When it comes to logging in microservices, what's your favorite tool or method?

Hey everyone, I'm building out a new microservice setup and could use some advice on logging. I know about big systems like the ELK stack and Splunk, but I'm wondering if there are easier ways. Do you guys just send logs straight to a central place, or do you put little helper programs on each machine? What have you found works best, especially when you're trying to fix bugs or keep an eye on things?