If you had £700 to spend on a M43 body which one?

Onyx S21 · Mar 3, 2014

My dad has finally settled on the M43 system after looking about now he is not sure which one. have been looking at the Oly PEN E-P5 and Oly OM-D E-M10. I do have a Oly VF-3 he can have as TBH i have never really used it. I think he would like to have a Oly if the camera doesn't have a electronic viewfinder so he can use my VF-3 but if a Panasonic is better then i think he may give it up. reason why he likes Oly is he has a Olympus E-420. He likes landscape photography,nature, the odd portrait and general. so guys if you had £700 to spend on a body which one?

Bill Wallace · Mar 3, 2014

Well I didn't check prices but if he does any serious video at all the GH3 Must be nearing that price. I for the time being shoot Oly bodies so the EM5 or the EP5 must be around that price point.

I have an Em1 and 5 and really like both. The 5 is back up second lens sorta thing now, the has some features that make it my body of choice, mainly the HDR button since I bracket a lot.

Bill

tt321 · Mar 3, 2014

The E-M1 is on a lightning deal today at Amazon in less than 0.5 hours. Whether it will be close enough to the £700 budget to be tempting I don't know.

The GX7 will be a lot below this budget given the £100 cashback at the moment. The GH3 and E-M5 are approaching this budget now. The E-M10 is below this budget. I'd probably go with the E-M10 myself, whilst noting the advantages of the higher OMDs (weather sealing) and the GX7 (silent shutter) so it depends on what the buyer wants.

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arbuz · Mar 3, 2014

redsf1 said:
My dad has finally settled on the M43 system after looking about now he is not sure which one. have been looking at the Oly PEN E-P5 and Oly OM-D E-M10. I do have a Oly VF-3 he can have as TBH i have never really used it. I think he would like to have a Oly if the camera doesn't have a electronic viewfinder so he can use my VF-3 but if a Panasonic is better then i think he may give it up. reason why he likes Oly is he has a Olympus E-420. He likes landscape photography,nature, the odd portrait and general. so guys if you had £700 to spend on a body which one?

Panasonic GX7. You should get it together with very good 20mm lens for 850 pounds - 100 cashback.

Jim Salvas · Mar 3, 2014

And I'd be happily taking photos with my E-M1 of all you wonderful folks. :-D

Mellowmark · Mar 3, 2014

Well he should probably go and try a few in a shop rather than letting some random strangers on the internet decide what is best for his needs?

They all handle differently and have a few different features but image quality is fairly similar amongst most current models.

What is the lens budget? Bodies lose value fairly quickly, but having some decent lenses makes a big difference.

Does he prefer an add on evf (personally I don't) or a built in one? Is IBIS important? Weather sealing? Wi-fi? Video? £700 will easily get you an EM-5, EM-10, GX7, G6 and will be just about enough for an EP-5 or GH3 at current UK prices.

baxters · Mar 3, 2014

I like my VF3 and it has the advantage of being the least expensive, but I admit it doesn't fit the overall quality level of the EP5. Ignore as a criteria. As a E-system DSLR user, your dad is used to a camera with a view finder. I went from E510 to EPL1 and kept bringing the camera to my eye for about six weeks whenever I picked it up, even though it had no EVF.

Staying with the newer sensors and also your £700 budget, the GX7 or EM10 are excellent cameras. I would be pleased to own either of those.

Ido Scharf · Mar 3, 2014

The PEN E-P5 is the better camera, and since you already have an external EVF, you won't lose a thing.
Lenses are even more important, though. If you can get a lesser body and better optics, that would be a better option.

tt321 · Mar 3, 2014

Mellowmark said:
Well he should probably go and try a few in a shop rather than letting some random strangers on the internet decide what is best for his needs? They all handle differently and have a few different features but image quality is fairly similar amongst most current models.

Depending on where he lives in the UK. I live in a significant population centre, what passes for a major city in the UK and this is not really practical for me.

However, the NEC's current photo show might be worth going to but that's very temporary.

--

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Onyx S21 · Mar 3, 2014

Mellowmark said:
Well he should probably go and try a few in a shop rather than letting some random strangers on the internet decide what is best for his needs? They all handle differently and have a few different features but image quality is fairly similar amongst most current models.

What is the lens budget? Bodies lose value fairly quickly, but having some decent lenses makes a big difference.

Does he prefer an add on evf (personally I don't) or a built in one? Is IBIS important? Weather sealing? Wi-fi? Video? £700 will easily get you an EM-5, EM-10, GX7, G6 and will be just about enough for an EP-5 or GH3 at current UK prices.

He plans going to a shop when the M10 is out to try loads of cameras out. as for lens he wont be buying one till he knows which focal he wants and till then will play with my Pana 14mm and 2 zooms to see what fits his needs. he does like the Oly 17mm or the Pana 20mm. he thinks prefers a inbuilt EVF but has only spent a couple of hous using mine, i know weather sealing is a nice idea but then he would have to buy a weather sealed lens to make that worth while. He has seen a EP-5 for £700 with the VF4 but maybe if it came with a free lens maybe he would of brought that already.

Onyx S21 · Mar 3, 2014

tt321 said:
Mellowmark said:

Well he should probably go and try a few in a shop rather than letting some random strangers on the internet decide what is best for his needs? They all handle differently and have a few different features but image quality is fairly similar amongst most current models.

Click to expand...

Depending on where he lives in the UK. I live in a significant population centre, what passes for a major city in the UK and this is not really practical for me.

However, the NEC's current photo show might be worth going to but that's very temporary.

--

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xiafei/

No chance of him going to that

toronto1818 · Mar 3, 2014

I recently debated between E-P5 and EM-10 and decided on the E-P5 myself. It seems like the better/higher quality camera to me... 5 axis stabilization, 1/8000 shutter speed, faster flash sync, accessory port, 2x2 lever, bigger battery, better resolution VF-4 . These are all hardware upgrades. The E-M10's upgrades are mainly in software (built in live composite, HDR). Although the E-M10 also has a new physical wifi module apparently.

Would be great if they updated the EP5 via firmware. I'm not holding my breath, but they did upgrade the wifi functionality already.

Richard Weisgrau · Mar 3, 2014

redsf1 said:
My dad has finally settled on the M43 system after looking about now he is not sure which one. have been looking at the Oly PEN E-P5 and Oly OM-D E-M10. I do have a Oly VF-3 he can have as TBH i have never really used it. I think he would like to have a Oly if the camera doesn't have a electronic viewfinder so he can use my VF-3 but if a Panasonic is better then i think he may give it up. reason why he likes Oly is he has a Olympus E-420. He likes landscape photography,nature, the odd portrait and general. so guys if you had £700 to spend on a body which one?

If he is not doing video, the Panasonic Lumix G6 is a great choice. If he is doing videos the Lumix Gh3 is a better choice. If you read the online reviews of the G6 you will find mountains of praise. A few months ago I was deciding between Olympus and Panasonic Lumix. The G6 reviews and its amazing price point convinced me to buy it. Today I am thrilled that I did.

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If you had £700 to spend on a M43 body which one?

Onyx S21

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Bill Wallace

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tt321

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arbuz

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baxters

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tt321

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