Panasonic GM1

By Michael Reichmann

Most serious photographers hate finding themselves somewhere without a camera. Murphy being an optimist, the alien mother-ship will land just across the street the day that you leave your camera at home. For this reason many of us encumber ourselves with a lump of metal and glass much of the time. Some, such as iconic photographer Jay Maisel, hasn't stepped out of his house these past 50 years without a Nikon over a shoulder. 
An alternative is a pocket camera. Back in the day, (1966 through the early 80's) theRollei 35  in its various versions was hands-down the most popular, not to mention smallest 135mm camera. Yes, there were smaller cameras available, including those that used 16mm movie film, but these were all compromises when it came to enlargability, AKA... image quality.

In recent digital times pocket cameras of many types have been available, but they are a dying breed. The smartphone camera has pretty much replaced them for many people. Yo...