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05/23/2016 09:33:06 PM · #1
i need a new portable camera. my heart is telling me to go fuji ex2 with a 35/1.4 but im trying to find a better bargain. im looking at the olympus epl7 with a 25/1.8, its have the price of the fuji.

im want something portable that takes "really good" portraits, im keeping my canon dslr and im not looking to replace its ability, i just need something portable.
05/24/2016 04:33:16 AM · #2
Both great choices but for the price would consider the Olympus a bargain.
05/24/2016 05:01:40 AM · #3
I'm looking at adding a camera or two to my wedding kit. I talked about maybe going back to DSLR in another thread which i'll return to once i've decided on what to get. Too many choices these days!

But now i'm seriously considering going back into micro 4/3's land and adding one or two of the new Panasonic's.

I'm thinking the Panasonic GX8 and the Pano/Leica 42.5mm f1.2 would make for an excellent 85mm equiv portrait combo. Very expensive lens but it'll be for work so would be worth it.

& the new Panosonic GX80 and Olympus 12mm f2 would be a great, smaller, 24mm equiv to add to my existing Sony kit.

Those are above what you want to spend though but maybe the Pano GX7 and the Panasonic Leica 25mm f1.4 might fit your needs/budget.

I've had, and sold on, both Fuji Ex-1 and the Olympus Em-5 in the past and whilst both had great points they never quite did it forme. The Olympus was too small, The fuji auto focus too slow etc.

The reasons I am currently smitten by the Panasonic GX8 are - I like the slightly larger size/metal body/weather sealing. Image stabilisation is meant to be really good as is the very fast autofocus. I also like the 20MP sensor. I can also use my Leica mount lenses with adaptor. I haven't used a Panasonic since having a GF1 and f20mm 1.7 for a while which was a lovely little kit in many ways. The GX8 seems to me to be the perfect small sensor camera (for me) to add to the full frame Sony's.

Your needs are slightly different which is why i suggested the GX7 which is also meant to be very good indeed and the PL 25mm 1.4 looks great. The Panosonics are definitely worth a look.

Message edited by author 2016-05-24 09:07:45.
05/24/2016 06:05:08 AM · #4
Thank Clive I was hoping you'd reply, knowing your history with mirrorless, I'll look into the Panasonics as well.
05/24/2016 06:18:01 AM · #5
I have the X-E2 and 35 mm 1.4 combination. I have to say I love it. I bought it to reduce the weight when travelling and have not been disappointed with the performance at all. The Fuji colours are awesome and I have found I hardly need to do any post processing at all.
05/24/2016 06:21:52 AM · #6
One of my main bugbears of the Fuji XE1 and XPro-1's i had were the not great auto focus and not great manual focus. I think the later cameras such as the XE2 are much better in that.

The Sony A6000 might be an option as well. Apparently very fast auto focus on that one.
05/24/2016 09:15:10 AM · #7
auto focus isn't an issue, i'm keeping the dslr for times when i really need AF.

there seems to be tons of choices for the mirrorless cameras, all in the same price points and features. :/

i guess i cant really go wrong with any of them. do you find the 4/3 senor capable for shallow dof and high iso or would i be better suited to the aps-c size.
05/24/2016 09:15:10 AM · #8
You might want to consider the Olympus 75 1.8 if you go with micro 43. Not weather sealed but built like a tank. No regrets putting this in my bag.
05/24/2016 09:48:24 AM · #9
Originally posted by insteps:

You might want to consider the Olympus 75 1.8 if you go with micro 43. Not weather sealed but built like a tank. No regrets putting this in my bag.


Yes, that's definitely one i'm interested in. The 150mm focal length equiv is a bit long but would be great for outdoors. An 85-90mm is first on my list though.

As to shallow depth of field - that's one of the reasons I went back to FF with the Sony's but that 75mm 1.8 would be lovely for it - as would the 42.5 f1.2 I mentioned earlier (it also has a close minimum focus of around 50cm which certainly helps. Voigtlander also have some nice manual focus f0.95 lenses which look good.

High ISO - I was always ok with the high ISO on the Fuji XE1 so i'm sure the latest crop of cameras will be ok. I'm not that fussy about high ISO though as I hardly ever go above 3200 on any camera - I much prefer exposing for the highlights, letting the whole image go dark and then bringing the highlights back in post. Or just find some better light somewhere else. I always whack a load of nice grain on anyway.

Message edited by author 2016-05-24 09:53:27.
05/24/2016 08:46:22 PM · #10
Really can't go wrong with M43 and you have the choice of Panasonic or Olympus so it's best to go and handle the cameras that you are interested in to see how they feel and operate in hand.
There is no shortage of lenses as you can use either brand on the bodies and one thing to consider is that these lenses can be shot wide open because they are sharp wide open.

06/05/2016 06:44:28 PM · #11
after comparing sizes, i'm pretty much sold on the olympus, most likely the epl6 or 7. what portrait lens would you recommend? the 25 1.7 looks like the focal length i'm looking for, even though its 50mm equiv. any legacy lenses to seek out?
06/09/2016 03:44:05 AM · #12
If you want a small portrait lens then the 45mm f1.8 is perfect. A good working distance and can be shot wide open for subject isolation. Would pair nicely with the 25mm you are looking at getting.
06/09/2016 09:50:16 AM · #13
I bought a epl7 refurbished with a 14-42EZ for $360 !! i got a 45/1.8 which is stellar, for $225. $600 for both with tax!!! great price considering its $599 brand new for the body and 14-42 EZ lens.

i was playing around last night and I love the focus peaking, makes me want to get some cheap old MF primes to fool around with... i'm not looking to mount anything huge so small lenses are a must.
06/09/2016 10:02:31 AM · #14
Excellent. Sounds like you got a good deal there. The focus peaking is definitely a great attraction of mirror less cameras (although I tend to use focus magnification much more really).

As to cheap manual focus primes - you've got a huge amount of great history to delve into there. Plus, on micro 4/3's you won't have some of the problems that you get with many wides on the full frame cameras.

I'd look at Leica M mount lenses although they are not what you'd call cheap (apart from Voigtlander) but also keep an eye out for the older, and cheaper, Leica LTM mount lenses such as the Jupiter lenses. The Jupiter 9 85mm f/2 can be had for cheap and will give you a nice long 170mm tele for portraits.

I ended up getting the Panasonic GX8 and it's a lovely little camera. I also got the Pana 25mm 1.7 which I haven't used much as I also got the Olympus 75mm f1.8 which is lovely if a bit long to what i'm used to. I'm making myself get used to the 150mm focal length of it though and it worked out pretty well at a wedding last weekend. I've still got my eye on the 42.5mm f1.2 though.

Message edited by author 2016-06-09 10:33:45.
06/09/2016 10:20:19 AM · #15
i never expected focus peaking to work as well as it does. the face tracking with pupil detection works really well to. much better than just setting the focus point over the eye.

i wish my 5dii has these abilities.

do i need an adapter or will these legacy lenses mount natively?

Message edited by author 2016-06-09 10:21:20.
06/09/2016 10:32:14 AM · #16
Yea, you'll need an adaptor. They come in a wide range of prices from cheap $20 ones from ebay or Amazon up to the more expensive ones which can be $300 plus. I've got a couple of really cheap ones and a couple of more expensive Voigtlander ones and to be honest I really don't see any difference so i'd just get cheap ones from ebay for what you want.
06/09/2016 12:12:20 PM · #17
Originally posted by Mike:

...
i was playing around last night and I love the focus peaking, makes me want to get some cheap old MF primes to fool around with... i'm not looking to mount anything huge so small lenses are a must.

All of my recent Sony cameras have focus peaking; it does make manual focus very easy. I have several M42 lens and have a blast shooting with those.

Have fun! :-)
06/09/2016 02:06:13 PM · #18
I have a cheap third party Nikon adapter for M43. It works fine, but I find the lens release button a bit worrisome.

When I went to buy one for my Fuji X-T1 I looked into it again and found horror stories of people's lenses getting stuck on some adapters. So I ended up buying the $150 metabones adapter. I certainly didn't want to ruin any of my expensive Nikon lenses. Anyway, check out carefully any adapter you buy by reading online reviews.

One other thing: remember for any modern lens without an aperture ring you'll need an adapter that has it's own aperture ring.

On a personal note, I still eye the M43 universe with a jealous eye. I do have a G7, but I've never been happy with the buttons or menu system. I always end up accidentally pressing the WB button on the back because there's no room for my fingers on the back when holding the camera. But so many good lens choices, and the deep DOF is great for landscapes anyway. I do like my Fuji X-T1 a lot, especially the huge viewfinder image, but find the lens choices--all of the primes and the pro zooms without IS--limiting. (And too big.) It seems to me a lot better choices in M43, and built in IS sounds perfect.

After switching from Canon (sold them) > Nikon (still have 2 of them) > Panny G7 (shelved) -> Fuji (current), it's hard to justify a new format. (And I'm not even including the 1" sensor line up I've had...though I still love my RX100 (broken) and my Panny FZ1000 (current).
06/09/2016 10:10:34 PM · #19
I was in awe of Mark Wiley's "steath cam". I'm not comfortable shooting in public and his is almost silent in a silent room.

Then... I saw the price.

Dang it.

06/09/2016 10:11:43 PM · #20
I even have a child who has a major competitor's discount. Thought that might help.

Nope. No discount on stuff like that. Arg.

06/09/2016 10:45:46 PM · #21
Originally posted by Lydia:

I even have a child who has a major competitor's discount. Thought that might help.

Nope. No discount on stuff like that. Arg.


Many if not most mirrorless cameras can shoot totally silent using electronic shutter. Even the inexpensive ones like the Fuji X-T10 for $599 or $699 with a kit lens (though while a very good lens, not the best kit lens they offer).

And the X-T10 is no slouch spec wise either. It has the same sensor and most of the features of the X-T1.

Message edited by author 2016-06-09 22:46:32.
06/09/2016 11:28:23 PM · #22
Thanks, Neil!

I did go to the store where my child is an employee... I clicked everything they had, I know that itt wasn't their largest store...

But, I am so paranoid... shooting in public... I could hear it clearly in a busy store.

I'm gonna wait.

THANK YOU for your help... for my paranoia. :D
06/12/2016 05:25:39 AM · #23
For a cheap adapted lens the cctv Fujian 35mm f1.7 lens for around $40 new on eBay is interesting. If you want a lens with a bit of character and not just sharp you might like to play with this.
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