Moving to a cheaper camera set up. I’m a bit lost.

EspressoJunkie

EspressoJunkie

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I apologize in advance, this will be a long post but no-one else will ‘get it’ like the people here.



Over the last couple of years due to different circumstances my time and enthusiasm for photography has waned dramatically.



I don’t get a lot of free time for various reasons and being honest my phone has taken over a lot of my ‘casual’ photography.



Obviously in order to try get my mojo back I did what any self respecting photograph would do, bought more camera gear….( I’m a serial system switcher at the best of times so this just made it worse)



But finances at the moment are very tight and I currently have (at S/H prices) equipment worth around £3000 ( A Sony A7Cii and various lenses) which at present is a huge amount of money, and quite frankly overkill for the limited shooting I actually do.



However I don’t want to be totally without a camera and this is my conundrum.



If I sold up I reckon I could justify around £600/£700 for a simple set to cover landscapes, urbex, and generally family shooting and I’m undecided minds about what that could look like. (One caveat is that an ultrawide zoom is an essential for me)



  1. An older FF DSLR ( 5Dmkiii/D810) and a couple of lenses


  1. Back to Fuji (again), but prices even for older models seem to have shot up quite a bit.


  1. Look at m43 ( I briefly shot m43 a long time ago but it’s been years) this does seem to be a relatively affordable option and I’m wondering if the size would encourage me to bring the camera out more.




I know this is a bit of a vent and a real can of worms but I don’t know what direction to go in. The older DSLR appeals in terms of IQ but it’ll be a large system, Fuji I love but it’s not the cheapest, and m43 looks good on paper but it’s a real unknown.



The good thing is that I’m not in any major rush and once my gear is sold I’ll have time to mull it over but I’d really appreciate people’s opinions and thoughts.
 
Personally, I'd keep the current body and a couple of lenses. It sounds like you need the space more than the cash and you're familiar with the current set-up. Bear in mind that a dealer will give you around 50% of their selling price so if your current body is listed on a site for a grand, that's only £500 in your pocket...
 
Nod said:
Personally, I'd keep the current body and a couple of lenses. It sounds like you need the space more than the cash and you're familiar with the current set-up. Bear in mind that a dealer will give you around 50% of their selling price so if your current body is listed on a site for a grand, that's only £500 in your pocket...
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The way I’ve worked it out is If I sell and get a cheaper system I’d end up with at least £2000 after which is really needed at the moment.
 
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EspressoJunkie said:
The way I’ve worked it out is If I sell and get a cheaper system I’d end up with at least £2000 after which is really needed at the moment.
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If money is the most important thing at this time, then my advice is "take the money and do what needs doing", before anything else.

When the dust has settled, buy yourself a cheap secondhand superzoom and start taking pictures. Use the superzoom to sort out your photographic priorities. There's nothing like those little beasties to give you an insight into what you really want to do with a camera and what is really important to you.

Above all, don't let anyone talk you into spending more than you need.
 
I wouldn't go for a DSLR as mirrorless is IMO a significant step forward and depending on what older DSLR set up you look at a more modern MFT may give you better IQ. A DSLR set up could well be an increase in size and weight but even a RF style MFT body might not be any smaller than the A7cII and the mini SLR MFT cameras will be bigger but of course the lenses can make the difference. DSLR kit might be cheap and that could be the deciding factor for you but I'd just hate to go back to DSLR kit and maybe a used MFT setup wouldn't be significantly more expensive?

One camera I can recommend is the Panasonic GX80 which is a RF style 16mp camera and in size and shape more like your A7cII than a SLR style camera would be. I have a 14mm f2.5 just about permanently on mine and I used to have an Olympus 9-18mm. This set up could be worth a look and pricing up or you could replace the 14mm f2.5 with a 17 or 25mm f1.8. Or, get an original A7 or A7II and keep the FF experience and use it with a couple of cheap film era manual lenses (24mm f2.8 and 50mm f1.8?) via a cheap adapter, you should be up and running for under £500.

Good luck choosing and I hope the financial troubles are soon in he past and the photography mojo returns.
 
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I've got a 5d3 and it's a cracking camera, no idea why but I find myself using it more the 5d4.
 
Check on the UWA options and don't forget the 2x crop factor.
 
Close to your budget

X-T2 (used)
10-24mm (used)
Viltrox 35mm F1.7 (currently £139 new at Wex)

that gives you FF equivalent of 15mm to 35mm in teh zoom and adds a 50mm for family portraits etc

save £100 and for for an X-T20, but personally I would go for the X-T2 (much bigger EVF and quite a few more features)
 
Mr Perceptive said:
Close to your budget

X-T2 (used)
10-24mm (used)
Viltrox 35mm F1.7 (currently £139 new at Wex)

that gives you FF equivalent of 15mm to 35mm in teh zoom and adds a 50mm for family portraits etc

save £100 and for for an X-T20, but personally I would go for the X-T2 (much bigger EVF and quite a few more features)
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I do love Fuji! And looking through my last few years photos a lot were taken with an X-T2. The used prices really seem to have increased on them though.
 
EspressoJunkie said:
I do love Fuji! And looking through my last few years photos a lot were taken with an X-T2. The used prices really seem to have increased on them though.
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Should be able to get an X-T2 for about £400 (private sale), £450 or so from a dealer https://www.ffordes.com/p/SH-28-078862/fujifilm-x/x-t2-body

The last two private sale X-T3's on this forum have gone for around £500 (I know I bought one of them!), so if you are not in a hurry then the deals will come.
 
EspressoJunkie said:
The 9-18 looks affordable, but I would need to get used to using my tripod a lot more than I do now!

Low light would be the main thing that concerns me about m43 to be honest.
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I think it depends what's meant by "low light". For some people evening hight street level lighting is low light and for others it's something a lot further down the scale. Modern NR software helps too. I think the last potentially low light MFT picture I took was an indoor group shot with my GX80 and 14mm f2.5 at ISO 3,200 and it's more than acceptable. It certainly blows my old Canon 5D away.

If you have a shortlist of cameras perhaps people would be willing to send you some raws to play with?
 
What about a minty/used Nikon D700 ff FX body (12.1MP sensor), along with a few older/cheaper lenses …..

Can be picked up for around £300/£350

An iconic quality camera body.
 
EspressoJunkie said:
I’d say the om10 mkiii looks to be within budget, and maybe the GX80.

When I say low light I’m generally talking about abandoned buildings which can vary in darkness.
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Pick up a cheap video light, theres some good ones around for under £50, even a little Godox (about £20) will make a big difference in a dark area, I always have one in my camera bag, handy for video too...
 
I have just moved to MFT from FF DSLR, the weight saving is enormous, in all things. The lens prices are ridiculously low compared to FF, the bodies feel like half the weight and half the size. The image quality if absolutely fine. Most importantly, MFT is a practical size and you will take it with you when you might normally leave your DSLR or FF mirrorless at home. Get the right lens on a, say, OM-5, and it'll practically fit in your pocket.
Worried about light? Yes, some of the zooms can be a bit small-apertured but there are a good many f2.8s (both zoom and prime) and even some f1.7 primes.
I'm glad I changed as my camera goes with me now; I no longer have to 'plan' to do photography, I just do it.

Oh, and buy used, the savings are great.
 
GetBusyLiving said:
I have just moved to MFT from FF DSLR, the weight saving is enormous, in all things. The lens prices are ridiculously low compared to FF, the bodies feel like half the weight and half the size. The image quality if absolutely fine. Most importantly, MFT is a practical size and you will take it with you when you might normally leave your DSLR or FF mirrorless at home. Get the right lens on a, say, OM-5, and it'll practically fit in your pocket.
Worried about light? Yes, some of the zooms can be a bit small-apertured but there are a good many f2.8s (both zoom and prime) and even some f1.7 primes.
I'm glad I changed as my camera goes with me now; I no longer have to 'plan' to do photography, I just do it.

Oh, and buy used, the savings are great.
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Yes. I have the Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8 and it is almost a do it all lens for me. A couple of things which can help with low light shooting, if the subject isn't moving, are the IS and electronic shutter as these things allow hand held shooting at lower shutter speeds and thus lower ISO's. I think ISO isn't the whole story, I think the quality of light is sometimes overlooked. I have ISO 1,600 pictures under horrible artificial light which look poor and much higher ISO pictures which look more than acceptable.

Being a mostly prime guy I prefer something in the 14-25mm range with an aperture wider than f2.8 and there are small and reasonably priced lenses in that range which are relatively easy to find used.
 
Don't discount the larger M4/3 bodies either. I love my EM1X.

I'm going for the OM 1 MK2 soon so will be up for sale.

The EM1X is an incredible amount of camera for the money
 
I have a FF Lumix system but grabbed the OM1 Mk1 from Amazon with the 12-40 F2.8 Pro V2 lens for £1,100 odd last year. So it is worth keeping an eye on Amazon, as their prices are stupidly low at times. All registered with OM for the 2.5 year warranty on both camera and lens.

I tend to find myself grabbing my OM1 more than my S5ii now, so much so that I have a trade in price for the whole FF kit.
 
Nikon D7100, 18-140 lens, Tokina wide angle (eg 12-28). SB-600 flash.

Nikon DX DSLR lenses are really cheap.
 
Don't forget the majority of Olympus and Panasonic bodies have in-built stabilisation, which gets better the later the model.
 
Can I suggest throwing the Panasonic G80 into your considerations.

Weather sealed sturdy body, small enough and comfortable to hold on a wrist strap

excellent in body stabilisation, DP review gold award camera

Fully articulating rear screen, a lot of features packed into this camera (in camera photo stacking, multi shot/exposure merging etc)

Very good video features should you ever need them

under £300 for excellent condition low shutter count models

Fits in the smallest of shoulder bags, it is my “grab and go” camera, and with smaller prime lenses would easily fit in a generous size pocket.

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