Compact(ish) Camera Recommendations

[andrew.f]

Hi,

 

I'm looking for camera recommendations.

The type of photos I would like to take with this camera would be action shots with my friends for example, water skiing, surfing, and skiing, photos at parties/gatherings, and travel photos (famous buildings etc.).

Due to the type of photos I plan to take with this camera I would like it to be compact and if possible, it would be able to fit in my pocket or hang comfortably around my wrist with a strap.

My budget is around €500 or US$550.

 

4k video would be preferable.

 

I realise this is a very broad question but if anyone has any advice/recommendations I would appreciate it.

 

Andrew

[dizmo]

The Olympus Tough TG-6 comes to mind, but a phone is likely always going to be a better option in the compact department.

[ToboRobot]

Do you care about water resistance?

[andrew.f]

27 minutes ago, ToboRobot said:

Do you care about water resistance?

It would be a bonus but not needed

[saintlouisbagels]

Is there a reason why you want a camera and not just a smartphone with a competent sensor?

That's an extremely wide range of situations and I can only imagine frustration from trying to have the camera settings tuned correctly for each one. Especially if gloves and wet hands are involved. If you're only going to shoot in Auto and upload unedited JPEGs, then you REALLY don't need a separate camera.

 

Even if you had an excellent budget for like the Fujifilm X100V ($1400) or the Ricoh GRIIIx ($1000), I wouldn't be using it for all these situations..

[Vilacom]

Gotta agree here with @saintlouisbagels, for such a wide variety of applications you would need an entire kit of good glass on top of a solid camera body.  You’ve listed action shots, which you tend to want good zoom fast lenses for(like a 70-200 f/2.8), candid portraits around a party, which is probably the easiest you’d want a nice prime like a 50mm f/1.8, and architecture you want a good wide angle like a 15-35 or maybe a wide angle prime like a 14mm.  There isn’t a compact camera kit that really encompasses all these scenarios well except for smartphones which often can do all those things decently well, and almost certainly the best for the budget you’re working with.