Thinking of Moving from APSC to M43

I'm a hobby shooter and currently use a Nikon D7000 (DSLR) and Coolpix A (Compact, fixed 28mm equiv. lens)  which supposedly have the same sensor, the later without AA.
Since buying the coolpix, I have really liked the size and weight saving.  It can be something that goes in a bag, rather than requiring it's own bag.
The largest combination I carry is a 80-200 F2.8 lens and the D7000 to shoot my running club at races.   That is an old heavy lens bought for £280 which fits my budget.  Even with lens adjustment it back focuses and the screw motor in the D7000 is slow to move the glass to focus.  That means I tend to shoot widest at F3.5 to get photos I am happy with:

These shots are from 'parkun' a global, weekly free 5K race run in local parks. At the moment I am injured with an achilles injury so took pics instead of running.  Over 200 runners and about 200- 300 photos taken that day, mostly at F3.5 and between 80mm and 140mm,  (60 - 105 in M43 I think)

Had decent light here.  F3.5 or F4 gives me more keepers as the glass is not the fastest moving and I can miss at F2.8

I was too close for this runner but she wanted a picture

Reading the M43 forums aver the last week has been informative.    I found an forum post that said to convert depth of field equivalence, divide APSC by 1.31 which would make my lens requirements roughly sit with the Olympus 40-150 F2.8, with the brighter F2.8 hopefully helping me keep the ISO down (under trees I can be over 4000 ISO).  Aside from that specialist lens, I think I'd be happy with a kit zoom and lens adapter for some of my manual focus nikon lenses.

ISO4000 & out of focus but acceptable. Lighting levels typical as we head into winter.

M43 camera body and lenses add up to significantly more cost than my Nikon set up when factoring new and used equipment which made me realise that you get to choose 2 out of 3 when to comes to quality, size, budget.
The size and weight seems like it is worth paying for.   The extra features mirrorless offers, like IBIS,  & focus assistance of old manual focus lenses, live view on bulb mode are all appealing, along with video options and decent wifi / phone tethering apps.
I do struggle a bit in comparing the M43 cameras.  I was wondering if anyone knows of a resource that compares them in table format?  Things I would like to know are:
1.  Can it use back button focus / AF-ON

2. Continuous autofocus / view when shooting?
2. Flash sync speed
3. Microphone jack
4. Weight
As the Olympus F2.8 lens is quite expensive, I reckon I might be able to be happy for a while with body only and a lens adapter for the Nikon lenses.   I assume most M43 bodys have the option to release the shutter only on focus?   That way,  I can set up a focus trap which should work quite well.
Aside from runners, most other shots are typical of a point & shoot user.  I take holiday pictures and portraits for friends and family consumption.  I like to use off camera flash but not to a high level.  I occasionally print 8x10 and try to print a photobook each year to recap the year.  I don't really care about ultimate image quality but do like something that is quick to focus and quick to use with either manual controls or saved user settings
I would be interested to hear advice from you, like things to look out for, like big pros or potential cons.  Things to look out for etc.   As a starter system, budget is probably £1500 to £2000 although the purchases would be something I need to do in stages and not say out loud very often.   If there are suggestions that come way under budget, I am all ears.  I'm fine with buying used or grey kit
I'm not in any rush to buy, probably March next year but I have a holiday planned to Japan in December so would like to have my needs and wants clarified incase I see a bargain at duty free or in Japan.

More importantly you are switching from mirror to no mirror

Interesting time to switch, two great cameras are coming to m43 in a couple of months.

I made my downscale years ago, when I ditched my D7000 and never looked back. To summarize the differences:

APSc DSLR:

great & sensitive (C)-AF, somewhat better noise, large battery, great lens selection <-> back/front focus issues, poor video, no IBIS

Current m43, e.g. Panny GX85:

Accurate focus (but not as fast as DSLR!), great Video, great IBIS with any lens you attach, great lens selection <-> c-AF issues during video (well, my D7000 was faar much worse)

If low-light is a topic, then take a look at the a6300 as well. However, getting a good lens collection in the sony camp is neither easy not cheap.

As the Olympus F2.8 lens is quite expensive

Still cheaper than the 2.8/18-55 nikkor costs. ("equivalent" f/3.6 doesn't exist) Factor in at least that level of IQ for the oly zoom. Its pin sharp edge to edge at f/2.8. Standard zooms, in the usual f/3.5-5.6 range are cheap and most of them are fine.

NickR wrote:

You could just buy a more modern version of the Nikon 70-200 or 80-200. They're very good. Or a third party....

I did think about that. The 70-200 F4 would probably be a lot better and slightly lighter. Over all though, that is still heavy and doesn't offer some of the mirrorless benefits.  A more modern lens would probably be at least double or triple the investment which erodes the value I currently get out of a Nikon system, losing out on 2 of the 3 desires.

I also considered moving to full frame which would allow my to use my existing lenses for the same weight / size roughly but with more usable ranges, so I could probably cope with less lenses.

Those systems tend to require their own bag though. When on holiday I do carry a bag but I want to be carrying a light jacket, food, water and a camera in something that wont be a chore.

Tomx72 wrote:

More importantly you are switching from mirror to no mirror

Interesting time to switch, two great cameras are coming to m43 in a couple of months.

I made my downscale years ago, when I ditched my D7000 and never looked back. To summarize the differences:

APSc DSLR:

great & sensitive (C)-AF, somewhat better noise, large battery, great lens selection <-> back/front focus issues, poor video, no IBIS

Current m43, e.g. Panny GX85:

Accurate focus (but not as fast as DSLR!), great Video, great IBIS with any lens you attach, great lens selection <-> c-AF issues during video (well, my D7000 was faar much worse)

If low-light is a topic, then take a look at the a6300 as well. However, getting a good lens collection in the sony camp is neither easy not cheap.

As the Olympus F2.8 lens is quite expensive

Still cheaper than the 2.8/18-55 nikkor costs. ("equivalent" f/3.6 doesn't exist) Factor in at least that level of IQ for the oly zoom. Its pin sharp edge to edge at f/2.8. Standard zooms, in the usual f/3.5-5.6 range are cheap and most of them are fine.

Thanks. I did consider Sony. I think they make some cool products but when I factor in lenses I might like to own in the system, cost quickly escalates along with any size and weight saving.

I've been reading up about the G80/G85 - that looks amazing and kinder to the budget than EM1 mkII. I think that might be the one. I hope someone like Michael The Mentor can put together a youtube review on it. I like the format he uses.

https://www.youtube.com/user/MichaelTheMentor/videos

The EM1 mkII is a different kind of animal. If you are primarily an action shooter, that's the best m43 can offer. Sensor efficiency (noise, DR) might improve as well, up to current nikon APSc levels. It has PDAF pixels integrated on the sensor, thus supposed to be as fast as the a6300.

Panny otoh is great for video, AF with DFD is fine for most of us.

kierenlon wrote:

Thanks. I did consider Sony. I think they make some cool products but when I factor in lenses I might like to own in the system, cost quickly escalates along with any size and weight saving.

I've been reading up about the G80/G85 - that looks amazing and kinder to the budget than EM1 mkII. I think that might be the one. I hope someone like Michael The Mentor can put together a youtube review on it. I like the format he uses.

https://www.youtube.com/user/MichaelTheMentor/videos

I'm fully content with an EM5 - this was the first georgeous speudo DSLR in the field.

But still: consider you will (most probably) switch to contrast AF which is definitively slower for moving objects and generates a quite a lot of out of focus (up to that most ignore tracking and use single focus to shoot).

On the other side I am very happy about the thought gimmick: of being able to shoot using the touch display - tapping the phase while following the running child with the camera.

Perhaps you should try your target camera and decide thereafter. It's also handling and whether the controls are where you can live with them.

Basic decisions seem to be: mirror or not - followed by sensor size (do you shoot in low light?). And then: handling and useability.

To keep the budget intact, you might want to consider an Olympus E-M1(current version). It is due to be supplanted by the new mk2, but is still a winner of a flagship level camera. It can be had for a reasonable price and very reasonable if you purchase used or refurbished from the Olympus site. I picked up a refurbished one last year for under $600. It will be a great action camera for your purposes with 9 frames per second continuous AF, weather sealed, focus peaking, etc. The firmware was just updated by Olympus within the last year to bring it up to date with all the latest features, including focus bracketing/stacking.

You might also want to consider adding the less fast, but still quick Olympus 14-150 II F/4-5.6 for your travel lens. Much smaller than the 40-150 2.8 but ;still great in good light for your outdoor events. Also weather sealed it makes a great all around lens and is very sharp. I bought mine from the Olymus Refurb site for $399

Here's an example or two......

14-150 II on E-M1

14-150 on E-M1 at 9fps

E-M1 with Panasonic 100-400

I agree with Gary above -- the E-M1 would be just the ticket for you.

I would suggest going with very clean used, or factory refurb items. Right now on eBay you could get the E-M1 in perfect condition, and the 40-150mm f/2.8 in perfect condition for a total of about $1,800. Then pick up a factory refurbished Oly 14-42mm, f/3.5-5.6 from Olympus for $100.

That would give you a great set up for under $2,000. By the way, the 14-42mm is a good sharp, lightweight lens.

As far as batteries, here's what I use and they are excellent:

https://www.amazon.com/Wasabi-Power-Battery-Charger-Olympus/dp/B0084FM5JC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1474984097&sr=8-2&keywords=BLN-1

An E-M1 + 40-150 f/2.8 pro will be a bit better to catch focus than your current setting. I have the Nikon 80-200 too and it definitely suffer from focus issues wide open. Otherwise, optically it is stellar.

Be aware that your Nikon is much better for tracking subjects with a modern lens like the 70-200 f/4 than anything in m4/3.

Before taking the plunge, here's an advice :

Rent an E-M1 + 40-150 f/2.8 Pro for one event.

If the camera operation is great for you and the pictures are up to your taste, then m4/3 is the right choice for you.

If not, it will save you a lot of hassle.

I have repeatedly gained up to 1000 shots from one load.

For bulb mirrorless is in advantage to mirrored cameras as no mirror needs to be held out of the light path.

They all have Focus priority release but I find Olympus cameras will take a photo

you can set this in the menu; yes, I know the menu is lengthy...

If you're happy with your Coolpix A for general duty cycles and your D7000 + 80-200 only for very specific applications, then I see no reasons(other than GAS) to move.

I tried the same route - not the Coolpix A but TL500, LX5 but those work well only as high-end P&S but not close to my D7100.  So, I ended up lugging my D7100 with two fast f2.8 zooms and hated it especially when traveling aboard with the family.

I found my 'quality + size' in m43 together with its primes and compact zooms(9-18, 40-150R).  Sold my D7100 + 5 zooms.  I'm a old-school ILC, unfortunately for my wallet.

Wow - really humbled with all the fantastic responses