Mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras

Forums › Digital Imaging › Mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras - thoughts?

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LookingUp

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#679221 30-Aug-2012 12:37

lchiu7: Just played around with the Sony NEX-5N. That looks like a nice camera. It was $999 with only one lens so $999 for two lenses is a great deal. But the Sony store guy was prepared to bargain. My only lingering issues are reports on the web that when taking video there is a constant clicking noise in the audio and the fact to use an external mic you need the Sony mic since the adapter is proprietary.

Interesting. I bought a NEX-5N with 18-55mm zoom last weekend, and also got the 30mm Marco lens to go with it. My intention is to use it underwater, where some of the best subjects are small. Preliminary playing is encouraging, and the macro is great for macro and general images, although the 18-55mm zoom will probably be my primary above water lens.

I've only tried one short burst of video, and the audio was fine - no clicking that I noticed. Could that be the auto-focus? My wife has a little Panasonic Lumix that records a whine from this when in video mode.

The selling point for me was that you can get a 40m underwater housing for this camera for $249 on TradeMe, or cheaper if you shop direct. I've used a similar housing on the Lumix for the last 18 months at depths over 30m, and while cheap, the housing has passed the test. A more professional housing, as generally available for other cameras, will set you back upwards of $1,500. (I know you can get cheap housings for the Canon G12 & GF1, but they're not in the same league as the NEX-5N and the GF1 doesn't have a macro option)

So far, albeit with limited use, I'm pretty happy with my purchase.

Things are LookingUp.... A photo from my back yard :-)

stevenz

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#684860 12-Sep-2012 11:45

I'm pretty happy with my E-P3, as mentioned earlier, it's not fantastic at higher ISOs, but it's a pretty versatile little camera.

Wasn't Canon supposed to be releasing theirs soon?

@KnightNZ

simantics

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#684888 12-Sep-2012 12:05

Hey guys just thought I'd give my experience with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 which is Olympus' flagship micro four thirds camera.

Firstly, it is the most fun I've ever had with a camera. It's small, light, very durable, and feels nice (except the grip more on that below). It performs remarkably well in low light - heaps better than my Canon 550d did, and on par with the 7D in my limited experience.

I was originally skeptical getting this camera because I love shallow depth of field photos, and was told online and by others that the smaller the sensor the more difficult it is to get that blurry effect. This is true, but there hasn't been a noticable difference between the blur I can get with this camera and my APS-C Canon 550d. There might be with a full frame 5d but I think it just depends on the lens.

It's very small and looks like an old school film SLR. It's bloody sexy and a great conversation starter, and at the same time I don't look like a professional photographer so I can blend into the background while taking photos.

The absolute best feature in the OM-D is the built in image stabilisation. I can take night time photos at 1/5 of a second and have no noticible blurring ...IT'S CRAZY GOOD. Similarly video recorded on the OM-D look like i have a ssteadicam because there is none of that jitter you get with hand held video. Very smooth.

I was tossing up between OM-D and the NEX 5n or 7 which have APS-C sensors and are top of the line in terms of image quality and low light performance. I picked the OM-D because the lens quality and range is far superior to Sony's offerings (at least the lenses I could afford), and the image stabilisation.

The weather/dust sealing is a big deal for me because I don't want to be scared to take photos in the rain or at the beach. Unfortunately a very small number of lenses are weather sealed right now, the kit 12-50mm is weather sealed and it's a fantastic lens for video but not so good for still.

Some bad things - 30p video recording with no option for 50p, 24p or 25 p. I'm not so concerned with filmic look in videos as I just do interviews or dock style for online, but it limits future possibilities.

The grip is pathetically small, it makes my wrist and fingers hurt from holding it. Addon grip is about $400 which I could be spending on another lens- sigh.

It's expensive, ~ $1600 for body only $1900 for the 12-50mm kit.

Overall I'm incredibly happy with my purchase, and my back feels a million times better than it did while lugging around the 550d with battery grip on.

Here are some example photos if you like: www.aucklandia.com www.500px.com/simantics

Twitter: @simantics

Blog: simantics.co.nz

Skype: simantics

Chainsaw

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#684912 12-Sep-2012 12:55

Thanks for that. It's the only mirrorless IL cam that I would be tempted by.

Unbelievable that have 30p but not 25p for the video.

There are some who will tell you that built-in stabilisation is not as good as in-lens and you don't need it for short focal lengths blah blah blah. Just ignore them and be happy that you know better.

timmmay

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#684947 12-Sep-2012 13:48

Thanks for the review, interesting and helpful :-)

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