camera is my grab and go camera. It works at least as good as any grab and go film camera I have used (Olympus Stylus, Nikon). Sadly, with the world wide economic turmoil at the moment, even used are expensive.
 

RezaLoghme

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Leica Q Monochrome for simplified simplicity. The only one-film, one lens Leica.
 
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