which high-end compact to choose

I am currently looking to get a high-end compact system to augment my K5 setup. As "compact" as the K5 and limited lens are I still feel the need for something i can carry about routinely. Currently the choices are the Fuji X100, the Pentax Q or buying into the Ricoh GXR range. I find carrying about the K5 and a range of lens should be limited to specific photography trips. I just want a camera system that i can carry about all the time (within reason). How many of us have seen a photographic opportunity and we have not bothered to take out our DSLR?!!!!
With the recent purchase by Ricoh i am leaning towards the GXR on the prospect that if they can release a mount for Leica then a K-mount connection will be a logical step in the future. The combining of the Ricoh and my Limited Lens would be a good match. Whats people's thoughts? Any further suggestions?

I am interested in travel photography particularly shots of people who are sometimes intimated when a kitted-out DSLR is pointed in their direction!

Sadly, this is the trap that we have fallen for on and off over the years. There is no compact that can substitute for a DSLR. There is no compact that can be both totally portable and deliver full DSLR quality. There never has been.

IMHO we need our DSLRs and that means the hard work of carrying them about. Reducing the number of lenses carried helps a lot.

The other option is micro-four-thirds. I bought the Olympus EP1 and the Panasonic 20mm, which is an excellent normal lens. Much cheaper than the Fuji X100 and more flexible, since you can use any lens from any system on your camera.

But unless you restrict yourself to a small lens the size factor is not that different than a smaller Pentax system. I have discussed this at some length on my blog recently.

I think the guys are hinting at something here. With that kit I think you'd be pretty annoyed if you saw a shot and you didn't have it with you....

I'd just borrow the other half little Sony compact rather than buy my own

If it's any help I just helped my friend at work pick the Canon IxUS 310, though he hasn't received it yet. It seems to get great reviews with regard to low light shooting which compacts have always struggled with. Gives up a lot of zoom range compared to the Panasonic's (my next choice as they are Lecia's in disguise), but I would sacrifice the zoom for good low light capability - the Canon is a smaller too, has some manual controls, and has a nice screen with touch controls.

I came across this today.
http://translate.google.nl/translate?hl=nl&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fforum.p...

[quote:3496ace15f="Anvh"]I came across this today.
]http://translate.google.nl/translate?hl=nl&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fforum.p...

I thought your account had been hacked for a moment Stefan but there is at least one post about Pentax in there and a couple of the pictures had the word Pentax in them. I'm going to join a folk dancing club tomorrow as it looks less weird than earlier.

Sorry Doug it didn't link too well and they actually do talk about Pentax, some amazing photos sometimes aswell.
These Asian have a way of shooting that's quite difference from ours, quite fascinating.

But this was what i wanted to show here.
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=nl&rurl=translate.google.n...

no need to apologise, I didn't scroll down far enough. I just knew I was culturally out of step, even after watching Kiki's Delivery Service tonight.

I actually really like that movie, it just have a lovely air to it.
Have you already seen The Borrower Arrietty?
That one have such a great atmosphere, a must see.
Much better then the CGI stuff now a days

I always look up the date of the movie and compare it what Disney was making.
Kiki is from 1989 and so is the Little Mermaid, quite a classic to go up against.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGoXtSw0Ias

Somehow this song sounds a bit different when you're older.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lOBc3QZD9w&feature=related

What a frustrated film was it, now that i think back

btw we are going very off topic now

I use a little Sony TX-5. It's about the same size as a mobile phone and while it's quality is nowhere near the quality of a DSLR it does get those discrete shots

I recently spent three weeks in France with the K5 and the 40mm and 21mm primes. Sometimes I missed having a longer lens like the 70mm limited but overall I was amazed at the flexibility of such a simple set up, which delivers top quality too. I spent ages before going looking over high-end compacts but in the end decided to get the best from what I have. Don't regret it. There were very few shots I regretted not being able to take because I didn't have a compact in my pocket. On the other hand, there were many, many shots I was able to take that a compact would have rendered too flatly and, at dusk and dawn, too noisily too.

[quote:3496ace15f="Dodge69"]I think the guys are hinting at something here. With that kit I think you'd be pretty annoyed if you saw a shot and you didn't have it with you....

yeh you always hanker after the lens you left behind! lol

thanks for the helpful response

Yeh i don't expect DSLR quality from a compact but want it to give as good as i get.....the X100 is classy for sure but the price! although once you start building on the GXR that can get pricey too but more versatile. I am gonna off until at least i see the reviews of the Q but although i have been impressed by the 80% percent examples floting round the web i can see how Pentax can "get blood out of a stone" so to speak....the sensor is so small and compacted, unless they have the receipe for the secret sauce i don't think that the IQ can compete....intersesting no the less and looks kinda cute

yep, which is why I found the ungripped K5 (or K10) and 18-250 an excellent combo; add that with a flash and a 50 macro and you have pretty much everything you need.

Bret