For the love of compacts.

Finding the right camera for me has taken some time and a not insignificant amount of money along the way but it has been such an incredible and enjoyable journey, the learning curve alone has been worth every penny.

How was I to know that the type of camera that would completely reignite the enjoyment of photography would be the humble compact?

I had worked my way up through the camera gear hierarchy from entry level to full frame because that was essentially the holy grail wasn’t it?

The inevitable purchase and purge ran its course over the years but for a while the outings were becoming more of a chore, the thought of carrying heavy gear began to put me off getting out and doing what I looked forward to most at the end of a working week.

Arriving at this creative crossroads, coincided with the time at which the price of new camera gear went ballistic, so I began to explore other avenues to try and get my photographic mojo restarted.

I arrived somewhat late to the digicam appreciation society, prices here too, were becoming over inflated but I bagged myself a couple of bargains online and tentatively dipped my toes into the waters,

At first, while in my camera bag, they played second fiddle to my ‘proper’ camera but over the weeks I began to realise hat they were better than I had believed them to be, as they began to win me over with their often good image quality for their size.

I was really enjoying capturing snapshots in time, not an image that may mean much to most, certainly not a ‘banger’ but an image that would evoke a memory for me in the future.

It is the humble compact that has inspired me to a passion for both black and white photography and an appreciation for square format photography.

More than anything, I have learned to see beyond the obvious with these little gems, their very size means they spend more time in my hand than in the camera bag, enabling me to experiment with ideas, or capture moments I may have missed.

All images in this set have been taken with my Sony RX100 V, bought at a good price because there is a small dent in the flash unit and a dust spot on the sensor, the latter soon being fixed in post on the occasional time it intrudes on the image.

Of course, compact cameras will have their limitations in terms of dynamic range but this has helped me become a better photographer, in that I try to get as much right there and then, rather than post edit fixes that may not work.