~£2000 for a new aviation camera system and lens - Fuji, Nikon and Sony input please!

[dd1989]

HI,

I have been using Fuji cameras now for years and have been happy with the results for 90% of what I do, which is mainly people and landscapes. I have tried to get into some Aviation photography but the X-T2 I have is an older camera from a decade ago now and Fujifilm's Autofocus system at the time whilst very accurate, struggles with AF-C, especially during higher frame rate shooting.

Their newer X-T5 which is only a few years old, is much better and has dedicated AF mods for Aeroplanes, Cars etc.

On the lens side, I only have the cheaper XC 50-230mm f/4.5-6.7, whilst it is light and compact, it does not have the reach even on an APS-C sensor that I would like around some of the Airports I visit (mainly Aberdeen and Edinburgh), and the mainly issue is that it does not have a linear motor for fast modern AF systems, so it hunts around a bit causing me to miss quite a lot of shots.

If I were to get the X-T5 I would then get the XF 70-300mm f4-5.6 R LM OIS WR lens, that would also give me a totally weather resistant system too which the current lens on the X-T2 does not give me.

I am totally up for changing systems completely though to Nikon or Sony. I would be looking at one of their Z series Mirrorless Cameras on the Nikon side. The Sony lineup I find so complicated I would need some advice here please.

- So overall, if I stick with Fuji I know what I am getting, I know the controls and layouts, I know how the files are etc.

- Nikon and Sony users some input please around lenses that go up to around the 300mm mark (if it is a full frame camera I know I will lose the crop factor), and some input around cameras with fast, reliable continuous AF and decent burst performance.

Thanks, Dan.

 

[Faldrax]

With ~£2k the Sony side, the option is to get one of their APS-C cameras (A6xxx models), the A6700 is the top of that range, and has the most recent AF system and larger battery, and is about £1399 body only, then pair that with their 70-350G APS-C lens (for 105-525 FF equivalent), which is ~£720 - the combination is a shade over budget, but should work well.
@Sootchucker has the the combo, so his view might be worthwhile (he also uses it on his A7Rv in APS-C mode, with good results)

 

[Mr Perceptive]

I've been using an X-T3 and the XF100-400 for motorsport this year, and whilst its fine for panning, the AF is wanting in many situations and I've found that I can come home with a lot of OOF images within bursts, when I would have expected the AF to be better. Thats not to say that I don't get some in focus images, I would have just expected the hit-rate to be better.

While I would expecty the X-T5 to be better, my gut feeling is that it would only be incremental and not a huge step up. I've considered the X-H2S as well (though that with a lens would be outside your budget), and although I'm a big fan of the Fuji cameras (been using X series cameras since 2012), I really don't think that I'm good enough to continnue fighting the Fuji system in an attempt to get the results that I want. The X-H2S worries me, as if it doesn't do the job, it wmight be a struggle to move on without taking a £££ hit.

So I'm also interested in the responses to this thread. I have a little more budget, but I don't want to spend too much on a system that might only get used for a handful of days in the year!

With ~£2k the Sony side, the option is to get one of their APS-C cameras (A6xxx models), the A6700 is the top of that range, and has the most recent AF system and larger battery, and is about £1399 body only, then pair that with their 70-350G APS-C lens (for 105-525 FF equivalent), which is ~£720 - the combination is a shade over budget, but should work well.
@Sootchucker has the the combo, so his view might be worthwhile (he also uses it on his A7Rv in APS-C mode, with good results)

This is an option that I didn't even know existed, but how would the AF stack up to an original A9 and the GM100-400 which can be had for similar money (pre-loved)

 

[Sootchucker]

Indeed, I took a punt last year on an A6700 (mainly as a travel camera), and to be honest it's been fantastic. For 10 years or more, my go to travel combo was Micro Four thirds OM systems cameras (with my last being the OM-1 with the 12-100 and 8-18 Panny Leica). Don't get me wrong there's still a lot to love about the OM System, but My A6700 bests it for AF, image quality, MP, video etc. Sure it doesn't have a lot of the nice AI modes that the OM has, or dual card slots and a lower res viewfinder, but to be honest, I didn't miss them as much as I thought I would.

I added the 70-350 at the beginning of this year, and whilst it's only F6.3 at the long end, it's really surprised me in how sharp it is at all focal lengths, and how super quick the focussing is. The only time the AF struggles is when shooting 4K 120P on the A6700 as that's a 1.5x crop on top of an already 1.5x crop sensor, but even then, it's slower but not too bad.

In my opinion shooting photos on my A7RV in APS-C mode yields pretty much identical results to the A6700 however the A6700 mullers the A7RV when it comes to video quality. The A7RV is OK at 25P, has a 1.2x crop at 4K 50P, but the A6700 oversamples from the full sensor all the way up to 50P with no crop.

I'm currently using it with the Sony FE 24mm F2.8 prime (so 36mm equivalent), in a sort of pseudo Fuji X100 VI type of body, and enjoying it immensely.

Here's one from the A7RV using the 70-350 in APS-C crop mode



And here's one from the A6700 with the same lens



Here's my current Sony APS-C system (it grew very quickly !)