Camera time!

(Photo of me at Ankor Wat, Cambodia at sunrise)

My love for photography and cameras goes way back: my crazy grandfather was a diagnosed hoarder and had hundreds, yes, hundreds!, of cameras for me to play with when I was little. He also loved photography and urged that I try photography before I could hold a standard SLR in my hand. I started shooting black and white film at 12, even converting our home boiler room into a makeshift darkroom for black-and-white prints. In college at Wesleyan University, I majored in Photography and Psychology, spending late nights in the darkroom and getting some work published along the way. Life got busy with marriage, kids, and everything else, so my gear sat unused for years. I still take tons of photos, but usually with my iPhone, which I am really impressed by in general. I do know, however, that I want more zoom capability and higher resolution for our vacation photos.The challenge? My Canon EOS 5D Mark IV is an incredible full-frame beast with stunning image quality but it's bulky and heavy. I needed something truly pocketable that wouldn't compromise too much on capability. 

After deep-diving into 2026 reviews the Sony RX100 VII (DSC-RX100M7) kept coming out on top as the ultimate premium compact—even years after its release. What sold me? Its 24-200mm equivalent Zeiss lens is said to deliver incredible versatility in a tiny body (just over 10 ounces and truly pocket-sized). This should allow me to cover wide-angle scenes and zoomed-in details without lens swaps. And, when I don't feel like carrying it, I can pop it into my super hip fanny pack. It also has industry-leading autofocus (real-time tracking and eye AF for people, borrowed from Sony's pro bodies), a pop-up EVF for bright days, 4K video, and USB charging. It is bluetooth capable and can transfer photos directly to my iPhone if I don't want to wait for the full resolution download I will make to my computer.  It sounds like travel gold to me.  Reviews in 2026 still call it one of the best compacts ever, with no true successor matching its zoom flexibility. I have read that it takes some time to learn the functions, so I have ordered it now (in January) and plan on playing around with it so I feel comfortable with its functions before our trip. I can't wait to see what this little camera can do!