The joy of a toy

[belgiumreporter]

I like all kinds of cameras and i like to use them like i would use my clothes when i dress up for the occasion. With what is produced nowadays and the heritage of cameras of the years gone by in my opinion there's a camera for just about every occasion.This brings me to my modest collection to wich i refer as my toy cameras, although these are not toy cameras in the classical sence of the word.

To some it is their only camera, to others a companion for their Dslr i like them to fool around with when i don't need "full pro" results. Allow me to explain what i like about the cameras in the pic, from left to right:


The olympus four thirds: great focus peeking and image stabilisation with anything you put on it

samsung NX 100: cheapest way to get into DX format mirrorless

Fuji X10 : optical viewfinder and top quality images in a light package.

Nikon AW100 : life saver in wet situations, nice GPS function, very pocketable.

Nikon 1 J3 : Lightning fast, full range of shutter speeds from bulb to 1/16.000 sec.

Nikon P600: Enormous focal range 24 to 1600mm if you want to travel light but still have every focal lenght at hand.


Forgot to put it in the pic : the Fuji real 3D, obviously for when you want to shoot 3D pics

All of these cameras have their limitations, but if you can work around them they can be a lot of fun and get you the image you would have missed because you didn't want to drag your dslr around.
(or haven't got a 1600mm laying around )

[camfiend]

haha beats my little Kodak easy share and Canon SLR

Bob

[Just Plain Curt]

I have 25 digital point and shoots but no SLRs yet. Just every sort of oldie appeals to me.

[barbarian]

I'm reliving the fun I had with the old Pentax 110 SLR, in a new package:



The old 110 lenses even fit on the Q, with an adapter. And the results are pretty good:


This is the Q, with the 70mm lens.

[Dave]

I am glad you mentioned the Nikon 1 J3. I have some reasonably serious DSLRs, and the Nikon 1 V1 and the J3. I used both as my sole cameras on a recent trip to Cuba. The results were excellent. I think they are terribly under-rated. While they are toy sized, their performance well exceeds toys. Dave

[belgiumreporter]

The Nikon V and J's are great cameras indeed, with lightning fast shutter and AF response, endless posibilities in tuning them to your specific needs, great lenses and (to me) an even greater FT-1 adapter to put any nikon F mount lens on the V or J with all functions working.
I used the V2 on my trip to the isle of Réunion it allowed me to travel light while providing a long reach with the FT-1 in combination with the Sigma 50-150 2.8 ( with the crop factor this became a 400mm equivalent at the long end)
Here's a few shots i made taking advantage of the long range:



It's not all good though, the small sensor has it limitations the image quality, no matter how good it is still isn't up to DX or FX standards( wich in many cases it dosn't have to be) and (extreme) wideangle isn't possible.