Author Topic: Mirrorless camera-sony, olympus (Read 4787 times)

mtkang · « **on:** June 30, 2014, 02:36 »

Hi guys,

I am thinking of getting a mirrorless camera, like olympus em-1 or sony A7

basically i am thinking to get it more for ease of using and light to bring around.

anyone have experiences to share of it?

I have a question that sony is full frame camera..which mean a bigger sensor and won't have crop factor on lense.

will a full frame camera provide more details and resolution of images? there are a lot of talks about A7 and A7r, it seems A7r will give better for big printing output so for digital usage it is not necessary?

MichaelJayFoto · « **Reply #1 on:** June 30, 2014, 03:28 »

Quote from: mtkang on June 30, 2014, 02:36

Hi guys,

I am thinking of getting a mirrorless camera, like olympus em-1 or sony A7

basically i am thinking to get it more for ease of using and light to bring around.

anyone have experiences to share of it?

I have a question that sony is full frame camera..which mean a bigger sensor and won't have crop factor on lense.

will a full frame camera provide more details and resolution of images? there are a lot of talks about A7 and A7r, it seems A7r will give better for big printing output so for digital usage it is not necessary?

I have no doubt the image quality will be on par with DSLR cameras. I have a Sony NEX-5N (with APS-C sensor) and image quality is great and it's a nice gadget that I can easily take anywhere. However, personally I found that I use my smart phone far more often in those instances rather than the mirror-less camera, and then again I rather carry my DSLR (with far superior lenses over the kit lens I have for the NEX) when I plan to shoot.

In general I would say:

Pro: Smaller, lighter, electronic autofocus allows more focus fields, enlargement during manual focus

Con: Electronic viewfinder (only works when powered, slower, it's a screen not real light), limited choice in lenses (the good quality ones not cheaper than for DSLR), often limited in studio work, electronic autofocus is slower and requires more light.

All in all it might be a good solution if you are traveling a lot and use the camera for spontaneous shoots. For planned shoots and I would still go with a DSLR.

bunhill · « **Reply #2 on:** June 30, 2014, 04:55 »

I took a Sony Nex 5 and a 3N on a trip earlier this year. Both bought cheap, used. Very nice image quality and the portability is excellent. I used a Sony 16mm lens and a Sigma 30mm. The Sigma 30mm is a great lens.

Downside. I really hated the Sony menu system. It's like Fisher Price or Microsoft Windows. And I hated the fact that using these cameras requires so much interaction with the menu system. Most of the time I could not get used to not having anything to look through. Though in ideal light you can use them like a TLR which works quite well.

Sold them on when I got back and bought a used Fuji XE1 with a 35mm lens. I had been resistant to the idea of electronic viewfinders - but it's great. Better in some ways than many optical finders. So great that I finally got around to selling much of my Nikon gear. (I had also been slightly sceptical about Fuji - but the design and build quality is fantastic).

That little Fuji has totally reawakened my interest in taking photographs. I am taking pictures with that camera which I would never have taken with a DSLR. I never want to go anywhere with a bulky DSLR ever again.

jefftakespics2 · « **Reply #3 on:** June 30, 2014, 05:29 »

I have the Fuji X100-s. Mostly love it and the quality is excellent. Biggest issue is the slow focus. It's been improved, but still much slower than DSLR.

Gannet77 · « **Reply #4 on:** June 30, 2014, 09:15 »

I have the Olympus OM-D E-M5 with the 12-40mm pro lens. Not a cheap bit of kit, and it does take some getting used to, but it's a useful tool in some circumstances; that said, I'd always prefer my Canon 5D II whenever possible, but there are times when I don't expect to be taking pictures, or I do expect to be walking a long way, when it's a good thing to have along. I'm too old to be lugging that 5D brick and its L lenses everywhere!

Quality is not up to the full frame Canon, obviously, especially in low light (high ISO), but it's more than good enough most of the time, and certainly for microstock. Acceptable to Alamy too.

Not fast enough, in my experience, when using autofocus in servo mode - it just can't always keep up with the target - but provided you're aware of its limitations, it's a good thing to have available. Video is good too, especially with the image stabilization.

I don't use it all that much but I am glad I have it.

Epsilonth · « **Reply #5 on:** June 30, 2014, 09:23 »

Half my stock images are now from fuji X-T1 another half is from 5d3. I really hate carrying around heavy SLRs but fuji still haven't introduced real pro grade zoom lenses yet.

I only have 10-24 and 60mm macro. When 16-55 2.8 and 50-100ish comes out, it's good bye Canon. Avoid the 18-55 2.8-4 it has very good sharpness but suffers from focus plane curvature.