mirrorless camera recommendations

burleyviking

burleyviking

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lee
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Hi all.

looking to get rid of my much loved nikon d800 and getting a mirrorless camera so looking for recommendations please,
also a decent lens, the lenses i have now are the nikon 50mm f.1.8 and the nikon 24-70mm f, 2.8, happy to have just the one lens nowadays as it doesnt get a lot of use.
and i use the camera for a bit of everything really, dont necessarily have a budget but dont want to spend more than i need to, nor do i want something nasty, something that will give me the same capabilities as my nikon, looking forward to reading peoples thoughts,
many thanks.

lee
 
If you’re wanting to stay full frame then the obvious ‘replacement’ for the D800 would be the Nikon Z7ii, you can then use an adapter to use your existing lenses. The Nikon Z cameras have, imo, the best ergonomics of all the mirrorless cameras.

If you want to go all native lenses then Sony has by far the most mature system of lenses and has the biggest selection of third party native lenses. I would suggest going for the gen 4 cameras as they have the best ergonomics and colours, I actually prefer Sony colours to Canon these days :eek: The A7R IV is their high megapixel camera but the A7 IV has a relatively high megapixel count and is a great all rounder. There’s then the A9 and A9ii which have blackout free shooting and after having used it I would never go back to a camera without it. You then have the A1 which has everything anyone could ever need, high megapixel count, class leading autofocus, 30fps all in a relatively small lightweight package. Of course, it comes at a hefty cost, £6500.
 
burleyviking said:
Hi all.

looking to get rid of my much loved nikon d800 and getting a mirrorless camera so looking for recommendations please,
also a decent lens, the lenses i have now are the nikon 50mm f.1.8 and the nikon 24-70mm f, 2.8, happy to have just the one lens nowadays as it doesnt get a lot of use.
and i use the camera for a bit of everything really, dont necessarily have a budget but dont want to spend more than i need to, nor do i want something nasty, something that will give me the same capabilities as my nikon, looking forward to reading peoples thoughts,
many thanks.

lee
Click to expand...
I have not used a late Nikon digital camera.
I changed from Canon at the end of last year.

My main camera now is Panasonic G9, and my main lenses are a Panasonic 7-14, Panasonic 14-140, a Panasonic Leica 100-400, Panasonic Leica 12-60 and a Panasonic 20mm 1.7

I looked at the Olympus equivalent, and kept coming back to the Panasonic.

Very happy all round
 
snerkler said:
If you’re wanting to stay full frame then the obvious ‘replacement’ for the D800 would be the Nikon Z7ii, you can then use an adapter to use your existing lenses. The Nikon Z cameras have, imo, the best ergonomics of all the mirrorless cameras.

If you want to go all native lenses then Sony has by far the most mature system of lenses and has the biggest selection of third party native lenses. I would suggest going for the gen 4 cameras as they have the best ergonomics and colours, I actually prefer Sony colours to Canon these days :eek: The A7R IV is their high megapixel camera but the A7 IV has a relatively high megapixel count and is a great all rounder. There’s then the A9 and A9ii which have blackout free shooting and after having used it I would never go back to a camera without it. You then have the A1 which has everything anyone could ever need, high megapixel count, class leading autofocus, 30fps all in a relatively small lightweight package. Of course, it comes at a hefty cost, £6500.
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iv changed my mind, i do now have a budget :ROFLMAO: although these cameras are very nice there a fair bit more than i wanted to spend, given it will be just used for holidays and walks, and general snaps,(y)
 
Sangoma said:
I have not used a late Nikon digital camera.
I changed from Canon at the end of last year.

My main camera now is Panasonic G9, and my main lenses are a Panasonic 7-14, Panasonic 14-140, a Panasonic Leica 100-400, Panasonic Leica 12-60 and a Panasonic 20mm 1.7

I looked at the Olympus equivalent, and kept coming back to the Panasonic.

Very happy all round
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these prices look a lot better:D
 
burleyviking said:
iv changed my mind, i do now have a budget :ROFLMAO: although these cameras are very nice there a fair bit more than i wanted to spend, given it will be just used for holidays and walks, and general snaps,(y)
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I have the S5 but tend to pick my G9 up most of the time, it's just lovely in the hand. I've purchased a GX9 to take to Disney next year and had a play with it a couple of times and it's pretty good also (imo).

My daughter has a G9 also and loves it.

I'm finally going out to a national trust tomorrow so will be taking a camera and I'll bet it's the G9.
 
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What do you want that the existing Nikon does not provide? It may be impossible to better the D800 without a substantial investment, and moving to lighter, cheaper cameras will compromise some aspects of performance (all part of the tradeoff).
 
burleyviking said:
these prices look a lot better:D
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The micro 4/3 system is great, but you will likely see a drop in image quality vs your D800.

It would be useful to know your budget and expectations in terms of image quality, autofocus etc (y)
 
Fuji XT-4 and the 18–55 short zoom :)
:fuji:
 
im thinking id like a smaller lighter camera really, as on some walks i go on that can be a good few miles trogging my D800 and 24-70 around can become a bit of a pain, but i do love the image quality though, id say my budget would be £2000 tops for the camera and at least one lens, and preferably secondhand, i do like the FX but willing to try something different,
one can only try, thanks for all the replies so far chaps
 
burleyviking said:
im thinking id like a smaller lighter camera really, as on some walks i go on that can be a good few miles trogging my D800 and 24-70 around can become a bit of a pain, but i do love the image quality though, id say my budget would be £2000 tops for the camera and at least one lens, and preferably secondhand, i do like the FX but willing to try something different,
one can only try, thanks for all the replies so far chaps
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The D800 with 24-70mm f2.8 is 1.90kg, something like the Sony A7 III with Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 is 1.19kg, that will be a noticeable difference in weight.

The Fuji X-T4 with 16-55mm f2.8 is 1.26kg

The Olympus EM1 III and 12-40mm f2.8 is 0.96kg

Of course there’s loads of different camera and lens combos but I’ve tried to give examples of each that closely match your 24-70mm f2.8
 
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There are some cracking deals on olympus bodies and lenses at the moment ,especially on the 1-mkiii plus a lens , and although it’s a learning curve with the menu system it’s worth learning . And if you look on the olympus thread on here there’s plenty of examples photos
 
Olympus produce noisy images even at the lowest ISO so beware if you hate noise like I do.
It's why I moved to Sony and would never go back.
 
Adamcski said:
I have the S5 but tend to pick my G9 up most of the time, it's just lovely in the hand. I've purchased a GX9 to take to Disney next year and had a play with it a couple of times and it's pretty good also (imo).

My daughter has a G9 also and loves it.

I'm finally going out to a national trust tomorrow so will be taking a camera and I'll bet it's the G9.
Click to expand...

I can understand that, I commented before that the G9 has brought the spark back into the hobby for me.
Hand held shots with an 800mm eq lens at 1/25, the ease of use of the lighter weights, the quality of the lenses, and another big point is cheap back up or other purpose cameras, that can use the same lenses. For example I use a G3 (less than £40) just for photospheres, and a G80 (just over £200) when I might come across "unfavourable" conditions, or just practising at home and locally.

And yes, the costs are less, the G9 can be found from £450 upwards (Mine was well under 600 with the L 12-60) and are about 1199 new from Panasonic.

I also do not like noise, however, I have not had noise get in the way with the G9, and found that the dual stabilisation allows me to use a slower shutter speed ans so lower ISO most of the time. Of course there are times when that can't be done. It is a technical fact of the smaller sensor. which although often mentioned in that context, haven't seen it mentioned much in actual use.

But then you can't have everything at one time :)

With your budget, and maybe a bit of patience, you could get a G9, 7-14 lens, 14-140 lens and a 100-400 lens :) (I could weigh the items if that was a needed feature)

Have a look here to get an idea of image quality and noise. Change the ISO and RAW/JPEG of the first one (top left) and move the rectangle around the to different colours or detail, and at the top just above the image on the right the COMP out of the FULL COMP PRINT must be selected https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/im...=1&x=0.6739354395604398&y=-1.0167946358899258
 
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Nikon Z7 + 24-70/f4 or f2.8

Compact Camera Meter

Compare unlimited number of cameras with lenses, see how compact or bulky a camera is and sort by height, width, depth and weight.
camerasize.com
 
burleyviking said:
im thinking id like a smaller lighter camera really, as on some walks i go on that can be a good few miles trogging my D800 and 24-70 around can become a bit of a pain, but i do love the image quality though, id say my budget would be £2000 tops for the camera and at least one lens, and preferably secondhand, i do like the FX but willing to try something different,
one can only try, thanks for all the replies so far chaps
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In that case look at the Z FC. I went from the Z6 to the Z FC and couldn't be happier. Image quality seems identical to me but it's much smaller/lighter.
 
GreenNinja67 said:
Olympus produce noisy images even at the lowest ISO so beware if you hate noise like I do.
It's why I moved to Sony and would never go back.
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That is only a problem if you haven’t got a clue about how to get rid of it .
 
burleyviking said:
im liking the sound of the sony A7 iii
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I had a A7iii and moved to Fuji (X-pro3 and soon a XT-4) . Picture quality from the Sony was good but it’s also about the overall experience for me, and not wanting to do a lot of post production, I love the Fuji film sims.
 
GreenNinja67 said:
Olympus produce noisy images even at the lowest ISO so beware if you hate noise like I do.
It's why I moved to Sony and would never go back.
Click to expand...

the black fox said:
That is only a problem if you haven’t got a clue about how to get rid of it .
Click to expand...
I don't agree with the noise at base. I don't like noise either, but here's two random examples of mine shot at base and no noise to be seen, these are 1:1 crops. No NR applied, and default LR sharpening. This is with a relatively old tech sensor too (y)


Screenshot 2022-07-24 at 08.23.55 by Toby Gunnee, on Flickr

Screenshot 2022-07-24 at 08.24.27 by Toby Gunnee, on Flickr
 
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ancient_mariner said:
If you like the high Res files of the D800 then an A7rIII might be the thing. Otherwise yes, the A7III is a great camera - had mine more than 3 years.
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A7R III is a good shout.
 
Craig1912 said:
I had a A7iii and moved to Fuji (X-pro3 and soon a XT-4) . Picture quality from the Sony was good but it’s also about the overall experience for me, and not wanting to do a lot of post production, I love the Fuji film sims.
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I don't like to do a lot of post either, and I don't with Sony. I load into lightroom with my default preset, crop and adjust exposure if necessary and job done (y)
 
snerkler said:
I don't like to do a lot of post either, and I don't with Sony. I load into lightroom with my default preset, crop and adjust exposure if necessary and job done (y)
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Sounds good, it wasn’t just that with the Sony though it was the handling and I prefer the manual dials, look and feel and the Fuji is a bit smaller. Don’t get me wrong, the Sony was a great camera, it just wasn’t for me.
 
There are good deals around on original Z6 or if you want more MP then Z7.
24-70 F4 lens is stellar and cheap when bought as kit.
My daily walkaround in a Peak Design Sling 3L is the Z7 with the 24-120 F4. I've owned lots of Nikon and Fuji over the years and this lens is the best zoom I've ever owned.
I also have the 20MP Nikon Z50 with the 16-50 pancake zoom - very small, really lightweight and excellent for an APS C sensor.
 
GreenNinja67 said:
Olympus produce noisy images even at the lowest ISO so beware if you hate noise like I do.
It's why I moved to Sony and would never go back.
Click to expand...
hmmmm iso 500 , 1.mkiii+100-400 lens hand held . if you think this is noisy then I totally give up . all up weight of gear 2kg .. cost of gear bnib circa £2200 gentlemen I rest my case
birds eye view by jeff and jan cohen, on Flickr
 
Craig1912 said:
Sounds good, it wasn’t just that with the Sony though it was the handling and I prefer the manual dials, look and feel and the Fuji is a bit smaller. Don’t get me wrong, the Sony was a great camera, it just wasn’t for me.
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This is why it's so important to handle the cameras before buying, ergonomics are so important (y) Fuji are great with the smaller lenses but for me the grip's not deep enough for use with longer lenses for me. There is of course the H1/H2 but then you lose a deal of the retro chic ;)

I do wish Sony would do nice looking bodies though, sad as it sounds Fuji and Olympus do lure me on body style alone :exit:
 
Peter123 said:
There are good deals around on original Z6 or if you want more MP then Z7.
24-70 F4 lens is stellar and cheap when bought as kit.
My daily walkaround in a Peak Design Sling 3L is the Z7 with the 24-120 F4. I've owned lots of Nikon and Fuji over the years and this lens is the best zoom I've ever owned.
I also have the 20MP Nikon Z50 with the 16-50 pancake zoom - very small, really lightweight and excellent for an APS C sensor.
Click to expand...
The 24-70mm f4 is a stellar performing lens. I know to some it's not a big deal but it does bug me you have to 'unlock' the lens before use though. I now have that on my Panny 12-32mm lens and it does irk me :exit:
 
burleyviking said:
Hi all.

looking to get rid of my much loved nikon d800 and getting a mirrorless camera so looking for recommendations please,
also a decent lens, the lenses i have now are the nikon 50mm f.1.8 and the nikon 24-70mm f, 2.8, happy to have just the one lens nowadays as it doesnt get a lot of use.
and i use the camera for a bit of everything really, dont necessarily have a budget but dont want to spend more than i need to, nor do i want something nasty, something that will give me the same capabilities as my nikon, looking forward to reading peoples thoughts,
many thanks.

lee
Click to expand...

I think a lot depends on how wedded you are to pixel peeping, shallow dof and the thought that you're using a FF camera. Other things to consider are if you push the envelope of what's possible with focus and ISO or not.

If you want FF then FF is what it'll have to be but if you'll be happy with a smaller system for days out and holidays and don't expect to pixel peep at ISO 25,600 and still see a good or track swifts in flight then maybe your spend won't need to be in four figures.

For example. I like RF style cameras and have been quite impressed with the 16mp Panasonic GX80 which can be found between £200-£300. Other people prefer the 20mp MFT cameras and I recently bought a Panasonic G100 which is a very small and light mini SLR style camera with a very quiet mechanical shutter plus an electronic one and a nice EFV. MFT lenses can be found at reasonable prices on the used market so you could have a camera and one or two lenses for a reasonable budget.

If you'd prefer FF I'm still using my original Sony A7 and to me the only things really lacking are that it doesn't do silent shooting and the focus tracking isn't good. Other than that for walks, days out and holidays I'd say it's a good and cheap choice. As a one lens solution and as I like primes I'd probably go for the Sony 35mm f1.8 but if you don't need f1.8 the Sony 35mm f2.8 is very compact.

Another FF setup could be a Sony A7c which is a small RF form camera and a small prime like the 35mm f2.8 or 40 or 50mm f2.5.

Good luck choosing :D
 
snerkler said:
I do wish Sony would do nice looking bodies though, sad as it sounds Fuji and Olympus do lure me on body style alone
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Not sad at all, so far as I'm concerned.

As photographers, we're very concious of the visual aspects of our lives, so it's not surprising that the appearance of our primary tools should be so important to us, as well as their technical and handling qualities. Most photographers like a fondle from time to time, whether they admit it or not... :naughty:

Allan with Spotmatic.jpg
 
Peter123 said:
There are good deals around on original Z6 or if you want more MP then Z7.
24-70 F4 lens is stellar and cheap when bought as kit.
My daily walkaround in a Peak Design Sling 3L is the Z7 with the 24-120 F4. I've owned lots of Nikon and Fuji over the years and this lens is the best zoom I've ever owned.
I also have the 20MP Nikon Z50 with the 16-50 pancake zoom - very small, really lightweight and excellent for an APS C sensor.
Click to expand...
I usually carry a backpack with 3 D750's with 17-35, 24-70 and 70-300 lenses attached, and on a hot day they are starting to get heavy. Also when I ingest from 3 cards, cull and edit it's too time consuming. I have been considering the Z7 with the 24-120 F4, with that combination it should shoot 90% of what I do now. That should give enough keepers. Looking to hire the kit first for a few days to see how I like it. Must have a clear out of old kit first, still have my DX kit and even my Toyo 45a 4x5 field camera and lenses to sell off.
 
thanks chaps, plenty of food for thought there, im leaning to a second hand Sony A7 iii off ebay, watching a few just to get a jist of prices,
dont really want the kit 24-70, just saw one sell for £1400 that had a 50mm f1.8 lens and a stutter count of only a few hundred,
going to keep my D800 for a while just incase, so maybe buy a body only then a 24-70 f2.8 lens separately,
looked at the tamron 28-75, seems a decent lens, anyone any more suggestions,
thanks.

lee
 
A7iii sounds a sensible choice so good luck with that. I quite liked the original A7 I had but that was for MF lenses only. For general photography, in spite of all the noise about brands, I don't read that there is really too much of a difference between them: of course, if you need critical capabilities like for sport/BIF or the best in class eye AF then current bodies do differ. If you are using lost of lenses then that may matter more than the current iteration of bodies.
I went from a D750+D7100+A7 to a Z6+D500 and that covers all the bases for me since I have some FX/DXlenses and a slew of Contax glass. The Z lenses I do have are very nice and suit me for a light WA to standard tele kit i.e. 14-30/4, 24-70 kit and the 50/1.8s.
 
4 years ago I was in a similar position, my full frame Canon kit was to big/heavy to take on MTB rides. I switched to Fuji, which was great, and significantly smaller/lighter, but it still hardly came out on big rides due to the size/weight.

The solution for me was a Fuji X100V - a large sets of/fixed focal length compact camera. The trade off for the small size is the fixed focal length. But now I have a camera I can slip into a jacket pocket for those bigger days out.
 
>> https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/buying-guides/best-full-frame-mirrorless-camera

Also, leica (if money isn't a problem and a nikon z7 II is about the same as a used leica m10).
Only thing is, leica is completely manual... and a rangefinder... Can have an adaptor for nikon lenses (so you dont need to change lenses as well as the body).
Nikon z5 or 7 but go handle them or test them first.
Canon sony and fuji have options too... depending on budget.

But go handle or test them first, see which feels nicest in the hand, or has menu options/controls that you like
 
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