Five best compact cameras for the jet-setting prosumer

The trusty DSLR – digital single-lens reflex – camera is the tool of choice for professionals and photography enthusiasts alike, offering enormous versatility and control. But there’s a downside: you’re packing for your holiday to Liguria, and, excited about capturing the visual essence of your trip, reach for your Nikon 810 and then it hits you: holy moly, this thing is heavy. “Do I really want to lug 12 kilos of gear in my carry-on luggage?” you ask yourself. No. The answer is no.

Lighten your load with a compact camera that can do (almost) everything a DSLR can, at a fraction of the weight. Here are our five favourites available right now. The ground rules? They have to be small, have a fixed (not interchangeable) lens, and they had to be able to compete on some level with the way more complex, much larger machines out there. And please note, our choices are based on a mixture of objective and entirely subjective criteria.

1. Leica Q

When you absolutely, positively have to have the best compact there is, accept no substitutes: the Leica Q gives you a full-frame sensor wrapped in a compact body (the only 35mm-equivalent sensor on this list), and a magnificent 28mm f/1.7 ASPH lens. Throw in perhaps the best electronic viewfinder in the business plus a gorgeous touchscreen and you’ve got a stew going.

Pros: Objectively the best compact camera available; the prestige of having that little red dot

Cons: Fixed focal length (again, so what?); 1080p video; costs more than all the other cameras in this list combined

Price: HK$32,000-34,000

2. Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS110

Compact cameras are Panasonic’s stomping ground: these guys have mastered the art of fitting heaps of tech into tiny form factors. The Lumix range exemplifies this, and the ZS110 (aka the ZS100 or TZ100, don’t ask us) packs a whopping 25-250mm f/2.8-5.9 lens, delivering 10x optical zoom capability into its 4.4 by 2.5 inch frame. You could legitimately take this on safari and expect this to pick up all the detail of that hungry lioness’s whiskers.