Being 5 years away from photography measn that I don't have a clue which camera to get. After a few days of wathching youtube videos I had a lot of questions.
The last time I took photos other than with my mobile phone I had a Micro Four Thirds Camera. It was a Panasonic Lumix GX-1.This was my backup camera when I had the Eos 40D.
I still have the camera and two lenses for it:
- Olympus 17mm 2.8F
- Some Olympus kit lens
Also I have an external flash for it.
What kind of camera would be right for me?
There have been SLR cameras for a long time. Since the 1950's.
SLR stands for Single-Lens Reflex. It means simply that when you look into the camera's viewfinder, you will see the real image through the lens with a mirror positioned in front of the camera. It practically works as a periscope. When the photo is taken, the mirror moves up and lets the light go into the film or sensor.
Launched in 1995 the Casio QV-10 was the first digital camera to have a "live view" which means that the image captured by the sensor is continuously displayed in the LCD display of the camera. This is also how the mirrorless systems work.
Micro Four Thirds cameras have been mirrorles since the beginning of the format.
The mirrorless tehcnique means that everything you see is coming from the sensor and there is no more a "real view" trough the lens from the viewfinder, instead the viewfinder is also an LCD. All mirrorless cameras do not have the traditional viewfinder, instead the aiming is done with the larger LCD on the back of the camera.
Pros for DSLR:
- The real view and tehcnique that I have used to
- The mirror in fact protects the sensor when the lens is taken off
Pros for Mirrorless:
- The camera represents the exposure and depth of field in the LCD
- You can take absolutely silent photos
APS-C
Alongside with the MFT, I believe this is the most common format. It is affordable and can be found in traditional brands like Nikon and Canon.
The APS C means that the sensor is smaller than the traditional 35mm film, so it causes a 1.6x or 1.5x crop (or magnification) for the focal lengths. As it is smaller it has less megapixels and less dynamic range (ability to capture the full contrast and color of the scene). It is cheaper than the larger ones.
In this format one could get a Canon EOS 80D, Canon EOS 7D and in mirrorles Canon M-series.
Pros for me:
- Familiar format as I have taken the most of my photos with Canon EOS 40D and the old D60
- Comes in very affordable prices, especially second hand
MFT
Launched in 2008 the format is used by Olympus and Panasonic and was developed for the digital age. The aspect ratio is 4:3 compared to the 3:2 of the other formats. This is a good alternative and has a variety of choices in different price points.
The sensor is considered to be a crop sensor as the APS C with, but even greater multplier of 2x. So the 50mm lens would really give a 100m focal length compared to a traditional 35mm film. This is good in the far end. You can get longer focal lenghts but it makes the wide angle more difficult as your 11mm lens is really a 22mm and will not provide as wide a field of view as some may require.
In this format there would be alternatives such as the affordable Olympus PEN series or Panasonic Lumix GH5 or Olumpus OM-D for the more advanced end.
Pros for me:
- I have one body for this format
- I have some lenses and a flash for this format
- Designed for the digital age
Full Frame
For a while at least Canon used a 1.3x crop for it's professional bodies until the 1Ds in 2002 introduced the full frame size. This simply means that the sensor is the same size as the 35mm film.
With this format there is no crop factor and you will get the full field of view that the lens can offer. The larger sensor captures more light and has a larger dynamic range with all the contrasts and colors.
Full Frame sensors come from multiple manufacturers. The majority of cameras still in use are DSLR, but the mirrorless are taking the grounds fast.
Examples of current Full Frame DSLR are Canon EOS 5 mark IV, Canon EOS 6D Mark II
Examples of current Full Frame Mirrorless are Sony A7 series, Canon R series , Nikon Z series
Larger Formats?
In the flm age many professionals used medium or large format cameras from Hasselblad, Mamiya etc. In digital cameras there are some larger format cameras such as Fuji GFX 100, but they are way costly.
My decision process
I was targeting to a 1000-2000€ kit (body and a standard zoom).
I looked up some articles and videos about the formats and the brands. After doing that for a while I tought I will ask a local camera representativewhat should I get. I took some time and wandered to the local Camera store.
At this time I had a strong feeling of going for the MFT because of having some of that already. The store had one second-hand Panasonic Lumix G series with a suitable price tag. On the other hand I had serious doubts if I still would have to switch to Full Frame and another brand.
After trying the Lumix it felt good. The shopkeeper challenged me by asking what I was going to shoot. I wasn't really sure, but my answer was at least landscape, towns and architecture.
He argumented the full frame to give more possibilities with wider angles and better image quality.
I was also told that Nikon and Canon who still make DSLR are not going to release more of them. So the mirrorless will be the future.
He strongly suggested me to go directly to the full frame and mirrorless and pick a line from Canon or Sony.
At this stage as a former Canon user I was almost sure I would buy a Canon. After doing some research I saw that Sony had been on this market for a long time, way longer than Canon and Nikon. This made the final decision a struggle.
At last my final choices were:
- Canon EOS R (second hand or new)
- Sony A7RII or A7II or A7III second hand
- Sony A7III new (way over my price range)
After watching a bunch of Youtube videos explaining the differences, I had this list of pros and cons.
Canon Pros
- Been in the camera market forever
- Intuitive menu systems, familiar User interface for me
- Fully articulated LCD
- Can use new RF series mirrorless targeted lenses but also the old EF lenses with an adapter (and there is a lot of these)
Canon Cons
- No in body image stabilisation in RP or R
- More noise in higher ISO
Sony Pros
- Has done mirrorless for almost 10 years
- In body image stabilisizer in all the models I was looking for
- Regarding to the reviews and comparisons between sony and others, unbeatable noise control
- Everybody (not everybody but a lot) seem to use them
Sony Cons
- Only flipping LCD, not fully articulated
- Regarding to the review a bad User interface
The winner
In the end it was the Sony A7 III that won. Sony put on a campaign with the body and a 24-105 / F4 lens for 2799€ euros (way more than I first was going to invest) and with a 400€ cashback after a month, so 2399€ for the kit.
Here are two of the numerous videos that contributed to my decision:
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