New compact camera or phone - which one?

[Didge]

Hi guys, I've been looking extensively at the various compact cameras for around $1200 and under and had pretty well settled on the Sony DSC RX100 mark 3 or maybe mark 4. A couple of reviews and the camera shop guy said the m4 wasn't really worth the extra $400. I'd looked at the Panasonic Lumix LX100 and TZ110 but neither were as pocket friendly as the smaller Sony.
THEN, I saw a couple of youtube reviews comparing the Sony RX100 M4 to a couple of good phones - the Samsung Galaxy S7 & S7 edge vs LG G5 vs iphone 6s plus vs HTC something, etc, etc and the reviews seem to show the phones up as being as good as, or better than the dedicated camera.
So now I'm a bit confused.
Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences on what would be better for general photography - family happy snaps, some scenery, some travel/ 4wd video and shots, etc - the lenses and sensors seem to be that good that you don't really need super long zoom capabilities any more because you can post edit photos on your computer.
Thanks in advance for any advice
cheers Gerald

[lebanon]

The sensor size on a mobile phone could never be as large as the one on a camera.

[Didge]

yeah, they're not within a bull's roar of the size yet the video and images that show on youtube look as good or better - my concern is what they'd be like if I had a pic printed onto say A3 size - would the seemingly good phone image at that size be inferior to the phone?

[Homestar]

If you are blowing any pic up that size, a phone won't cut it. Phones take good happy snaps in decent light, but I am continually disappointed by the results my phone gives when I post them up here - go look at the last few pages of the 'show us your pics' thread - I come across some great subject matter, but at work only ever have my phone with me. They look ok on the phone screen, but even enlarged on an iPad, they look crap.

Do yourself a favour and get a camera, even my 8 year old point and shoot takes better pics than my brand new phone.

[Didge]

Thanks Homestar, I do tend to lean towards the small Sony RX100 as it has been touted as one of best ever pocketable compact cameras for around $1000 - and I already have a phone albeit a cheap one. BTW, what sort of phone do you have?

[Homestar]

My work phone is an iPhone 5S and some of the pics I've posted have been taken with this and some with SWMBO iPhone 6S they are both much of a muchness when you enlarge the pic.

[Didge]

Mmmh, thanks - that's interesting cos one of the phones being compared to the Sony camera was obviously the iphone 6 as well as the Galaxy, LG G5, HTC something and another one I can't recall. The iphone ranked very well but your feedback is valuable to my decision and greatly appreciated. I also think I feel more confident in what I'm framing when I have a camera as opposed to a phone.

[Rok_Dr]

I have the previous Sony RX100 M3 as my point and shoot and am pretty rapt with its performance. Yes my iPhone 5 camera is not bad but its not in the league of the Sony.

Cheers

Steve

[rar110]

The 6s plus is pretty good with a 12 mp camera, image stabilisation and live image (which could be a bit gimmicky). For a phone it does this stuff quite well.

Ultimately with a bridge camera I think it comes down to MP capacity and lens quality. It also depends how compact it needs to be and whether lens zoom is important. Wifi is another great feature of a modern bridge camera.

I still like the old canon G9, although a G10 would be good. A very good quality compact camera.

[Didge]

Thanks Steve and rar110. What's a bridge camera?? a backup to a DSLR?