wtb small camera for ski touring?

[nordekette]

thanks guys for the help!
i ended up buying a rx100 M5A
pretty happy so far : )
i came here to choose between 1,2 or 3 and ended up getting a m5a
: D should not ask a dentist what to get ; D

[Peyto]

Thanks to this thread I just picked up a used RX100 M3 to get myself started - figure we venture out to some of the most picturesque places on the planet, may as well... take a picture?

[auvgeek]

Big fan of the RX100 here. I've taken some of my favorite ski shots with the RX100 I -- just keep it in my ski pants pocket and snap off a shot whenever. I have also a Sony a6500 now, but it's not as easy to quickly snap off a shot. Here's an example of a shot I snapped off with the RX100 M1 while trying not to fall too far behind:



When I have the money, I'd love to upgrade to the RX100 VI. The lack of EVF on the M1 makes it tough. I often just shoot from the hip and hope for the best. And for action shots while skiing (especially in larger terrain), I'd like the extra zoom available on the VI & VII, even though I won't use the video capabilities. Personally, I'd really love if Sony made two models of the RX100 (like they do with some of their other options): one designed for photos & one for videos. But there's probably not the market to support that, especially when so many people are even debating the utility of a pocketable camera with phone cameras getting so good.

Aside: I'm really not a great photographer, but one thing I think is true with landscapes and especially sunset shots is that quite a few of the gorgeous professional shots you might want/hope to replicate were taken using a filter (neutral density or even reverse grad ND for sunsets) and a tripod. These filters substantially increase the dynamic range of the camera so details in, say, the clouds and foreground aren't washed out by the sun. (Just my $0.02, and maybe I'm wrong but that's my impression.) From this standpoint, I don't know that the a6500 with a nice lens takes substantially better photos than the RX100 m1 when shooting hand-held without a filter. So I guess my point is, temper your expectations when shooting sunset photos if you're not using a tripod and a filter.

[mackmgg]

Another option that’s a bit cheaper than the RX100VI/VII is the Canon G5XII. It’s got the same sensor as the RX100IV so it’s not quite as good as the 6 or 7. The lens seems to be a compromise between the RX100V and VI. It’s got more zoom than the 5, but it’s better in low-light than the 6/7. Which works out perfect for me!

Even for sunset photos without a tripod/filter, it seems like these high end point and shoots can do pretty much everything. Not a perfect photo, but I don’t think a graduated filter would have helped much here, there’s plenty of dynamic range as-is:

[MakersTeleMark]

That, and focus stacking.