Ah ah ah, seriously? (Sony NEX 7)

The Sony NEX 7. An APS C sensor + cheap zoom lenses for 1350€ (1500$?).

Forget my language but, are you fucking kidding? Is it like a consumer test to see how stupid people are?
It drives me mad because I know some guys are going to spend half or more of their salary on this crap, then come to me and say "my pictures are not like I expected, it must be the settings, can you help me?". Well yeah I can: sell it, buy a camera.

I will always say things as they are we it comes to protect the costumer against crap marketing, that's what the Internet it for :)

The NEX 5 for 450$ is a good compact, it's worth what it provides, but this one is outrageous.

Let's attack it with method:

• The best camera in the world with a sensor this side is the Nikon D7000. It cost 900$ and can perform with premium Nikon lenses.
• The GF2 or even NEX5 can give you the exact same results. THE EXACT SAME. If not even better, because they all have much bigger pixels that this one.
• It's not even compact, it's reaching a size that makes it a completely retarded concept: it's more expensive than the best SLR on the market by an actual camera brand, and requires as big of a bag to carry around.
• Not to mention the long term value of those bastard concepts that won't have any lens available in 5 years when your D7000 will still be a very good camera with full support.
• The best medium format cameras in the world cost less than that. 

At 500$ it would be a good premium comp...no wait it's not even compact. So however you look at it, it doesn't make any sense ! Get a GF2 instead with the 20mm lens.

What Compact for Christmas

Readers of this blog know how much I have a hard time calling most compacts a proper camera. However I selected a few that are worth a look if like me also, you can't walk around with a 6 pounds block of metal everytime.

Any of those camera will be a good choice, this is a can't go wrong selection. Bare in mind however that they all have different advantages from one another.

Fuji X100 / the great but too expensive one (1200$)
Pricey, but offer the sensor of a DX DSLR, a great 35mm equivalent lens, superb built quality. Not flawless but will satisfy the hardcore amateur. ISO performance is excellent and compares to the best DSLRs...however a little pricey for a backup camera.

Canon G12 / Nikon P7100 plenty of functions but a small sensor (450$)
Those Nikon and Canon pack all the cool stuff you might expect from a premium brand. Video modes, f2.8 max aperture lenses...Have them in your hand to see which one fits best to you, because that will be pretty much the only significan difference. The images won't match the ones of a X100 as the sensor is much much smaller, that explains the price difference too (about twice cheaper than the X100)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 / A bright lens (370$)
It's main strength lays in the F2.0-3.3 lens, really good aperture figures for a compact. It mean decent low light performance and potential to play with depth of field, even on a small sensor. Cheaper than the previous ones, I would tend to prefer it to the G12 /P7100. I think the value / dollars is better.

Canon Powershot S100 / For those who care a lot about size (440$)
This is a very good product for those who don't want to care about anything but point and shoot, yet with a good picture quality, the all thing fitting in your pocket. I got this for my mother last XMAS (the previous version), it works great. FYI the S95 is about 100$ cheaper and is the exact same at 95%.

Sony NEX 5D / Large Sensor, interchangeable lenses (500$)
A good product, pretty much the same as the GF2 (sensor a bit larger). If you offer or get that, you have one of the 3 best compact around. Why is not my winner? Because with lenses, it's not a compact anymore !!! It just gets too big.

Panasonic GF2 / My favorite choice even over the X100 (500$)
Why is it the winner? Because it combines 3 of the most important features:

• It has a large sensor (APS C, much bigger and all of the above appart from the X100)
• You can get it with a really good multpi purpose prime lens (20mm 1.7) like the Fuji X100
• It cost half a X100, which should be the max price for a compact.