Best camera system purchase for $399 is still m43???

My apologies Kim.  The G3 looks fine.

It was the GF3 I got confused with.

Best

Trevor Carpenter wrote:

Chi Pham wrote:

After all the things I learned the past year on this forum why I should not buy m43:

- m43 gather 4x less light than FF

- too much DOF, according to some

Of course the other part of some, me included,think you can never have enough DOF

Greetings Trevor,

That's the first thing I do is to check everything in focus and sharp.

Often I find the one eye on focus with head and nose, or beak, blurred.

It's not that easy even on m43 DOF.  I still have to work on my technique to resolve the issue.

Or maybe a more heavily cropped sensor like an iPhone.

Here, the beak is not in focus.!

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lahsrah wrote:

The main reasons i use MFT is because:

The size. My only and main body is the GM1. I have had so far - E-M5, E-PM2, E-M10 that I bought and sold but I don't think I will ever sell the GM1. Its that good.

It also allowed me to learn about photography and have a platheora of interchangeable lenses. I have bought and sold close to 8-10 lenses and the fact that both Panasonic and Olympus makes them for the system and compete on both bodies and lenses makes this the most attractive camera system for me.

I have never owned DSLRs so I guess I have never known anything better. More than happy with my results. They perform better than my iPhone/Point & shoot cameras in the past.

I will never get a DSLR because they are huge/heavy and bulky.

This is my dream combo. 20mm F1.7 on the GM1. Try finding a similar price/weight/quality ratio anywhere lese.

That's s shock that you choose a GM1 and forgo the EVF and ergonomics of the other camera.

It's so tiny and I see your points.

Thanks for the contribution and lovely photos on Flickr!

I will take a closer look the the GM1.

Best

The keyword here is system.

For $399, you ain't getting much of a system.

I think the E-M10 or A6000 are probably best near that price, when they are priced as such on sale.

Chi Pham wrote:

My apologies Kim. The G3 looks fine.

It was the GF3 I got confused with.

Best

Actually, I just mentioned the G3 because I have had good experiences with it.  But the camera I would recommend would be the G5 open box at Samy's eBay store, if they still have them.  It includes the full kit (only one lens though) and one year warranty.  The output from the G3 is wonderful, and from all the reports I've seen the G5 is even better.

Some Fish-Eye fun with the G3

gpete wrote:

If thinking about EPL6, saw this on the Olympus site.

Refurb 2 lens kit at 319

I bought the EM1 and 12-40 as refurb (reconditioned) and have had no trouble.

Seems like a great combo at a really good price. I paid about the same for my PL7, body only, used. I recently purchased a refurb. Oly 14-150 and could not be happier. I think I would snatch that deal up, you could always sell the parts and get at least most of your money back.

gpete wrote:

If thinking about EPL6, saw this on the Olympus site.

Refurb 2 lens kit at 319

I bought the EM1 and 12-40 as refurb (reconditioned) and have had no trouble.

Arizona Sunset wrote:

The keyword here is system.

For $399, you ain't getting much of a system.

I think the E-M10 or A6000 are probably best near that price, when they are priced as such on sale.

The values in the system are the lens.  The kit lens are superb , almost prime like.

Any body attached to those lens can make stunning photos.

Unfortunately, most beginners do not know this and worry about the body.

I have a brother with the A6000 and I'll bet the picture will be inferior.

The kit lens with it ain't any good.

Best

Thanks for the pic Marty.

I will send that off as a big reason why the Oly is the one he wants.

Best

Chi Pham wrote:

I read that the LiveView feature is not as good as mirrorless which means very unpleasant shooting experiences and the non-tilting LCD is a huge negative.

Also, there will be no more lens purchases. I know my family member very well.

Spend once and be done with it so the argument of having alot of lens doesn't hold.

At the same time, there's a lot of lens available if he ever needs to upgrade in the m43 format.

PS: Portability for vacation is a huge huge bonus!

Best

I bought the E-PL6 and dont regret it at all, it's a wonderful camera. The other camera I was considering alongside was a Pentax K-50, with one lens it's $355 with two lenses its $450

The key feature that it has is weatherproofing and also the ability to take AA batteries with a cheap batter holder (costs $30). It is also compatible with o-GPS which allows you to track stars for up to 20 min but that may not be a feature which matters to you. In the end I xchoose against it because of the following reasons:

- slow in Live View I already have an E-520 that is slow in Live View and didn't need another camera like that

- weight. It also weighs more than my E-520 by 50% and my E-520 is already on the borderline of heavy for me.

- even though it's weatherproof the sensor really attracts dust, I assume this is true of most DSLR but both the K-30 and K-50 have cheaper dust shake systems than Pentax's top of the line system and there is liable to be dust on the sensor every time you change lenses. This is a consideration for a lot of DSLR though. Look up E-PL dust and you get few or no hits, dust is not a problem with this series.

Chi Pham wrote:

gpete wrote:

If thinking about EPL6, saw this on the Olympus site.

Refurb 2 lens kit at 319

I bought the EM1 and 12-40 as refurb (reconditioned) and have had no trouble.

I picked up an E-PL6 new with full 1 year warranty and just the 14-42mm lens from New Egg for $249. Dont need the other lens, I really dont like changing lenses much and I already have the 4/3 40-150mm lens which I use on my E-520. Besides, I'd like to keep the E-PL6 as light as possible for balance reasons (the body is so light it's illogical to attach a heavier lens to it) so if I do get a second lens in the future it will likely be a pancake prime.

The other thing I may get in the future is a second battery, OEM Olympus batteries are best and go for around $50.

****note the E-PL6 IS is not that good so using a longer zoom on it is not that practical unless you have a tripod! The E-520 IS is MUCH better (could also be the heavier body) that's why I am using the 4/3 40-150mm lens on it.

My wife has a D3200. It is a very basic camera with all the expected limitations including a small and dark viewfinder. On the other hand it is perfectly capable of taking excellent pictures.

The E-PL6 is also a very basic camera, with no viewfinder at all but with a pretty OK screen. It is also perfectly capable of taking excellent pictures.

There is a significant size difference.

FWIW, my wife thinks my E-M5 (same sensor and fundamentally same image quality as the E-PL6) takes better pictures than her D3200. I don't know what that's based on.