Cameras...

[Bes]

Hi there,

I got my beloved Nikon D80 and all my lenses (Apart from my 1.8 50mm) nicked in a burglary last week
Due to the terms of the rubbish insurance I had, I am not getting that much back for it all... so my budget is not huge.

Whilst I would certainly not class myself as a serious photographer, but more someone that likes to take a nice camera out every now and then, what would people recommend? To be honest I always found the D80 and its lenses a bit bulky to carry around -esp. when going abroad and trying to pack it all into hand luggage so something a bit more compact would be ideal. My mate bought an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III and loves it, and his photos look pretty good to be fair. Are these mirrorless solutions the way to go these days? Any specific recommendations are appreciated

Thanks!

 

[Bes]

Looks nice and decent price too- thanks I will give this a close look as one option I also have a load of Heathrow Rewards vouchers to spend so hopefully the duty free at Heathrow sells lenses for this bad boy.

 

[Bes]

The Fujifilm will be a good replacemt for the D80 as it has the same size sensor. But I'd still look at the Olympus and Panasonic range of M43 cameras purely due to size and weight of camera and lenses.

Noticed you are in Brixton. From Streatham Hill here.

Ah I'm just a bit further down than you - near the prison

any specific models I should look at from them?

 

[Bes]

The Olympus EM10 III, Panasonic GX9 and G80 are models which I'd look into.

What is your actual budget?

I am not sure what my insurance company will give me yet, but I would say around up to £500 for a body and a lens or 2.

Are you looking for a system to invest deeply in for years? Or will it just be a body and a lens

and @Minstadave yes I want to invest in a system - get a telephoto and macro lens at some point too.

Thanks all!

 

[Bes]

So doing some more research, the Olympus EM10 III, GX85 and Fuji XT-10 all look good.

The XT10 is well priced but getting a little old now and has poor video capture. Also Fuji lenses seem really expensive!
The GX85 is apparently nearly as good as the GX9 but much cheaper. Some good deals on it out there.
The Olympus seems to be a nice compromise with good handling, good video capabilities, and there are some very good deals with 2x lenses around it seems. It seems to have a tendency to apply too much processing to photos (Saturation, sharpening) though, which is a concern

Looking at a few cam review sites, these all seem to be highly rated (The Fuji DOES have poor video capture though but it seems offers some fairly stunning photos thanks to its excellent image processing and lenses) and is cheaper.

I am wondering if I just look for the best deal I can find on these models and go for that as they all seem to be excellent cameras?

 

[Bes]

They're all good, I've got the GX85 and a load of m43 lenses.

Personally though if buying new I'd probably look to Fuji. I like that they support their cameras with regular firmware updates. They have weather sealed primes that don't cost a fortune, and the bigger sensor makes a small difference.

I'm also slightly dubious on the future of m43 with Panasonic moving towards full frame and Olympus only interested in their high end bodies currently. Whereas Fuji seem quite comefortable with their APSC sensor.

XT10 then?

 

[Bes]

I personally would stretch to the XT20 as suggested above. Seems like a good all round camera with a more modern sensor than the XT10.

Thanks guys - really liking to look of the XT20. Its definitely more than I wanted to spend, but I hope this is a system I can invest in (and that it is the right thing to do!).

I'll look out for a decent package

 

[Bes]

Went Fuji X-T20 with an XC16-50 lens to get me started - will see how I get on and go from there

 

[Bes]

@Bes how is the XT20 performing for you?

I will tell you in 2 weeks when I am back from trekking in Tasmania with it I've not really done anything other than play with the settings and practice 'round the house.

I also picked up a Samyang 12mm lens from the Bay which is apparently good for shooting starry skies and landscapes. It is pure MF but apparently you can just set and forget when stopped down to certain values when shooting landscapes, skies, etc... Should be perfect for Tasmania and Rural Victoria down under!