Time to go mirrorless!

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timtimbbb

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Tim
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Hi everyone. First time to the group. I'm sure you will be supportive. I've got a Nikon d3400 and a range of short and long lenses, but I think I'm ready to move to a mirrorless camera. But as I'm a DSLR guy I don't know much about them.
These are my expectations...
#Less than £500...absolute tops.
#Can be secondhand
#Transportable ...so maybe non interchangeable lens..
#Good lens and zoom
#High resolution....I think the d3400 is 24mps?? But appreciate that's likely to be lower for the money
#Full manual/semi/auto
Can have modes etc....esp monochrome option. Used to have that on an old canon Eos...loved that option.
#Something that is tough and rugged...that will last
#Will obviously have a rear screen but v keen still to have a rear view finder.
#Large sensor
#wifi?
#futureproof....in the sense I can keep it for a few years without feeling it's lacking in it's ability


My main motivation is that I'm off on holiday soon to Bali....never been and I want something that is reliable, Transportable and able to capture the experiences/culture.


Long list! I'm sorry! I'm sure someone will have excellent suggestions!


Finally is it better to trade in at a secondhand camera shop OR sell my gear separately on FB or eBay?


Many thanks all Tim
 
Good morning Tim and welcome.
I have had the same more or less thoughts. So took a serious look at four third cameras have used a nikon D810 and previous models over the years. so this is what I did and got the panasonic G9 not the G9 mk2 later version. I have to say at around £500 is very restrictive for anything decent even second hand, but there are a couple advertised on Ebay. that does just about give you enough left over for the 12- 60mm lens. (24-120 FF).

one of the best moves I did swapping make to this model the Pana G9 . A lot lighter than your camera and fits well in to the hand, taking it with me on our hols this year. the features are amazing far too many to mention but even the video side is very very good.

as for trade in or sell on one of the others is up to you. DSLR cameras don't fetch much since mirrorless came out so don't expect to get much unfortunately, which is why I am keeping my own
 
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It's a tight budget and almost certainly rules out the oldest full frame (35mm equivalent) original Sony A7 (I have one :D) but you may get something APS-C like a Sony A6000 and kit lens and you'll definitely get something useable from Micro Four Thirds. For example I have and like the Panasonic GX80 and I've just Googled my way to one for £361 which leaves enough for a kit lens (something like 14-42 or 14-45mm kit lens.)

If you do go for a Micro Four Thirds camera I'd avoid the Panasonic GX8, GX7 and G7 as they suffered from a thing called shutter shock. Later cameras had a redesigned shutter and avoided this problem. I don't know enough about the similar Olympus kit to comment. Maybe look at the Panasonic G8 and GX80 and the Sony A6000.

Good luck choosing.
 
Many thanks for your input. Most informative...I don't suppose a £600 limit will make much if a difference?
 
woof woof said:
If you do go for a Micro Four Thirds camera I'd avoid the Panasonic GX8, GX7 and G7 as they suffered from a thing called shutter shock.
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Here we go again.

I've been using a GX7 for many years now and not noticed any signs of this "shutter shock". However, the more people who repeat this claim, the cheaper the used models will be, so they are saving the sensible majority money, which is a good thing. (y)
 
I use a Nikon D850 with all the massive lenses that go with it and I shan't be changing, but for everyday carrying I use a small MFT Olympus (OM-D E-10) that I bought second-hand from WEX and have just changed out my 20mm (40mm equiv) f1.7 for a 12-45mm (24-90) f4 as I want the flexibility more than the speed, The original purchase of camera and lens was £550 and it is in excellent condition.
 
To add to what Alan said, I have an A6000 as my 'travel' camera, and while something like that would tick some of the boxes for you, there are several which it would fall short on (partly due to budget).
#Less than £500...absolute tops.
You should be able to get a camera and lens for this, but not with the better quality zooms.
#Can be secondhand
#Transportable ...so maybe non interchangeable lens..
M43 and APS-C interchangeable should be fine, it's FF lenses which get big and heavy.
#Good lens and zoom
Depends on what you mean here - you can certainly get a 16-50 f/2.8 (24-75 FF equivalent), but that will use all your budget, as woudl a longer telephoto such as the 70-350.
#High resolution....I think the d3400 is 24mps?? But appreciate that's likely to be lower for the money
Most will be 24Mp I think.
#Full manual/semi/auto
#Can have modes etc....esp monochrome option. Used to have that on an old canon Eos...loved that option.
The A6000 has a range of modes, from Full Manual (inc auto iso and EC if wanted) to full auto.
#Something that is tough and rugged...that will last
This is going to be the hardest to get - smaller and lighter cameras are not as 'solid' as the old FF DSLR - I've had my A6000 over 5 years, and it's as good as new, but that's because I treat it with a bit of care, and avoid it bashing into things!
#Will obviously have a rear screen but v keen still to have a rear view finder.
A6000 has an OK EVF, newer models have better - well worth trying a few in a shop if you can, as resolution and refresh rates vary, as does individuals acceptance of them.
#Large sensor
#wifi?
#futureproof....in the sense I can keep it for a few years without feeling it's lacking in it's ability
You could buy a top-of-the-range model today, and within 6 months there will be something 'better' announced.
They all, however, take great images - cameras became 'good enough' for a lot us users several years back, they're now adding improvements and nice-to-have features which help the 10% of the time.
 
I'll throw Fujifilm into the ring - you can get an X-T20 / X-T3 for under £600 on eBay. The glass is super quality, even the cheaper plastic XC lenses are highly regarded. You won't get any weather sealing or IBIS at that price though.
 
colourofsound said:
I'll throw Fujifilm into the ring - you can get an X-T20 / X-T3 for under £600 on eBay. The glass is super quality, even the cheaper plastic XC lenses are highly regarded. You won't get any weather sealing or IBIS at that price though.
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The X-H1 might come in at that sort of price territory - and has IBIS and weather resistance.

On the Olympus side the EM10 ii has a decent set of features and is very neat in terms of compactness.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
Here we go again.

I've been using a GX7 for many years now and not noticed any signs of this "shutter shock". However, the more people who repeat this claim, the cheaper the used models will be, so they are saving the sensible majority money, which is a good thing. (y)
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You are in a world of your own.

Everyone else including all credible reviewers and Panasonic themselves knew there was an issue and that's why Panasonic ditched that shutter mechanism and replaced it with a new one.

New starters need to be aware of this, they deserve to be informed of the positives and the negatives of the kit. IMVHO affected kit shouldn't be bought by newbies at any price, not without being well informed so that they can make informed choices. IMO, only people familiar with the issue and how to avoid it should contemplate buying affected kit.
 
Can I ask what isn't the D3400 giving you Tim? It's light and high quality and probably less riskier taking it to somewhere like Bali than with a 'flashier' camera. Unless you dislike your current camera I would keep that and save the £500 for something else.
 
Tbh I'm broke at the mo. I love the Nikon. Yes light and small...but I think I want to move to something even more transportable. Eg without all the additional lenses etc
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
It's nice in here, because my GX7 works just fine.

Oddly enough, other people are equally happy, as mentioned in posts here...

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No. Your GX7 doesn't work just fine as it will be affected by shutter shock if used with affected lenses with the mechanical shutter in the affected shutter speed range.

I know you don't like facts but there it is :D And although I don't like doing this I'm sick of your demented denialist drivel, so you're now ignored :D and please for God sake ignore me too :D
 
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timtimbbb said:
Tbh I'm broke at the mo. I love the Nikon. Yes light and small...but I think I want to move to something even more transportable. Eg without all the additional lenses etc
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Just stick a wide/standard prime lens on it - I like 23mm on a cropped sensor camera, but not too sure what is available for Nikon DSLRs.
 
Craikeybaby said:
Just stick a wide/standard prime lens on it - I like 23mm on a cropped sensor camera, but not too sure what is available for Nikon DSLRs.
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I'd agree with this. For the budget you've given I don't think you'd be able to get anything in the mirrorless sphere as good as what you're using at the moment. Stick a decent compact prime on and see how you get on.
 
woof woof said:
You are in a world of your own.

Everyone else including all credible reviewers and Panasonic themselves knew there was an issue and that's why Panasonic ditched that shutter mechanism and replaced it with a new one.

New starters need to be aware of this, they deserve to be informed of the positives and the negatives of the kit. IMVHO affected kit shouldn't be bought by newbies at any price, not without being well informed so that they can make informed choices. IMO, only people familiar with the issue and how to avoid it should contemplate buying affected kit.
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Definitely avoid this one - plenty more models as evidenced don't have the problem. Along with the Z50, I'd also second the entry-level Canon R models, which if you go with an EF adapter are great too and has no visible detriment to performance
 
Adam-G said:
I'd agree with this. For the budget you've given I don't think you'd be able to get anything in the mirrorless sphere as good as what you're using at the moment. Stick a decent compact prime on and see how you get on.
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This was my thoughts too when I read the opening post.

Mirrorless is definitely the future; but the OP’s budget won’t buy the best of those advantages.
 
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