I have an SLR with fancy lenses (Canon 450d, 24-70mm 2.8L, 100mm 2.8 macro), which is a pain in the arse for taking shots in my workshop.
I need something that takes quality photos but is small enough to quickly take out and put away, and small enough to ride with easily.
Can sell off my SLR stuff to stretch the budget out and is a business expense so can stomach a decent investment.
Liking the look of a Mirrorless Interchangable Lense Cameras and am currently looking at the Fuji Xpro 1, any experience? any other contenders?
P.s sorry mods if this has been covered, search yielded nothing
any of those cameras that purport to be as good as SLRs but are compact (eg MILC, or ‘hybrids’ or whatever) are a waste of time. they are mega expensive cause they are all about features and megapixes, they target gadget nerds rather than photographers.
however, there are some amazing ones out there, for instance leica but you’re talking thousands of bux.
i reckon you should get the 50mm 1.4, its a small plastic mass produced lens that is ridiculously good, and only about $300. the 450d isn’t a big body, and the combination of that and the 50mm lens will give you pictures a million times better than some $600 ‘better than a compact, not quite an SLR’ camera.
just shoot jpeg to make the whole process quicker.
as for a camera for riding with, get a cheap compact, or use your iphone.
there’s my 2c.
Grab one of the latest micro 4/3 bodies, plus a pancake prime for available light workshop snaps and compact carry on the bike, then a zoom for other stuff.
And if that isn’t small or convenient enough, just get a Canon S100, and set your SLR up on a tripod with a decent flash / light and use that for studio / workshop shots.
I was not long idea tossing up the idea of a micro 4/3 camera to have so I didn’t have to take my DSLR everywhere when I wanted to take photos. I was specifically looking at the Panasonic Lumix GF-1. Luckily for me, Spirito had one and was kind enough to post it down to me so I could give it a bit of a test.
It’s a really fun little camera! Probably not much much bigger than an iPhone, the size was very versatile (though took a while to get use to fitting it in the hand after being used to holding such a big camera body). The interface was pretty easy to pick up which was nice. As for photos, it does a pretty damn good job! The quality of the image was pretty decent. Didn’t really get a chance to use it in many low-light situations so this might be something to investigate as I’m curious to see how much noise there would be at higher ISOs. Other than that though I couldn’t really fault it. Small. Easy to use. Pretty decent quality of photo. Plus you can switch out lenses if the stock 20mm is a bit too wide.
That’d probably be my 2c. Also looking forward to hear other people’s suggestions.
my canon s95 is for the exact purpose you describe. i have a nikon with a 24-70 f2.8 that sits in the cupboard and never gets used as it’s just too much of a pain in the arse to ride with.
used it all day on the recent Gravel Grinders and it happily fit in my BOgear hip pouch and was always at the ready.
awesome camera for the money and size.
so yeah, as blakey said, s95/s100 are great, as i’m sure markee and jaseyjase will also attest to.
edit - saying that, k o knows her shit when it comes to cameras.
I was about to buy a new camera a while back - but decided to keep my Panasonic DMC-LX3 with the Leica lens. It is perfect. Shoots raw, shoots wide and shoots really well in low light.
The 4/3 body is a good concept. But as k o righly says, it’s always going to be a compromise between size and quality. Just comes down to how good quality you want the shots to be.
P&S compact, definitely S100/95/90. Quality output for its size and cost, hard to beat. Plenty of features too. But as the saying goes, the best camera is the one you have on you. And ill gurantee you’ll always have the compact P&S on you in comparison to the DSLR, or even a micro 4/3
I looked into the micro 4/3 cameras, GF1, EP1, etc. In the end, i felt it wasnt compact enough to be a true compact, and it wasnt a true DSLR. I felt it would only be an option if i didnt already have a compact or a DLSR (which i already had)
Id say keep your DSLR for tripod/studio shots, invest in some nice L lenses, and as KO says, output quality will be better then the ‘do it all’
Just a grab a nice compact for on the go shot. S100 video is pretty good too
go out and try a fuji xpro1, same size sensor as a 450d, aps-c cmos, no aa filter, you can use leica lenses. These are great specs, but they come at a price. three grand with lenses and its not that much smaller than a 450d (without the grip) with a 50mm 1.4. it might not be worth the swap.
maybe check out a fuji x100? sensor very similar, image quality is close, body and lens combo is more compact, price/performance ratio is heaps better. you lose the ability to swap lenses. with both the x100 and xpro1 you lose low light AF speed compared to a 450d with a 1.4 usm lens.
i recommend you sell everything you own and buy a leica m9 with lenses.
