What camera would you recommend ?

Hi

I switched from a Canon DSLR to Sony Nex F3 in April. Last week, I spilled about a tablespoon of water on it and my AF died. I can still use MF lenses and everything else seems to work, but looks like the contacts are fried so eventually I will be looking for replacement.

I am not married to Nex. I can buy any mirrorless that matches my criteria. So I am looking for some suggestions.

What I loved about Nex:

- great dynamic range.
- good high ISO. Much better than my T4i. I shoot lots of low light portraits.
-focus peaking, makes manual focusing easy, and confirms focus for AF. I get keepers with Nex more often, eyes in focus etc.
- 1.5 crop factor means most wide legacy glass is still wide enough for general use, e.g. 28mm is like 42 mm on FF.
- built in flash can be tilted back to bounce. This is a biggie for inside portraits.
- good video
- EVF and the WYSIWYG exposure / focusing / DOF it allows

What I didn't like:

- SOOC JPEGs. I shoot raw but I don't have much time to process. The biggest problem with Nex Jpegs is overly aggressive NR that makes details mushy in low light. I'd rather have noisy details. Colors in low light also tend to be over -saturated but this can be adjusted in camera.
- No IBIS
- no high quality fast zoom
- focusing in low light struggles with moving subjects. This may be a common problem with all mirrorless, though. I would say focusing on Nex is adequate most times.

So my ideal camera would have same or better DR, close high ISO, focus peaking, IBIS, EVF, good selection of lenses, fast focusing, good video, and great jpegs. I understand that if I go micro 4/3 route my wide prime and my Minolta zoom would be too long and would need to be replaced.

So, does such a camera exist ?

Amamba said:

Amamba wrote:

Hi

I switched from a Canon DSLR to Sony Nex F3 in April. Last week, I spilled about a tablespoon of water on it and my AF died. I can still use MF lenses and everything else seems to work, but looks like the contacts are fried so eventually I will be looking for replacement.

I am not married to Nex. I can buy any mirrorless that matches my criteria. So I am looking for some suggestions.

What I loved about Nex:

- great dynamic range.
- good high ISO. Much better than my T4i. I shoot lots of low light portraits.
-focus peaking, makes manual focusing easy, and confirms focus for AF. I get keepers with Nex more often, eyes in focus etc.
- 1.5 crop factor means most wide legacy glass is still wide enough for general use, e.g. 28mm is like 42 mm on FF.
- built in flash can be tilted back to bounce. This is a biggie for inside portraits.
- good video
- EVF and the WYSIWYG exposure / focusing / DOF it allows

What I didn't like:

- SOOC JPEGs. I shoot raw but I don't have much time to process. The biggest problem with Nex Jpegs is overly aggressive NR that makes details mushy in low light. I'd rather have noisy details. Colors in low light also tend to be over -saturated but this can be adjusted in camera.
- No IBIS
- no high quality fast zoom
- focusing in low light struggles with moving subjects. This may be a common problem with all mirrorless, though. I would say focusing on Nex is adequate most times.

So my ideal camera would have same or better DR, close high ISO, focus peaking, IBIS, EVF, good selection of lenses, fast focusing, good video, and great jpegs. I understand that if I go micro 4/3 route my wide prime and my Minolta zoom would be too long and would need to be replaced.

So, does such a camera exist ?

Click to expand...

The 2x crop factor is less of an issue with M43, because the lens system is so much more mature than the NEX, for instance, M43 has the following AF primes: 8mm pana fish, 12/2, 14/2.5, 17/1.8, 17/2.8, 20/1.7, 25/1.4, 45/1.8, 45/2.8, 60/2.8, 75/1.8, and a 42.5/1.2 and 150/2.8 coming from Panasonic in 2014. Plus a bunch of zoom lenses that cover the 7-300mm range. Not to mention native MF mount lenses like samyang 7.5 fishs and the CV F0.95 lenses.

OMD EM5 has just about everything on your list except for the focus peaking, however, there are many very good native AF lenses in the M43 system, so instead of relying on an old MF lens like you would have to with a NEX camera, just buy one of the many native lens.

Newly announced GX7 would seem to provide everything on your list as well, though I'm not sure the focus peaking is as good as it is on NEX cameras.

GH3, everything on your list but IBIS.

Pen EP5, everything but the EVF (you can get the add-on EVF)

The rumored OMD EM1 will likely cover everything on your list, though who knows when it will be available for sale and at what price.

Panasonic cameras (esp GH series) tend to have better video, Olympus cameras tend to have better jpegs.

Thanks. The big advantage of focus peaking is focus confirmation, with DSLR you never knew what exactly was in focus until you took the shot and zoomed in on it, with peaking I can see if the eyes are in focus vs the nose. I also get much better focus in portraits in AF mode when I manually "fine tune" the focus - Nex has this DMF mode where you can turn the focus ring after camera acquires focus, it automatically magnifies the picture in viewfinder, and you can adjust the focus manually. I find that peaking works faster and better than magnification to confirm focus. So while it's a great feature to have with manual focus lenses, it's equally good for AF.

I will investigate the cameras on your list.

Right now I am looking at getting Nex 6 vs going MFT.

EarthQuake said:

EarthQuake wrote:

EarthQuake said:

Amamba wrote:

Hi

I switched from a Canon DSLR to Sony Nex F3 in April. Last week, I spilled about a tablespoon of water on it and my AF died. I can still use MF lenses and everything else seems to work, but looks like the contacts are fried so eventually I will be looking for replacement.

I am not married to Nex. I can buy any mirrorless that matches my criteria. So I am looking for some suggestions.

What I loved about Nex:

- great dynamic range.
- good high ISO. Much better than my T4i. I shoot lots of low light portraits.
-focus peaking, makes manual focusing easy, and confirms focus for AF. I get keepers with Nex more often, eyes in focus etc.
- 1.5 crop factor means most wide legacy glass is still wide enough for general use, e.g. 28mm is like 42 mm on FF.
- built in flash can be tilted back to bounce. This is a biggie for inside portraits.
- good video
- EVF and the WYSIWYG exposure / focusing / DOF it allows

What I didn't like:

- SOOC JPEGs. I shoot raw but I don't have much time to process. The biggest problem with Nex Jpegs is overly aggressive NR that makes details mushy in low light. I'd rather have noisy details. Colors in low light also tend to be over -saturated but this can be adjusted in camera.
- No IBIS
- no high quality fast zoom
- focusing in low light struggles with moving subjects. This may be a common problem with all mirrorless, though. I would say focusing on Nex is adequate most times.

So my ideal camera would have same or better DR, close high ISO, focus peaking, IBIS, EVF, good selection of lenses, fast focusing, good video, and great jpegs. I understand that if I go micro 4/3 route my wide prime and my Minolta zoom would be too long and would need to be replaced.

So, does such a camera exist ?

Click to expand...

The 2x crop factor is less of an issue with M43, because the lens system is so much more mature than the NEX, for instance, M43 has the following AF primes: 8mm pana fish, 12/2, 14/2.5, 17/1.8, 17/2.8, 20/1.7, 25/1.4, 45/1.8, 45/2.8, 60/2.8, 75/1.8, and a 42.5/1.2 and 150/2.8 coming from Panasonic in 2014. Plus a bunch of zoom lenses that cover the 7-300mm range. Not to mention native MF mount lenses like samyang 7.5 fishs and the CV F0.95 lenses.

OMD EM5 has just about everything on your list except for the focus peaking, however, there are many very good native AF lenses in the M43 system, so instead of relying on an old MF lens like you would have to with a NEX camera, just buy one of the many native lens.

Newly announced GX7 would seem to provide everything on your list as well, though I'm not sure the focus peaking is as good as it is on NEX cameras.

GH3, everything on your list but IBIS.

Pen EP5, everything but the EVF (you can get the add-on EVF)

The rumored OMD EM1 will likely cover everything on your list, though who knows when it will be available for sale and at what price.

Panasonic cameras (esp GH series) tend to have better video, Olympus cameras tend to have better jpegs.

Click to expand...

Amamba said:

Amamba wrote:

Thanks. The big advantage of focus peaking is focus confirmation, with DSLR you never knew what exactly was in focus until you took the shot and zoomed in on it, with peaking I can see if the eyes are in focus vs the nose. I also get much better focus in portraits in AF mode when I manually "fine tune" the focus - Nex has this DMF mode where you can turn the focus ring after camera acquires focus, it automatically magnifies the picture in viewfinder, and you can adjust the focus manually. I find that peaking works faster and better than magnification to confirm focus. So while it's a great feature to have with manual focus lenses, it's equally good for AF.

Click to expand...

The E-M5 has this magnified view feature- can be assigned to the focus ring or a button.

What it doesn't have is the mode where the VF image shows a color band for the in-focus areas... that can be gotten around w a kludge- using one art filters, but then you have to work from the RAW file.

The E-P5 has focus peeking, but lacks the weather sealing of the OM-D

And yes, a new OM-D is in the works, expected to have all the goodies, plus be able to properly focus all 4/3 as well as m43 lenses... w a price tag to match

EarthQuake said:

EarthQuake wrote:
The 2x crop factor is less of an issue with M43, because the lens system is so much more mature than the NEX, for instance, M43 has the following AF primes: 8mm pana fish, 12/2, 14/2.5, 17/1.8, 17/2.8, 20/1.7, 25/1.4, 45/1.8, 45/2.8, 60/2.8, 75/1.8, and a 42.5/1.2 and 150/2.8 coming from Panasonic in 2014. Plus a bunch of zoom lenses that cover the 7-300mm range. Not to mention native MF mount lenses like samyang 7.5 fishs and the CV F0.95 lenses.

OMD EM5 has just about everything on your list except for the focus peaking, however, there are many very good native AF lenses in the M43 system, so instead of relying on an old MF lens like you would have to with a NEX camera, just buy one of the many native lens.

Newly announced GX7 would seem to provide everything on your list as well, though I'm not sure the focus peaking is as good as it is on NEX cameras.

GH3, everything on your list but IBIS.

Pen EP5, everything but the EVF (you can get the add-on EVF)

The rumored OMD EM1 will likely cover everything on your list, though who knows when it will be available for sale and at what price.

Panasonic cameras (esp GH series) tend to have better video, Olympus cameras tend to have better jpegs.

Click to expand...

Pretty much nailed it. I would add that the E-M5 doesn't have an inbuilt flash, and the external flash it comes with can't be tilted back like on the NEX. I'm unsure which of the other M43 bodies have a flash that can tilt up, but I doubt it's many.

If flash isn't SUPER important, or you're willing to use a good external flash, this is a non-issue.

It should also be emphasized that nearly all the primes available are absolutelly stellar! And the ones that aren't (such as the 14mm and maybe the 17mm f2.8) are still very decent. Others such as the 20mm f1.7, the 45mm f1.8 and 75mm f1.8 are best-in-class. You'll find it difficult to find better glass on any system that performs better than these, sensor differences aside. Though a couple of them do come at a high price.

When i handled an EP5 in the shop the built-in flash didn't appear to be bounceable. There was an extra support level on there (compared to EPL1 which IS bounceable) which prevented you pulling it back.

EarthQuake said:

EarthQuake wrote:

EarthQuake said:

Amamba wrote:

Hi

I switched from a Canon DSLR to Sony Nex F3 in April. Last week, I spilled about a tablespoon of water on it and my AF died. I can still use MF lenses and everything else seems to work, but looks like the contacts are fried so eventually I will be looking for replacement.

I am not married to Nex. I can buy any mirrorless that matches my criteria. So I am looking for some suggestions.

What I loved about Nex:

- great dynamic range.
- good high ISO. Much better than my T4i. I shoot lots of low light portraits.
-focus peaking, makes manual focusing easy, and confirms focus for AF. I get keepers with Nex more often, eyes in focus etc.
- 1.5 crop factor means most wide legacy glass is still wide enough for general use, e.g. 28mm is like 42 mm on FF.
- built in flash can be tilted back to bounce. This is a biggie for inside portraits.
- good video
- EVF and the WYSIWYG exposure / focusing / DOF it allows

What I didn't like:

- SOOC JPEGs. I shoot raw but I don't have much time to process. The biggest problem with Nex Jpegs is overly aggressive NR that makes details mushy in low light. I'd rather have noisy details. Colors in low light also tend to be over -saturated but this can be adjusted in camera.
- No IBIS
- no high quality fast zoom
- focusing in low light struggles with moving subjects. This may be a common problem with all mirrorless, though. I would say focusing on Nex is adequate most times.

So my ideal camera would have same or better DR, close high ISO, focus peaking, IBIS, EVF, good selection of lenses, fast focusing, good video, and great jpegs. I understand that if I go micro 4/3 route my wide prime and my Minolta zoom would be too long and would need to be replaced.

So, does such a camera exist ?

Click to expand...

The 2x crop factor is less of an issue with M43, because the lens system is so much more mature than the NEX, for instance, M43 has the following AF primes: 8mm pana fish, 12/2, 14/2.5, 17/1.8, 17/2.8, 20/1.7, 25/1.4, 45/1.8, 45/2.8, 60/2.8, 75/1.8, and a 42.5/1.2 and 150/2.8 coming from Panasonic in 2014. Plus a bunch of zoom lenses that cover the 7-300mm range. Not to mention native MF mount lenses like samyang 7.5 fishs and the CV F0.95 lenses.

OMD EM5 has just about everything on your list except for the focus peaking, however, there are many very good native AF lenses in the M43 system, so instead of relying on an old MF lens like you would have to with a NEX camera, just buy one of the many native lens.

Newly announced GX7 would seem to provide everything on your list as well, though I'm not sure the focus peaking is as good as it is on NEX cameras.

GH3, everything on your list but IBIS.

Pen EP5, everything but the EVF (you can get the add-on EVF)

The rumored OMD EM1 will likely cover everything on your list, though who knows when it will be available for sale and at what price.

Panasonic cameras (esp GH series) tend to have better video, Olympus cameras tend to have better jpegs.

Click to expand...

If you already have NEX-mount glass, the NEX6 is hard to beat, particularly since you're already familiar with the Sony menu system. No ibis or weather sealing, but it's a lovely camera.

I tried out a NEX6, and was tempted, but I'm an Oly fan-boy, and will eventually upgrade to the ep5... once there's an add-on grip available.

Amamba said:

Amamba wrote:

Thanks. The big advantage of focus peaking is focus confirmation, with DSLR you never knew what exactly was in focus until you took the shot and zoomed in on it, with peaking I can see if the eyes are in focus vs the nose. I also get much better focus in portraits in AF mode when I manually "fine tune" the focus - Nex has this DMF mode where you can turn the focus ring after camera acquires focus, it automatically magnifies the picture in viewfinder, and you can adjust the focus manually. I find that peaking works faster and better than magnification to confirm focus. So while it's a great feature to have with manual focus lenses, it's equally good for AF.

I will investigate the cameras on your list.

Right now I am looking at getting Nex 6 vs going MFT.

Amamba said:

EarthQuake wrote:

Amamba said:

Amamba wrote:

Hi

I switched from a Canon DSLR to Sony Nex F3 in April. Last week, I spilled about a tablespoon of water on it and my AF died. I can still use MF lenses and everything else seems to work, but looks like the contacts are fried so eventually I will be looking for replacement.

I am not married to Nex. I can buy any mirrorless that matches my criteria. So I am looking for some suggestions.

What I loved about Nex:

- great dynamic range.
- good high ISO. Much better than my T4i. I shoot lots of low light portraits.
-focus peaking, makes manual focusing easy, and confirms focus for AF. I get keepers with Nex more often, eyes in focus etc.
- 1.5 crop factor means most wide legacy glass is still wide enough for general use, e.g. 28mm is like 42 mm on FF.
- built in flash can be tilted back to bounce. This is a biggie for inside portraits.
- good video
- EVF and the WYSIWYG exposure / focusing / DOF it allows

What I didn't like:

- SOOC JPEGs. I shoot raw but I don't have much time to process. The biggest problem with Nex Jpegs is overly aggressive NR that makes details mushy in low light. I'd rather have noisy details. Colors in low light also tend to be over -saturated but this can be adjusted in camera.
- No IBIS
- no high quality fast zoom
- focusing in low light struggles with moving subjects. This may be a common problem with all mirrorless, though. I would say focusing on Nex is adequate most times.

So my ideal camera would have same or better DR, close high ISO, focus peaking, IBIS, EVF, good selection of lenses, fast focusing, good video, and great jpegs. I understand that if I go micro 4/3 route my wide prime and my Minolta zoom would be too long and would need to be replaced.

So, does such a camera exist ?

Click to expand...

The 2x crop factor is less of an issue with M43, because the lens system is so much more mature than the NEX, for instance, M43 has the following AF primes: 8mm pana fish, 12/2, 14/2.5, 17/1.8, 17/2.8, 20/1.7, 25/1.4, 45/1.8, 45/2.8, 60/2.8, 75/1.8, and a 42.5/1.2 and 150/2.8 coming from Panasonic in 2014. Plus a bunch of zoom lenses that cover the 7-300mm range. Not to mention native MF mount lenses like samyang 7.5 fishs and the CV F0.95 lenses.

OMD EM5 has just about everything on your list except for the focus peaking, however, there are many very good native AF lenses in the M43 system, so instead of relying on an old MF lens like you would have to with a NEX camera, just buy one of the many native lens.

Newly announced GX7 would seem to provide everything on your list as well, though I'm not sure the focus peaking is as good as it is on NEX cameras.

GH3, everything on your list but IBIS.

Pen EP5, everything but the EVF (you can get the add-on EVF)

The rumored OMD EM1 will likely cover everything on your list, though who knows when it will be available for sale and at what price.

Panasonic cameras (esp GH series) tend to have better video, Olympus cameras tend to have better jpegs.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Sure, and I would really love it if they added peaking via a firmware update to the OMD, but it doesn't look like they will.

In practice, I've found AF accuracy to be extremely good though (even with the 45mm wide open at 1.8) compared to DSLRs, this may have something to do with the wider DOF at equivilent FL and the same aperture though (the 45/1.8 at F2 has twice as much in focus as my 85/1.4 at F2 on A900). As well as the CDAF focus being generally more accurate (no front/back focusing PDAF errors).

Though CDAF lags behind PDAF when it comes to focusing on a small subject with a busy background, which is really the achilles heel of the OMD, try to focus on a bird with some leaves in the background and its very hard to get the camera to focus on anything but the leaves(esp with the largest AF point, and changing the point size is real annoying on the omd). Though this is true of pretty much all CDAF focusing cameras, not just the OMD.

I shoot in SAF+MF mode, but find myself only adjusting focus when the focus is way off (usually from a busy background element), rarely fine tuning for missed focus on the eyes or something like that, because its generally spot on.

Amamba said:

Amamba wrote:

So, does such a camera exist ?

Click to expand...

The GX7 is the closest thing you'll find to satiating your requirements from within the m43 world.

According to the new DPR comparison tool it pushes the Nex all the way up to 25600. The comparison of the spools of cotton is telling I think, with the E-P5 falling away from 3200 onwards. However you can judge for yourself as the tool has images for both the E-P5 and Nex 6.

Focus peaking appears to be implemented well, and works with the 10x magnified pinpoint AF mode. It also works during video. Shown here at the 6:45 mark, you can see individual bubbles from within the beer glass rising to the surface in focus:
Best in class video performance and functionality, at 1080p 24/30/60 (the Olympus's only do 30 fps, and then at lower bitrates). Also the very cool ETC mode, which adds a further 2.6x crop factor with little degradation in IQ (sightly more noise). Explanation here: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/panasonic_gh2_11_mode_revealed.shtml

Built-in tilting EVF (E-M5 has a much lower resolution EVF, the E-P5 requires a $300 addon)

Electronic Shutter (stealth mode & time lapse (preservation of mechanical shutter))

Fully featured Wifi control (with NFC chip) from a singular free app, allowing full control over: shooting parameters (shutter/aperture/ISO), WB, exposure comp, timer, touch focus/shutter, AF mode, lens zoom (motorised lenses), Photo Style, Flash Mode, Aspect Ratio, Image Quality, Metering Mode, Video Quality, Video Record, etc. Sony splits some of these into multiple apps and charges for more than basic functionality, while Olympus only provides a shutter activation and timer shot functions).

A more fully featured intervalometer function, which can be programmed to start up to 24 hours in advance, and enters sleep mode between shots of sufficient delay to preserve battery life.

Superior low light AF performance (-4 EV), where the camera slows down the sensor's live view framerate during CDAF, allowing it to collect more light per measurement and therefore get more accurate results (from DPR's description).

High quality fast zooms optimised for video (12-35mm f/2.8 and 35-100mm f/2.8), plus a much wider array of quality native glass than Nex.

Sweep panorama with in-camera stitching similar to Sony, and a HDR mode with RAW/Jpeg stitching in-camera (if these kinds of features are you thing).

I agree with one of the above posters that if you already own Nex glass then that's probably your better option, however the GX7 would push it all the way, no question. Combined with those fast aperture zooms it's a formidable set-up that's tough to beat.

Uncle Frank said:

Uncle Frank wrote:

If you already have NEX-mount glass, the NEX6 is hard to beat, particularly since you're already familiar with the Sony menu system. No ibis or weather sealing, but it's a lovely camera.

I tried out a NEX6, and was tempted, but I'm an Oly fan-boy, and will eventually upgrade to the ep5... once there's an add-on grip available.

--
Warm regards, Frank
Galleries at fdrphoto.smugmug.com

Click to expand...

I thought so, but there are a few things that make me weary of going the Sony route again... first, the reliability - it took very little water for AF on F3 to die, I had much worse spills on also supposedly non-weather-sealed Rebels.

Second, IBIS seems like a very nice option.

Third, I am not crazy about Sony JPEGS in low light, they are full of artefacts. Of course nothing beats RAW, but it would be nice to get a good SOOC JPEG right away and improve on it later. This is where Sony had an excellent opportunity to fully utilize their nice sensors and blew it.

Finally, I do want a fast aperture, fast focusing portable zoom and Sony isn't going to get it anytime soon. Or it will be $1,000 + left arm.

OTOH, Nex is probably going to be 1/3 cheaper than any other solution, and it's a better system for legacy glass due to larger sensor - there's not that many wide legacy options for m43, and they are expensive. The three or four lenses that I use the most are all manual and combined cost me about $120, that's with adapter.

So, in the end it looks like it's Nex 6 vs GX7.

The GX7 should fit most of your needs. If you're in a rush to get something now you may be out of luck, but if you can wait until it ships then you should have most of your needs fulfilled.

The EM-5 being almost 2 years old is still missing some of the requested features you're looking for (Focus peaking) but still puts out fantastic JPEG's. Some say Oly JPEG's are the best OOC outside of Fuji's while they also say Panasonic JPEGs are lacking.

Your best bet though would be to try to get yourself to a camera store and handle them yourself.

What it doesn't have is the mode where the VF image shows a color band for the in-focus areas... that can be gotten around w a kludge- using one art filters, but then you have to work from the RAW file.

There is a work around so the focusing peaking fix only shows while your holding down a programmed button, it will not effect your jpegs.

Focus Peak Trick

Built in tilting flash, these are pretty useless, these units are just so under powered. You would be better off using a cheap TTL lead and a basic flash, even an old Olympus T20 would do

Silvernitrate said:

Silvernitrate wrote:

What it doesn't have is the mode where the VF image shows a color band for the in-focus areas... that can be gotten around w a kludge- using one art filters, but then you have to work from the RAW file.

There is a work around so the focusing peaking fix only shows while your holding down a programmed button, it will not effect your jpegs.

Focus Peak Trick

Built in tilting flash, these are pretty useless, these units are just so under powered. You would be better off using a cheap TTL lead and a basic flash, even an old Olympus T20 would do

Click to expand...

This depends on what you shoot, and where.

For a large venue, like a church or theater, sure. But for portraits inside a house, or anywhere you have normal height ceiling (i.e. 12 ft or so), the tilt flash is extremely useful. Coming from a DSLR, the external flash was the 2nd accessory I bought, after spare battery, but I haven't used it yet. So far the internal flash on F3 has been pretty sufficient for my needs, and I actually use it much more often than I used flash on my T3i, because it doesn't create harsh shadows when tilted back. Coming to think of it, it's about 1/2 the strength of the built-in flash on a Rebel, and I never ever used that one on full power.

Amamba said:

Amamba wrote:

What I didn't like:

- SOOC JPEGs. I shoot raw but I don't have much time to process. The biggest problem with Nex Jpegs is overly aggressive NR that makes details mushy in low light. I'd rather have noisy details. Colors in low light also tend to be over -saturated but this can be adjusted in camera.
- No IBIS
- no high quality fast zoom
- focusing in low light struggles with moving subjects. This may be a common problem with all mirrorless, though. I would say focusing on Nex is adequate most times.

So my ideal camera would have same or better DR, close high ISO, focus peaking, IBIS, EVF, good selection of lenses, fast focusing, good video, and great jpegs. I understand that if I go micro 4/3 route my wide prime and my Minolta zoom would be too long and would need to be replaced.

So, does such a camera exist ?

Click to expand...

Probably Olympus OMD. Maybe Pany GH3.Lens: Get the waterproof Pany zooms ($1000+ each).

Amamba said:

Amamba wrote:

Amamba said:

Silvernitrate wrote:

What it doesn't have is the mode where the VF image shows a color band for the in-focus areas... that can be gotten around w a kludge- using one art filters, but then you have to work from the RAW file.

There is a work around so the focusing peaking fix only shows while your holding down a programmed button, it will not effect your jpegs.

Focus Peak Trick

Built in tilting flash, these are pretty useless, these units are just so under powered. You would be better off using a cheap TTL lead and a basic flash, even an old Olympus T20 would do

Click to expand...

This depends on what you shoot, and where.

For a large venue, like a church or theater, sure. But for portraits inside a house, or anywhere you have normal height ceiling (i.e. 12 ft or so), the tilt flash is extremely useful. Coming from a DSLR, the external flash was the 2nd accessory I bought, after spare battery, but I haven't used it yet. So far the internal flash on F3 has been pretty sufficient for my needs, and I actually use it much more often than I used flash on my T3i, because it doesn't create harsh shadows when tilted back. Coming to think of it, it's about 1/2 the strength of the built-in flash on a Rebel, and I never ever used that one on full power.

Click to expand...

For a large venue, like a church or theater, sure. But for portraits inside a house, or anywhere you have normal height ceiling (i.e. 12 ft or so), the tilt flash is extremely useful.

My ceilings a probably only 8` tall, and the built in flash of my GF2 is useless tilted, not only that, they drain the camera`s battery a whole lot quicker.

Silvernitrate said:

Silvernitrate wrote:

Silvernitrate said:

Amamba wrote:

Silvernitrate said:

Silvernitrate wrote:

What it doesn't have is the mode where the VF image shows a color band for the in-focus areas... that can be gotten around w a kludge- using one art filters, but then you have to work from the RAW file.

There is a work around so the focusing peaking fix only shows while your holding down a programmed button, it will not effect your jpegs.

Focus Peak Trick

Built in tilting flash, these are pretty useless, these units are just so under powered. You would be better off using a cheap TTL lead and a basic flash, even an old Olympus T20 would do

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This depends on what you shoot, and where.

For a large venue, like a church or theater, sure. But for portraits inside a house, or anywhere you have normal height ceiling (i.e. 12 ft or so), the tilt flash is extremely useful. Coming from a DSLR, the external flash was the 2nd accessory I bought, after spare battery, but I haven't used it yet. So far the internal flash on F3 has been pretty sufficient for my needs, and I actually use it much more often than I used flash on my T3i, because it doesn't create harsh shadows when tilted back. Coming to think of it, it's about 1/2 the strength of the built-in flash on a Rebel, and I never ever used that one on full power.

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For a large venue, like a church or theater, sure. But for portraits inside a house, or anywhere you have normal height ceiling (i.e. 12 ft or so), the tilt flash is extremely useful.

My ceilings a probably only 8` tall, and the built in flash of my GF2 is useless tilted, not only that, they drain the camera`s battery a whole lot quicker.

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The flash in GF2 must be even weaker than in Nex F3, then, even though I didn't think it was possible .

As I said, I find mine adequate for most tasks. My biggest gripe so far is not the weakness of flash, but the iffy flash metering on close up subjects - when using flash in direct mode on the objects a few feet away, Sony tends to flood them with light, Canon was much more accurate.