Returning alpha A6000 need replacement suggestions

[MicMac01]

GM5 with fast relatively inexpensive primes 20mm F1.7 =$200, olympus 60mm F2.8 for macro and portraits/lower light????

You may or may not need a dedicated macro. In my view 60mm portraits would be tight shots, I would not choose that for full height or environmental portraits. The usual "kit" telephoto zoom would be a better portrait choice, as these all go at least as wide as 45mm.

-------I can put my casio very close to the subject and in good light get fantastic macro shots but it very hit and miss so I would like to do better with this camera, I was hoping I could get a lens to that would both do better in low light compared to the kit lens and also be able to do macro

12-32mm and 35-100mm as a package with a DMC-GF6 I realy like the wide angle of the first and the size of the second would you recomend those two.

That would be a tempting combination. I have not tried the 35-100 but I do have the 12-32. The main drawback for the 12-32 is the lack of manual focus. So it's less than ideal for very close work. But the 12-32 image quality is quite good. I got my 12-32 mainly as a substitute until the day (far away) when I can replace it with an Oly 9-18.

Also I do not know is the DMC-GF6 is a good substitute for the GM5????

Not really. The GF6 is a slick little camera, but it lacks both a viewfinder and a hotshoe. The GF6 is more for the consumer market, not enthusiasts. That said, if you find an extra low price on a GF6 package it could still be a good value. I would like to pick up a GF6 as a casual companion to my Oly E-M5 (which is already dripping with features).

-------I saw the GF6 with both lenses for US$ 575.00 is that extra low ???? Also I thought the GF6 was larger than the GM5

2. Not compact but greater functionality and IQ compared to above video and lens selection main disadvantage.

Samsung nx500

Eh? Unless you happen to be a Samsung fan, any greater functionality and IQ is a microscopic gain over the better M4/3 choices. Such an argument could be made for a Fuji X-T1 or Canon 70D or Nikon D5300.

-------not a samsung fan i just read that the kit lens was much better than most so that along with the larger sensor seems to move it into the next level???? but this only from what I have read. also when I compare all the featured side by side NX500 to GM5 I just get the feeling totally unsupported by practical knowledge that the NX500 has more recent/advanced software and functionality upgrades that can only result in better pictures????

Kelly

 

[MicMac01]

Thanks so much so I think I understand better my options

1. Compact - but better IQ than point and clicks.

GM5 with fast relatively inexpensive primes 20mm F1.7 =$200,

Sounds great.

olympus 60mm F2.8 for macro and portraits/lower light???? $400

For tight shots, it will do a great job. You will be able to get nice subject isolation even with f/2.8. And the lens is sharp even wide open.

For full body shots, like environmental portraits, it might be a bit more tricky. You will need a bit of distance between you and your subject (60mm is quite long). And at that greater distance your ability to isolate your subject will be reduced. It's really technicalities, less important than stuff like composition, lighting or actual interesting subject, which should be your primary concern, at least at this stage.

----any better lens that I can use for macro and lower light???

and what ever kit zoom I can get I did see 12-32mm and 35-100mm as a package with a DMC-GF6 I realy like the wide angle of the first and the size of the second would you recomend those two.

That's a great duo of small zooms. Both offer very good image quality for what they are.

Also I do not know is the DMC-GF6 is a good substitute for the GM5????

Not really. It's much more consumer oriented camera. And it's an older model (GF7 being the newest, basically a stripped down GM5 for selfie shooting audience). It's missing a hot-shoe, EVF and few physical controls. And it's got an older generation sensor that's inferior to what GM series offers. But it has a built-in flash (which probably sucks).

But more importantly, I don't think it was ever sold with the 12-32 and 35-100 zooms. Something does not sound right about this bundle.

-----I saw it at valuebasket.com seem to have some very good prices and couple of unusual but tempting lens bundles

2. Not compact but greater functionality and IQ compared to above

Samsung nx500 with 16-50 kit lens, nx 60mm f 2.8 for macro and low light/portrait $460.

Sounds good so far. This will even give you some advantage in low light and in terms of DoF control. Can't comment on lens quality, though.

Since this larger anyway then I could look at the 50-200mm zoom?

Wow, that's a pretty big and rather heavy lens. Can't really comment on it. No idea if it's any good. But a Panasonic X Vario 45-175 will offer a greater range and still be smaller and much lighter. Just sayin'

-------It is big but since the NX500 would not be the compact package it would be OK for me, great price around $350 and decent reviews???? With the GM5 I would like to keep it compact so I was thinking that the 35-100mm would be a good compromise??

I could not find a wide angle prime at a reasonable price????

I think Samsung has a 12-24 zoom and a small 16/2.4 pancake that's supposedly good (at least this is what I heard).

Don't really know the prices, never really looked at them, as Samsung never sold some of their better lenses in my country. But they usually are price competitive, I would be surprised if those lenses were much more expensive than similar lenses from Olympus or Panasonic (especially considering ridiculous prices of some Oly lenses).

-----12-24 is > $500 us but the pancake is $250 so that could work

the only I could see was the rokinon 12mm f2.0 $300.

That's a very good lens for that price, if you don't mind manual focus. And for wide angle lens and shooting stuff like landscapes, manual focus should not be a problem. Especially on a mirrorless camera that offers great manual focus aids, like magnification and focus peaking. It can only be problematic in really bright sunlight, when it gets hard to clearly see the display. But for "infinity focus", you can just mark the optimal focus point on the barrel and focus that way, without even looking at the screen. This should solve any focusing problems for landscape work.

As for my personal opinion. I think Micro 4/3 offers a greater room for growth for the future and there's quite a bit of variety in this ecosystem. With both new lenses and bodies coming out every year, it's getting better and better, and there's less and less of stuff it cannot do. But then again, I'm biased, as I am an MFT user myself. So I already made my choice. And I would make it again.

As for Samsung, there are those rumours that they will exit the camera business. I don't know if this matters to you. But if it's true, it may mean that there will be a lot of very cheap Samsung cameras and lenses (both new and used). So that option might simply become irresistible because of the price. But for me, Samsung was a curiosity at best. I never treated their camera efforts seriously, as they never treated their users in my country seriously (in that they never sold the good stuff here). So you can even say I'm biased against Samsung. So keep that in mind when reading this.

---- I not so concerned about the rumors regarding Samsung more about getting a decent package. I want a system will be better than a 2018 point and click. My gut feel is that the full sensors are always going to out of reach because of the lens costs, but it seems that the APS-C sensor could be where companies spend their money on development not because they are better than the micro 4/3 but for pure marketing...to keep up with the MB race. What do you think?

 

[Ido Scharf]

But in the end I could not get over the feature limitations of the lens - no ultra wide option, macro or zoom >100.

With a large (1"-format or bigger) sensor, those three requirements equal three different lenses. That’s basically the trade-off you’re making here.

The mirrorless systems you should be considering, in no particular order:

• Micro Four Thirds
• Sony FE (full-frame E-mount)
• Sony E (APS-C)
• Fujifilm X

These are the systems that have the lenses you’re interested in (wider-than-24mm-equivalent; macro; longer-than-100mm-equivalent). Note that I left Samsung out of this list; I don’t know how good/bad their wide-angle and macro lenses are (the telephoto should be alright), and considering they’re pulling out of major markets, I most likely won’t know in the near future. Now, ordered by the general sizes of these lenses, from smallest to biggest:

1. Micro Four Thirds
2. Sony E
3. Fujifilm X
4. Sony FE

Considering you’ve been disappointed with how big the Sony E system is, that only leaves you one choice here: Micro Four Thirds.

 

[Astrotripper]

olympus 60mm F2.8 for macro and portraits/lower light???? $400

For tight shots, it will do a great job. You will be able to get nice subject isolation even with f/2.8. And the lens is sharp even wide open.

[...]

any better lens that I can use for macro and lower light???

Panasonic 30mm will work better for low light for two reasons:

1. shorter focal length, so you can use longer shutter speeds
2. it has optical stabilisation, which will let you reduce shutter speed even more

The downside is that it will not work nearly as well for portraits as 60mm, and it might not be as versatile for macro (working distance). It's always a compromise.

and what ever kit zoom I can get I did see 12-32mm and 35-100mm as a package with a DMC-GF6 I realy like the wide angle of the first and the size of the second would you recomend those two.

[...]

But more importantly, I don't think it was ever sold with the 12-32 and 35-100 zooms. Something does not sound right about this bundle.

I saw it at valuebasket.com seem to have some very good prices and couple of unusual but tempting lens bundles

Well, just keep in mind that those are grey market imports from Hong Kong, so make sure you won't have to pay extra duty taxes on your order. Obviously, you will have no warranty on your purchases.

2. Not compact but greater functionality and IQ compared to above

Samsung nx500 with 16-50 kit lens, nx 60mm f 2.8 for macro and low light/portrait $460.

Sounds good so far. This will even give you some advantage in low light and in terms of DoF control. Can't comment on lens quality, though.

Since this larger anyway then I could look at the 50-200mm zoom?

Wow, that's a pretty big and rather heavy lens. Can't really comment on it. No idea if it's any good. But a Panasonic X Vario 45-175 will offer a greater range and still be smaller and much lighter. Just sayin'

It is big but since the NX500 would not be the compact package it would be OK for me, great price around $350 and decent reviews????

No idea, to be honest.

With the GM5 I would like to keep it compact so I was thinking that the 35-100mm would be a good compromise??

Yes, that makes perfect sense.

I could not find a wide angle prime at a reasonable price????

I think Samsung has a 12-24 zoom and a small 16/2.4 pancake that's supposedly good (at least this is what I heard).

[...]

12-24 is > $500 us but the pancake is $250 so that could work

Just took a peek at Amazon, and the difference in price between Samsung and Olympus zooms is less than $50. So Micro 4/3 is not any better in this regard compared to Samsung, I think. Unless prices look very differently on your end (might very well be).

As for my personal opinion. I think Micro 4/3 offers a greater room for growth for the future and there's quite a bit of variety in this ecosystem. With both new lenses and bodies coming out every year, it's getting better and better, and there's less and less of stuff it cannot do. But then again, I'm biased, as I am an MFT user myself. So I already made my choice. And I would make it again.

As for Samsung, there are those rumours that they will exit the camera business. I don't know if this matters to you. But if it's true, it may mean that there will be a lot of very cheap Samsung cameras and lenses (both new and used). So that option might simply become irresistible because of the price. But for me, Samsung was a curiosity at best. I never treated their camera efforts seriously, as they never treated their users in my country seriously (in that they never sold the good stuff here). So you can even say I'm biased against Samsung. So keep that in mind when reading this.

I not so concerned about the rumors regarding Samsung more about getting a decent package. I want a system will be better than a 2018 point and click.

I see. Well, I think that NX500 definitely fits that bill. In many ways, it's a state of the art camera. It should serve you right for years to come (if you don't mind the lack of EVF).

My gut feel is that the full sensors are always going to out of reach because of the lens costs, but it seems that the APS-C sensor could be where companies spend their money on development not because they are better than the micro 4/3 but for pure marketing...to keep up with the MB race. What do you think?

To be honest, it looks to me like both options should work for you pretty well. They will provide different benefits while compromising on some things, so I would sum it up as follows:

Small kit: for example GM5 + 12-32 and 35-100, 20/1.7 for low light and 60mm for portrait, macro and lowish light telephoto work

PROS:

• EVF (sure, it's small, but it's there when you're in a pinch)
• compact and lightweight
• a lot of options for the future, in case you ever want to explore other photographic areas

CONS:

• mechanical shutter limited to 1/500s (relies on electronic shutter for faster shutter speeds)
• no tilting/articulating screen

Bigger kit: for example NX500 + 16-50 and 50-200, 30/2 for low light and 60mm for macro, portrait and lowish light medium telephoto stuff

PROS:

• more resolution (best in APS-C, is fact)
• better low light performance (at the same aperture values of course)
• better control over depth of field (again, at the same aperture values, MFT can make up for it with lenses in many cases)
• tilting screen
• 4K video (but with a rather big x2.4 crop factor, so forget about wide angle shots in 4K)
• probably better AF for action

CONS:

• no EVF, and no option of attaching external one
• bigger and heavier
• limited lens and accessory selection
• uncertain future of the system

I left out wide angle lens from the above, as it's a bit tricky in both systems. Samsung will have a distinct advantage for low light, except where the "low light" prime is concerned. Panasonic 20/1.7 is half a stop faster than Samsung 30/2, so that reduces the advantage Samsung has thanks to a bigger sensor. It's still going to be better, but not by as much as when using kit lenses.

Either way, it seems to me that both kits above will meet your needs pretty well. It is now for you to decide what's most important for you. It looks to me like you will have to choose between compactness (GM5) and better IQ and low light performance (NX500).

Good luck :-D

 

[justgo99]

Happy holidays, I do not know the posting etiquette but I have a couple of separate conversations going on so I am pasting the same response in several places because I am at the stage of making a decision and need final feedback I hope this is the right way to do it?

Thanks so much for your advice so far so I think I understand better my options

1. Compact - but better IQ than point and click.

GM5 with fast relatively inexpensive primes 20mm F1.7 =$200, olympus 60mm F2.8 for macro and portraits/lower light???? $400 and what ever kit zoom I can get I did see 12-32mm and 35-100mm as a package with a DMC-GF6 I realy like the wide angle of the first and the size of the second would you recomend those two. Also I do not know is the DMC-GF6 is a good substitute for the GM5????

2. Not compact but greater functionality and IQ compared to above

Samsung nx500 with 16-50 kit lens, nx 60mm f 2.8 for macro and low light/portrait $460. Since this larger anyway then I could look at the 50-200mm zoom? I could not find a wide angle prime at a reasonable price???? the only I could see was the rokinon 12mm f2.0 $300.

What do you think????

So for the Panasonic option, I'd still go for either the latest gen GM5 or GF7 along with the 12-32mm kit lens for general purposes. The GF6 is in the same range as the GF7, but the GF7 sensor is newer and you get some more selfie features along with better ergonomics. The GM5 however is still in a bracket above with its built in viewfinder and extra dial. I'd go for the 20mm f/1.7 as a compact prime and the Panasonic 42.5mm f/1.7 for low light and macros.

I'm not a Samsung lens expert, but I'd recommend at least going for the kit zoom and perhaps the 45mm f/1.8 for low light. For wide angle I found a 12-24mm lens, but it's not cheap or easy to find.

For me, if it were my only camera, I'd have the Samsung, just because of the added functionality and image quality. But then again, I have a good deal or experience processing raw files and working with 4K video. If however I didn't have much photographic and technical knowledge, then I'd go for the Panasonic cameras as they're much easier to just fire up and shoot with. No fiddly settings, no messy video codec, it just works, and that's why I use it as my secondary 'small' camera.

 

[MicMac01]

Thank you everyone for your help, I could not of made a decision with out it.

I have decided to go with the Panasonic micro 4/3 option because

1. portability

2. 4/3 glass is smaller than the APS-C so it is easier to bring a zoom or macro as a second lens

3. ease of use - easier for a beginner to get of a shot quickly without having to worry about the settings to much

4. inexpensive high quality lens options

5. Cool look - I know that is shallow but I like the retro look of the camera compared to the black plastic of the NX500 and others.

6. Support for this camera as I can see from the response to my post there is a lot of experienced photographers who love and use this format so that has to help if I need help to improve my skills

I decided to go for the GF7 not the GM5. I know that it is not as good as the GM5 but it has the tilting touch screen which for me is more useful that the viewfinder and I can get it with a lens package that I want 12-32mm and 35-100mm for the same price as the GM5 with one lens

Thanks again

 

[MicMac01]

Last post I purchased a bundle with the GL-X and printer at the same time as the sony a6000. I am returning the sony a6000 but want to keep the printer part of the GL- X bundle. So I was wondering if anyone has a very good condition GM5 or GF7 and/or lens they want to barter for the GL-X. It is totally new I will take the bar code of the box so I can get the printer bundle rebate and give you a gift receipt so you can get the full warranty. I did not want to post this at the general site because I do not know what it is like buying/selling there and you all seem to have a lot of the cameras I want I thought that it might be worth throwing out the option. It was purchased from adorama mid December so the warranty will go to dec 2016

Michael