Olympus XZ-2

...Is the Amazon "Bonus" Deal of the Day today (what does that mean, anyway?). Only $179.

Small-sensor compact of the sort smartphones are murdering. I think we're gonna miss 'em when they're gone.

Mike
(Thanks to Earl and T.T.)

Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Bruce Rubenstein: "I bought one of these when when the price started dropping around a year ago. I brought it with me when I went to my sister's house where she was doing at-home hospice. It was the right, discrete camera for final goodbyes."

Comments

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=809806725]

I almost clicked on one and the last thing I need is a new camera. Recommended my sister pick one up for her trip to hawaii

[Steve Biro]

I agree with Mike: We're likely to miss these small-sensored enthusiast compacts before very long. So why don't I buy the XZ-2 from Amazon today? I have too many cameras as it is. My Fuji XF1 currently fills this slot in my kit and if I'm going to replace it, it'll probably be with a Sony RX100 III. Something has to give. I suspect many others feel the same way. They love the idea of the XZ-2 but at the end of the day it's just not important enough.

[William Schneider]

I had just talked to one of the owners of a major camera online retailer today, and he told me that sales of small digital P&S cameras are dropping like a rock. He said that only older people buy them.

Since I bought this one from Amazon after seeing Mike's post, I guess that puts me in the "elderly" category..

[s.low]

In recent years quite a few people who wanted to upgrade from their smartphone asked me what camera they should buy. Most of them had a dslr in mind and were expecting Nikon, Canon or Sony as an answer, but I always advised to start with a Fujifilm X20, Panasonic LX7, Pentax MX-1 or this beautiful Olympus XZ-2. Small sensor but large aperture quality compacts for shooting indoors without flash and for close ups up to 1cm! If you never make large prints or publications one of these cameras is likely all you need.

The problem used to be that they were more expensive than a basic dslr. Easy to understand once you have one of them in your hands. They are so well made!

Another problem was that many of them were unexperienced and first had to learn the basics of photography to get some advantage over their smartphone snapshots. I never found a good instruction of let's say four or five pages that clearly explains the principles of aperture, exposure time, senstivity and depth of field to beginners. The manuals that are provided with these cameras have so many pages and there are so many knobs and options that it scares most beginners off. So finally most of them put it in the automatic mode. The choice seems to go for point and shoot or going all the way into cyberspace. Only a happy few can afford a Leica.

So the question is: Does anyone know a good and simple document that explains the photographic principles to my sister in law? She is a smart person. (That's also why she doesn't pick up that camera manual I suppose).