Dennis (dmcguire) asks in our Flickr group discussion section, what is the "best compact for street photography?"
Documentary photography has long been a strength of compact cameras, both film and digital. While portability is less of a factor for most landscape photography, excepting perhaps the mountain climber or hiker who needs to travel light, it is a great advantage for documentary work. Compared with larger cameras, compacts are easier to take everywhere and keep ready for any moment that should arise. Compact cameras are also more discreet than larger cameras. This can be an asset, not necessarily because of stealth, but because a less distracting camera may make it easier to document a moment without affecting its content.
Whether "street" or otherwise, the list of documentary photographers who have put compacts to outstanding use is beyond the scope of this blog post. Here are a few to consider:
- Magnum photographer Alex Majoli used Olympus digital compacts for award-winning photojournalism (link).
- New York street photographer Markus Hartel makes use of a variety of compacts including the GRD II and Sigma DP1 (link).
- Magnum photographer Peter van Agtmael also uses digital compacts including the GRD (in addition to the Leica Digilux 2 and others). See his Lightstalkers gallery with intact EXIF data (link).
