Should I trade my m43 system for Sony RX-10

I currently have the following equipment (and the price Amazon will pay if I trade them in).

Olympus EPM2: $149

Panasonic 20mm: $213

Olympus 14-150mm: $285

Olympus Fl-14 flash: $50

Total: $697

A used Sony RX-10 is $905 on Amazon.

So, I will pay an additional $208 from my pocket if I trade it in.

Should I trade my m43 system for Sony RX-10?

Portability and excellent picture quality (but no pixel peeping) in following two scenarios is very important to me.

1. Indoor party pictures - EPM2 + Pana 20 mm + Fl14 has served me very well.

2. Concert type situations where I am far away in dimly lit situations: Flash is useless + Olympus 14-150mm is not very fast.

I am intrigued by the Sony 24-200mm F2.8 lens and a decent 1" sensor.

m43 has 225mm^2 sensor and Sony rx10 has 116 mm^2 sensor. Almost half the area.

F2.8 is four times brighter than F5.6. So, in dimly lit situations Sony should produce much better images.

Any opinions/ideas/suggestions/comments?

Thank you.

Buy a legacy telephoto 2.8 prime and an adapter, it should be about $60 for concerts. And if you need, you can bump the ISO up higher than the 1" sensor would manage, so another stop there too. Crops would be better with the Olympus too.

Only you can make that call.  No individual camera (or system) meets every need.

You certainly can if you want to. However, you can get more money if you sell your stuff directly for much more than what Amazon is willing to give you on a trade in. You'd likely cover the cost of the RX10 and still have some left over.

The sensor performance isn't any better with the RX10 (sensor comparo). One thing to keep in mind is that f/2.8 isn't going to be all that great for night time pictures, the lens (in m43 terms) is 12-100mm, so you're losing 33% of the max optical zoom (the RX10 does have a very good digital zoom though, FWIW). You'll also be losing the sleekness of the PM2 + 20mm combo. The RX10 is quite a bit bigger and heavier (size comparo 1 , size comparo 2).

The sensor in the PM2 is better, and you'll get better night time pictures with the PM2 compared to the RX10 (better sensor @ high ISO, and wider aperture by 1.3 stops). Unless you really just want to have one camera to carry around and not have to deal with changing lenses, I'd stick with what you have as the RX10 will be a downgrade in terms of IQ.

The RX10 is an impressive camera and also takes great video. It is my all-around family camera for snaps and video of the kids (sports, recitals, performances, etc). But it is also not that small and with the large lens it is kind of clunky. Still, as an all-around camera it's fantastic.

If you look at DPRs reviews of the RX10 that f/2.8 is actually the equivalent of f/7.6 when it hits the sensor, while the DPR review of the 14-150 is a healthier f/5.6 at 150 mm. I DO wish though the comparisons could be made in a more consistent manner, I'm not fully comfortable with my explanation and logic, but I think it, and the reviews, do support my position as a "Maybe/Maybe not" response.

The Sony is an equivalent f/7.6 at all focal lengths, while at minimum focal length for the 14-150 is an f/4.0. The effective f/stop on the Olympus cameras aren't going to be all that different from the Sony because of the larger sensor.  (And this doesn't even factor in the superior IQ of a larger sensor)

Will you be shooting mostly at max zoom extension? Will you be shooting much at WA? Are you comfortable with the ergonomics of one camera over the other? Does your software support the new camera?

Might you get better reach and performance by upgrading your camera to a better m4/3s with better high ISO performance? Could you improve your current camera's performance by buying a better lens? Probably and for less cost than a whole new system (Things always cost more than expected, and purchase prices of old gear is an ESTIMATE, not a guarantee unless you've gotten a written appraisal from the buyer already)

I don't think the technical portions of the reviews make a strong case for one camera over the other. It is going to render down to how well one camera fits your hand, and your desire for just getting something new.

Newbie12345 wrote:

I currently have the following equipment (and the price Amazon will pay if I trade them in).

Olympus EPM2: $149

Panasonic 20mm: $213

Olympus 14-150mm: $285

Olympus Fl-14 flash: $50

Total: $697

A used Sony RX-10 is $905 on Amazon.

So, I will pay an additional $208 from my pocket if I trade it in.

Should I trade my m43 system for Sony RX-10?

Portability and excellent picture quality (but no pixel peeping) in following two scenarios is very important to me.

1. Indoor party pictures - EPM2 + Pana 20 mm + Fl14 has served me very well.

2. Concert type situations where I am far away in dimly lit situations: Flash is useless + Olympus 14-150mm is not very fast.

I am intrigued by the Sony 24-200mm F2.8 lens and a decent 1" sensor.

m43 has 225mm^2 sensor and Sony rx10 has 116 mm^2 sensor. Almost half the area.

F2.8 is four times brighter than F5.6. So, in dimly lit situations Sony should produce much better images.

Any opinions/ideas/suggestions/comments?

Thank you.

I have m43 and an RX100. The difference in image quality is barely worth bothering with. The biggest difference is that you can isolate depth of field with your 20mm than at any setting on the RX10. Is shallow depth of field important to you?

Do you like carrying a bag of stuff or would you prefer an all in one?

For your two scenarios: 1. says keep m43. 2. says get an RX10.

Glen Barrington wrote:

If you look at DPRs reviews of the RX10 that f/2.8 is actually the equivalent of f/7.6 when it hits the sensor, while the DPR review of the 14-150 is a healthier f/5.6 at 150 mm. I DO wish though the comparisons could be made in a more consistent manner, I'm not fully comfortable with my explanation and logic, but I think it, and the reviews, do support my position as a "Maybe/Maybe not" response.

The Sony is an equivalent f/7.6 at all focal lengths, while at minimum focal length for the 14-150 is an f/4.0. The effective f/stop on the Olympus cameras aren't going to be all that different from the Sony because of the larger sensor. (And this doesn't even factor in the superior IQ of a larger sensor

The Sony RX10 is "equivalent " to a 7.56 on FF however  the Olympus 14-150 is an F8- 11.2 or if you prefer the RX10 throughout its range is "equivalent " to an F3.7 on mFT.

Newbie12345 wrote:

I currently have the following equipment (and the price Amazon will pay if I trade them in).

Olympus EPM2: $149

Panasonic 20mm: $213

Olympus 14-150mm: $285

Olympus Fl-14 flash: $50

Total: $697

A used Sony RX-10 is $905 on Amazon.

So, I will pay an additional $208 from my pocket if I trade it in.

Should I trade my m43 system for Sony RX-10?

Portability and excellent picture quality (but no pixel peeping) in following two scenarios is very important to me.

1. Indoor party pictures - EPM2 + Pana 20 mm + Fl14 has served me very well.

2. Concert type situations where I am far away in dimly lit situations: Flash is useless + Olympus 14-150mm is not very fast.

I am intrigued by the Sony 24-200mm F2.8 lens and a decent 1" sensor.

m43 has 225mm^2 sensor and Sony rx10 has 116 mm^2 sensor. Almost half the area.

F2.8 is four times brighter than F5.6. So, in dimly lit situations Sony should produce much better images.

Any opinions/ideas/suggestions/comments?

Thank you.

I think with the scenarios you are looking for { indoor party /concert type} mFT with the appropriate lenses is the way to go. Your scenarios are as bad as it gets for smaller sensors

Jim

Glen Barrington wrote:

If you look at DPRs reviews of the RX10 that f/2.8 is actually the equivalent of f/7.6 when it hits the sensor.

That is about depth of field. It is not about low light performance. For concert photography depth of field is usually not a concern.

For concert photography it is simple:

• The m43 sensor is one stop more sensitive than the RX10 (double Dxomark ISO score = one stop)
• At 40mm the m43 lens is one stop slower than the RX10, you would expect comparable low light performance. The lens and sensor differences cancel.
• At 150mm the m43 lens is two stops slower than the RX10. The RX10 has a one stop advantage which is significant but not huge.

So overall in the tele range the RX10 has a zero to one stop edge for low light noise.

I think RX100 Mk2 makes more sense. Pocketable, much brighter lens which will equate to higher quality low light images. Still give you flexibility of doing flash photography. In good light, one can use Digital zoom easily without much loss. The lens provide sharpness at pixel level at 20MP.