So I recently acquired a used Canon G9. I bought it because the reviews indicated it would meet my needs as an 'everyday carry' camera. On paper it was perfect. All the manual control I wanted, including dedicated buttons and dials, and even a hot shoe. But I didn't like. I couldn't figure out why for a while. The results were okay. The menu system was intuitive. I just had a vague feeling of unease when taking photos. And eventually I realised. I was worried I'd drop it. The problem was the combination of a short body and relatively heavy weight (for something this small).
While the Canon G series past the G6 aim to be miniature SLRs in their look, their feel and their layout, there is a problem. The problem is my hand hasn't been miniaturised, and so my two smallest fingers end up redundant. The G5 suffered less from this. The G2 less still. And it's a pleasure to pick up these older cameras. A camera, like any other tool, is easier to use when it fits the hand.
Yet the miniaturisation trend of the last decade and a half has driven camera design in another direction. The Canon S series illustrates the trend. The S90 abandoned the 'brick' form factor for something like the shape of an IXUS - shallow and flat.
I'd probably drop that too.
And yet a few compact cameras manage to be small while fitting the hand extraordinarily well, as if to prove it can be done.
Some of the mid range Nikons from the noughties are a revelation when it comes to handling. As far as I can tell, this is thanks to a deep grip combined with low weight.
Beyond that, a radical rethink of the camera form can produce something easy to control that fits in a pocket. The split body designs from Nikon are just that. For a while Nikon abandoned the box-with-a-lens-on-the-front form, for something rather unusual. These are the Bromptons of the camera world.
The shape of the Nikon 4500 didn't make sense to me til I used it. In this design, you aim the lens with your left hand, and adjust settings with your right. And this model was a miniaturisation of the
Nikon 995 - which also feels good in the hand. Actually the 995 feels as good as my DSLRs. Shame Nikon stopped designing split bodies.
Fast forward a decade and a half, it turns out that handling is what dedicated cameras have on smartphones. It is the selling point. It may be their only selling point, now you get Really Good Results from the miniature camera you carry all the time.