Leica’s $5,800 Q2 camera was the most popular point-and-shoot at Lensrentals last year
posted Friday, March 10, 2023 at 1:00 PM EDT
New point-and-shoot cameras are few and far between. Gone are the days of Sony releasing a new version of its popular RX100 series every year or two. Likewise, Nikon Coolpix superzooms are rarely updated.
However, the death of the point-and-shoot may have been exaggerated. Sure, smartphones have almost entirely supplanted the once-ubiquitous compact camera among the general population, but photographers still like point-and-shoot cameras. Some point-and-shoot cameras have gone full circle, once again becoming cool thanks to TikTok influencers. It's interesting to consider that the generation that practically destroyed point-and-shoot cameras may now be the same generation that thinks they're cool.
The fine folks at Lensrentals offer the latest and greatest in cameras, lenses, and accessories. They also stock various older cameras, like point-and-shoot models, for customers to rent. The Lensrentals team just shared the most rented point-and-shoot cameras of 2022, and there are some surprising inclusions.
Before diving into the list, the term "point-and-shoot" might undersell the capabilities of some of the featured cameras. While these cameras, and flagship mirrorless cameras for that matter, allow photographers to turn it on, point at something, and capture an image, many point-and-shoot cameras offer manual controls. Some of them are even super stylish and certainly earn the respect of even the snobbiest among us, like the Fujifilm X100F at number eight and the Ricoh GR IIIx at number five. These aren't just cool cameras, they're proper cameras for proper photographers.
While the Nikon Coolpix P1000 at number seven and the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III at number nine may not offer the "cool" factor of the Fuji X100F, they offer a heck of a lot of practicality. The Coolpix P1000 is a super-fun superzoom camera with a ridiculous 125x optical zoom lens. The 24-3000mm equivalent lens is an absolute blast to use, and it is a perfect companion for travel, nature walks, and birding. Sure, its tiny sensor struggles with image quality, but it's nonetheless capable of capturing good photos in bright light. Good luck coming anywhere near matching its zoom capabilities with a larger sensor.
In the 10th spot is the Olympus Tough TG-6. The latest model in the popular TG series, the TG-6 is an extremely rugged, waterproof camera. It's a great choice for an adventurous vacation, well-suited to whitewater rafting, swimming, and even some pretty serious diving. It's easy to see the appeal of renting a camera like the TG-6 for an excursion.
So, what was the most popular point-and-shoot camera at Lensrentals in 2022? The Leica Q2. While point-and-shoot cameras typically offer solid performance at a wallet-friendly price, the Leica Q2 goes in a different direction. A very different direction. It's $5,800. While most point-and-shoot cameras also use small image sensors, such as Type 1.0 and sometimes APS-C sensors, the Leica Q2 bucks the trend here, too, sporting a 47.3-megapixel full-frame CMOS image sensor paired with a Summilux 28mm F1.7 ASPH. lens. If you want to spare no expense and refuse to compromise on image quality, the Leica Q2 is for you. And apparently, it struck a chord with photographers in 2022 because not only is the Q2 the most-rented point-and-shoot camera of last year, the Leica Q2 Monochrom, which only shoots in black-and-white, landed in the sixth spot.
To see the full list and read about the popular use cases for each featured camera, head over to Lensrentals. Readers, do you still yearn for the glory days of the point-and-shoot camera? Do you use one now? Let us know in the comments.