What to do?

scottduffy

scottduffy

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Scott
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I had my son's birthday party on Sunday so got out my 50d and 17-55 2.8 is and away I went.

I was delighted when I got home and viewed the images as most of them were tack sharp.

The problem then is that I hadn't used it for a couple of weeks before this and I was just about to list it thinking that the reason was/is that it's just too big and bulky for every day use.

I am really wondering what to do now whether to sell it and go for a mirrorless set up that I may well use daily or just keep the set up in have since I am genuinely delighted with the image quality.
 
Didn't you go through all this a little while ago?

Here you go, keep it!!
 
Yes and couldn't find the fuJi lens I wanted so sold the body without even trying it out. I have just been totally underwhelmed with the quality of the micro 4/3rds gear I've used up till now and wonder if I'll get the same image quality from an x series camera as I get with the combo I'm using.

I think the answer is probably yes and to be honest the reason I wanted to switch was because I wasn't using my canon gear often and I believe it's due to the size. I'll hang on to it for now and if I'm still not using it much by say Christmas I'll move it on.
 
Which m4/3 gear?

I would have thought the IQ from a Fuji and a decent prime would beat your Canon gear, but if fast focussing or long lenses are your thing then don't hold your breath.
 
I have used an older gf3 a while back then more recently a epl5 and wasn't keen on either. I had the 45mm prime and the 20mm prime which are highly regarded. I bought the fuji xe1 but couldn't source a 56mm prime so sold it without ever trying it out. I don't use long lenses at all. Just the 17-55 which i'm delighted with but it weighs a fair amount and the whole package is just massive when walking around with it. I don't even mean weight wise just seems like everyone notices you and sometimes i just want it to be a bit more discreet. Haha just read that and it sounds dodgy but i promise it's not.
 
scottduffy said:
Yes and couldn't find the fuJi lens I wanted so sold the body without even trying it out. I have just been totally underwhelmed with the quality of the micro 4/3rds gear I've used up till now and wonder if I'll get the same image quality from an x series camera as I get with the combo I'm using.

I think the answer is probably yes and to be honest the reason I wanted to switch was because I wasn't using my canon gear often and I believe it's due to the size. I'll hang on to it for now and if I'm still not using it much by say Christmas I'll move it on.
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If you mean the build quality of MFT gear I can sort of understand as much of it feels consumer grade and plastic but in use the MFT gear I have hasn't fallen apart and indeed has been faultless. I have a Panasonic G1 and a GX7, the G1 feels consumer grade but the GX7 is a step above and feels like a quality thing IMVHO. Anyway, I'm not one who thinks that a camera has to be made of metal to be a quality item, the proof is IMVHO, in use.

As you have a 50D I think that you should be able to get image quality you'll be happy with from a CSC and the Fuji system in particular should kick your aging Canon into a hedge, no offence but the 50D was hardly universally lauded as the pinnacle of APS-C image quality with some reviews being rather less than glowing. I never had a 50D, I went from 20D to 5D and I'm sure that the latter also bettered your 50D for image quality especially with nice primes but I found that my G1 produced images that were easily lost amongst 5D images at low to medium ISO's and the differences really only become apparent when pixel peeping or at the higher ISO's. The GX7 does much better than the G1. You have to play to their strengths and process for the best results but it's possible to get good images from the early MFT cameras and positively easy to get good image quality from the latter ones especially now as there are some very good prime and zoom lenses available.

So, if you want to move to a smaller system and maintain or improve image quality I think that you should be able to move to MFT, Fuji or Sony Alpha. You could even treat yourself and move way up market with a Sony A7 series camera. They're compact and well made and the only problem at the moment is the limited number of lenses but there are some very good lenses available now with more on the way.

One thing that you could do to help you decide if a CSC is good enough is look at the results other people are getting with the kit you're interested in. Whenever I think that kit isn't good enough I look at the results other people are getting and I usually then change my mind :D

Good luck choosing.
 
Scott, sounds like the 18-135 on a Fuji would be the answer to your problem. Not sure that 1mm at the wide end will make too much difference to you (comparing it to your 17-55) and the extra length is handy sometimes without being an obviously long lens. If you can live without the extra length, the 18-55 is bloomin' good too but lacks the weather sealing that the 18-135 has. IIRC there are a few faster zooms (f/2.8) on their way from Fuji.
 
Thanks folks. It was purely image quality and not build quality I was unhappy with. I'll have a serious read about these and take it from there. I've just bought a rx100 which should arrive today. Just for a play.
 
scottduffy said:
Thanks folks. It was purely image quality and not build quality I was unhappy with. I'll have a serious read about these and take it from there. I've just bought a rx100 which should arrive today. Just for a play.
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Take a look at the output of the newer sensors. To me they are not that different to the Fuji i had.
 
Take a look at the OM-D range M4/3. The recent ones, EM-5, 10 and 1 are good.
 
If you're feeling that a 50D (hardly a huge camera) is bulky and heavy, I'd suggest that maybe your attitude isn't right. It's funny how, if you're driven in your photography, that equipment can feel far lighter than it 'really' is. No amount of shopping can cure a lack of drive ...
 
Hi.. I have an X20 and an a Panasonic GX7. I have taken surfing photos on the GX7 when visiting my brother in Sydney and they match up well to the 5d3 that I recently acquired... I needed something I could use whilst my shoulder is injured. Perhaps if you can afford to, you can have both so that you use a monopod for some situations with the bigger kit, as I have to.

Good luck with deciding.
 
O..see you have bought something...should've kept reading. Ah well...
 
scottduffy said:
... genuinely delighted with the image quality.
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Not all cameras suit all customers.
You have one that suits you so well : keep it.

You may add something stylish mirrorless and retro, whatever, but keep your excellent system.
There are hundreds of threads over on DPR from folk who sold off, got the shiny new thing, and cannot make it do what their old system did so easily.
Hundreds I tell ya!
 
droj said:
If you're feeling that a 50D (hardly a huge camera) is bulky and heavy, I'd suggest that maybe your attitude isn't right. It's funny how, if you're driven in your photography, that equipment can feel far lighter than it 'really' is. No amount of shopping can cure a lack of drive ...
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It's certainly the biggest camera I've used. It's not a lack of drive. It's just not an everyday set up. I cannot walk around the street taking shots of my son as the set up is too big and when I'm not taking photos of him I've got to put it away in my shoulder bag when I would much prefer to have something with similar image quality which I could pop in and coat pocket. For taking shots that are set up in advance its fine but for everyday use its just too big. Walking around the street with my wee boy I feel like a tool with this huge camera and lens combo. I do like the image quality though and as I said I never got that from the last two compact system cameras in bought.
 
scottduffy said:
I do like the image quality though and as I said I never got that from the last two compact system cameras in bought.
Click to expand...

The next time you're not happy with IQ try and find out how to get the best from the gear.

I just find it difficult to believe that you can't match the IQ of your 50D when plenty of people are saying that CSC's can pretty much match their full frame gear.

As I've found myself, if you get anywhere near the best out of gear you have to look very closely to see the differences in actual image quality these days.

Have a look at this, watch the vid and listen to what these guys are saying...

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/cameras/the_mirrorless_revolution.shtml
 
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woof woof said:
The next time you're not happy with IQ try and find out how to get the best from the gear.

I just find it difficult to believe that you can't match the IQ of your 50D when plenty of people are saying that CSC's can pretty much match their full frame gear.

As I've found myself, if you get anywhere near the best out of gear you have to look very closely to see the differences in actual image quality these days.

Have a look at this, watch the vid and listen to what these guys are saying...

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/cameras/the_mirrorless_revolution.shtml
Click to expand...


I think the problem might well be a combination of me not knowing the systems i was using at the time and the two cameras not being a match for the 50d plus what is a terrific lens the 17-55. The GF3 was not great at all and the epl5 i struggled with. I think the omd range, a7 and the fuji range are what people are comparing to their full frame cameras not the two i've tried which were considerably cheaper. I will check out the link and have a good think before i do anything.
 
My first generation G1 is perfectly capable of getting me pictures that are lost amongst my 5D or A7 pictures, at low to middling ISO's at least. In fact when I'm looking at pictures it's often only the file name or my memory of the day that often gives the game away.

I think that a lot of people make the mistake of comparing a CSC with a serviceable but hardly earth shattering kit type lens with a DSLR and quite a decent lens. You have to compare good kit to good kit. Having said that you used the 20 and 45mm primes, I have both of those and they're capable of very good results so I'm at a loss to know what the issues you're having are.
 
woof woof said:
If you mean the build quality of MFT gear I can sort of understand as much of it feels consumer grade and plastic but in use the MFT gear I have hasn't fallen apart and indeed has been faultless. I have a Panasonic G1 and a GX7, the G1 feels consumer grade but the GX7 is a step above and feels like a quality thing IMVHO. Anyway, I'm not one who thinks that a camera has to be made of metal to be a quality item, the proof is IMVHO, in use.

As you have a 50D I think that you should be able to get image quality you'll be happy with from a CSC and the Fuji system in particular should kick your aging Canon into a hedge, no offence but the 50D was hardly universally lauded as the pinnacle of APS-C image quality with some reviews being rather less than glowing. I never had a 50D, I went from 20D to 5D and I'm sure that the latter also bettered your 50D for image quality especially with nice primes but I found that my G1 produced images that were easily lost amongst 5D images at low to medium ISO's and the differences really only become apparent when pixel peeping or at the higher ISO's. The GX7 does much better than the G1. You have to play to their strengths and process for the best results but it's possible to get good images from the early MFT cameras and positively easy to get good image quality from the latter ones especially now as there are some very good prime and zoom lenses available.

So, if you want to move to a smaller system and maintain or improve image quality I think that you should be able to move to MFT, Fuji or Sony Alpha. You could even treat yourself and move way up market with a Sony A7 series camera. They're compact and well made and the only problem at the moment is the limited number of lenses but there are some very good lenses available now with more on the way.

One thing that you could do to help you decide if a CSC is good enough is look at the results other people are getting with the kit you're interested in. Whenever I think that kit isn't good enough I look at the results other people are getting and I usually then change my mind :D

Good luck choosing.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't swap a 50d for a CSC, it may be a 2008 camera but it still cuts the mustard today.

I've certainly not used a CSC that I would be happy replacing my crop setup with to date.
 
scottduffy said:
It's certainly the biggest camera I've used. It's not a lack of drive. It's just not an everyday set up. I cannot walk around the street taking shots of my son as the set up is too big and when I'm not taking photos of him I've got to put it away in my shoulder bag when I would much prefer to have something with similar image quality which I could pop in and coat pocket. For taking shots that are set up in advance its fine but for everyday use its just too big. Walking around the street with my wee boy I feel like a tool with this huge camera and lens combo. I do like the image quality though and as I said I never got that from the last two compact system cameras in bought.
Click to expand...
A 50d with say, a lovely 35mm f/2 isn't big!
 
woof woof said:
The next time you're not happy with IQ try and find out how to get the best from the gear.

I just find it difficult to believe that you can't match the IQ of your 50D when plenty of people are saying that ****CSC's can pretty much match their full frame gear.*****

As I've found myself, if you get anywhere near the best out of gear you have to look very closely to see the differences in actual image quality these days.

Have a look at this, watch the vid and listen to what these guys are saying...

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/cameras/the_mirrorless_revolution.shtml
Click to expand...
CSC matching full frame gear?? Sorry, but that's just silly!!
 
True. Mine though has a battery grip and 17-55 which makes it big. I might actually remove the grip and bang a 50 prime on it for a while and use the 17-55 when I need it. I suppose I could always sell the 17-55 and buy a couple of primes. Decisions decisions.
 
If it feels too big, definitely take the grip off.

I have a few gripped bodies, including a Canon 6d. The 6d isn't a big camera, but with the grip it feels huge! I only use the grip for portraits, or if I'm using really big lenses.

Otherwise it's off, and most often with a 35mm prime. It's small and light, and full frame! Everyone's a winner!

The 50d with the 35mm is a great combo.
 
I've never tried the 35 prime. Only the 50, 85 and 100. I'll have a wee read about it. Thanks.
 
i will say the grip makes the 50 look and feel a lot bigger what about a 40mm f 2.8 thats nice and small
 
Still swithering whether to move it on. I have removed the grip though and it certainly makes a difference. If only I could half the size of the lens I'd be laughing. Never tried the 40 either. I'll read about it as soon as possible.
 
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