Sootchucker
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 2,824
- Name
- Andrew
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Happy Christmas all . Whilst I sit here pondering the list of chores that my wife has left for me as she went to work this morning (and I've already finished), it got me thinking about the cameras in my possession and which one I would consider my most fun to use body.
As you can see from my signature, I have quite a few to select from, but for the purposes of these musings, I'm going to exclude things like the Pocket Osmo 3, my GoPro and my Mini 4 pro drone. Just interchangeable camera bodies.
I immediately thought it would be my Nikon Z8 or Z9 bodies, as they are so capable and pretty much handle everything I can chuck at them. But no, whilst they are brilliant tools and pretty much my go to for say wildlife shooting, they are for my fun purposes too big and heavy to be considered for that purpose. What about my new Z6 III. Well that is a brilliant body and it has fantastic Video features too making it a great all rounder, but I've not had it long enough or shot with it enough to promote it to my favourite.
I think for my Z series bodies, quite surprisingly it has to be my little Z7 II. Fantastic high res image quality, good enough 4K (and 4k 50) video quality all wrapped up in a tiny lightweight body. Sure it's not got the best AF or my bodies, doesn't shoot as fast, has the deepest buffer, doesn't shoot 10 bit video etc. however there's still something about the body of the Z7 that just feels great in my hand (more so than any other of the bodies). However, the Z7 II's problem (like all the other Z bodies I own), is that unless I go with my tiny primes (the 28mm F2.8 or the 40mm F2), then the Z full frame lenses are still quite large and heavy (Although of amazing quality).
What about my Olympus micro four thirds bodies. Well the EM1-X is getting a bit long in the tooth, but still a very capable body and like the Z9 with its integrated grip, is really comfortable to hold with longer lenses. Also, like some of my Z bodies, it's just a bit to large and heavy as an everyday fun body. So I really thought it would be my OM-1 (MK 1 version). I had (have) a real love affair with the last of the Olympus bodies, and to this day, for a feature set it still beats pretty much every other camera out there. In one body we have an 80mp tripod mounted high res shot mode (that combines in camera not on a computer), as well as a hand held mode for 50mp images (again also in camera). We have Live ND, Live Time, Live view, perspective correction. We have what was the worlds first implementation of "pre-capture" and in Raw as well - so the OM-1 is my fav camera.... well no (it's close but no cigar). Whilst it's undoubtably a mini marvel, it' still quite a relatively heavy camera and its video performance is so-so, and at 20mp, doesn't give much room or scope for cropping.
So in that case, that is my current fav "fun" camera ? Well very surprisingly it's a non Nikon and non Olympus body. It's my little Sony A6700. Yes, other bodies have more resolution and more features, but the A6700 is so small and light, and my current walkabout lenses (the 18-140 and the 10-20 are tack sharp and tiny and light). Couple that with amazing AF and superb Video specs, make this my most fun camera to use and goes everywhere with me. Is it perfect - of course not. The Viewfinder is low res, the rear screen is also quit slow res and it only has a single card slot, but overall despite it's "limitations" is the one I reach for when I go on trips / holidays etc.
That's mine what about yours ?
As you can see from my signature, I have quite a few to select from, but for the purposes of these musings, I'm going to exclude things like the Pocket Osmo 3, my GoPro and my Mini 4 pro drone. Just interchangeable camera bodies.
I immediately thought it would be my Nikon Z8 or Z9 bodies, as they are so capable and pretty much handle everything I can chuck at them. But no, whilst they are brilliant tools and pretty much my go to for say wildlife shooting, they are for my fun purposes too big and heavy to be considered for that purpose. What about my new Z6 III. Well that is a brilliant body and it has fantastic Video features too making it a great all rounder, but I've not had it long enough or shot with it enough to promote it to my favourite.
I think for my Z series bodies, quite surprisingly it has to be my little Z7 II. Fantastic high res image quality, good enough 4K (and 4k 50) video quality all wrapped up in a tiny lightweight body. Sure it's not got the best AF or my bodies, doesn't shoot as fast, has the deepest buffer, doesn't shoot 10 bit video etc. however there's still something about the body of the Z7 that just feels great in my hand (more so than any other of the bodies). However, the Z7 II's problem (like all the other Z bodies I own), is that unless I go with my tiny primes (the 28mm F2.8 or the 40mm F2), then the Z full frame lenses are still quite large and heavy (Although of amazing quality).
What about my Olympus micro four thirds bodies. Well the EM1-X is getting a bit long in the tooth, but still a very capable body and like the Z9 with its integrated grip, is really comfortable to hold with longer lenses. Also, like some of my Z bodies, it's just a bit to large and heavy as an everyday fun body. So I really thought it would be my OM-1 (MK 1 version). I had (have) a real love affair with the last of the Olympus bodies, and to this day, for a feature set it still beats pretty much every other camera out there. In one body we have an 80mp tripod mounted high res shot mode (that combines in camera not on a computer), as well as a hand held mode for 50mp images (again also in camera). We have Live ND, Live Time, Live view, perspective correction. We have what was the worlds first implementation of "pre-capture" and in Raw as well - so the OM-1 is my fav camera.... well no (it's close but no cigar). Whilst it's undoubtably a mini marvel, it' still quite a relatively heavy camera and its video performance is so-so, and at 20mp, doesn't give much room or scope for cropping.
So in that case, that is my current fav "fun" camera ? Well very surprisingly it's a non Nikon and non Olympus body. It's my little Sony A6700. Yes, other bodies have more resolution and more features, but the A6700 is so small and light, and my current walkabout lenses (the 18-140 and the 10-20 are tack sharp and tiny and light). Couple that with amazing AF and superb Video specs, make this my most fun camera to use and goes everywhere with me. Is it perfect - of course not. The Viewfinder is low res, the rear screen is also quit slow res and it only has a single card slot, but overall despite it's "limitations" is the one I reach for when I go on trips / holidays etc.
That's mine what about yours ?
