Mirrorless shopping

[Gary A.]

When Fuji first came out with their non-Bayer sensor, manipulations in Lightroom were problematic. I believe those problems have been resolved for some time. (I don't use Lightroom.) But there are better photo processing programs for Fuji than Lightroom. At 100%, PhotoNinja and Capture One seem to do a much better job than Lightroom ... Maybe it is Fuji specific, or it may be they do a better job on across the entire manufacturer spectrum, (except marketing).

I'm using Aperture, (until it dies), for RAW conversion and global manipulation, then CS6 to polish. With the XP2 I'll probably use C1 or Affinity.

 

[Solarflare]

AFAIK the best Fuji X converter is Irident Developer, unfortunately thats a Mac only program.

Best X-Trans RAW Converter

Didnt heard many good things about Lightroom.

If you like primes, Fuji's primes are pretty amazing.

Yes. And so are their zooms.

 

[PropilotBW]

It's a hard choice. I hope you are able to find an option that works well for you.

I really like my EM5ii. I have a couple really good pieces of glass and I have faith that the M4/3 system is only going to get better and better.
Like any camera, it has its weaknesses. The major weakness I find is focus tracking of moving objects (birds in particular). For all else, I've found it to be superior to my old D5100.
Some features of mirrorless cameras are Really cool, like looking through the EVF and seeing EXACTLY what the picture is going to look like at the snap.
Also mirrorless cameras have some nice long-exposure settings that eliminate over-under exposures. Again, VERY cool.
You say you're concerned with dropping to that small of a sensor. Why is this? Depth of field sacrifices? Low light capabilities? I would recommend researching professional photographers that use M4/3 system for their work. There are definitely some fantastic lens options to support this line of work, you just have to know the limitations of the camera (which also goes with any other camera as well). I've done a couple portrait sessions with this system, and they've turned out pretty good!
You can't go wrong with the Olympus 12-40 f2.8. It's a fantastic lens at a great price. You can find one used for less than $800. The prime lenses are also fantastic. I have the Olympus 45 1.8 and Panasonic 25 1.7.
Best of all with my system, it's SMALL.
It sounds like this is the reason you're selling all your other equipment, because it's cumbersome and heavy to lug around.
This is the exact reason I went with M4/3, for the size. It didn't make much sense for me to buy a Sony or Fuji and still have a fairly large system.

Of course, this works well for me, and Not necessarily another shooter. Hope this helps. Good luck in your search.

 

[runnah]

the good thing about Sony is that if you don't like their choices wait a week!

But yeah their glass selection is terrible.

 

[pixmedic]

It's a hard choice. I hope you are able to find an option that works well for you.

I really like my EM5ii. I have a couple really good pieces of glass and I have faith that the M4/3 system is only going to get better and better.
Like any camera, it has its weaknesses. The major weakness I find is focus tracking of moving objects (birds in particular). For all else, I've found it to be superior to my old D5100.
Some features of mirrorless cameras are Really cool, like looking through the EVF and seeing EXACTLY what the picture is going to look like at the snap.
Also mirrorless cameras have some nice long-exposure settings that eliminate over-under exposures. Again, VERY cool.
You say you're concerned with dropping to that small of a sensor. Why is this? Depth of field sacrifices? Low light capabilities? I would recommend researching professional photographers that use M4/3 system for their work. There are definitely some fantastic lens options to support this line of work, you just have to know the limitations of the camera (which also goes with any other camera as well). I've done a couple portrait sessions with this system, and they've turned out pretty good!
You can't go wrong with the Olympus 12-40 f2.8. It's a fantastic lens at a great price. You can find one used for less than $800. The prime lenses are also fantastic. I have the Olympus 45 1.8 and Panasonic 25 1.7.
Best of all with my system, it's SMALL.
It sounds like this is the reason you're selling all your other equipment, because it's cumbersome and heavy to lug around.
This is the exact reason I went with M4/3, for the size. It didn't make much sense for me to buy a Sony or Fuji and still have a fairly large system.

Of course, this works well for me, and Not necessarily another shooter. Hope this helps. Good luck in your search.

Oh, I already know a photographer that has been using a M4/3 camera for professional work for a while now.
Sergei uses an E-M5 and does some amazeballs work.
Featured: 'Mu43 Wedding Experience' by SSSYURRR
(I used to haunt this site back when I had my Oly E-PL5)

anyway...my biggest concern with the smaller sensor was low light performance. Granted, maybe the E-PL5 was just not a very good camera to base the M4/3 system on, but it really sucked in low light. also, the 3 axis in-body stabilization also kinda sucked. The sensor is just so much smaller than even a DX sensor, and there is just no way to really get around that fact.
I think at this point, its more of a mental issue. A not-so-great experience with a M4/3 camera coupled with not wanting to give up the advantages of a full frame sensor that I have come to enjoy.

The real facts of the case are this however...I really don't think whatever camera I get is going to be used all that often.
on one hand, I could get into an Olympus system comparatively cheap, and it could sit in the camera bag just as easily as the Sony a7. on the other hand, on those rare times i actually feel like dragging the camera out, i wouldn't mind having a nice camera.

what IS appealing about the m4/3 system is that it is small, and I can still fulfill my requirement of having a viewfinder and hot shoe flash. up until now, I would grab the Nikon1 when we go out instead of the D600 just because of how much a pain-in-the-ass hauling that big camera around was. Im really trying to talk myself into an Oly setup just because I think its a camera I might actually take out and use.

 

[pixmedic]

strongly considering an Olympus E-M1

 

[PropilotBW]

strongly considering an Olympus E-M1

I think that's an excellent choice. I don't think you can even compare your older EPL5 to the EM5ii or EM1. You need some hands on research, if you don't have it already.
The nice thing I like with Olympus, is that they're really good at putting out software upgrades for their camera bodies. The EM1 version 4.0 has some pretty nice features upgraded. Including the autofocus!
The EM1 also has a phase detection autofocus, while the EM5 uses contrast.
You can view my older posts to see some sample shots taken with the EM5ii.

 

[Gary A.]

The other day, while messing around my camera store, the store people had my web site up ... Then it dawned on me that it really wouldn't matter what camera system I was shooting, Canon FF, Nikon FF, Olympus MFT or Fuji APS-C ... I pretty much would have captured the same images with pretty much the equal success/impact. I really believe that with the high baseline IQ of most all modern digital cameras that cameras are pretty much all equal (up to a 11x14 or 16x20 and under ISO 3200).

I like Fuji ... Well ... Because I like Fuji. It is a bit of a niche camera, they are beautiful cameras, they are well built cameras, but the images are not any significantly better, (in terms of impact/success), than Canon or Nikon or Oly, et al. A few years ago, during the early days of digital dSLR's, there were significant differences between sensor and cameras and IQ between the various manufacturers. But now, the playing field has quite evened out in regards to IQ. BTW- Oly's 5 axis IBIS is absolutely wonderful.

If size is the most important factor ... then go MFT ... if style and looks are important then go Fuji ... if it's cost ... then go refurbished and MFT. At 100% you will see a difference between FF/APS-C/MFT ... But if you need a computer to see a difference, then there are no differences at all.

(Qualifier: For what I shoot and how I shoot. YMMV)

 

[jaomul]

I've had epl5, em5 and used an em1. Photos are all but identical. Just letting you know as you said not overly impressed with epl5. Obviously usability on the more pro cameras and IS is better

 

[pixmedic]

Whenever I hear m4/3 spoken of, it's always about olympus.
Is Panasonic a good option if i don't care about video?

 

[jaomul]

Olympus files are nicer

(Oh I'm not allowed say that because it's not quantifiable)

Olympus make cameras for photographers

 

[IronMaskDuval]

Whenever I hear m4/3 spoken of, it's always about olympus.
Is Panasonic a good option if i don't care about video?

I think Panasonic's video is much better than Oly's. The only difference between the two, however, is form factor. If you like the more traditional look of a dslr, go with Pany. If you like that retro look, go for Oly. I've used lenses from both, and I haven't seen much of a difference.

 

[PropilotBW]

By the way, this is a good time to shop. Olympus has their best sales on their lenses. $200 off the Pro 12-40mm is as good as you're going to see. They run sales often, but it's usually $100 off the 12-40.

 

[pixmedic]

I just never hear anyone mention panasonic.
even back when i was on the m4/3 forum it was mostly olympus unless someone was doing video work.
sometimes people talked about putting panasonic lenses on olympus bodies, but i didnt hear as much about the pany bodies.

 

[IronMaskDuval]

I just never hear anyone mention panasonic.
even back when i was on the m4/3 forum it was mostly olympus unless someone was doing video work.
sometimes people talked about putting panasonic lenses on olympus bodies, but i didnt hear as much about the pany bodies.

Have you seen the pany bodies? They're actually pretty hideous. If I had a choice between the Oly and a Pany, I'd choose the Oly just for looks, hands down. I've never owned a pany, but I've shot with one before and nothing came out of it that wasn't as exciting as what I found in Olys. When I had my Olys, I used a lot of Pany lens, only because that's what my rental place carried.