Best general purpose camera

[American Psycho]

The cameras even on the newest iPhones are still pretty crappy. I've got a Canon PowerShot that takes nice photos but it's a bit old now and I'm ready to update my hardware.

Obviously whenever I see anything taken with a Leica I fall in love, but I'm not a serious photographer so I don't need to spend that much money on a camera.

Interested in hearing about what's best currently on the market for general use

[Modee]

I use three levels of cameras, the one on my iPhone 7 plus because I happen to have that with me at nearly all times.

Next level up would be the Sony DSC-RX100 This is a compact full frame digital camera with a 1.0 inch sensor - about 4x larger than most compact digital cameras. I prefer the Mark II
Sony RX100 Series Comparison (I, II, III, IV, V, VA, VI and VII)
because it has the longest range zoom, 28 - 100mm, although I actually have both the Mark II and the Mark IV. I keep the Mark II in my glove box and this is the camera I bring with me to most events to take decent pics, because the iPhone is crappy compared to a full frame camera.

But if I'm taking any serious pictures, and for all my close range pictures of items taken to post on say eBay, etc., I use my professional cameras. I have a Nikon D850 and a Nikon D4. For these Nikons I have a full range of lenses, from telephoto to close up macros, and everything in between, all full frame lenses.

To answer your question - the camera to carry around for most purposes is the Sony DSC-RX100 and I'd recommend finding an Mark II, used. You won't find it too cheap because people are aware that the Mark I and Mark II have the 28 - 100mm zoom, while the Mark III - V have only a 28 - 70mm.


It's sad how Sony added features and improved speed but lowered the focal range on the newer RX100 models, but that's the way it is. Still, all RX100 are full frame digital cameras and as far as I am concerned, you must have a full frame or else you might as well just use your smart phone camera.

[American Psycho]

Something like the Sony is what I'm looking for. The iPhone cameras are fine if you're just taking a selfie or a Facebook photo, but when it comes to close ups or even medium close ups they just look like trash.

It's not the price that puts me off DSLRs - they're quite reasonable investments if you think it's going to last 5-10 years - it's the portability and convenience. I just want a pocket point and shoot without having to mess around with lenses, tripods and everything. Anything like that can handle close ups comparable to a DSLR?

[Modee]

Yes the Sony does all that, it is a full frame camera. But, you're not going to get perfect close up shots on a point and shoot, sorry. You'll need a more advanced camera with a macro lens.

By the way, another area where an iPhone falls short is in low light, especially close up or even fairly close up low light ends up very grainy.