Camera gear discussions

Discussion in 'Photography and Cameras' started by Bill-P, Oct 15, 2015.

  1. shipsupt

    shipsupt Admin

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    Yep, a very special camera indeed. At this price point, it needs to compete with the top dogs.

    From a sports shooting standpoint, and they are definitely targeting us with adverts on this one, I still have concerns about AF speed and lens choices. I am interested to see what it can do in seriously low light - high school and college gyms always come to mind.

    The small size continues to attract me (who doesn't want to travel lighter) and worries me at the same time; I'd like to think I'd get used to the small form factor and not miss the awesome feel of the hulking pro DSLR.

    I never thought I'd say it, but from a personal wish list view, I'd still like to see more MP available! I used to think 16MP was my sweet spot, but as I spend time with the MP beast like the D810 and 5DS R I get spoiled. Even the jump to 20MP with the D5 has given me more flexibility. Yes, sports shooters do crop. I also love my pixels and dynamic range when shooting the urban landscape. If I can get that capability in my sports body I won't need to keep updating an additional body in parallel.

    Enough talk, get your pre-order in.
     
  2. shipsupt

    shipsupt Admin

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    I'll go ahead and be a little dramatic here and stir the pot. No camera has potential without great lenses. Full stop.
     
  3. adpo

    adpo Acquaintance

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    Funny enough, I just spent the past month switching back from Sony to Canon. I've still got an a6500 at the office for video stuff, but my kit is now centered around a 1ds3 and a bunch of L glass. Sooner or later I'll get around to getting a higher resolution canon body (5Ds?), but I've never really got myself to like a 5d body, and I've used all of them up to the III, right before I switched to Sony. While the a9 is impressive on paper, I don't think it offers me anything for the sort of work I do to the point where I'd want to switch back.

    Edit - Just realized I posted essentially the same thing right before the a9 came out.

    In any case, to add further value to the discussion rather than repeat myself, here's my take on the a9:

    It's stupid fast, BSI sensor is very capable of great dynamic range if we assume it has similar if not better performance than past sony BSI sensors, and the improvements to handling and battery life are things I honestly think they should've had in the a7 series from launch. That said, I'm a weirdo who prefers a bigger camera and the smaller size isn't entirely a benefit over a 1d type body for me, especially since G-Master series lenses are not much smaller/lighter than the DSLR competition. I'd rather have a heavy and well balanced camera than the imbalanced (even with battery grip) setups I had back with the a7s/a7r duo. I also spend most of my shooting time in studio or on set where I don't really need the insane 20fps, although having fast and reliable AF is always a plus.

    I'm not entirely sure who the a9 is for. There aren't any native fast telephotos or robust pro service for the sports guys and there's not enough resolution for the studio, landscape and commercial guys. I guess I can see this being a high-end tool for wedding shooters and maybe some photojournalists, given the speed and silence, plus manageable file sizes for quick turnaround.

    If sony added a 300mm f/2.8 and implemented a service that can match CPS, I think you'd have a serious contender for the high-end 1d/d5 market. An a9r with canon-tier color science and high resolution would be right up my alley, but for the cost of such a switch back, I might as well just go medium format.
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2017
  4. shipsupt

    shipsupt Admin

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    How bullet proof will the A9 be? I guess I assumed at this price point it was going to be on par with the pro DSLR bodies... seriously weather proof and tough enough to drive nails with. Unfortunately anything less would be a non-starter for me.

    The price point puts it out of reach of a lot of pro-sumers. It will be interesting to see what traction they can gain with the pros. Without NPS/CPS and with a few wholes in the full package it will be a hard sell for some. No matter how good the camera is in low light, there is no way I could seriously consider it for my full times sports work until they had the 300mm and 400mm f/2.8.

    If you do want to switch, get an idea of what it will cost you over at Dpreview: https://nikonrumors.com/2017/04/25/dpreview-it-can-cost-you-over-10000-to-switch-to-sony.aspx/
     
  5. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

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    Haha, no, I agree it's a fair point to note. :bow:

    The Sony A7 system is still less attractive to some photographers precisely due to lack of autofocus lens options. Being able to adapt more manual focus lenses is not that big of a draw to the vast majority of pro photographers IMO, and that's something Sony needs to think about when it comes to their A9 strategy because A9 is indeed no longer meant for pro-sumers anymore.

    It's sad, but I think Sony really needs to step up their lens game now. It was okay with A7, but then A7Rii came out at its price point and I raised an eyebrow already. Now with A9, there simply is no excuse.
     
  6. adpo

    adpo Acquaintance

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    In slightly more sane territory, I've been using the a6500 with the FE28mm over the past few weeks and I'm pretty convinced by now that this is all the camera 90% of people will ever need. Focus is insanely fast and accurate in pretty much all situations, image quality is consistently solid, IBIS works like a charm, touchscreen is pretty handy for video shooting, and the 4k video it shoots is absolutely gorgeous. Only complaint is the same one I've had about Sony mirrorless cameras: battery life could be a lot better. Thankfully, I can run it off a power bank for when I'm doing longer videos shoots for work, but this isn't always a realistic solution for everyone. Good thing I've got all these spare batteries left over from my a7s/r days. Some day, I'll convince my boss to also pick up a decent zoom for it, but the kit zoom is surprisingly capable. Too bad there's no native 16-50/2.8 options for sony. Has anyone here used the 16-105/4 or 17-70/4? My experience with Sony zooms is limited to the 16-50/3.5-5.6 kit lens and the zeiss 24-70/4. I'm also looking into getting a speed booster so that I could just mount my L glass onto it; does anyone here have any recommendations for any third party ones or is the (expensive) metabones one my only real option?
     
  7. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    On the a6500 ... that's one of the cameras I had been considering to add back a compact ILC with AF (I ditched extensive Canon FF/L, Fuji X and MFT systems and went all-Leica M a while back ... but the Leica isn't appropriate for all situations). Lots to like there, but with three major issues for me:
    • The touch-screen is a shambles. They may as well have not bothered. It's not really responsive enough and it's half-assedly implemented.
    • The complete lack of good wide-angle lens options unless you want to twat about with bulky/finicky adapters and lenses from other brands.
    • Generally poor selection of first-party glass - without resorting to FE mount stuff and the resulting extra bulk/weight/cost (or going third-party w/ adapters again).
    It's shame, as it gets most of everything else right. No doubt they'll nail the first issue in the a6700 (or whatever comes next), but I've given up hope on them ever addressing the lens availability issue.
     
  8. Comzee

    Comzee Facebook Friend

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    I'd love the new A9, but I'm so invested into Canon glass it seems not worth it.

    My Gear:
    5d Mkiii
    EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM
    EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
    EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
    EF 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art
    EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM

    If sold used and bought Sony I'm ballparking $3k loss or more just off glass :(

    Just twiddling my thumbs until Canon gets serious about mirrorless, but I feel like I've waited long enough.
    Hard decisions.

    edit: compiled the Sony equivalents (msrp):
    70–400 mm F4–5.6 G SSM II SAL70400G2 $2200
    70–200 mm F2.8 G SSM II SAL70200G2 $3000
    100 mm F2.8 Macro SAL100M28 $800
    Planar T* 50 mm F1.4 ZA SSM SAL50F14Z $1500
    Vario-Sonnar® T* 16-35 mm F2.8 ZA SSM II SAL1635Z2 $2250
     
    Last edited: May 1, 2017
  9. lac29

    lac29 Acquaintance

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    I've just made the dive into the higher end stuff ... after playing around with the Sony RX100 lineup for the last 6 years or so I've finally commited to Fuji. The Fujifilm X-T2 will be my first big boy camera.
     
  10. jacq

    jacq Top 3 poster - friend

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    Extremely tempted to go Fuji for a few months now. What lens will you be getting with the X-T2?
     
  11. lac29

    lac29 Acquaintance

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    I've been recommended to start off with the Fujinon XF35mmF2 R WR so I'll be shooting with that for at least several months before I even think about getting another lens. I skipped getting any kit lens.
     
  12. BrettMatthews

    BrettMatthews Friend

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    Fuji is an interesting system and it's where I have been for a little bit now. Now with that said I am looking to get out of it due to what I am looking to shoot (action). Currently have an XT1, XE1, 35mm f/2, and 18-55mm f2.8-4. I'm considering keeping the XE-1 and "kit" lens for now for travels as even though it is getting older it's still a great little camera! The film simulations are pretty neat and the jpegs come out looking great.

    Fuji 35mm f/2 is a great little lens, and the "kit" lens is much better than your standard 18-55mm lenses that come with most cameras, build on both is great.

    As for me I am looking to move over back to Canon due to the lens choices. Haven't had a Canon since my first DSLR, and have had Nikon, Sony, and Fuji between, but I am looking forward to moving back to Canon.
     
  13. jacq

    jacq Top 3 poster - friend

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    Add the 23mm F2 in that pile, 35mm equivalent, yum.
     
  14. winders

    winders boomer

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    The Nikon sensors are just so much better right now. The lenses are as good or better with a few exceptions. Most of those spots can be filled with some nice 3rd party lenses.
     
  15. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    New Camera Fever.

    There's a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ10 in my bag which goes everywhere with me, although I often forget it is there and take snaps with my X-Play phone. I have never been satisfied with the TZ10: I have always felt that the results were noisy and not sharp. I got much better results with the old Cannon "bridge" with its 12* zoom that passed as "super" about twelve years ago, until its worked jammed up.

    The superzoom was replaced by a superzoom, The Fuji HX50. Better pictures, but lousy build quality, with a lens that does not stay centred on the subject as one zooms in. But the biggest problem is it stays on the shelf because it is too big and heavy to carry around.

    Telling myself that throw-in-the-bag was the brief, I've been thinking hard about the DXC-RX100s.

    So much has changed since I was last camera buying. I used to giggle at the stuff that looks like a "normal" lens stuck on a dwarf camera body. But a visitor passed through last week with an NEX5 and I saw that it was no laughing matter!

    So I started burying my head in the a6000s, moving up the model range and deciding that each increment brought something vital, and that only the latest would do. Then I took a quick trip down the slide from a6500 to a6000, thinking that, actually, I do not need to spend more and this, with its kit lens would do me nicely. Additional bells and whistles nice, but far from vital.

    It won't fit in the shoulder bag in the hardly-notice-it way that the TZ10 does, or the RX100n would, but I believe it will fit. And take some very nice snaps. And give me room to grow if I get/rediscover interest in photography as a thing.

    By the way, further back in history, and somewhere in some cupboard is an Olympus OM2 that I always thought the most comfortable and perfect size of camera to use.

    It might be this birthday (coming July) or I might spend another year catching up and learning about current technologies.
     
  16. Stapsy

    Stapsy Friend

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    Unfortunately, the compact point and shoot camera has kind of died with the rise of the smart phone. I think the Sony's and Fuji's give you the best bang for your buck in that range.

    As an alternative to a zoom, many of the new compact fixed focal length camera's offer a "crop zoom" to other common focal lengths. They basically crop a 28mm equivalent to a 35mm or 50mm view. Most modern camera's have high enough resolution that you won't really notice a difference. The advantage is less moving parts and a more compact camera while still giving you some flexibility in focal length. It is also easier and cheaper to make a high quality prime lens than a zoom.

    Maybe add a Fuji X70 or a Ricoh GR to your list of camera's to check out. I would also highly recommend going used. I think we mentioned it before but there isn't a huge difference in most of the digital camera's made over the last couple years.

    The final thing I will add is to shoot the OM2. I returned to film this time last year and I love it. Dig out that camera and grab a couple cheap rolls to test it out. You may find the shutter stick a little or the meter to be a little off, but those things are easily remedied. My favorite thing is not having to think about how much battery is left in my camera. I just throw it in my bag with a couple rolls of film and I am good to go.
     
  17. adpo

    adpo Acquaintance

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    If you can learn to live without the zoom, I wholeheartedly can recommend the Ricoh GR. It's small enough to fit into the pocket of a pair of jeans and it's responsive enough that you generally can power it up and grab a snap as soon as you see the opportunity, which seems to be the sort of thing you're after.
     
  18. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    I am a little bit stuck on the idea of the a6000 with two kit lenses at the moment. And my wife doesn't even know I'm contemplating this.

    I'd be happy to buy used but not off an unknown person. I live in a culture where used-stuff values are fought for, tooth and nail, whether the thing is worth it or not. I see this with cars and I see it with hifi, although there are exceptions there because, when I have bought anything, the person has been more-or-less known.

    Not buying used, and being unlikely to be in any cheaper-to-buy-in (if only because of the tax refund) country for at least a year, does limit the field.

    On top of that, I am short of camera shops where one can just see and hold stuff. My last two camera buys were in Singapore: No such problem there! But also no visit on the cards.

    The OM2? Film and nothing but the stock standard lens again? And the most basic of metering, let alone automation. That might be interesting. I don't know where it would buy it, let alone get it processed/printed here. Not worrying about the battery life was good. But worrying about getting worthwhile pictures out of as many of those 36 exposures on the roll was... Well, probably better, actually, but no, I don't think I'm going to go back to that.
     
    Last edited: May 9, 2017
  19. jowls

    jowls Never shitposts (please) - Friend

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    Going from 42mp to 12mp. I haven't had to worry about framing for a while so wish me luck :p
     
  20. adpo

    adpo Acquaintance

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    Instead, you'll now stop worrying about what ISO you're at ;) This was probably the hardest thing to get used to when I "downgraded" to the 1ds3 from regularly using an a7s.
     

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