Moving to a mirrorless camera

leaky5

leaky5

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I am thinking of selling up my D90 kit (health reasons) and have been looking at the Pen7 and Sony A5000. So was after anyones thoughts on these or any alternatives in this price range.

lens wise, am I right in thinking the Sony uses one type and the Pen uses another type (although more standard) ?

If I go Sony, I think I can stretch to an extra lens, but maybe not if I go Pen7
 
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One thing to consider is battery drain, I've had M43 and now Fuji and you will get through batteries, several in a day, btw Fuji is much worse, not for the life but for warning, it drops from full and if you're lucky there's 20 shots left in it, compare that with my DSLR and it's been on two bars for two days.

That's the bad, now I can't comment on the specific models you mention but if you get one with an EVF get a good one, the best I've had are the Oly EM1 and Fuji XT1

I don't know if it's new prices you're looking at but do consider second hand, there are plenty of mirrorless out there at good prices and in excellent condition
 
I moved down from a Nikon D7000 to Panasonic DMC-G5. No regrets.Much lighter. Got the G5 S/H from mpb photographic excellet condition.

My Flickr site
 
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I am running a Fuji in tandem with my Canon kit. Unless it's for something special, the fuji is my go-to kit now, but as Richard mentioned above, batteries are the one downside. I keep a minimum of 3 charged for a day.

I'm not sure if the PEN & Sony are the same, but I'm going through a re-education on PP with my Fuji files, but I do love the JPG's, have to be some of the best SOOC I have ever seen.

I prefer the weight & handling of the smaller body, I like the EVF, so much more information in the viewfinder, and with my X-T1, I love the articulated screen. Can't help you with the particular models you mentioned, but if i were to start from scratch again, I would almost certainly go down the mirrorless route. It can't compete with my 7D2 & 150-600 for wildlife, but other than that, for general purpose photography the mirrorless system works very well.
 
A good starter could be the EM-10 from Olympus, it was my first mirrorless and IQ wise on par with the EM1 and lenses on the M43 are really good and well priced, a lot depends on what you plan to shoot
 
Jelster said:
I am running a Fuji in tandem with my Canon kit. Unless it's for something special, the fuji is my go-to kit now, but as Richard mentioned above, batteries are the one downside. I keep a minimum of 3 charged for a day.

I'm not sure if the PEN & Sony are the same, but I'm going through a re-education on PP with my Fuji files, but I do love the JPG's, have to be some of the best SOOC I have ever seen.

I prefer the weight & handling of the smaller body, I like the EVF, so much more information in the viewfinder, and with my X-T1, I love the articulated screen. Can't help you with the particular models you mentioned, but if i were to start from scratch again, I would almost certainly go down the mirrorless route. It can't compete with my 7D2 & 150-600 for wildlife, but other than that, for general purpose photography the mirrorless system works very well.
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Fully agree , I sold most of my Canon gear and bought an XT-1 and love it.
I did keep the 5Dmk2 and two specialist lenses ( fisheye and TS-E) but they do not see the light oy day very often
 
I went from Canon DSLR into MFT and have owned Olympus and Panasonic body's and lenses. The quality of the lenses and value for money is excellent. I left MFT this year and moved to Sony FF.

I now miss the lens versus value in MFT and will be returning. I doubt you would make a bad choice going for any of the present range in MFT. Im thinking that you aren't bothered about a viewfinder given your choices?
 
The Fuji is certainly great sooc, but the lenses seem expensive comparatively which is holding me back as a second system, that's where MFT (M43) shines, unless you go manual of course and use adapted lenses but that's a totally different experience
 
JohnN said:
A good starter could be the EM-10 from Olympus, it was my first mirrorless and IQ wise on par with the EM1 and lenses on the M43 are really good and well priced, a lot depends on what you plan to shoot
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That could be a good option, especially if I can stretch the budget slightly and get one with the 15-150 lens.

I have a soft spot for Olympus (fist camera was an OM1n), I like the look of the Pen7, so will probably try to have a look at one soon.

The D90 has not been used to its full potential for years, so will probably not miss certain features of it. I just want a good camera I can take out and about, without the bulk
 
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Cool, it's a great camera and for stupid money now, it can even get decent action shots if you use the live view and stab it quickly :)
 
davek said:
Don't forget the Sony A6000 with its tiny 16-50 kit lens. Brilliant camera!(-: And keeps the APS-C goodness.
And lots of glass options too.....
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That's why I quite liked the A5000, same lens and sensor type for less than £300. I have managed to handle one of these and quite like it.
 
JohnN said:
The Fuji is certainly great sooc, but the lenses seem expensive comparatively which is holding me back as a second system, that's where MFT (M43) shines, unless you go manual of course and use adapted lenses but that's a totally different experience
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Yup, the Fuji lenses (especially the XF series) aren't cheap! They're bloody good though!!!

Like others, I still have an FF DSLR kit as well as the Fujis but the Fuji bag is the one that comes with me most of the time.
 
Have also made the switch, this from a D7100 to an X-T10, the X-T1's cheaper but much inferior little brother. It's smaller, lighter and did I mention cheaper?

The lenses can be eye wateringly expensive, but get it with an XF 18-55 'kit' lens and you may well not need much else anyway! My battery seems to be lasting better than most, but I don't tend to take many shots in a day and it's usually in and out of the bag.

To put it simply, I'm delighted with the move.
 
Been an XT1 owner for what, 3 years? now. Battery life better than Sony (that was dire!) , a session to 2 sessions of shooting for me per battery. (But I always have spares because you can guarantee it will go when I'm out and about!).

Lenses not that expensive for the quality you get, they do have the low cost XC line too don't forget (granted it does only comprise 3 lenses, but if you want cheap then you'll have to suck it up!) which are optically more than good enough.

I would only look at Fuji or m4/3 myself, m4/3 has an option for just about everything - various sizes and shapes and styles of body and loads of lenses of varying grades. Fuji doesn't have as much choice but you can get dirt cheap basic bodies which offset the cost of a decent lens to put on it. I have the basic X-E1 as well as my XT-1, I wouldn't recommend an X-E1 personally, but again if you want cheap... (Image quality is not an issue on the XE1, sharing the same basic sensor and imaging processor as the X-T1, it's everything else about it that's lacking for me).
 
I think the Olympus M5ii may be a better buy than the Pen7. I watched a YouTube video recently and that was my thought, though I can't remember why. I think the Pen7 wins on stylish looks and if you're a fan of in camera filters.

I have a Olympus M5ii which I bought primarily for travel and family holidays but I've used it so more than I expected. I also have a FF Canon. I really like that it has customisable buttons, so I set it up similarly to my DSLR. Also the lenses are just amazing quality and value.

I never usually use Liveview on my DSLR but sometimes I do on the Olympus and the touchscreen is great for candid street photography or selecting your focus point.
 
leaky5 said:
I am thinking of selling up my D90 kit (health reasons) and have been looking at the Pen7 and Sony A5000. So was after anyones thoughts on these or any alternatives in this price range.

lens wise, am I right in thinking the Sony uses one type and the Pen uses another type (although more standard) ?

If I go Sony, I think I can stretch to an extra lens, but maybe not if I go Pen7
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One cheap way into CSC's is a Sony A7 plus manual lenses. It's not a choice for everyone but full frame goodness can be yours for around £400 and a couple of manual lenses (maybe 50mm f1.8 and 28mm f2.8) and an adapter can be yours for about £30-£40.

If just getting into CSC's today I'd go for a model with an EVF as I don't like back screen shooting. I'd swerve Fuji (the bulk of an A7 but not the quality, possible mushy file issues) and even though I'm a MFT owner I'd swerve that system too (no full time DoF preview in all modes, no exposure comp in Manual mode and the whole shutter shock issue to contend with) and I'd head straight to Sony and either the A7 or A6xxx systems. I think that the only thing that stops me ditching MFT and going for an A6xxx is that there's no compact 35mm equivalent f1.8 lens. They have the 24mm f1.8 but it's expensive and quite large and IMO would look a little less out of place on a FF camera. There are I think 28 and 30mm equivalent offerings both from Sony and third party manufacturers so they are an option perhaps at f2.8 rather than f1.8.

Anyway, my recommendation is a used Sony, either an A7 or A6xxx for either FF or APS-C goodness and good features including full time DoF preview in all modes, exposure compensation with auto ISO is all modes and the ability to choose if you want raw or JPEG at any ISO.

Lens wise I'd go for a couple of primes, maybe 35 and 85mm equivalent or maybe just a standard kit lens and a standard f1.8 prime.
 
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I've a Sony A6000 and I got the 16-50 kit lens and then bought the 55-210. I swore I wasn't buying a second set up as I've a Nikon D610 and all the lenses. However, I love the Sony and I'm now considering other lenses incl Minolta ones off eBay with the adaptor. Photo quality is amazing and I was able to get to grips with it surprisingly quickly. I find I take more photos as it's easier to carry about. Battery life is rubbish but you get a fair bit of warning - not the 20 approx shots that someone mentioned with Fuji I think. You def need at least 3 batteries. Original batteries are a shocking price too - I have two originals and I'll buy a third after market. I got mine in the Sony shop - additional 2 years warranty for something as ridiculously cheap as £20. I went for Sony as it was much smaller than others and had a better spec for the money. One thing I noticed on TP is the lack of Sony lenses for sale compared to Fuji - and just when I'm needing to spend money there's none lol
 
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I think before getting carried away with A7s and the expensive lenses, lets just consider the OPs starting post -
leaky5 said:
...If I go Sony, I think I can stretch to an extra lens, but maybe not if I go Pen7
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This if my quick look is correct gives a budget of around £400, that makes it a bit of a stretch for even the EM-10, so lets not be looking at full frame or the expensive Fuji kit.

My suggestion would be the Oly kit if you can stretch to it as its will grow with you and is compact.
 
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manualfocus-g said:
Carmarthen cameras have the Olympus e-pm2 with kit lens for £320 on Amazon. Add in a used 40-150 and you've got a decent bit of kit for under £400.
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Better yet - here and then track a 14-42 here or on eBay
 
manualfocus-g said:
Carmarthen cameras have the Olympus e-pm2 with kit lens for £320 on Amazon. Add in a used 40-150 and you've got a decent bit of kit for under £400.
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I bought a Panasonic GX80 today with the 12-32mm lens, being delivered tomorrow. If the camera suits me what is the best 40-150mm or similar lens to get, need to keep as small as possible?
 
I moved from epm-2 to em-10 and find the em-10 much more pleasant to use.
IBIS actually works, less menu surfing with extra fn buttons and 2 proper control dials.
Electronic shutter with 0 second anti shock too.
Image quality is the same generally from both.
Another vote for the 40-150 f4-5.6
 
Damn, wish I could get my Nikon kit sold. Looks like I could pick up a 2nd hand Pen E-PL6 or E-M10 + a couple of lenses for around the £350 mark from MBP
 
Have you checked to see how much MPB (and the others) would give you for your kit, quite often its more than people pay on this site.
 
JohnN said:
Have you checked to see how much MPB (and the others) would give you for your kit, quite often its more than people pay on this site.
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Yes, I asked about the D90 + kit lens and it was not a stupid offer to buy, just waiting to see if the PX price is different.
 
Its usually the same, but they do get back pretty quickly, still it saves £30 in postage which is worth remembering.
 
Although my son has just pointed out that I have put the wrong lens spec on my D90 ad. I put it had an 18-70 kit lens, but it is an 18-105, how stupid do I feel.
 
The final MBP price (camera, 18-105, 50 & 55-200) was only about £100 less than I was expecting in total. That still leaves the Crumpler & Tamrac bags and tri pod to sell and I think I could do a little better on the 50 & 55-200 selling them myself. But will now have to wait until after my holiday (which is a shame)
 
leaky5 said:
That could be a good option, especially if I can stretch the budget slightly and get one with the 15-150 lens.

I have a soft spot for Olympus (fist camera was an OM1n), I like the look of the Pen7, so will probably try to have a look at one soon.

The D90 has not been used to its full potential for years, so will probably not miss certain features of it. I just want a good camera I can take out and about, without the bulk
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I just sold my EM10 and 75mm f1.8 lens as I had to use Canon for a course I've enrolled on. The 75mm is outstanding and with the Olympus body having inbuild stabilisation you have a high quality stabilised 150mm lens. Stunning.
 
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