Help needed - what are the options.

[astroNikon]

Could always ditch all the lenses
drop the grip
go to a 18-140 kit lens

now that's much smaller and lighter too

I have major left wrist issues lately. When I want lighter weight I take off the grip & battery and use a lighter lens. Quite a difference.


But I like the Olympus with a viewfinder
I've thought of going smaller a couple times, but then realized what I wrote above too gives me what I want ... ie, having my cake and eating it too

 

[Derrel]

I looked at a 16 MP Sony NEX 5-R last week with 18-55 lens with optical stabilizer. The camera body was exactly the width of the iPhone, but a tiny bit thicker, and about as tall as the iPhone. It had a positively tiny removable flash unit that fit on top, and by tiny I mean about 1 in ch wide by 1/2 inch tall folded down, maybe 1x1 inch with the flash popped up. It was **the** absolutely smallest removable flash I have ever seen in my life. I wanted to buy it. Bigger APS-C sensor, small body.

 

[bif]

OK, so after this weekend lugging my DSLR and lenses around with me - I've decided it's actually time to scale BACK and try to get back to basics and lightweight setup.

So I'll be selling my DSLR equipment.

I went through this a couple years ago.

However, I am looking into the M43 stuff, abnd am slightly confused by all of the offerings, pros, cons and compatibility stuff.

For example, I've read that all M43 lenses fit across bodies as it's the mount that makes the difference, not the manufacturer. Is that right?

Correct, there is a fairly extensive selection between Olympus and Panasonic, I've got some of both. Olympus does build their image stabilization into the bodies and the E-M5 and E-M1 both have 5 axis IBIS that is incredible. Panasonic builds it into some of their lenses and it does work well. IS is not needed in the shorter focal lengths for the most part.

Generally a lot of folks who have no interest in video tend to go Olympus cameras and those whose primary interest is motion picture like me prefer the Panasonics. The latest Panasonic, their new GH4, does very well with stills also.

Why isn't the Sony AR7 getting as good reviews as perhaps it should?

Sony in the past has had a problem with getting enough of a selection of affordable lenses for some models out on the market. This may have something to do with it.

What is the difference between Olympus PEN vs OM-D

The PEN design is a "retro" throwback to the original Olympus Pen half frame film camera "look". A very compact body with no viewfinder "hump" and the modern designs actually have no internal viewfinder, you use the LCD on the back for that, problem is they can be hard to see in daylight. But the digital Pens were a big success. Models after the original E-P1 did take an accessory EVF that mounted in the shoe on top, I had an E-PL1 with an accessory EVF that I used to try out the M4/3 idea.

The OMD series is also a "retro" look going back to the OMD film bodies. The OMD E-M5 introduced 5 axis IBIS, much improved high ISO performance (good up to 6400), and stayed within the M4/3 lens system the Pens had been using. If having an EVF you can use in sunlight and daylight is important to you, you'll want an OMD over a Pen.

I wound up selling off a Canon 7D, T3i, and 60D plus a bunch of EF lenses including 2 "L" series lenses. I ultimately went with Panasonic GH2s, upgraded to GH3s, and now am getting used to the new GH4.

In addition I picked up an OMD E-M5 to try out the 5 axis IBIS and I use it for a lightweight full featured camera more for stills than video.

Most M4/3 lenses tend to be a lot smaller and lighter than Canon optics and Nikkors. My back thanks me for the change!

Hope this information helps.