Thinking of an upgrade to replace the bulk

philstanbridge · 6 Jun 2017 at 12:23

I fancy a bit of an upgrade, at the same time if possible, to replace with something as good quality wise, but with less bulk. I'm not sure how feasible this is however, with my non-existent budget. But I'm going to go second hand, with a trade in, which should help. So, to the gurus in this forum, can you make some recommendations that won't break the bank.

My existing kit is as follows:-

Nikon D7000
Nikon AF-S 35mm 1.8G
Nikon Speedlight SB-910
Tokina 12-24 F4 DXII
Nikon AF-S 16-85 ED
Hoya Pro1 67mm CPL
Generic 52mm CPL
Lowepro carry case.

I'm prepared to trade all this in, if necessary.

D.P. · 6 Jun 2017 at 15:26

If you really want to cut down on the bulk then look no further than a micro4/3 setup. Small cameras with small lenses, and a complete lens system comparable to Nikon's.
Both Panasonic and Olympus offer various bodies with different features, sizes and ergonomics. Even the smallest ones have fantastic auto-focus for a mirror-less and sensors equal or similar to the very best but the smallest cameras will have less buttons and you have to use menus more. I have an Olympus EPM-2 and the lack of buttons is not a big deal, I use Aperture priority with auto-ISO for 99.9% of images and have programmed the back-wheel to do aperture and EC. Some of the slightly bigger m43 cameras are nicer to hold but but the advantage of getting one of smallest is it fits inside my trouser pockets with the kit lens.

philstanbridge · 6 Jun 2017 at 17:40

Thanks for the advice. I have big hands so smaller buttons can irk somewhat. But I'm not against the idea. I need to do some research on these then - when you say they have a lens system comparable, presumably they have separate, smaller lenses? I like portrait and landscape photography so I'd need something to suit. Obviously my major issue is budget so I need to be careful.

philstanbridge · 6 Jun 2017 at 17:44

Hmm MPB have offered me nearly £800 for my lot.

D.P. · 6 Jun 2017 at 18:28

philstanbridge said:
Thanks for the advice. I have big hands so smaller buttons can irk somewhat. But I'm not against the idea. I need to do some research on these then - when you say they have a lens system comparable, presumably they have separate, smaller lenses? I like portrait and landscape photography so I'd need something to suit. Obviously my major issue is budget so I need to be careful.

Then you might like one of the larger m43 cameras, they are still relatively light but the real weight savings will come form having smaller lenses.
What I meant about lenses is that they offer a wide variety of lenses form fast portrait, wide angle, zooms, primes, consumer grade, pro-grade, telephotos, fast aperture zooms, slow-aperture zooms like kit lenses etc. The choice of lenses is much like Nikon or Canon. Other CSC systems have very limited lens choices, or lenses a re skewed to certain specific like bigger, heavier fast primes which totally cancaels out any weight saving.

philstanbridge · 6 Jun 2017 at 18:44

So what we be a good 4/3 for me to get my hands on, and what sort of lens would I need? There are so many, I'm at a loss.

Raymond Lin · 6 Jun 2017 at 19:14

Both cameras are with a 50mm focal length lenses on, you could get a smaller 50/1.4 but this is what I have. The images are not the same as the Canon, but coming from D7000, I think the Fuji perhaps would be closer in terms of familiarity of both sensor size and focal length. The IQ is decent, the camera, I have the X-T1, is good for the money and I only paid £350 for mine.

philstanbridge · 6 Jun 2017 at 22:15

Thanks Raymond, very helpful. I was looking at an XT-1 earlier as it goes.

philstanbridge · 6 Jun 2017 at 22:20

Just having a quick browse, second hand XT-1 is around £450 now, and that it without a lens.

Raymond Lin · 6 Jun 2017 at 22:47

philstanbridge said:
Just having a quick browse, second hand XT-1 is around £450 now, and that it without a lens.

I bought mine without a box and not the flash that it comes with...don't bother me, it's crap, but for £350.

Keep an eye out, particularly on Talk Photography.

Andy90 · 7 Jun 2017 at 11:10

You might want to wait a little to see what the rumoured Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III is like, it is apparently due in 'the Summer' and is also rumoured to have 4K capability.

I'm with DP on this one, I purchased a second hand Olympus E-M5 a few months back, its a gem of a camera, however the E-M5 Mark II has better focussing for faster moving objects. Both are smaller than the X-T1. The Olympus E-M1 mark 1 is another to consider, this has a bigger grip and is about the same size as the X-T1.

The Olympus prime lenses are tiny, the 45mm f/1.8 is a gem of a portrait lens ('equivalent of 90mm on a 35mm full frame body), the 17mm f/1.8 is also rated very highly and has a lovely method of engaging manual focus on the lens by pulling back a shroud which reveals full depth of field markings - almost an after though in todays market. The Olympus 12mm f/2.0 is simply stunning and again has the same method of engaging manual focus when you need it as the 17mm.

Personally I would head to a decent Camera shop and try them out in the hand, whilst some cameras tick all the boxes for features, sometimes it is the handling and button placement that lets them down.

D.P. · 7 Jun 2017 at 16:28

The Fuji cameras and lenses are very nice, just don't expect to loose much weight or bulk. the 90mm prime is much larger than even the 85mm prime for your Nikon body so i would look very carefully at what you want. The Fuji uses the same sized APS-C sensor as your D7000 so the lenses are mostly very similar.

The advantage of the m43 system is the sensor is smaller so you can genuinely save a lot of weight with much smaller and lighter lenses. The prime are absolutely tiny, and the kit lenses are specially designed to be as light as possible. You will also get much better AF performance in general, especially for anything likes sports and wildlife.

AshFU · 7 Jun 2017 at 16:45

Find your local John Lewis and go see how the cameras feel in your hands, I'm currently thinking of getting the Fuji xt20 with kit lens,many good reviews, depends how much you want to spend but Fuji xt10 is worth a look if going 2nd hand, Google for a few reviews to give you an idea

Raymond Lin · 7 Jun 2017 at 23:00

Well, it's room for thought, I am biased towards Fuji as I think in terms of bang for buck, in particular the X-T1 is very good value.

D.P. · 8 Jun 2017 at 16:16

The Fuji cameras and lenses are very nice, excellent image & build quality with good manual controls, well thought out UI etc. All of this comes at the cost of weight though. All depends how much you really want to cut down on bulk, and what lenses you need. The Fuji 90mm is bigegr and heavier than the Nikon 85mm, for example. The Fuji 35mm f.20 and Nikon 35mm f/1.8 DX are very similar in size and weight. The Nikon D5600 and the Fuji XT-1 weigh the same.

You could get a m43 setup that is 50% lighter with very comparable images, with the differences visible only at very larger prints.

Raymond Lin · 8 Jun 2017 at 17:14

The Fuji 35/2.0 is the smallest lens I've ever had, in fact I found it too small.

niko · 8 Jun 2017 at 18:17

if you want small and light but with good image quality m4/3 is the way forward.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 8 Jun 2017 at 19:02

I would have a look at the XT10 and XT20 - compared to my D600,the XT10 is tiny!!

Andy90 · 8 Jun 2017 at 19:43

Raymond Lin said:
The Fuji 35/2.0 is the smallest lens I've ever had, in fact I found it too small.

You might not like the 'equivalent' Olympus Lens then, the 17mm f/1.8. It is 120g in weight compared to the Fuji's 170g, 58mm in diameter compared to the Fuji's 60mm and 36mm in length compared to the Fuji's 45.9mm

I've picked off similar lenses in the Olympus and Fuji ranges, covering 24mm, 35mm, 50mm and 90mm in the following chart. Don't misunderstand me, I know the Fuji lenses are excellent, but the weight and size differences are significant.

https://www.dpreview.com/products/c...ts=fujifilm_xf_90_2_r_lm_wr&sortDir=ascending

Raymond Lin · 8 Jun 2017 at 20:36

Andy90 said:
You might not like the 'equivalent' Olympus Lens then, the 17mm f/1.8. It is 120g in weight compared to the Fuji's 170g, 58mm in diameter compared to the Fuji's 60mm and 36mm in length compared to the Fuji's 45.9mm

I've picked off similar lenses in the Olympus and Fuji ranges, covering 24mm, 35mm, 50mm and 90mm in the following chart. Don't misunderstand me, I know the Fuji lenses are excellent, but the weight and size differences are significant.

https://www.dpreview.com/products/c...ts=fujifilm_xf_90_2_r_lm_wr&sortDir=ascending

I have no plans to go m4/3 anyway. The X-Pro1 is the smallest camera I would get, I have tried something like the Sony RX1R in a store, found that to be too small, uncomfortably small. In fact, I ended up adding a thumb grip and a leather case on the X-Pro1 because of it's size. With a 35/1.4 on it, the thumb grip and half leather case then it is the perfect (small) size.