GX80 v M100 v A5100

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Yantorsen

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Evening All,

From my last thread I have realized that what I thought I wanted basically does not exist.

I am looking for a camera which I can take travelling around India with me for a couple of months. Will mainly be for street photography, cityscapes and landscapes. I will probably make the odd video too, but stills are the priority.

So having taken on board the previous advice I have narrowed down what I am looking for to the following:

- Must be compact, ideally to fit in a pocket with lens attached.
- Less than £350, ideally a lot less, for body and lens.

Which from my research, the following three are the best options, I'm hoping you can help me narrow it down:

Panasonic GX80 - £380 (or £325 used)
+ 4k video could be nice especially with the 5 way image stabilization
+ Kit lens looks to very flat so ought to fit in pocket when on body
+ Image stabilization could be really handy for low-light situations; inside temples, streets in the evening etc. especially as I will be travelling light and will only have room for a very small tripod.
- Only 16mp
- Smaller sensor than the other two, meaning low-light performance might be worse despite image stabilization

Canon M100 - £330 (Can't find any used in decent condition)
+ Bigger sensor than GX80, ought to be better in low light
+ Screen can flip around for selfies, which could be useful for solo travelling, but not really essential
+ 24mp
- Seems like lots of settings can only be accessed through menus, this could get annoying
- Kit lens looks to be a lot deeper than the GX80 so probably will not fit in pockets
- No 4k video
- No image stabilization, but maybe the larger sensor makes up for this by allowing higher ISOs
- No EVF, which generally I don't care about, but being able to press the body against your face for stability whilst shooting at slower shutter speeds is helpful

Sony A5100 - £330 (or £280 used)
+ Bigger sensor than GX80, ought to be better in low light
+ Screen can flip around for selfies, which could be useful for solo travelling, but not really essential
+ 24mp
+ Body looks very compact, and kit lens looks smaller than the M100s, but maybe still too big to fit in pocket compared to the GX80? (It's hard to tell)
- No 4k video
- No image stabilization, but maybe the larger sensor makes up for this by allowing higher ISOs
- No EVF, which generally I don't care about, but being able to press the body against your face for stability whilst shooting at slower shutter speeds is helpful

Overall the A5100 and M100 look very similar, but the A5100 looks to be available a bit cheaper used, and has a more compact body and shorter kit lens. So the question really is, is the GX80 worth the additional £50 for 4k video, image stabilization and a flatter design, but a smaller sensor? In the DXOMark benchmarks the A5100 (80) and M100 (78) do a lot better than the GX85 (71).

Obviously feel free to suggest any other cameras I should be looking at.

Many thanks!
 
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I had a GX80 , so impressed that I went out and bought a GX9.
Next version up with bigger sensor and few more improvements
Ended up with two of them, wanted a spare for my travels.
Personally found them to be excellent and no major flaws.
Ideal travel camera, can also charge from usb and a power bank

If you are interested I have my spare for sale in the classifieds well within your budget
 
Rich,

I don't know if you meant to say that the GX9 has a bigger sensor as they're both MFT.

OP... The GX9 does however have a 20mp sensor whilst the GX80 is 16mp. People do say that they prefer the 20mp one but I have to be honest and say that I see no real difference if any between them. The 20mp does however give you those 4mp more.

Anyway I too have a GX80 and GX9 and they're both very nice cameras and to be honest when I'm processing pictures I often forget which are GX9, which are GX80 and which are from my FF Sony A7 until I look very closely.

I don't know anything about the Canon, my sister had the Sony and the pictures and video look good on screen but I couldn't live with a camera without an EVF so that rules the Sony out for me. Sony A6000's do crop up at good prices though and might be worth a look as I feel sure you'd find one and a lens within budget and in fact there's one for sale with a kit lens in the classifieds here.
 
The a5100 doesn’t have built in IS, however, the kit lens does have built in image stabilisation. We’ve had one for years, it’s a great little camera. Video AF is very fast and touch to focus/shoot/track.
 
I own the GX80 and it was an absolute bargain. If I wanted to video myself on my travels a lot I might be tempted by the Canon BUT the GX80 really is packed with a lot of goodies which shine while travelling. There are some really good value lenses out there. I only bought it for vintage lenses but ended up with the 12-32 and the sigma 60mm. I think i spent less than 380 total.

If it had a mic port it would be a whole different level. That's all I miss with it, and that's purely because I'd love to use it for recording pieces for my youtube channel, otherwise it's spot on.
 
woof woof said:
Rich,

I don't know if you meant to say that the GX9 has a bigger sensor as they're both MFT.

OP... The GX9 does however have a 20mp sensor whilst the GX80 is 16mp. People do say that they prefer the 20mp one but I have to be honest and say that I see no real difference if any between them. The 20mp does however give you those 4mp more.

Anyway I too have a GX80 and GX9 and they're both very nice cameras and to be honest when I'm processing pictures I often forget which are GX9, which are GX80 and which are from my FF Sony A7 until I look very closely.

I don't know anything about the Canon, my sister had the Sony and the pictures and video look good on screen but I couldn't live with a camera without an EVF so that rules the Sony out for me. Sony A6000's do crop up at good prices though and might be worth a look as I feel sure you'd find one and a lens within budget and in fact there's one for sale with a kit lens in the classifieds here.
Click to expand...

Thanks Alan, only meant bigger mp wise, rushed that post a but before I went out
 
Thanks all for the responses!

Rich, it looks like your GX9 for sale will be over budget once I've added in a lens, but thanks anyway!

I think I have now boiled it down to the Sony A6000 (£340 used), Sony A5100 (£280 used) or Panasonic GX85 (£325 used).

I just cannot decide if I need an EVF. If I don't, then I think the A5100 is by far the best value as all I really care about is IQ and compactness, but if I do then I am torn between the GX85's 4k video and image stabilisation and the better IQ and MP count of the A6000.

I will be shooting in India which will be sunny much of the time and I don't want to not be able to see the screen at all, but I don't know if people are exaggerating about how unusable screens are in bright sunlight. Is it not possible to get a cheap removable hood or something for the A5100s rear screen? Looks a bit crude, but maybe I could take something like this just in case:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SMALLRIG-S...C7W0NQGNXE3EQ3FV&qid=1571855418&s=electronics

Many thanks.
 
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In the past I've found that back screens are at least useable for rough composition in most direct daylight and maybe only truly unusable in extreme bright light.

If you haven't used a camera with only a back screen before maybe you can get some idea by using your phone in sunshine?

I'm not a fan of back screen shooting though as you have to hold the camera out in front of you and there may be some stability issues when zooming and shooting, I don't know... but if you think you can get by it's up to you.

The A6000 and lens in the for sale section here is £260.
 
woof woof said:
In the past I've found that back screens are at least useable for rough composition in most direct daylight and maybe only truly unusable in extreme bright light.

If you haven't used a camera with only a back screen before maybe you can get some idea by using your phone in sunshine?

I'm not a fan of back screen shooting though as you have to hold the camera out in front of you and there may be some stability issues when zooming and shooting, I don't know... but if you think you can get by it's up to you.

The A6000 and lens in the for sale section here is £260.
Click to expand...

My current camera has an EVF and a back screen, but I generally use the back screen, and only use the EVF either in very bright light or in low light for extra stability as you describe. However my camera is 13 years old, so I am assuming modern camera screens are much better, can I assume they are comparable to a modern smart phone screen? To be honest as long as I can see the the green boxing telling me its in focus, basic framing/composition and the ISO, shutter speed, white balance meter etc. then I think it's fine. I'm not looking to pixel peep on the fly.

Ohh, if it's that cheap, I should have a look at that, I cannot find it though, perhaps I am being stupid, can you post a link?
 
Here... Hope you can see it...

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/price-drop-sony-a6000-inc-16-50-lens.700625/

I don't know if modern camera screens are as good as the latest expensive smartphone screens but if you're not focusing manually and just using it for not too critical composition I think you'll probably be ok. But don't blame me if you aren't! :D

I think you should buy that A6000 if only to stop it tempting me.
 
I have a GX80, had it for a year and love it!

I don't love the 12-32 kit lens tho ... too small to hold the way I like, plus not enough reach for me. So I bought a 12-60.

I wouldn't call the GX80+12-32 a pocket camera, too big & heavy for any of my pockets.

Re MPs .... some people regard the fewer but bigger MPs an advantage. All a bit technical for me; maybe start a new thread on the subject.

Re the EVF .... I never use mine. I see/compose the shot with my own eyes, hold the camera down at waste level with the screen flipped up and I can see plenty (what's in the frame & what's not) and shoot. Screen up, close to body, the sun is mostly blocked out.

I keep my focus point locked dead centre so I know where it is, focus then compose.
 
I own both the GX80 and Canon M100. The GX80 is slightly bigger and over 25% heavier, I wouldn't describe either as pocketable in the way that something like my Sony RX100 is. I like the viewfinder on the GX80 (some see rainbow effects using this viewfinder) but I am left eyed, which means my nose can bump into the touch screen, although touch control can be turned off. The main benefits are IBIS, 4K capability and USB charging from a brick. The Canon is rear screen only and just usable in very bright light, there is no provision to add the rather expensive viewfinder on this model and it has no hotshoe either, so a separate flash can't be added on camera. The touch screen interface is actually very good indeed, an object lesson to other manufacturers as to how it can be done. It's very easy to use with every important shooting option available without delving into the menus. The camera is also the cheapest way to access Canon's excellent dual pixel focus and the reason I bought it, particularly useful for video, albeit 1080p at best. The batteries on both are puny and the M100 cannot be charged via the USB port. The Canon selection of native EF-M lenses is poor and the ability to use EF glass with the adapter doesn't really cut it for compact travel purposes. Despite the difference in sensor sizes, I don't think there is too much difference in real world image quality between these two cameras, Canon has fallen behind somewhat in sensor technology in my view, probably the Sony APSC cameras would perform noticably better but perhaps need a little more colour tweeking in post production.

I have too many cameras but enjoy flitting from camera to camera and comparing features. However, out of all my cameras, I tend to use the M100 the least. I also have the original EOS M camera, for me quite the worst performing auto focus camera I have ever used, it can on occasion produce lovely images, it was really cheap but still a thumbs down for me.
 
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