Sizing down - Help with a camera

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Emmet Brickowski
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Dave
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Trust me when I say I never want to ask this. I'm very happy with my Canon 7D and what I can get with the lenses I have.
But, arthritis is getting worse in my hands and fingers. The little finger I can't really move at all.

This is my gear, Canon 7D. Lenses. 50mm, 100mm, 24-105mm, 70-300mm & 10-20mm.

I'm finding it harder to carry the 7D about. I can still press the buttons ok, it's just the weight.

What are my options when it comes to quality in a smaller, lighter package with a similar size sensor? The only thing I've looked at the moment is a Sony a6000 (but I have no idea if Sony does glass is as good as the Canon glass I have).

The lenses I would want if I do change is a quality 50, macro and wide angle lens.

Any suggestions?
 
hiya I can help a little although I shoot full frame.. I have owned several sony tbh your not going to save a load of weigth as the glass can be quite heavy * not as heavy as the canon tbh though) .... don't expect to save a lot of weight it isn't a lot.....

the advantage of the a7 ii range is ibis.....

just a quick one have you considered a m43 system they are quite abit smaller and offer a lot of glass......
 
Sony does make lenses as good as Canon eg 55mm F1.8 is fantastic. Their glass would probably cover your needs but it depends very much on what type of photography you are doing. DSLR will still be better for sports and wildlife etc with their better AF but for landscapes the small size of the A7 series along with their much wider dynamic range than Canon makes them ideal. There are bargains to be had as Sony often refreshes its line and values of older models plummet eg I bought on here a Sony A7, the original model, which is full frame 24mp in brand new condition for less than £450.
 
The problem is that whilst smaller bodies tend to be lighter, keeping the sensor the same size means that the difference in lens mass is far less.

For maximum image quality in an lightweight package, the answer is a Sigma Merrill (or two..) although the user experience is.. unique..
 
Fuji X-T 1?? Fuji's XF range of lenses is well up there in terms of image quality. Marginally bigger sensor than the 7D, being a 1.5 rather than 1.6 x crop. Native lenses from 10 - 400mm with a 1.4 x teleconverter for the 100-400 zoom stretching it o a 600mm, albeit an f/8 one.
 
Thanks everyone for the help.

I haven't looked at any m43 system.

This is the problem I have. I have good gear and if I go smaller and lighter I'm not going to get the quality I have.

I just watched some review videos on that Sigma Merrill, it does look... unique.
 
sony a7 would be a step up in quality ;-)
 
if you have the budget you can get better and another option is the metabones adapter that you can use your canon glass on with autofocus ;-)
 
owenb said:
if you have the budget you can get better and another option is the metabones adapter that you can use your canon glass on with autofocus ;-)
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wow, I could just buy a Sony a6000 with kit lens for that price :D

But if there's a slightly cheaper option it would be worth looking more into.
 
you don't need a metabones commlite is £40 works the same .. metabones was just an example lol ;-)
 
At the moment I would say your option really is Sony or Fuji to keep the quality in a lighter package.

Personally I would choose the Fuji XT1 because the look and feel so much nicer (to me)
 
RichardtheSane said:
At the moment I would say your option really is Sony or Fuji to keep the quality in a lighter package.

Personally I would choose the Fuji XT1 because the look and feel so much nicer (to me)
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I'll have a look at the fuji's when I'm next in John Lewis :)
 
If I were you and seeing the future as a smaller, lighter kit with excellent lenses I'd hire the best of various systems for a short time and do some blind tests of the results.
 
I think any modern CSC will have image quality as good as the 7D, if not better.
I know for a fact Fuji are right up there at the minute, with some of the best lenses around but I'm not a big fan of zooms so don't have much experience there.

A different option might be one of Canons offerings, I have never used one but it might be a bit more familiar! Ultimately though, a large aperture zoom is gonna be heavy regardless.
 
Thrash said:
A different option might be one of Canons offerings, I have never used one but it might be a bit more familiar! Ultimately though, a large aperture zoom is gonna be heavy regardless.
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The Canon CSC is not something I would recommend. They are so far behind the curve it is unreal!
 
Thrash said:
I think any modern CSC will have image quality as good as the 7D, if not better.
I know for a fact Fuji are right up there at the minute,...
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I have a Sony A7 and I'd expect it to beat the image quality offered by a 7D. I also have a couple of MFT cameras and when the MFT shots are taken at low to mid level ISO's I often forget what gear I used. It's only when pixel peeping or shooting at the highest ISO's that the image quality of "better" cameras tends to show, IMO.

Personally I'd add MFT to the list of possible purchases. There are some good bodies and some excellent lenses and one thing with some of the lenses is that they're very good wide open and that's often not the case with older design DSLR lenses.
 
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I would agree with Alan, Just one example is that you can get an equivalent 70-200mm f2.8 super quality lens that is about 1/4 the size and weight of a Canon 70-200mm f2.8 and it's cheaper. Micro 4/3 have about 170 lenses plus to choose from. You will still get great quality and everything will be much smaller and lighter for you. Check out the Olympus OM-D range.
 
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