Other than perhaps physical size, today’s compacts little resemble models that advanced the category, like the 3.3-megapixel Canon S20 I purchased in mid-2000. Price differs, too. The then state-of-the-art digicam sold for about $900, if I recall rightly. Gasp, or was it more? Fifteen years later, compacts like the Nikon CoolPix A put some of the best features of the dSLR into a much smaller device, for much less spent. The camera packs in an APS-C sensor—DX in Nikon-speak—excellent low-light performance, and fixed-focal length (e.g, prime) lens.

Jake Stimpson demonstrates just what image quality a camera like the Nikon A delivers in competent hands. The pastor for Biserica Piatra Vie, in Bucharest, Romania, captures candids that make you wonder: “What?” He shot self-titled “Doctors Make Me Nervous” on April 24, 2015. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 1600, 1/250 sec, 18.5mm. The pic takes the Day for clarity and composition and for being interesting.