I'm going mirrorless!

what mirrorless camera do you own?

  • Olympus EP-1

    Votes: 3 7.5%

  • Olympus EP-2

    Votes: 1 2.5%

  • Olympus EPL-1

    Votes: 3 7.5%

  • Olympus EPL-2

    Votes: 2 5.0%

  • Panasonic G1

    Votes: 7 17.5%

  • Panasonic G2

    Votes: 3 7.5%

  • Panasonic GH1

    Votes: 1 2.5%

  • Panasonic GH2

    Votes: 1 2.5%

  • Panasonic GF1

    Votes: 10 25.0%

  • Panasonic GF2

    Votes: 1 2.5%

  • Panasonic G10

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Samsung NX10

    Votes: 1 2.5%

  • Samsung NX100

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Samsung NX5

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Samsung NX100

    Votes: 1 2.5%

  • Sony NEX-3

    Votes: 2 5.0%

  • Sony NEX-5

    Votes: 8 20.0%
  • Total voters
    40
mastertrinity

mastertrinity

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I've decided to delve into the mirrorless system. I'm overwhelmed with the choice of cameras and systems so was wondering what you lot would go for and why possibly.

My budget is between £300-400, I am having my eyes on the Samsung NX100 because it seems small and light enough and it has an APS-C sensor for IQ, High ISO, and dynamic range.

Thought I'd add a poll just to see what is the popular ones at the moment.
 
Panasonic G have the best viewfinder, the GF1 I found the nicest to use in many ways and the system has a good choice of lenses...

Sony Nex has the best IQ of the ones I've tried (IMHO) and is surprisingly nice to use with the latest firmware.

The Olympus, panasonic and Sony systems all take multiple types of lenses with the correct adapters.

Probably not helped much but I'd choose G series for usability and system support and the nex for IQ
 
Soulman said:
Panasonic G have the best viewfinder, the GF1 I found the nicest to use in many ways and the system has a good choice of lenses...

Sony Nex has the best IQ of the ones I've tried (IMHO) and is surprisingly nice to use with the latest firmware.

The Olympus, panasonic and Sony systems all take multiple types of lenses with the correct adapters.

Probably not helped much but I'd choose G series for usability and system support and the nex for IQ
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Thing that puts me off with the NEX is that it seems slow to use because it's all menu based and the lens selection is a dissapointment although they are releasing a few new lenses this year :)
 
Depends what you want: There are 2 types. The Panasonic G/GH series are DSLR styled and feel and act very much like small SLRs. GH are the only m4/3 cameras with the good sensors, IE the ones that beat most APS ones, and they shoot the best HD video of any still camera. (I don't use it though).

All the other cameras are compact styled, just with interchangeable lenses. You can get an extra viewfinder for them if you desire.

Panasonic will definitely need shooting RAW to get good results. Olympus will give you the best JPEGs.

m4/3 has the best lens range, and the lenses available are very high quality, no duff kit zooms in this sector.
 
Alan Clogwyn said:
Depends what you want: There are 2 types. The Panasonic G/GH series are DSLR styled and feel and act very much like small SLRs. GH are the only m4/3 cameras with the good sensors, IE the ones that beat most APS ones, and they shoot the best HD video of any still camera. (I don't use it though).

All the other cameras are compact styled, just with interchangeable lenses. You can get an extra viewfinder for them if you desire.

Panasonic will definitely need shooting RAW to get good results. Olympus will give you the best JPEGs.

m4/3 has the best lens range, and the lenses available are very high quality, no duff kit zooms in this sector.
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I need it to be compact style and not mini DSLR style. Lenses I prefer to be simple and have just a 50mm equiv. lens such as a 30mm on APS-C or 20mm on m4/3. I always shoot RAW for optimum quality. Viewfinder isn't a necessity but I wouldn't mind something just for simple composition :)
 
mastertrinity said:
I need it to be compact style and not mini DSLR style. Lenses I prefer to be simple and have just a 50mm equiv. lens such as a 30mm on APS-C or 20mm on m4/3. I always shoot RAW for optimum quality. Viewfinder isn't a necessity but I wouldn't mind something just for simple composition :)
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Then you're not helping yourself narrow things down! :D If I had to make that decision I'd say EP2, but personally I couldn't live with any of the compact styled ones. I want a viewfinder and I want a bodyshape I can hold that has buttons and dials. I just want it to be small and have the best IQ small can manage, hence GH1 for me.
 
I did look at the EP-1, 17mm and OVF bundle on eBay for £380 which is near the higher end of my budget but it would be a nice bundle for me and perfect for all my needs. How is it's performance? does anyone have one and vouch for it?
 
I have an E-P1. It's a fantastic camera - easy to use, good amount of buttons for quick settings changes, nice solid and weighty feel, and good performance even at ISO1600. Higher it gets a little noisy, which can be OK depending on if you run it through a noise reduction program, or don't bother printing at large sizes.
 
You already have a sony camera, so get an adapter and you can use lenses with the NEX. The image quality from the NEX cameras is great. I'm sure they all produce great pictures though.

I personally own the NEX 5 and take it anywhere I can't take the DSLR. Love it and it's so neat with the pancake lens.
 
draiman said:
You already have a sony camera, so get an adapter and you can use lenses with the NEX. The image quality from the NEX cameras is great. I'm sure they all produce great pictures though.

I personally own the NEX 5 and take it anywhere I can't take the DSLR. Love it and it's so neat with the pancake lens.
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Nah can't do that because I'm selling my sony gear to get the £300-400 plus I don't like the idea of huge lenses on the tiny body :lol:
 
M4:3 for me, i use a GF1 and find it to be very good. Try out the Olympus offerings as the menus/controls may suit you better. If you decide to go for m4:3s, you will need the 20mm pancake it's a fantastic lens.
 
mastertrinity said:
Nah can't do that because I'm selling my sony gear to get the £300-400 plus I don't like the idea of huge lenses on the tiny body :lol:
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Ok. Well I'd still recommend the NEX 5 although do agree that the user interface isn't quite as accessible as I'd like, but a lot better with the most recent firmware. Picture quality especially at higher ISO is amazing.
 
I use a gf1 with 14mm and 14-45 lenses. I did compare it to the Olympus equivalent but the Olympus stuff was more expensive and i preferred the gf1 handling.

One thing I have noted is that the Panasonic compatible ttl flashes seem to get me better more reliable results than using a Nikon ittl flash on my old d90.

Which Sony stuff are you considering migrating to mirrorless from if you don't mind me asking? I ask as I'm going back to dslr and have only considered the usual subjects of d7000, d5100 or 550/600d. I'm keen to know a bit about Sony.
 
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Steelfish said:
I use a gf1 with 14mm and 14-45 lenses. I did compare it to the Olympus equivalent but the Olympus stuff was more expensive and i preferred the gf1 handling.

One thing I have noted is that the Panasonic compatible ttl flashes seem to get me better more reliable results than using a Nikon ittl flash on my old d90.

Which Sony stuff are you considering migrating to mirrorless from if you don't mind me asking? I ask as I'm going back to dslr and have only considered the usual subjects of d7000, d5100 or 550/600d. I'm keen to know a bit about Sony.
Click to expand...

Here I'll send you a pm with a list of stuff and I also have a thread in the classifieds :)
 
I have the NEX-5 and have had many M4/3 cameras but the sensor on the NEX blows all M3/4 out the water..BUT the std kit lenses for the NEX are not great. Pop a nice MF lens on the NEX and it's as good as any decent DLSLR
 
AndyWest said:
I have the NEX-5 and have had many M4/3 cameras but the sensor on the NEX blows all M3/4 out the water..BUT the std kit lenses for the NEX are not great. Pop a nice MF lens on the NEX and it's as good as any decent DLSLR
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I spotted the nex 3 and 16mm kit at Jessops for £300 what would you think of this?
 
You just missed out. Play.com were selling the Nex 3 with the 16mm lens for £250 (which I purchased) and the Nex 3 with the 16mm and 18-55mm for £350 (which I should have went for). It appears they've went back to the normal price this week.
 
Right so I've narrowed it down to these that fit in my budget nicely;

Sony NEX-3 with 16mm f2.8 pancake lens £300
Samsung NX100 with 20-50mm f3.5-5.6 lens £300
Panasonic GF1 with 14-42/45mm f3.5-5.6 lens £325
Olympus EP1 with 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 lens £250

tried out in shops yesterday and they all had similar feel (I tried a GF2 instead of GF1 and EP-2 instead of EP-1) Sony felt nice as a compact my fingers felt like they were overcrowding it though at one point. GF2 and olympus pretty much felt the same button layouts nice etc. Samsung NX100 had best screen I think but hand felt like it was slipping on a couple of occasions due to lack of grippiness.
 
chrism_scotland said:
Personally I'd go for the NEX its main limitation is lack of lenses at the moment but its got great MF compatibility and the future looks good with Sigma and Tamron looking likely to release lenses in the NEX mount.
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what is MF compatibility, at first I thought it meant manual focus but that wouldn't make any sense unless you mean MF lenses?
 
I tried the NEX-5 but just couldn't get on with the controls and the way it felt in my hand so I returned it to Jessops. The EP-1 feels great and the controls make sense for me.
 
Well I've been able to get a buyer for my camera gear, my friend has said she's interested and is going to give me £300 cash in hand on Tuesday.

So I'm stuck with using Jacobs and Jessops and have noticed the Samsung nx100 which has a bundle deal and can be collected in store for £300, I wanted an EPL-1 but they don't stock them for collect in store in the birmingham,tamworth,nuneaton and lichfield stores so that buggered me up. the ones that can be collected in store that are on my list are:

Samsung NX100 (plus a great bundle deal with battery, filter, bag, card reader, gorillapod and memory card)

Panasonic G10 (also has the photo gift pack so I can get adobe elements which even though I have CS5 I can always save for when I get a netbook or sell it on here to get some money back)

Samsung NX5
 
chrism_scotland said:
Recent feature in AP scored the NX100 over the Lumix GF2 and the Sony NEX 5 so I'd probably go for that its meant to be a cracker.
Although if your looking for something a bit more DSLRy in form factor then the NX5 or G10 would be the way to go.
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That's quite interesting, I heard that the NX100 weren't meant to be as good which did put me off but you have reassured me. I think I'll nip into town tomorrow and have a final handle of the cameras for a definite choice :)
 
I don't think the NX100 has a flash, don't know if you care but for some it would be something to think about.
 
woof woof said:
I don't think the NX100 has a flash, don't know if you care but for some it would be something to think about.
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Flash doesn't really bother me as I usually shoot either outdoors in daytime or on tripod doing bulb exposures at night. I purchased a flash for my DSLR and never use it apart from the rare occasion :)
 
mastertrinity said:
That's quite interesting, I heard that the NX100 weren't meant to be as good which did put me off but you have reassured me. I think I'll nip into town tomorrow and have a final handle of the cameras for a definite choice :)
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I'd say of the 3 choices you've made its going to come down to form factor more than anything!
NX100 review in DP wasn't quite so good v the NEX 5, EPL2 & GF2, said that they felt AF was a little slow and it wasn't quite as "refined" as rivals!

I'm still looking at the NEX 5 although everytime I have a little play with my Pentax K20D I think I'm making a mistake in considering swapping to a NEX
 
After looking at the gf1 owners thread i was 100% sure on buying a gf1.

Now im undecided between a gf1 or nex??
 
AndyWest said:
I have the NEX-5 and have had many M4/3 cameras but the sensor on the NEX blows all M3/4 out the water..BUT the std kit lenses for the NEX are not great. Pop a nice MF lens on the NEX and it's as good as any decent DLSLR
Click to expand...

thanks for the tip mate just looking on ebay now to price up an mf lens and nex body:thumbs:
 
They're tiny bodies, but the lack of real controls put me off the NEX cameras, but I'm coming from thirty years of using SLRs. With the APS-C sensor, once you start putting lenses on it, it starts to be slightly less convincing as a compact option.

EPL2 would be my choice of the three, as it's got the option of a very good viewfinder should you want it later (at a price) and a decent range of compact lenses.

Personally, I decided a decent-ish VF was that important to me, I bought a G2.

e2a: I've got a 5D with some nice glass for when quality is of higher importance than portability.
 
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