Move from compact camera to system camera

scamartist · 23 Feb 2015 at 10:23

Looking to finally move away from point and shoot compact camera to a compact system camera.

Looking to spend up to £500 with a lens initially with the possibility to purchase some additional lenses later.

It will mostly be for travel and family pictures and needs to have good low light performance, image quality and fast auto focus.

Would also like to be able to do some shallow DOF images as well.

Any pointers would be appreciated as I seem to be getting baffled the more I read.

Genoma · 23 Feb 2015 at 13:01

The Fuji X system cameras have superb HQ, I had a X-M1 and found it very good but didn't keep it as I had already invested in my Canon DSLR lenses. It was advertised in the MM, I paid £399 for it with 3 lenses including 1 free from Fuji on their latest deal. Would be a tremendous upgrade for you and well in budget.

Also the m4/3 systems are highly regarded here, but I have no experience with them, I'm sure people will chip in below.

Do you want a viewfinder ?

ajf · 23 Feb 2015 at 13:05

I am biased as I have one, but I would suggest looking at the Micro Four Thirds systems from Olympus and Panasonic - they are interchangeable.
I have an E-PL5 body and several lenses and really think the quality is as good as the previous EOS 600D.
For static subject, the focusing is fast and accurate but can get a little lost on fast moving objects sometimes.
I have only had limited low light use of it, but it seemed more than acceptable.

There are also some fast F1.8 primes which would help you achieve the shallow depth of focus.
The E-PL5 has been replaced (with E-PL7) now but you could probably pick up one for a decent price, either with the twin zoom set, or body only and choose one of the fast primes.
The 45mm F1.8 (90mm equiv on 35mm) is around £220 and the 25mm ( 50mm equiv on 35mm) is about £300.

Alternatives might be the APS-C Fuji system, which uses the same size sensors as larger DSLRs. Gets good reviews, but is a bit more expensive and at the time I got mine I felt the range of lenses was a bit limited.

scamartist · 23 Feb 2015 at 13:05

An electronic view finder would be nice to have but not essential.

I did have look at the X-M1 and with the free lens it does appear to be a good package although seems the offer ends on the 31st March.

scamartist · 27 Feb 2015 at 18:59

Well after a lot of looking it looks like I'll be going for the Panasonic GX7.

Should be head and shoulders above the compact Sony camera I currently have.