It would be helpful what kind of work you do so that we can better judge what's important
I use canon, and have a pair of 7d, and assorted L lenses falsehs etc etc,
It's first worth noting that most mirrorless cameras will not have AF near as fast as your 7D, so that's the first compromise you'll have to make for size. Second is if you're using wide aperture L lenses, you will not likely find as many wide aperture lenses (and if you do, they won't be much smaller than the Canon lenses). Another area where their is compromise is equivalent aperture and Depth-Of-Field If you go to a smaller sensor like the Nikon V and f/2.8 lens will have a DOF equivalent to an f/4.8 lens on a 7D.
I sometimes cant easily carry all my stuff in a compact fashionm, ie my lopro bag.
firsty do canon do a similar body?
Canon does not have a small interchangable lens camera, but they have one camera that I'd recommend you look at to weigh your options. The G1-X does not haven an interchangable lens, but it has a larger sensor than the Nikon V1. It has a reasonable zoom range (28-112mm 35mm equivalent f/2.8 on the wide end, f/5.8 at tele) and has very good high ISO performance. It shoots RAW and has a hot shoe for external flashes.
is the v1 any good for quality photo,? does it do RAW?
It is decent, but just be aware of the compromises in lens options, AF speed, and such.
Pentax (Q), Fuji (X-1Pro) Olympus (Micro 4/3), Panasonic (Micro 4/3), and Sony (NEX) all have interchangeable lenses. There's also the Leica M9 but that's a rangefinder without autofocus that costs $9,000, so it's kind of a different beast, but it is small full-frame camera that shoots RAW (DNG) and uses Leica lenses.
what do you guys do in this situation?
I'm uncertain of what "this situation" is. It really depends on the kind of work I'm hired to do... maybe I could get away with a G1-X, maybe I could use a Nikon V1, maybe I'd need a Leica M9, or maybe I'd have to suck it up and lug around a dSLR... depends on the job.
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~K
