Confused about what to buy

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Slime

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Hi,

I recently sold all my Canon gear with the intention of going FF in preparation for some travelling I'm planning on doing over the next 3 months. I was set to buy a 6D with the 24-105L kit and possibly add a 70-200 F4 L but after getting stuck into some research over the last few days, I'm sorely tempted by the Sony A7 II.

I am coming from a 600D, Tamron 17-50, Canon 55-250 and 50mm f1.8 which I found pretty much covered my needs in terms of range. Most of my shots were on the 17-50mm but having the 55-250mm was always a really nice option and I got some pretty good use from it.

My dilemma is that I cannot decide which would suit my needs more. I am completely sold on the A7 as it would save a great deal of hassle in terms of the size and weight benefits but I simply cannot afford to add a 70-200mm on top of the kit lens. I don't mind losing the range on the Canon option as the 24-105mm will probably give me enough but sticking with just the kit lens on the A7 is holding me back as I feel I would need a bit more reach.

My total budget is £1600 which is what the Canon option comes in at on grey import. I haven't looked at a Nikon (or anyone else) but that's simply because having owned Canon gear for the last 8 or 9 years I'm just not familiar with the kit, I would totally be open to switching if it was the sensible thing to do.

I'm hoping to get to SE Asia at some point and in my mind, most of my shots will be street photography or landscapes. I just can't pull myself away from the Sony as there are a tonne of features which I love but maybe for my budget the Canon is the more sensible option...?

It would be good to hear someone else's take on it as I am literally changing my mind every 5 minutes.

Ta :)
 
Slime said:
My dilemma is that I cannot decide which would suit my needs more
Click to expand...
A useful starting point would be defining your needs...
 
You don't say which features you want, but have you considered the original A7 ?
You could pick up an A7 & the 24-70 F4 which would roughly be the equivalent of your old 17-55 2.8, plus you'll appreciate the constant aperture. This would give you great quality for the majority of your shooting by the sounds of it, 70mm at F4 on FF would be ok for portraits, you could pick up something like the Samyang 85mm for shallower depth of field if that's a consideration.
You could always use an adapter & some old primes & a telephoto whilst you save for more native lenses.
 
Forgot to add, that blowing the majority of my budget on a body & then being "stuck" with kit lenses wouldn't be a route I'd take.
If I had £1600 to go FF, I'd go 2nd hand too.
 
A7 won't save you much in terms of size and weight, only the body's smaller, like for like lenses will be a similar size.
 
snerkler said:
A7 won't save you much in terms of size and weight, only the body's smaller, like for like lenses will be a similar size.
Click to expand...

Whenever I read this view I wonder if people have actually held the cameras, so apologies if you have?

I have an A7 and it's significantly smaller than my 5D, ditto with a prime attached. Once you get into zooms I'm a bit lost as I'm not a great zooms user but no doubt the specs are on line somewhere and the Canon lenses are going to have to be significantly smaller and lighter than the Sony lenses to begin to redress the difference in the body and lens package size and weight. I doubt that'll happen. You really have to handle the kit and if possible carry it about and use it for hours or better still a whole day to see if the difference in bulk and weight matters.

In these pictures you can see how tiny my A7 is next to my 5D. The A7 is fitted with an adapter and a Minolta 50mm f1.4 and these are about the same size as the excellent Zeiss 55mm f1.8.





OP.
Personally I think that the Sony system makes a lot of sense. The things I like about it are that with a compact prime attached it's pretty much the size of my MFT kit, another huge plus for me is that these cameras are fantastic to use old manual lenses on and focus manually and the in view focus and metering aids such as zebras, peaking and the in view histogram mean that chimping and reshooting or blowing highlights is pretty much a thing of the past. My first time keeper rate has never been so high. The image quality isn't bad either and coming from a Canon you may see a step up.

If finance allow I think the A7 series is well worth a look. I'll never go back to DSLR's now.
 
woof woof said:
Whenever I read this view I wonder if people have actually held the cameras, so apologies if you have?

I have an A7 and it's significantly smaller than my 5D, ditto with a prime attached. Once you get into zooms I'm a bit lost as I'm not a great zooms user but no doubt the specs are on line somewhere and the Canon lenses are going to have to be significantly smaller and lighter than the Sony lenses to begin to redress the difference in the body and lens package size and weight. I doubt that'll happen. You really have to handle the kit and if possible carry it about and use it for hours or better still a whole day to see if the difference in bulk and weight matters.

In these pictures you can see how tiny my A7 is next to my 5D. The A7 is fitted with an adapter and a Minolta 50mm f1.4 and these are about the same size as the excellent Zeiss 55mm f1.8.





OP.
Personally I think that the Sony system makes a lot of sense. The things I like about it are that with a compact prime attached it's pretty much the size of my MFT kit, another huge plus for me is that these cameras are fantastic to use old manual lenses on and focus manually and the in view focus and metering aids such as zebras, peaking and the in view histogram mean that chimping and reshooting or blowing highlights is pretty much a thing of the past. My first time keeper rate has never been so high. The image quality isn't bad either and coming from a Canon you may see a step up.

If finance allow I think the A7 series is well worth a look. I'll never go back to DSLR's now.
Click to expand...
Depends on the lens, I use zooms and if you look at the 70-200mm f4 for example the Sony is actually bigger and heavier than the Canon (see the link). So yes you can make it a smaller package if you choose the right lenses and are primarily a prime user, but people should also be aware that a number of native lenses are no different to DSLR (y)

http://camerasize.com/compact/#624.392,312.294,ha,t


.
 
woof woof said:
Whenever I read this view I wonder if people have actually held the cameras, so apologies if you have?

I have an A7 and it's significantly smaller than my 5D, ditto with a prime attached. Once you get into zooms I'm a bit lost as I'm not a great zooms user but no doubt the specs are on line somewhere and the Canon lenses are going to have to be significantly smaller and lighter than the Sony lenses to begin to redress the difference in the body and lens package size and weight. I doubt that'll happen. You really have to handle the kit and if possible carry it about and use it for hours or better still a whole day to see if the difference in bulk and weight matters.

In these pictures you can see how tiny my A7 is next to my 5D. The A7 is fitted with an adapter and a Minolta 50mm f1.4 and these are about the same size as the excellent Zeiss 55mm f1.8.





OP.
Personally I think that the Sony system makes a lot of sense. The things I like about it are that with a compact prime attached it's pretty much the size of my MFT kit, another huge plus for me is that these cameras are fantastic to use old manual lenses on and focus manually and the in view focus and metering aids such as zebras, peaking and the in view histogram mean that chimping and reshooting or blowing highlights is pretty much a thing of the past. My first time keeper rate has never been so high. The image quality isn't bad either and coming from a Canon you may see a step up.

If finance allow I think the A7 series is well worth a look. I'll never go back to DSLR's now.
Click to expand...
A 5d mk1 is bigger than a 6d. My 6d is smaller and lighter than my xxd cropped bodies.

A7 is smaller of course, but as above, stick the OPs desired lenses on it and that size / weight advantage is pretty moot.
 
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odd jim said:
A 5d mk1 is bigger than a 6d. My 6d is smaller and lighter than my xxd cropped bodies.

A7 is smaller of course, but as above, stick the OPs desired lenses on it and that size / weight advantage is pretty moot.
Click to expand...

Only in the eyes of a DSLR fan :D
 
snerkler said:
Depends on the lens, I use zooms and if you look at the 70-200mm f4 for example the Sony is actually bigger and heavier than the Canon (see the link). So yes you can make it a smaller package if you choose the right lenses and are primarily a prime user, but people should also be aware that a number of native lenses are no different to DSLR (y)

http://camerasize.com/compact/#624.392,312.294,ha,t


.
Click to expand...
Still a more compact and lighter package though.
http://camerasize.com/compact/#624.392,312.294,ha,b
 
Thanks for the responses, it's actually given me plenty to think about. After giving it some thought, I definitely want a more compact system than the one I came from. My last camera just didn't get enough use and I think a lot of that was down to the fact that it's just too big to carry everywhere. I think I racked up something like 7k shots in the 5 or 6 years I had it which gives you an idea of just how rarely I used it. I realise that once you add a zoom to the A7 it almost negates the weight and size benefits so for the time being I'm going to hold off on getting a longer lens. Most of my shots are at a shorter length so that's a compromise I'm happy to make.

Which leaves me with a few options. Ultimately, I want something which will give me the best possible image quality for the money. I have been considering whether I really need to go FF, If I'm honest with myself, I'm partly doing it because I feel almost obliged to after owning 2 crop sensor Canons and partly because right now I can afford to. Don't get me wrong, I understand the benefits, but if I think about my needs in terms of what I will be shooting, I'm trying to weigh up if it is worth the extra cost at the expense of lenses. So here's my conclusion (or not really)

a) Spend less on the body and get an A6000 with a 16-70mm f4 (or similar) and possibly a prime or just bank the rest.

b) Go FF and get an A7 mark 1 (£699 at park) and spend the rest on lenses.

c) A7ii with 24-70mm

The IBIS in the A7ii is a major attraction for me, the fact that's it's FF is just a bonus. I might try and get down to a camera shop tomorrow to have a play. I think that's really the only way I'm going to be able to make a proper decision.
 
Slime said:
Thanks for the responses, it's actually given me plenty to think about. After giving it some thought, I definitely want a more compact system than the one I came from. My last camera just didn't get enough use and I think a lot of that was down to the fact that it's just too big to carry everywhere. I think I racked up something like 7k shots in the 5 or 6 years I had it which gives you an idea of just how rarely I used it. I realise that once you add a zoom to the A7 it almost negates the weight and size benefits so for the time being I'm going to hold off on getting a longer lens. Most of my shots are at a shorter length so that's a compromise I'm happy to make.

Which leaves me with a few options. Ultimately, I want something which will give me the best possible image quality for the money. I have been considering whether I really need to go FF, If I'm honest with myself, I'm partly doing it because I feel almost obliged to after owning 2 crop sensor Canons and partly because right now I can afford to. Don't get me wrong, I understand the benefits, but if I think about my needs in terms of what I will be shooting, I'm trying to weigh up if it is worth the extra cost at the expense of lenses. So here's my conclusion (or not really)

a) Spend less on the body and get an A6000 with a 16-70mm f4 (or similar) and possibly a prime or just bank the rest.

b) Go FF and get an A7 mark 1 (£699 at park) and spend the rest on lenses.

c) A7ii with 24-70mm

The IBIS in the A7ii is a major attraction for me, the fact that's it's FF is just a bonus. I might try and get down to a camera shop tomorrow to have a play. I think that's really the only way I'm going to be able to make a proper decision.
Click to expand...
If you really want to downsize then you could always look at the m4/3. I'm lucky enough to have two systems, m4/3 and FF and in terms of images quality my Olympus EM5-II is probably 90-95% as good as my D750, if you're happy to give a bit on shallow DOF.

FYI from what I can gather the Sony 24-70mm for FE mount isn't that well rated so I'd definitely recommend trying before you buy.
 
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Have you considered the Fuji X series? DX sensor in a small body and a great lens range. XT1 with 18-55 and 55-200 would suit all you needs and they are all light enough to travel all day without it being a chore.
 
My experience with going for a smaller body might help dissuade you if you've not already made up your mind. I bought a Fuji XT-1; it was lightweight, shiny, had an articulating screen and I was completely sold on having all the manual buttons available at my fingertips.

The reality was different; my hands were more cramped to use the thing (noticeably-so), there was little-to-no second hand market for lenses, the novelty of the controls wore off quickly and I realised I had to unlearn the Canon 5D controls I'd become so accustomed to - I was slower and was losing confidence in the camera as a result. I'd be annoyed if I was going out to a new location (one that I'd spent a few quid to get to) only to realise I didn't feel comfortable driving the camera, or knowing its limits. I know because I've done it.

I guess you can move, get it out of your system, but it wasn't a good move for me. You could perhaps go the other way - SE Asia can have unpredictable and extreme weather - do you trust Sony's weatherproofing over Canon's? I know I no longer even need to worry about it with a 1D body.
 
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