Sony RX100 III

Canon G9 X field-tested: Best camera you can easily fit in a pocket

Canon PowerShot G9 X Digital Camera (Silver)The appeal of a camera you can always have with you is obvious. For an increasing number of people that’s their smartphone. But if you want to have something with a bigger sensor and a zoom lens, a compact point-and-shoot is the way to go. That creates something of a Goldilocks problem – the cheap, small ones aren’t much better than a phone, and the high-end ones don’t fit in a pocket. Canon has done a good job over the years with its S series in finding a middle ground – reasonable sensor, good features, and Raw capability. I’ve been shooting with the newest version, rebranded as the , and have been impressed by the upgrade in image quality, while learning to like, or at least live with, the new Touchscreen-centric interface…

US-Mexico border in West Texas: Panoramas shot with the Sony RX100 IV

On our recent trip from California to eastern Texas, we hugged the border much of the way across Texas. Some of it was fenced, but much of it is still amazingly wild, rugged, and beautiful. I was fortunate enough to have the new Sony RX100 Mark IV with me, which has an amazingly good Panorama mode, and able to quickly and easily capture these wide-format images that help convey the scope and grandeur of the region…

DxO ONE: Introducing a new kind of mobile camera

DxO-ONE-camera-for-smartphonesI’ve been working with a very exciting new camera that I’m happy to be able to tell you about now that it has been announced. It is called simply the ONE, from image processing software vendor DxO. DxO has used its industry-leading expertise in evaluating cameras and lenses, and creating image processing pipelines, to create a camera that works seamlessly with your iPhone, but produces much better images. The ONE is built around a 1-inch sensor – far larger than the ones found in mobile devices, including the one in the iPhone. It’s the same size sensor that’s found in much larger, high-end, compact cameras like the – that are also more expensive.

Canon G7 X field test: Finally, a worthy competitor to the Sony RX100 III

Canon PowerShot G7 X Digital CameraSony brought the premium compact camera segment back to life with its 1-inch sensor RX100, but its rivals haven't left it have free run of the market. Panasonic's Lumix LX100 has become a worthy competitor, although its larger size and greater weight make it a less attractive alternative than Sony's latest version, the RX100 III. Now Canon has come out with a model that combines the popular interface from its "S-series" point and shoots with a few more manual controls and a 1-inch, 20MP sensor, to create the Canon G7 X. It has the best overall image quality ratings of any camera in its class, so we got one to put through its paces…