I have a conundrum for you. It begins with my having too many cameras:
- Panasonic GH5S
- Olympus E-M5 Mark III
- Sony α7C
I also have too many lenses. (You know it’s too many when you can’t recall what you have in the cupboard without thinking hard.)
What’s more, I’m not perfectly happy with any of these cameras.
I’m looking to simplify and rationalise. But how?
Let’s start with why I got these cameras in the first place.
I had an Olympus E-M10 Mark II for a long time and all was well. Really enjoyed that camera.
Then I got curious about video and learned that:
- the E-M10 Mark II shoots dire video, worse than my seven-year-old iPhone
- most mirrorless cameras have major flaws for video, a bit like stills cameras had major flaws for stills 15 years ago (and like stills cameras back then, each new model brings real improvement).
The GH5S had the fewest flaws at a price I could tolerate and also worked with my Micro Four Thirds lenses. So I got one.
Problem is, two flaws the GH5S did have turned out to be biggies: no IBIS and no phase-detect autofocus.
I figured I would upgrade my stills camera to an E-M5 Mark III that could be pressed into video service when I needed IBIS or phase-detect autofocus.
Well, the Olympus had mediocre autofocus but excellent IBIS. And that was enough to make me lazy about using the notionally superior GH5S for video.
But when I do break out a tripod or gimbal and set up focus pulls and all, I still love the GH5S and its results – though that is not often now that I have a toddler.
So, yes, my baby became a toddler and I discovered why people care about tracking focus. The α7C was about the smallest, lightest, cheapest, coolest way to get good tracking autofocus. And it was amazing. Wow.
However, my Olympus camera and lenses are still far smaller than my Sony system, equivalence be damned. The result is that I still end up packing the Olympus almost all the time. I’m still not comfortable with my Sony’s operation – not inside-out like the Olympus.
Although the Olympus is my most-used camera by far, it’s the very one I’m thinking of selling. That would force me to deeply learn my Sony and also use E-mount lenses better-suited to my laziness: small and light ones rather than optically ideal ones.
Why not sell the GH5S? It feels like a camera that will age better than most. Although it is compromised by its features, within those limitations it performs exceedingly well, almost flawlessly. I like that.
What’s more, the GH6 and Panasonic’s recent move to phase-detect have wrecked the used value of my GH5S, while the E-M5 Mark III is oddly expensive on the used market.
Why not sell both Micro Four Thirds cameras and the lenses? I love several of these lenses and feel like going down with this ship, should it finally heel over. Maybe the last Micro Four Thirds camera made will be worth hanging onto for a decade (the OM-1 is close).
The main things I dislike about the α7C, in turn, are its awful menus / display UI design (hardware UI is brilliant) and lack of 10-bit log video.
So I’m even wondering about selling it too before Sony releases an α7C II that might be perfect for me. But who knows about the European price of that camera or what fresh weirdness it will bring. Often the first generation of a camera concept is the purest expression of its designer’s intentions, in my experience. Besides, what would I use in the meantime? And what if Sony never makes this follow-up?
I don’t relish any more selling and buying either.
Two recent cameras have even made me wonder if I bet on the wrong horse with Sony: the S5 II and R8. I know from experience how well Panasonic does video, and now they’ve fixed the focus. And although the R8 lacks IBIS, it’s an amazingly potent camera elsewhere for the asking price, most unlike Canon’s usual cynical hobbling. But then I compare those lens systems to Sony’s and remember why I wanted a flat-top rangefinder body in the first place.
Ideally I’d have one true camera for the next five years, as I did with my E-M10 Mark II before video broke everything for me.
Thoughts? Strong opinions? Brickbats?
