DX camera recommendation
- Thread starter renol
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Micro four thirds and many other mirrorless interchangeable lens camera like the Sony A6000 and Samsung NX1 have very fast autofocus, they are generally very accurate, so they have no problem in sports. As for scenary and landscape, it is a non-issue at all. I use my OMD EM5 for scenary and even then I am using its kit lens. I even use my very old EPL1 for some sports action and I have no issue with them too.
Basically, I find it is a matter of preference, if you like DSLR or mirrorless camera. The good thing about mirrorless camera are that they are generally smaller than a DSLR (with exception of Panasonic GH4 which was basically the same size or slightly larger than some DSLR out there), and their lenses are also of a smaller package... most of them though.
Do note the different package for mirrorless camera though.
For Sony, she normally have two package - the A7-series of mirrorless camera are full frame sensor, all others are APS-C sized sensor.
For Samsung, all of them are APS-C sensor camera except for NX-Mini which is a small 1 inch size sensor camera.
For Nikon, the 1 series are all 1 inch size sensor camera
For Canon, at present moment (at least in Singapore) you can only get the EOS-M which is an APS-C size sensor camera but had one of the slowest AF mechanism in mirrorless camera nowadays.
Olympus and Panasonic all featured m43 sensor.
Fujifilm mirrorless camera are all APS-C sensor camera.
That is also one reason, I ask you to focus on one format only. If you have done research on DSLR, stick with DSLR or you will get thoroughly confused.
Very sorry for all the troubles.
I was researching on DSLRs till I happened to read about mirrorless cameras. I would go for mirrorless cameras if they able to fulfill my shooting (scenery, low lighting and sports) due to the lighter weight.
Nikon
- Nikon 1 V3 (2014): I was looking at this model because of more variety of lenses but I read from reviews that the controls are quite bad.
Fujifilm
- Fujifilm X100T (2014) or Fujifilm X-T1 (2014) [May be out of budget]
Olympus
- OM-D E-M10 (2014) or OM-D E-M1 (2013)
Panasonic
- Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH4 (2014) or Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3 (2012)
Sony
- Sony Alpha a6000 (2014)
Ok. Lets looked at all the camera you have listed.
1) Nikon 1 V3 is a relatively small sensor camera (1 inch sensor size), not that it is bad, but being a small sensor, don't expect high ISO performance to match other cameras that you have listed. Also it had a 2.7x crop factor (I think), making wide angle lens, not really that wide. If you can get past that, the Nikon 1 series camera is really good and with very decent image quality. As for the controls are quite bad... it is up to you, really, some say they are bad, some say they are okay. Because different people have different needs and feels.
2) Fujifilm X100T is a fix lens camera (meaning you cannot change lens) and it has a single focal length, so you really need to hold it and play with it a while to decide if you really like it or not. X-T1 is a interchangeable lens camera though, excellent image quality, excellent lens choice, but can be pretty expensive (but with what it is offering, it is definitely worth that type of price).
3) Olympus EM10 is quite similar in term of feel and ergonomic as compared to my EM5... it is newer though. I loved my EM5, enugh say. I wouldn't say that it is the best camera out there, but it certainly did its thing well. As for the EM1, it is the professional EM series of camera, no complaint there except for the price. The image quality is definitely better as compared to both EM10 and EM5... I believe the EM1 utilize a new sensor and graphic processor as well as an update of the excellent 5 axis image stabilizer.
4) GH4 and GH3 are not exactly small in size. It is bigger than some entry level DSLR. They have excellent movie mode (the best in class) expecially for the GH4 which feature 4k movie recording. Still image quality wise... the GH3 and GH4 should be very similar or close to the Olympus EM series of camera.
5) A6000 boast to have the fastest AF around. Image quality is of very high standard, lenses available are also quite extensive.
Okay, if you are looking at Olympus OMD EM series of camera, you should also looked to the cheaper PEN series of camera, I believe by now, there is a EPL7... this camera shared the same sensor as the EM series of camera and is abit stripped down of functions... and lacking weather sealing. But is small and very portable, and image quality is excellent.
Okay. Regarding the mirrorless interchangeable lens camera as compared to DSLR, in the past, the AF system in the mirrorless camera is really not that impressive (coming from the Olympus EPL1, I can safely say that even my old Canon 1000D focus much faster), however, technology had improved and the mirrorless camera's AF matched and in some instances surpasses some of the DSLR out there. So focusing shouldn't be a problem in both good and not that good lighting.
Most of the mirroless out there offered pretty extensive lens library so you shouldn't worry about lacking of lenses. But to be sure, before you launch into buying a camera, do some research on the availability of accessories and lenses.
And although many people would tell you that mirrorless camera are small... and small is good. But from experiences, small is not necessary good. Why? you need to take care of ergonomic. Some people - like myself, have big hands. Holding a small camera with no grip or insufficiently deep grip for sometime will make your finger ache. It was so bad even for my EM5 that I need to buy a third party optional grip for the camera to fully enjoy the camera... the orginal one is expensive at that time... so do factor in that in your purchase.
So to make things simple, check the following before buying anything, you can safely strike off the image quality department - all of them are good,
1) Ergonomic - go down to the shop, go to megastore - some of them have dummies out there for you to hold, and feel the camera see if you like the feels.
2) Menu - check to see if the menu and button layout make any sense to you.
3) Lens and accessories availability - check to see if the camera you liked offer those lenses that you need for your work... for example - you might want ultrawide angle lenses for landscape and architecture photography, dedicated macro lenses for macro (of course you can purchase addon), telephoto lenses for sports and wildlife, etc etc.
4) Others - this is tricky, you need to list down a list of the wants and needs... and no one can tell you what you need and what you want. Yes, we know you want to shoot scenery, low lighting and sports, but what about weather sealing, what about about to stitch photos in camera, etc, etc.
Hope this help.
Just to add one general point: do not ask any sales person for advice (eg: is this lens better than that one?). Sales people are there to sell things, the more the better. Any advice will likely be in the direction of selling you something more expensive than what you are asking about.
Exceptions are few.
Exceptions are few.
Just to add on: if you're looking to compare size and weight, can try out this site: http://camerasize.com/compact/#ha,t
Add the cameras, pair them with lenses. Generally, you want to avoid setups where the lenses look too big on the camera, or setups with lenses that are significantly heavier than the camera body. Those will end up feeling very imbalanced, and the lighter weight is not going to work out well if your setup is front heavy, since it will get very painful after a while of shooting
Add the cameras, pair them with lenses. Generally, you want to avoid setups where the lenses look too big on the camera, or setups with lenses that are significantly heavier than the camera body. Those will end up feeling very imbalanced, and the lighter weight is not going to work out well if your setup is front heavy, since it will get very painful after a while of shooting
Thanks and really appreciated for the explanation on each camera. I will go try out the following cameras:
- Fujifilm X-T1 (KIV)
- Olympus EM1 (5 axis image stabilizer)
- Olympus EM10 (3 axis image stabilizer)
- Panasonic GH3 or GH4
I do not have big hands so I think small camera is good for me.
Haha... That why I prefer to ask here from fellow seniors.
Thanks and noted.
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Actually one good way to test if the camera feel good to you is to rent it for a couple of days, or one day (maybe Sunday) and bring it out for a shoot. It is kind of hard to have an exact feel after only a couple of minutes in the shop.
The camerarental seemed to offer a pretty wide range of camera for you to rent and test. Do make use of their service.
http://sg.camerarental.biz/PriceList/PriceList.aspx
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Thanks.
"X-T1 is a interchangeable lens camera though, excellent image quality, excellent lens choice, but can be pretty expensive (but with what it is offering, it is definitely worth that type of price)." - Do you mean the overall or lenses that is slightly overpriced?
"GH4 and GH3 are not exactly small in size. It is bigger than some entry level DSLR. They have excellent movie mode (the best in class) expecially for the GH4 which feature 4k movie recording. Still image quality wise... the GH3 and GH4 should be very similar or close to the Olympus EM series of camera." - Do you mean that Olympus EM series has a slightly edge over GH3 or GH4 in terms of still image quality?
On paper GH4 looks like a very promising rig to me. I would like to shoot 4k and then pull individual frames out to see if snap would be good enough. If snap was good enough then I would no longer need a still camera as I could just shoot a snippet of video and then select best frame. I think 4K has a huge future and it is basically here and now.
Fuji system is expensive compared to other systems of similar specs. Whether or not it is overpriced is up to you, as there are many qualities of camera systems that cannot be quantified on specification sheets.
But I think the 4K footage still isn't RAW? Means you'll have less latitude to do stuff in post processing. I don't think shooting 4K video and pulling stills out of it will replace still photography, unless the 4K footage is in RAW format (which will take up lots of space)
Might be good enough for casual stuff if you're not too fussy, but still it is quite limited because if you want smooth video, you're limited in terms of shutter speed (generally for video to be smooth, you should shoot at 1/frame rate, i.e. 1/30s for 30fps footage - anything faster than that, your video will look choppy)
Like what other had mentioned, whether a camera is overprice or not, it is up to yourself. I am speaking in term of $$$, pure and simple. It is definitely not overprice if you ask me, the IQ is one of the best in the department, and I did mentioned that it is worth that type of price in my opinion.
I would not say that GH4 is inferior to OMD, they have similar quality. A good site to look,
http://www.bestmirrorlesscamerarevi...-ii-olympus-om-d-e-m1-vs-panasonic-lumix-gh4/
Frankly speaking I cannot tell the difference.
Anyway, it is irrelevant as to whether EM1 had better image quality or GH4. They have almost the same... and they can use each other's lenses. You won't go wrong with which camera to buy if you go down to EM1 and GH4.
You can of course rent both cameras, with the same lens, then take side by side shot to compare and come up with your own conclusion.
Thanks. Probably I used the wrong word, I think the more appropriate words should be value for money or best bang for buck.
Thanks for the informative comparison.
Thanks everyone for the advice to help me narrow down my camera.
Even though they can use each others' lenses, Olympus lenses tend to not come with stabilisation because their bodies have built in IS. This makes them smaller and lighter (in general). Panasonic cameras don't have in-body IS, so if you use Olympus lenses on Panasonic bodies, you won't have IS.
Good point. This might be something TS would like to looked at. The Panasonic GH3 and GH4 did not offer inbody image stabilization and that can only be achieved with 'stabilized' lenses, for the m4/3 lenses, at present, I believe only the Panasonic/ Leica lenses offer image stabilization, even then not all of them have it. The EM1 and EM10 or EM5 all have inbody image stabilization built in, so it can literally offer 'stabilization' for all lenses, even old manual lenses.
However, to what extend it would affect the user is entirely up to the user himself/herself. That is why I ask TS to rent the cameras and play with them for a day or two if time permit. Then check to see which one he/she liked. Note that both GH4 and EM1 and other camera listed, costed an upward of 1k, inclusive of lenses and other accessories, one can easily go past 2k. Spend around S$100 or S$200 for one or two days of testing on the camera system can save alot of heartache later on.
Thanks for the important point.
Yes, I also read that Panasonic GH3 and GH4 do not have inbody image stabilizer.
Does Olympus EM1 and EM10 come with a kit lens or have to purchase separately?
I read about the adapter for lens and is it applicable for EM1 and EM10?
Thanks.
EM10 has a 14-42 kit, not sure if there is a kit for EM1.
Adapter is only applicable if you're using lenses not made for m4/3 mount. If you don't have any of those and are not planning to buy them, you don't need adapters. I think most mirrorless systems have adapters that enable you to mount lenses of all sorts of mounts, but unless you already own lenses with other mounts, you shouldn't worry too much about adapters, and there should be very little reason for you to buy such lenses solely for use on m4/3 cameras.
Most people I think get the adapters for mounting old manual lenses which have very large apertures (e.g. Leica 50mm f0.95), or simply old lenses which they owned for use on their film cameras. Other than that, I don't think there's a particularly compelling reason to get lenses meant to fit on another mount (e.g. Canon 70-200 f2.8) for use on a m4/3 body, since there are usually equivalent lenses for these.
They have two version, one came with kit lens and one sold for body only. So when you request for quotation do spec whether you want it to come with kit lens or not. Also, do note that for EM1, they have a couple of different kit lens. You can choose the cheap 14-42mm kit lens, or the slightly more expensive 12-50mm kit lens or the excellent but most costly 12-40mm f2.8 kit lens. For both EM1 and EM10, I do believe that there is a kit that came with both 14-42mm + 40-150mm lenses. Do note that the 40-150mm lens are not the expensive but excellent PRO lens.
As for adapter for other lenses, yes, they have adapters. But different adapters to be use for different lenses. Olympus already built 4/3 mount lenses (note, it is 4/3 and not micro4/3) and there is an adapter to adapt these lenses to new m4/3 camera. These lenses will retain all their AF capability and the m4/3 cameras can detect this lens as per normal. Only issue is that the AF speed would drop tremendously for these lenses.
As for other lens, even with adapter, you couldn't detect the lens, it can still work, but you cannot change aperture of the lens from your camera and there is no autofocus. Plus, unless the adapter had a danelion chip built in, your camera cannot even give AF confirmation.
For starter, I would really advise against going this far. Learn to walk first before jumping on to the next step.
