Handbag cameras

MikeFrewer

This question is aimed at the ladies among us. But a reason why first.
My wife has shown an interest in photography at last. She doesn't want a P&S, and she doesn't want a "huge" camera. She has been looking round the internet with a little help from me, and she has taken a fancy to the Fuji x e1 with its retro styling and a nice brown leather cover for it as well. The only question she has is which lens will she need for everyday use ?
P.S. It must fit in the nice Brown Leather cover as well.

So come on ladies, which camera do you have in your handbag ?

Msmoto

I had thought I posted earlier here, but in my handbag is an Olympus E-PL2 which I bought at the Ritz closing a few months ago. This is a great little camera although in my bag I guess I threw it around too much and cracked the back viewer cover.

It is very sharp, a 4/3 sensor. If one can find one inexpensively, mine was $200 at the closeout.

heartyfisher

The Panasonic Lumix GF2 looks nifty too.. I have not got one but been thinking about it .. not that i carry a handbag ! ;-) but if i were to spend (your money) I think the Olympus PEN Lite E-PL5 is nice..

NSXTypeR

I don't carry a handbag, but you wouldn't need one to fit a Sony RX100. It would fit inside a large pencil case.

Hey Nikon- notice anything? No one has recommended a small Nikon point and shoot yet!

PB_PM

Aside from the P7700 there isn't anything worth mentioning.

Msmoto

OK, there are a lot of Nikon 1 fans and this is a nice "handbag" camera. But, the cost is on the high side unless one buys at a closeout.

Rx4Photo

Maybe I need to keep trying one occasionally but I just haven't been convinced that the Nikon 1's are durable enough. They just seem very featherweight to me.

PB_PM

The Nikon V1 is a very well made camera (mag alloy body), no need to doubt it's construction. The lenses on the other hand, at least the kit zooms, feel very cheap. The 10mm F2.8 is metal though.

TriShooter

Having done a fair amount of walking, and occasional ducking and crawling shooting wildlife with three V1s. 2 of them mounted on FT-1 with FX Lenses using a BlackRapid Double Strap, and another V1 with the 30-110mm on a neck strap.

Completely agree with PB_PM comment about the V1 being a tough little camera body. Even though 30-110mm feels very light it is extremely fast focusing, tracks well, and at this point has done a lot of travel and field work shooting with no issues. I have not read or heard anything about the V1 lenses being damage prone.

I still consider the Sony NEX C3 to NEX 5N to be spectacular walk around camera systems, but still having FUN with the crop factor on the Nikon 1 system for small wildlife. The Sony NEX has superior low light capability, and in this respect blows the Nikon 1 System away, but using flash the Nikon 1 System is better than the Sony.