Camera gear discussions

Hello from Singapore too. Guess this goes to show I have weird or extreme priorities.

 

You'll be fine, I've taken non-sealed cameras out (briefly) in light rain or a slight snow sprinkle and they didn't spontaneously combust... I mean I try not to tempt fate, sea spray in particular scared me a lot more when I didn't have a weather sealed camera cause of the salt and residue it can leave behind.

Just use common sense tho, and get a bag with decent coatings and/or a rain cover. Mirrorless should treat ya nice for street, and a tilting display is doubly nice for that (rather than a fully articulated one which everyone BUT Sony seems to but favoring). I kinda miss it on my GF6 tbh, but all the higher end bodies on the M4/3 camp seemed to be going away from it. Easy waist level shooting is pretty useful at times...

The e-shutter is nice and all but I don't think it's absolutely crucial for street, if it's a busy environment and you're not in someone's face I'd dare say that tilting display and the extra versatility it offers (without having to pull it all that way out and waste time doing so like an articulated one) would trump the e-shutter... And if you're right on someone's face and it's quieter you should probably be building a rapport rather than getting an inconspicuous shot.

That goes back to style and personal preference again tho. I do love the e-shutter for social situations where friends/family will instantly ham it up for the camera as soon as they hear a shutter tho, and for very quiet scenarios like weddings, events, etc. No camera's perfect, much like headphones, they're all a different set of compromises.

I had to settle for a central EVF (prefer corner), fully articulated display (prefer tilt), and somewhat middling to mediocre C-AF in order to get everything else I wanted on the last body I bought (decent price, sealing, EFC + e-shutter, auto ISO in M, better controls, etc etc). Even if I waited a few more years and/or spent 3x as much I doubt I'd get it all.

 

What are the benefits of Mirroless over DSLR, aside from size/weight?

 

Well, the EVF vs OVF is a preference thing, with the latter you see what the lens sees, with the former you can opt to see what the actual exposure will look like factoring in all parameters, not to mention overlay histograms and other info.

Mirrorless bodies generally have more precise AF (particularly with brighter lenses) because the imaging sensor is taking care of everything, not a secondary AF sensor outside the main light path... OTOH years of refinement in PDF sensors generally give DSLR better tracking and continuous AF capabilities...

OTOOH mirrorless gets you useful focus aids like peaking and magnified view for MF, not to mention much better face and eye detect AF. No mirror slap and EFC can also help mitigate vibrations better for sharper shots, tho mirrorless bodies really need it because the smaller/lighter bodies absorb less vibrations anyway.

There's a lot of subtle differences, but the lines are getting more and more blurred with time too. Most mirrorless cameras (and I'm probably making too many generalizations by now) also have better video quality and AF, tho Canon's two Dual Pixel models (80/7D II) narrowed that gap or even swung it the other way depending on the specific cameras you're comparing.

You could argue lower end or midrange mirrorless bodies are often better spec'd or more full featured because those brands aren't trying to protect and scale such a big lineup (more control dials, weather sealing in cheaper bodies, etc)...

But you can also argue prices aren't any better or even higher in some cases even tho bodies are simpler (mechanically anyway) and lenses tend to employ more software corrections, that's also part of what makes them smaller in some cases, not all. Broad strokes tho, you'd have to start looking at specific systems and what you wanna do to really get a meaningful comparison.

The big big differentiator for DSLR continues to be C-AF & tracking performance, some mirrorless bodies/systems (Sony's a6x00, maybe more so than the A7 line, Nikon 1, etc) have easily surpassed lower end DSLR on that but most still lag behind and top end DSLR are probably still unmatched for that.

 

Oh, also, when it comes to APS-C DSLR vs a couple of the mirrorless systems (FUJI'S & M4/3) I feel you actually end up with a better lens selection.

Canon/Nikon have for decades focused on full frame lens designs, which is fine and dandy as they often make for great APS-C lenses... But it also often leaves you with odd focal lengths (50mm FF lenses as 75mm equivalent portrait lenses instead of an 85-100mm equivalent which can be more flaggering) OR very few actual choices (a lot less wide choices due to the crop factor).

That's just a manufacturer choice tho, but it's something that has carried on for years with no signs of changing and even Sony is falling into that trend as they focus on their FF mirrorless system much more emphatically than their APS-C mount. Using FF lenses on APS-C can also mean carrying something larger for no reason.

Mirrorless also let's you easily adapt a ton of DSLR lenses, old and new, because since the mirror box isn't there you have space for any adapter to overcome any flange differences... Personally I think that's more useful with Sony's FF line where lenses behave as they were designed to, but if you are into longer teles then the crop factor of APS-C/M4/3 mirrorless might be appealing.

There's always AF quirks (if you retain AF at all) and other issues to deal with when adapting lenses tho so it's not a cure all for any missing option in a catalog.

Regarding size: well that's personal, some prefer it larger (that's what she said?) and not all mirrorless systems will bear out the same space savings... It's also about the lenses as much as it is about the bodies. In some cases lenses can be far smaller, in others not at all.

 

I didn't fully understand all of that, but I appreciate your post and I learned a lot from it!

 

And since you are into external flashes as well, look at the system and the availability of accessories.

 

Yeah the breadth of things like that probably skews heavily in favor of more established DSLR systems, as well as having solid repair centers and service etc.

 

So I might have found a solution to my audio problem while looking at something unrelated. I have been curious about external video recorders like the atomos ninja 2 which record video through the hdmi output. While typically made for DSLR cameras, the J4 does have an HDMI port and would allow me to record video much longer then what the J4 buffer allows. I haven't seen anyone try this with the Nikon 1 series, but I believe it would work. The relevant part is that the Atomos has a 3.5mm stereo input which would allow external mics to be plugged in.

My ultrabudget solution is to get an iOS mic from Blue or Rode to record the audio separately with my smartphone and then use that audio track while editing the video.

 

So what do you guys shoot? I've currently got an a7s with a few old manual lenses as my day-to-day workhorse. I mostly do product and commercial photos as part of my day job, usually just stuff in the studio on white. I also do all the videography, hence all the old manual glass. At some point, I'll try to nab a used a7r and some AF glass.

When it's just shooting for just shits and giggles, I've got a decent amount of old FD and Pentax film gear to play around with, along with a Mamiya RB67 kit.

 

Pentax K-50 with 18-55/3.5-5.6, 50-200, 35/2.8 Macro, 50/1.8, and 55-300.

Love everything about it!

 

Nice! I used to be quite deep into the Pentax system back before I got into videography. I shot a K-5 for a number of years as my primary body and I absolutely loved the the ergonomics and image quality.

 

Olympus OM-D E-M5 II + Panasonic GM1

Currently using those two M4/3 cameras and I really enjoy having both available (started with an older Panasonic, then the GM1, then the Oly). Sometimes I'll go out with just one or the other, be it the GM1 in a small pouch (great for social occasions) or the OM-D on a strap and not much else; but very often I'll pack both in my Thinktank Turnstyle sling... Having a second lens choice always mounted on the tiny tiny GM1 is really convenient IMO.

As for lenses, I've gone on a bit of a splurge ever since I got into photography, but unlike headphones (ha!) I think I've now got just about everything I'd ever need/want. I'm hoping Oly's upcoming f1.2 primes are weather sealed, in which case I'll definitely grab one, but that's about it. I've basically got 3 primes, 3 zooms, and one fisheye (far more versatile than you'd think); and since I'm all about portability they're all pretty darn small (2"x2" or thereabouts).

The three zooms are slower, obvs, or they'd be much larger and expensive... I mostly use the zooms during the daytime or outside tho so it doesn't bother me, primes come out at night more but there's often a mix in my bag regardless. I rarely take out all the lenses, typically 2-5. This being M4/3 just multiply x2 for the 35mm equivalence:

7.5mm f3.5 Samyang fisheye
12mm f2 Olympus (bought refurb at less than 50%)
20mm f1.7 Panasonic pancake
42.5mm f1.7 Panasonic

9-18mm f4-5.6 Olympus ultra wide
12-32mm f3.5-5.6 Panasonic pancake
35-100mm f4-5.6 Panasonic

I'd love to own a complimentary FF kit, but I could never let go of my M4/3 gear because it's just way too portable and convenient... Things like Oly's 40MP high res mode and the upcoming fast primes have squelched my FF dreams to a degree as well. If I went FF it'd be with some primes only, but then there's the little fact that an A7R II + 35mm f2.8 would run me just about as much as my entire M4/3 kit.

My mother has a M4/3 Panasonic G6 too (she's the one that got my sister and me into photography, even tho we wailed every time she made us pose as kids)... My sister has a Canon 70D with half a dozen lenses and an A7R II with a couple. I've been able to try out other stuff by osmosis, heh. It's a good thing too because there's absolutely no camera stores left here, zilch. The Sony store had a great demo area but that closed.



TL;DR: two M4/3 bodies, one more traditional and one tiny, half a dozen lenses split evenly between primes and zooms, most often carried in a small discrete waist pack slung over my back

 

I've got an Olympus E-PL7 with kit lens (just got it last Dec), have been shooting lots of food and some street + nature scenes when on holiday.
Not sure what lens to get next. Have been experimenting with a bit of video, kind of wish I could get a wider angle (but without fisheye-level distortion).

 

Either the boards or my browser just flipped, I go to quote and it keeps pulling a post from a different thread altogether... Weird.

Anyway, @Eric_C you want a wider angle as in wider than the kit lens? (which would really fall under the realm of ultra wide) Or a wider angle as in something in the 24mm thru 35mm range? (what's typically referred to as wide angle) The system is spoiled for choices if it's the latter... Lots of decent primes, some cheap (14/2.5 Panasonic, often $100-150 on eBay, Samyang 12/2 - albeit manual) some not so much (12/2 Oly, their refurb outlet is useful tho).

Unlike 50mm equivalent primes I don't think we have a perfect or ideal 35mm equivalent tho... The Pana 15/1.7 is a little wider (closer to 28mm eq.) and a little pricey. The Pana 20/1.7 is a little tighter but that works in your favor sometimes, and it's tiny, not ideal for shooting action due to some AF quirks tho. The Oly 17/1.8 seems like goldilocks but it's the least sharp of the three, and as pricey as the PL 15.

None of the three are bad by any stretch, all three are good all around lenses, the 25mm (all 3 of them and counting) are closer to perfect or ideal at their respective focal length... But 50mm equivalent is tighter and very different obvs.

If you meant ultra wide, your choices are a bit slimmer...

There's some 3rd party rectilinear ultra wide primes but they're all pricey, manual focus, and rather large. There's three rectilinear ultra wide zooms from Panasonic and Oly, I waffled between the somewhat faster/sharper and decidedly wider Panasonic and the slower but smaller Oly for a while. Eventually picked the latter tho, the 9-18, for a couple reasons: when collapsed it's far more portable, it's cheaper and it's range was ultimately more attractive.

Having a 14-28 equivalent would mean swapping lenses often when I wanted to take more flattering people shots, 18-36 eq. tho less extreme seemed way more useful as an all day walk around. Plus it takes filters, the 9-18 is easily one of my favorite.

I actually ended up buying the cheap Samyang fisheye in part for times when I wanted wider coverage...

Don't be too quick to dismiss it. It's sharp enough you cab defish shots in post processing and end up with a wider rectilinear (or Panini!) perspective than any of the rectilinear UWA zoom, plus if you're shooting in nature (away from straight lines) and keep the horizon level you can mask the fisheye distortion pretty well with zero post work. It's a really fun lens to use and shake things up, tho composing with defishing in mind is more challenging since it involves some crop.

Manual focus is inconsequential since you get so much DoF. Just set to hyperfocal distance and go. There's the cheaper body cap FE from Oly too but it's not a 180° AoV unlike most FE, and it won't respond as well to defishing.

I wish M4/3 had something like the E mount Samyamg 12 (24mm eq. for us but a far more special 18mm eq f2 prime for them), probably the only mirrorless lens I really really envy from other APS-C systems.

 

As you probably guessed I really like shooting wide and UWA, the latter can be pretty challenging... I'm no expert but I've noticed that very often the better shots with an UWA involve less "fitting it all in" (which you can easily do by stitching a panorama with any lens) and more of a play in perspective or proportion between background/foreground.

I'm just a geek tho, I've been playing with stitching lately, both handled and with a little rotating pano clamp mounted on whichever tripod I happen to carry (works fine even with a tabletop)... I wanna try my hand at some 180/360 degree stitches with some extra modular bits I bought but just haven't had the time.

The fact that this takes some tinkering in post is just like a bonus for me, heh, something besides gaming to really push my desktop.

 

Nikon D7100, now my go-to lens is a Zeiss 35/2 which I got second hand for a decent price. Others: Tokina 11-16/2.8, Tamron 90/2.8 for macros, Nikon 70-300/3.5-5.6 which I should be getting very familiar with in May when I head to Sri Lanka for a wildlife research exposure module.

@keanex I see you did that get that macro lens after all.

 

@Impulse yeah I would like a bit wider angle than the kit lens (14-42mm) gives. Particularly when I want to capture more of a room/landscape, or when I take selfies with friends--there's only so far my arm can stretch.

 

@Eric_C no offense but for selfies, just stick with a smartphone, maybe with a clip-on fisheye. The lower pixel density will actually help out with the lack of stability when shooting one-handed, and chances are people won't look at a selfie critically enough to be worth all that trouble.

 

My phone cameras suck (Samsung S4). But the point is well taken.