Looking to get back into photography.

[Turboguard]

So I sold my Canon 5DM2 when I got my blackmagic a couple of years ago. Last year my partner got the Lumix LX100 and I noticed quickly how much I miss shooting still photography, so with some extra money in pocket I'm now looking to get back into the scene but need help finding a camera.

 

I mainly do street-photography and the LX100 has been amazing but obviously lacks in the focal length department as well in some hasty night life shots. But I do love the size and can't imagine going back to a Canon 5D.

 

I've been  at B&H and played with some Sony's but I want as much manual controls as possible and easily accessible just like on the LX100. And because I'm not used to Sony DSLRs' I was a little turned off by the designs.

 

Because of pricing and that I have experience with Panasonic now, I've been eyeing the GX8, but am reaching out to you guys to see what you think before I make up my mind.

 

All replies are welcome!

Thanks in advance!

[richg101]

Rent an A7S and the 55mm/1/8.  take the time to get used to its controls.  buy the user guide to learn how to set it up properly.  It's a true photographers camera without the need for a flash, that shoots video.  once you;re used to it, you'll never look back.   ideally invest in a nice leica RF lens and go full manual focus.  AF is for sports and point and shoot.  IMO if you need AF for anything else, you need to learn how to manual focus.

[TheRenaissanceMan]

I wouldn't recommend an A7-series camera if you're looking for a good stills experience. Sony's menus are convoluted, battery life is short, and the AF is much slower and less precise than Panasonic's. The lenses--especially the nice primes like the Sony Zeiss 55mm--are a lot more expensive, too. 

The GX8 should, judging by what I've read, be an excellent stills camera, but second to the G7 and GH4 for 4K video. If your priority is stills, I think you'll love it. 20MP, great DR, the new Dual IS system for stills, big new viewfinder, weather sealed, and still a nice handy size for casual use. 

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

For photography, the best advice I can give you is a cheap Nikon SLR, D5500 or so. Much higher end stills and sensor than m43s rivals and just works better as a photographic experience with tons of lenses. It's not far from a mirrorless size don't worry nothing close to a 5DII. Plus it shoots one of the best s35 1080p video so can be a B camera. Colours are gorgeous in raw and video. 

That's what I take out to shoot proper stills, smiling opening each colour/clean 24mp file. 

 

[TheRenaissanceMan]

I switched from APS-C to M4/3 a while back and didn't see a ton of difference in the RAW files. The biggest difference I saw was in ergonomics, size, and the selection of lenses made for the format. If the OP is used to the LX100 and wants to keep the kit small, I think a GX8 or a used GX7 are probably the best options. Maybe a GH4/G7 if he wants better video and doesn't mind something with more bulk.

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

It heavily depends on his:

1- Image quality acceptance standard (d5300 has markedly better stills than my gh4, which is 3x more money, so it's not a really smart photography choice)

2- Sensitivity to the size and weight matter 

3- Budget, for body and lenses.

 

[Snowfun]

Sony A6000?

APSC sensor

fast AF

vast MF lens range (with adapters) plus decent native AF offerings.

Cheap - albeit all things are relative! Will be even cheaper once the new A6100/7000 is announced.

Customizable - almost everything can be mapped to physical buttons and/or quick access Fn menu.

Small and convenient for travel & street (& unobtrusive).

[xavcs video if required]

A super little camera!

Tim

[TheRenaissanceMan]

It heavily depends on his:

1- Image quality acceptance standard (d5300 has markedly better stills than my gh4, which is 3x more money, so it's not a really smart photography choice)

2- Sensitivity to the size and weight matter 

3- Budget, for body and lenses.

 

It's good enough for almost anything, man. Check out this wedding photography work taken on the last generation of M4/3 cameras. http://www.mu-43.com/threads/61628/

I'm not saying the Nikon isn't a great camera, but the difference in stills quality between APS-C and M4/3 isn't nearly as devastating as forumites would have you believe.

[peterwhite]

The new Fujifilm x100T is the best bang-for-the-buck street photography camera. With a sharp 35mm f/2 lens (full-frame equivalent), compact size and weight (similar to Leica, but not Leica prices), a silent shutter, and optical/electronic viewfinder it is the best all-around camera for street photography as well.

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

the difference in stills quality between APS-C and M4/3 isn't nearly as devastating as forumites would have you believe.

I agree. Don't measure it with DXO! The higher quality however is there that's why I say ''1- Image quality acceptance standard'' is key here.

[Andrew Reid]

The new Fujifilm x100T is the best bang-for-the-buck street photography camera. With a sharp 35mm f/2 lens (full-frame equivalent), compact size and weight (similar to Leica, but not Leica prices), a silent shutter, and optical/electronic viewfinder it is the best all-around camera for street photography as well.

Or even better the X-T1 with 23mm F1.4 prime

Much better AF on that lens than with the cheaper Fuji 35mm F1.4 and 18mm F2

AF is very important for stills if you like fast apertures, MF is just too slow to get enough decisive moments unless you stop down to F5.6

The X-T1's ergonomics and EVF feel like a proper camera. Better than A7S and can be made full frame with Speed Booster

I tried opening the same raw shot from my A7R II and X-T1 recently by the way... and in Adobe Camera Raw the colours on the Sony shot were really off towards yellow / green, not enough satisfying blue or red tones.

So it seems Fuji's superb film like colour rendition does not just apply to their JPEGs but actually the sensor raw data.

Otherwise A7S is a superb choice if you can get some decent lenses to go with it. Expensive though!

[Nikkor]

Get a nikon fe2 and a hasselblad 500 c/m (900$ both with lens).

[Inazuma]

The LX100 is unique in its size and focal range with relatively large aperture and good low light. There is no other combination that can match it. If you want better low light your only option is to go for a prime lens on an ILC or a fixed lens camera like the Fuji x100

Ebrahim suggests the d5500 but from my experience that camera is only marginally better in DR and high iso (than my Panasonic GX7). I have to say that in most cases, sensor quality can not make up for poor/uninteresting lighting. 

[Kubrickian]

I just took a 6D with the 40mm pancake on a two week trip to europe and it didn't feel heavy at all. If I'm doing serious stills I feel like I want full frame. 

[Nicolas MAILLET]

24x36 (Full frame...) for photo looks the way to go for me too. But you would then deal with big glasses... I'm loving my 5DIII so far for photos and videos... Magic Lantern for powerful videos, and Full frame 20MP+ sensor for pictures. In fact i have been thinking about changing my body to get an A7S (better internal codec to save space on my synologys) but the way the 5DIII looks with magic lantern for both pictures and videos makes me prefer it to any other body right now...

If you've had a 5DII, you probably have some bunch of lenses from Canon... Just buy a 5DIII. You loose size from an EVF camera but come on that Canon full frame 5DIII is just an great option still today for all around work. I use it for my personal projects and am really satisfied.

[Zach Ashcraft]

I truly hate the A7s and original A7r for photography. So slow and clunky.

 

I'd go with a Canon 6D and cheap prime, or maybe a Fuji Mirrorless line.

[dahlfors]

Not sure which Blackmagic camera you have. Personally I'd consider getting a camera that could share lenses with the BM.

I'd also try out the handling of cameras. Some might be faster, easier and more natural for you to use. That in addition to lenses would matter more to me than to get a camera with the absolutely best sensor available. If you have good lenses and have a camera that you actually like to use - you'll be using it so much more and hence get more good shots. Also portability might matter for always keeping the camera with you. And nothing beats going to a shop to get a feel for the cameras & lenses when you want to get an idea of what size of lenses and camera is the right size for you.

And talking about size: I'm still debating with myself what camera to get for my outdoors activities. Smaller is better, more durable is better. I'm currently waiting to see what the next APS-C camera (A6xxx/A7000) from Sony will be like, that one will likely be highly interesting for me - and maybe you too. But who knows when that will be released, the rumored release date just keeps on getting delayed.

[Turboguard]

Wow, thanks for all the replies!

I will clarify that before the LX100 I did own the Sony A6000 and I did not like it. I don't know, but I've never really liked Sony's cameras, call me bias but I don't think a Sony will be my new camera.

In regards to Canon, size is not ideal, as well as price for the only model I'd even consider buying (5DM3).

Nikon, could work, I do own Nikon lenses for my BMPCC but I do know so little about them, last Nikon I shot with was the F2.

 

In the end, I will take in these comments when furthering my research and I'm going to head over to B&H later today and test the GX8 and X-T1 to start with.

EDIT: I do some paid gigs, but never editorial stuff so hopefully you guys can agree on these 2 choices when it comes to it.

Thanks again y'all! 

[Turboguard]

So yesterday I went to B&H and tried the GX8. I did same settings with both LX100 and GX8 and on GX8 I tried the Pana 14-140mm and the Pana 35-100.

While shooting, the EVF on the GX8 showed extreme noise and started lagging while fully zoomed in on both lenses and having some kind of black in the image. While shooting with my LX100, I didn't see any noise at all and have never seen the EVF lagging since my purchase in Nov' last year.

When I got home and transfered the images to my computer, the GX8's RAW are not even comparable to the quality of the LX100. SO, do you guys think that the demo GX8 and lenses B&H let me use are just broken? Or what would the reason for this be?

 

I also now saw that the GH4 is getting VLOG as well as only being 200dollars more than the GX8, so how much better really is the GX8 over the GH4? I know I can google all this but I want to hear it from pro's and everyday users like yourself (that I trust).

 

Last thing, I wanted to get the GX8 so I could get longer focal lenght lenses, but because I've become so used to the f/1.7 on the LX100, nothing seemed like a good option (again, maybe these lenses I tried was just extremely dirty and have been handled badly). 

 

I will upload some example pictures I took when I get back home...

 

Thanks!

[TheRenaissanceMan]

Man, that's weird. I haven't heard about any issues like that on the Mu43 forum. 

If you're also a video shooter, have the cash, and V-LOG excites you, the GH4 seems like a no-brainer. It performs very well for stills as well as video, and the battery lasts forever. You could also look at the Olympus E-M10 II--it gives you 5-axis IBIS, decent video, great colors, and a nice small form factor. 

In terms of lenses, it depends what aethetic you like. The Panasonic-Leica 15--25--42.5/45, Panasonic 14--20--42.5, and Olympus 12--17/25--45/60/75 are all great AF prime sets. The Panasonics are very sharp with high global contrast and a bit of CA and busy bokeh, the Panasonic-Leicas have a more refined microcontrast and color transmission with smooth bokeh, and the Olympuses are somewhat clinical with low contrast, high sharpness, and neutral bokeh. The SLR Magic and Voigtlander lenses are also worth checking out if you're into manual lenses. They have much more classic rendering styles that fare better for video use both visually and mechanically, imo.