In search of the ideal advanced compact zoom camera 1 September 2025

 

Photos made with Canon Powershot V1

I have a long standing interest in advanced zoom compact cameras and have used several of them over the years. Unfortunately camera makers have almost abandoned the genre in favour of mirrorless interchangeable lens models some of which can serve as decently capable stand-ins for a dedicated fixed lens compact.

However because both sides of the  mount always come between the lens and the body these MILCs can never be quite as compact as models with a built-in lens which can retract right back so the rear element almost touches the sensor, there being no focal plane shutter.

A brief history of my experience with advanced compacts includes several models which circle around my notion of the ideal but never quite get there.

My preferred specification includes:

* A  good quality zoom lens with a field of view ranging from wide-very wide to long-normal.

* A good quality always ready (not one of those dreadful pop-up-pull-out things) built in EVF.

* An anatomically designed handle and thumb support.

* Fully articulating monitor screen.

* A full set of controls like those we find on a mid range MILC with mode dial and twin control dials located where my fingers want to find them. In other words good ergonomics.

* Substantial opportunities to configure camera operation to individual user preference.

* Very good performance including autofocus, frame rates and responsiveness.

* A good sensor in line with best units currently available, not an old one handed down from some ten year old  legacy model.

Is that too much to ask ?

Apparently so, because no camera I have used has managed to assemble all those features in one model at the same time. This is not because camera makers lack the ability to do so. In fact camera makers have been able to make such a camera for many years. They have elected not to do so.

I can only guess why. Maybe they don’t want to encourage buyers to get compacts when they can potentially make more money from MILCs and extra lenses. Maybe it is ingrained prejudice or pre-conceived notions about what constitutes a compact model. Maybe they believe all the potential compact camera buyers are now using smart phones and if so that could be a self fulfilling reality if there are no suitable advanced compacts available to buy.

The Canon Powershot G1X (original version) of 2012 is nice to hold and looks as though it might deliver the goods.  The sensor is a cropped version of Canon’s APSC line with an effective size of 18.7 x 14mm, offering the potential for decent image quality.  But the squidgy little optical viewfinder borrowed from the lower spec G series is dreadful, the lens will not focus close, highlight clipping is a problem and overall performance and responsiveness are disappointing.

The G1X.2 of 2014 offers a completely redesigned body with a better lens and better performance but no viewfinder at all. I believe a clip-on EVF may have been available but that did not interest me as a small MILC would be a better alternative. Again an effective sensor size of 18.7 x 14mm is used.

This camera along with each of the Canon Powershots mentioned in this post including the V1 of 2025  has a control panel on the back of the camera populated by a rear control ring co-located with four cross keys and a central button, with 2 buttons above and 2 buttons below this module. 

Why has Canon  persisted with this ergonomically unsatisfactory arrangement ? They don’t say but I do have an idea. It puts 9 buttons and a control ring onto a small piece of camera real estate. Unfortunately it also guarantees that one of the cross keys is always likely to be inadvertently pressed when using the control ring. It is a fundamentally conflicted ergonomic design. The thing which annoys me is that it is also un-necessary. There are better control layouts which are entirely compatible with the compact camera genre.

The G1X.3 of 2017 is more ambitious than its predecessors in several ways. It uses a full sized Canon APSC sensor of 22.3 x 14.9 mm with 24 Mpx just like EF-S and EF-M bodies of the time. There is a decent EVF over the lens axis and a fully articulating monitor screen. The stabilised power zoom lens is nice and sharp.

Unfortunately in their efforts to make the camera as small as possible and to emphasize the appearance of compact size the designers resorted to some body shape and control module features which compromise handling and ergonomics. The handle is very small and the front control dial is located in an unusual and in practice awkward position on the front of the body. They put a fixed function exposure compensation dial where the top rear control dial usually goes on Canon cameras forcing us to use the lower rear control dial around the cross keys.

The concept mockup described below is only marginally larger in box volume  (W x H x D)  but is shaped so it fills the box, giving it more useful surface area especially around the handle, right side of the top and control panel on the back allowing the design to incorporate a much more ergonomic handle, thumb support and control layout.

The  V1 released this year (2025) has a cropped version of the EOS R7 sensor with nominal dimensions of  18.4 x 12.3 mm, which is slightly smaller than the crop used in the G1X and G1X.2 and provides almost exactly the same area (226 squ mm) as a standard Micro Four Thirds sensor (225 squ mm) although with a different aspect ratio.     

The design represents a departure from previous Powershots in some ways such as a strong emphasis on video capability with the inclusion of a cooling fan. But it retains some legacy Powershot features like the co-located cross keys and rear dial module. There is no front dial but the control ring around the lens barrel is a substitute albeit without the ability to make it clickable. But the main omission from my preferred specification is the absence of an EVF.

In 2014 Panasonic released the LX100, targeted  specifically to the advanced/enthusiast compact camera user.

This camera has an aperture ring on the lens, a shutter speed dial and an exposure compensation  dial on top to attract the interest of photographers who prefer to operate a camera using this type of control system. Unfortunately it also has that same thrice-cursed control dial around cross keys module seen on the Powershots.

It also has a fixed monitor screen as do each of the subsequent iterations from Panasonic and Leica. 

An updated LX100.2 appeared in 2018 with the same body and design but more pixels on the sensor..

The Leica D Lux 7 of 2028 is a re-housed and re-badged version of the LX100.2.

The Leica D Lux 8 appeared in 2024. This is a re-worked and gently updated iteration of the D Lux 7 with a better EVF.

I bought and used each of these models as it arrived on the scene. On paper they look interesting but in use I was disappointed by each of them in turn. The main problems I experienced are inconsistent lens quality, inconsistent autofocus and cramped, fiddly  ergonomics and controls. Numerous users complained about dust ingress causing spots on the sensor.

12 years ago I embarked on a mission to test my own ideas about camera design and ergonomics by making wooden mockups. I learned by doing. I made many mockup camera bodies, changed their handle shape and size and the position and shape of every external feature of the body.

My hands are average size and length/width ratio for an adult male. They are also 82 years old these days and affected by osteoarthritis so they don’t bend and stretch as easily as a younger person’s. The point being that if a camera’s controls fall easily within the reach of my fingers then the great majority of people will also find them easy to reach and comfortable to operate.

One outcome of this process is the concept G1X.4 mockup shown here. I made this ten years ago, after using the LX100 extensively and long before the G1X.3 was released.

This mockup is only a few millimeters larger in height, width or depth than either the G1X.3 or V1 yet it provides a decent sized built-in EVF, larger, better shaped handle and thumb support and a fully realised mode dial, twin control dial and thumbstick control layout. Handle height is the same as an EOS R10 and slightly more than a full frame Nilon Z6. The mockup feels very nice in the hand and the controls are where my fingers want to find them because I put the fingers in place first and the control modules where my fingers wanted them to be.

Canon could make a real working version of this mockup any time they decide to do so. They already have most of  the required components and electronics available although a new lens design would be required. .

The sensor could be either a full sized standard Canon APSC module of 22.3 x 14.9 mm or the V1 crop at 18.4 x 12.3 mm. A full frame equivalent lens focal length range of around 22-88mm would cover many photographic use cases.

I wonder if camera makers might have underestimated the level of buyer interest in compact cameras and long zoom fixed lens models. Smart phones are convenient and capable up to a point, but not engaging or interesting to use, due to their fully automatic function.  The continued decline in global compact camera sales might be partly due to a dearth of appealing, sensibly priced models available for enthusiast photographers to buy.