Thinking of Moving from a dslr to csc

[newphotographer2]

I am looking for compact system camera that will give me aperture priority , shutter priority, manual exposure , fast not slow AF also EVF electronic view finder 16 MP or higher ,file formats JPEG RAW JPEG + RAW an excellent lcd . The main reason i am thinking of moving is a lighter camera and it will be smaller due to a lack of use of right hand .

 

[The_Traveler]

4/3 format fulfills all criteria.
lots of lenses, easy to shoot with one hand.
nice clean 16 mixed sensors.

I use Olympus OMD and love it.

 

[Derrel]

Here's a site devoted exclusively to mirrorless camera reviews, news, and analysis.

Welcome to Sans Mirror | Sans Mirror ? mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras | Thom Hogan

With limited hand function, I expect that the camera's control layout/control "system" would be of higher than average importance to you. "some" cameras which are very menu-driven require a large number of button-presses to get setting entered; other cameras that have more external controls offer a much,much more-direct way to input changes. One of the SONY mirrorless cameras for example, required as I recall, NINE button pushes, just to change the ISO value. I read that in a review a while back. The reviewer was pretty disappointed in that aspect of the camera, with basically the way the controls were "buried" and required what he called "menu-diving".

 

[Ilovemycam]

M43 is a nice little cam, but I gave them up as my 'go to' cam. The IQ is kinda low if you blow up the image. High ISO is noisy. (At least with my little Oly's.)And for me they are too hard to adjust with all the push button crap. I am an old film photog and just like basic controls. If they had a shutter speed dial on top like a Fuji or Leica, and an aperture ring, it would be more doable for me.

If you like to do single image HDR, the M43 image does not hold up sometimes. Here it holds up barely and I wish I had used a Fuji for this shot

http://www.artslant.com/ew/works/show/693490

I have gone over to Fuji X system as my go to cams for street work for now. Much better IQ than the M43 and I love the shutter speed dial on top. But I am not that crazy about Fuji either. Their 'focus by wire' system is garbage and the AF is so-so. The Fuji lens Aperture ring stinks. You blow on it and it moves. Fuji glass is very impressive...if you can get them to focus. But for street shooting AF is tough. If Fuji made a 28mp FF Leica knockoff for $3500 that took Leica glass and had old school controls...that could be a dream cam for me.

You can do good work with an M43 in any case. I use TOP end M43 glass and it is superb! I have lots of M43 pix that are in museums and rare book libraries. Here is one shot with an Oly M43 that got HDR'd

ArtSlant - Yankee Doodle Dandy

Again, it would have been better with a Fuji, but it is still doable (just) and a nice pix. (This is a low res version, the hi res is much better, same with all of these shots.) I shot M43 for 6 months of shooting in 2012. I produced lots of great images. I will still shoot M43, but it is a back burner / travel cam / dangerous conditions / disposable cam for me as of now. (Disposable with the kit lens only, not the high priced glass.)

Another Oly M43 shot...

http://www.artslant.com/ew/works/show/693488

This is one of my fav shots. It is sharp and holds up pretty good in an almost 13 x 19 blow up. You can read the tattoo on her leg under her bottoms in a blow up. The sharpness is impressive on this shot and it is cropped. So just depends on the M43 and what mood the lighting is in.

These are as good as it gets with M43 for me. When all cylinders are firing, M43 can produce a great image up to 13 x 19.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:132_'French_Riviera...Ohio_Style!'Daniel_Teoli_Jr_LLR.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ark_Observatory'_2012_Daniel_Teoli_Jr_LLR.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:'Catholic_Statuary'_Copyright_2013_Daniel_Teoli_Jr_LR.jpg

The worst IQ image is the first shot I posted. The best are the last 3. So that is the worst / best IQ range I get with the M43

 

[The_Traveler]

M43 is a nice little cam, but I gave them up as my 'go to' cam. The IQ is kinda low if you blow up the image. High ISO is noisy. And for me they are too hard to adjust. If they had a shutter speed dial on top like a Fuji or Leica, it would be more doable for me.

Top of OMD 5 with add on hand hold and battery holder.

In A mode, the button indicated by yellow arrow is F stop, red arrow is EC.
THis is echoed in the portrait mode by two similar wheels on the holder.

 

[Ilovemycam]

Edit, the statue shot was done with a Fuji X100 not M43. Sorry for the mistake.

 

[Ilovemycam]

Sony DSC-RX100 can do some pro work...but only just, if your going to blow it up. I can get an almost 11 x 14 doable print from it.

I only use it a s a pocket cam for my shorts. Otherwise it is too much a hassle to adjust and too low grade with high ISO noise. But it will produce very nice shots in ideal conditions.

 

[pete72]

I'm on my 2nd M43 cam. My 1st is an Oly PEN EPL-1. I got used to the menu & using the rear screen. It produced some decent results for a holiday camera.
I now also have an OM-D. Completely different machine. Many of the controls have been moved permanently to dials & you can move others to dedicated buttons rather than having to navigate through the menu to adjust things. Both allow fully manual exposure & focus but having these available on external dials make them useable on the OM-D. The sensor on the OM-D is also an improvement over the PEN & the electronic viewfinder is great too. This was much more of an upgrade than the specs suggested & my PEN has well & truly been relegated to backup.

So don't consider all M43s as being similar!

 

[brunerww]

I am looking for compact system camera that will give me aperture priority , shutter priority, manual exposure , fast not slow AF also EVF electronic view finder 16 MP or higher ,file formats JPEG RAW JPEG + RAW an excellent lcd . The main reason i am thinking of moving is a lighter camera and it will be smaller due to a lack of use of right hand .

Hi newphotog- There are a quite a few "CSCs" (Panasonic calls theirs DSLMs) with PASM, EVFs, RAW and fast AF. There aren't any full frame mirrorless cameras yet, but there are 3 crop-sensor sizes to choose from. The largest of the 3 sensor sizes is APS-C, which is the same sensor size as most consumer and semi-pro DSLRs. Your mirrorless choices are, listed by sensor size:

APS-C sensor:

Fuji
$799 XE-1 16.3MP

Samsung
$407 NX-20 20.3MP

Sony
$649 NEX-6 16.1MP

$999 NEX-7 24.3MP

Micro 4/3 sensor:

Olympus
$999 Olympus OM-D E-M5 16MP

Panasonic
$298 Panasonic G5 16.05MP

$750 Panasonic G6 16.05MP

$1099 Panasonic GH3 16.05MP

1" sensor:

Nikon
$350 Nikon 1 V1 10.1MP

$697 Nikon 1 V2 14.1MP

I am a Panasonic GH3 shooter, because I need its powerful video features, but if I were a still shooter, I would probably get the Sony NEX-7.

Awesome image quality, a good selection of native system lenses, nice manual controls, compact form-factor, but not too small.

Here is why Trey Ratcliff at Stuck in Customs, one of the top travel photography bloggers, switched from the Nikon D800 full frame DSLR to the NEX-7.

If money is an issue, and you want to stick with a DSLR sized sensor, the $407 Samsung NX-20 is a very capable camera, producing images like these. Not as many system lenses as Micro 4/3 cameras or Sony NEX, but at this price, it is a very good deal.

As others have suggested, the best Micro 4/3 still camera is the $999 Olympus OM-D E-M5. Reviews of the new Panasonic G6 say that it is just as good, but without the weather-sealed body, and is a couple of hundred dollars less.

Again, if money is an issue, the Panasonic G5 is the best value for money in micro 4/3.

EDIT: To be fair, I should include a word on the $350 (on closeout) Nikon 1 V1. Photographers I respect - such as David Taylor-Hughes over at soundimageplus and Steve Huff at stevehuffphotos - absolutely love this system. The 1" sensor won't give you the quality of larger sensors if you blow your photographs up to poster size - but not many people print enlargements any more.

If you want a camera than will produce high quality images, and is really small and fast, the Nikon 1 V1 or V2 may be what you are looking for.

Hope this is helpful,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution