UKH

I've long switched between and DSLR and a compact camera - I never seem to quite get on with either. The DSLR is too much weight and faff, while the compact takes average photos and takes and age to turn on.

Has anyone got any suggestions for a camera that meets the following criteria:

• Cheapish used - sub £200 inc lens if needed
• Reasonably durable - doesn't need to be rugged
• Quick to turn on 

I was considering a mirrorless camera but am open to suggestions. I'm not a pro, and have much to learn.

I'll mostly use it for cragging, hill walking at the occasional alpine trip.

Sounds like you want a mirrorless camera - although with the right skills you can get great pictures from a compact.

Your limiting factor here is your budget - even used, £200 won't get you much. IMO at this price point you're better off spending £200 extra on your next phone to get one with a better camera.

My first foray into micro 4/3 was a used Olympus OMD 10 with a 14-42 lens from MPB. It cost just over £200 and I have been really impressed by it and it has now become my take everywhere camera.

Sony a5100. Can get for that price with the kit lens on eBay. Have used it loads without a case, attached to my harness and never broken it 

I'm tempted by a Canon M10 for £200 (a few on eBay at that price). 

Cheap, small, fast. A little long in the tooth but still relevant.

Uses the smaller mount EF-M lenses.

[1] - https://kenrockwell.com/canon/eos-m/m10.htm

Which lens do you use?

Do you carry it in your pocket?

Thanks - how long does it take to power up?

Nice. How long does it take to power up?

It would help to know what you mean by "quick". How long did your compact take to turn on?

Also you shouldn't assume that mirrorless = small. My mirrorless micro4/3 G9 is bigger and heavier than my old Canon 550d APS-C DSLR.

And what was the 'faff' you disliked about the DSLR? If its changing lenses then mirrorless is no help - just get a better compact.

A bit more info from you will result in better suggestions.

It should ideally be quicker to turn on that it would be to take my gloves off and use my smartphone.

Yes, smaller.

A compact would probably be fine it it turns on quicker.

Hope that helps.

What compact did you have? My old Lumix LX3 compact turns on in ~2s. A newish G9 mirrorless turns on in ~1-3s depending on whether it's in deep sleep (been off for a while) or normal sleep (been on recently). DSLR (Canon 6d) takes <1s. One thing to bear in mind is that a lot of cameras these days are really computers-that-take-pictures and I think startup lag is something that comes with the territory.

I’ve got Olympus cameras and start up is less than 1s (almost instant from light sleep) up to 3s for full power up start. Quicker than I can grab, and lift camera with super telephoto lens from waist level to eye.

Of course focusing adds to that.

The 16mm to 55mm for that one. It's very quick to turn on 

cheap (used), durable and quick to turn on

Thought you were looking for a woman there.

I agree about compact cameras with telescopic zoom being a bit slow.

The Nikon 1 cameras with a fixed or short zoom lens comes on pretty quick, like 2s ready to shoot, image quality isn't as good as a DSLR, though less faffy than a phone camera.

Unless size was important I'd still probably go for something like a basic canon/Nikon DSLR with either a decent fixed lens (2.8 35mm on a crop sensor) or short zoom (usual is 18-55).

You can leave it switched on in sleep mode and usually ready to shoot in 2s, I think my old Nikon d60 took 3-4s to turn on and ready.

A bit of an oddity maybe but consider a Casio Exilim TR70 or similar from that range. I just got one for £130 used. It turns much more quickly than my dSLR, my mirrorless, and most compacts I’ve owned 

A self portrait camera? Odd indeed