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The perfect walk around camera

Rockmeister said:
I certainly have FLA! ^
Our photo trips tend to also be big holidays.
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I have spent years educating myself to not worry about FLA, I now carry a lighter bag and work with what I have and look for alternative viewpoints. I’m even contemplating just having as many lenses as I have bodies and reducing my kit further. My current thoughts are X100 (original), Leica Q3, GFX50 + GF63mm and something new (to me) and a 100-400.

I’d be quite happy travelling the world with just my original X100, it’s nice that I have the choice not to do that!

But FLA is a real affliction for those that have it!
 
well not that afflicted?
I'd not be too traumatised by a world trip with
Fuji XT5. Fuji 23 1.4 R WR as a walk around weather proof, +
Zeiss Touit 12mm f 2.8
and Sigma 56 1.4 DC contemporary.

The walk around combo is about 985g, and I'm carrying 550 or so extra in a rucksack for the other 2.
IQ is very high here across all 3 lenses so plenty of scope for sone PP cropping. And I have an EQ of 18 to 85mm

I think I'm happy and it leaves me enough Leica change for a whole month in India.
:)
sounds ok.
 
My latest theory is that the lens mapped’new’ 16-50 due soon is so good, that Fuji are discounting the x kits with the old zooms since nobody will want them when its test results come out! Hoho.
 
Hi Steve, it was good to meet you at NEBO 14, I enjoyed my few hours there.

You are posing an interesting question regarding a lighter camera, I'm going through the same thinking myself.
I still have a Nikon D800E, a brilliant camera which I have had for many years, I think I will be moving it on soon as it is never used now.
I also have a Nikon Z7, also a brilliant camera which for me is a keeper. I use it mainly with the kit 24-70 f4S zoom.
BUT..... there is a difference between going out specifically to take photographs and on the other hand, taking your camera 'just in case' you see something to shoot, in the latter case I do wonder about the weight and bulk of the camera.
I have just bought a secondhand Nikon Z fit 28mm f2, it weighs only 175g and the combination is so much more compact than with the zoom.
Combined weight 855g.
I haven't processed any files yet but I've read, although not as good as a Nikon top of the range lens it is equivalent to the same focal length on the kit zoom, which is certainly good enough for me.
They also make a 40mm f2 weighing 170g.
I'm not sure yet whether this is going to work for me.....interesting times.

In your case if you considered that route, you could get rid of your LARGE Nikon, buy an FTZ adaptor, therefore using all your existing lenses.
Looking on ebay, you could get a secondhand Z7 for what you will get for your D850.
AND the big bonus, your wife could use your lenses as well.

I hope i haven't rambled on too much.
 
Jumping in… having bought a Canon R6 mk2 last year which I’m very pleased with, I managed to convince myself I also needed a lighter / smaller alternative. I was thinking of going Olympus four thirds with an older version of the M1 (mk2 body £450 ish in excellent condition from my favourite dealer Park Cameras). However that means a new lens too.

So as to be able to have only one lens collection I turned back to Canon - I had thought RF mount bodies were just the R3/5/6 range, hence not too cheap, but there’s also the R and RP. The latter is perfect for my needs* and I’ve bagged what looks like a relatively new one** from my dealer’s used stock for £590.

So that’s my walkabout sorted.

*hoping that my daughter will sometimes accompany me on photo trips as well as providing me a smaller/lighter/less valuable option at times.

**does anyone know if it’s the case that the bodies serial no. first two digits are production month for that body type?
 
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I've tried this walk-around camera thing, having two cameras... and every time I come to the realisation that I prefer the bigger one with full frame and better image quality and so end up hardly ever using the "walk-around" one.

Alongside my Nikon Z mainstay I've had a Fuji XT-3 (didn't stay around long after the Nikon arrived), Olympus OM-5, lovely but noticeably poor high ISO performance, a Fuji X-100V... all of them just distracted from the Nikon which was the one I always wanted, or wished I had when the opportunity for an image came along.

With the 26mm f2.8 on the z7, its not that much bigger than the Fuji X-100 anyway. But it is with the 24-120 or 14-30..... but those are the ones that give me the best pics.
 
Exactly the point of this thread! I looked at the Z 5,6 and 7, but even the lighter 5 needs the f4 24-70 to feel ‘light enough’. The Fuji body is only 100gms lighter than the Z5 and the WR best quality Fuji lenses are heavy. You end up with about 100 g difference and APSC 40mp vs FF 25. It’s a very interesting choice. But both are 600 gms lighter than the 1800gms of the 850 with the 24-120.
The Leica IS the answer but compromised by 28mm.
Can I spend over 5000 on that much compromise?
 
Why not get a used Q2 then? The Q3 is slightly ahead on IQ but nothing I've seen suggests the improvements are any more than incrementally better, you save a good whack and you still have a terrific travel camera. I took mine to Cluj, Rome and Berlin last year (separate trips) and very rarely found the 28mm to be limiting. In fact, a bigger/heavier system would have ended up not being used as much. Plus it is a beautiful thing to use, and is a far better camera than I am a photographer, so any limitation is mine. You may differ, of course.
 
That thought, JTC has been buzzing about in my mind for a while, esp since I’d not lose much if it didn’t gell. Where’s a reliable source of good ‘uns?
 
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Rockmeister said:
That thought, JTC has been buzzing about in my mind for a while, esp since I’d not lose much it it didn’t gell. Where’s a reliable source of good ‘uns?
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There are lots about, but some are surprisingly tatty.

I would suggest FFordes as a good place to start (obviously WEX, Park, MPB, Red Dot Cameras, etc all have them as well)

usedlens.co.uk

Used Cameras and Lenses

Search used cameras and lenses from over 60 UK retailers. Price comparison for used digital, film, lenses, medium and large format cameras
usedlens.co.uk usedlens.co.uk

It was the general condition of the available Q2's that made me go for a Q3 - I wasn't prepared to pay good money for a bashed about example, or one that didn't come with everything that it originally came with. I wanted a warranty so it had to come from a dealer. The price difference between a pristine Q2 and a new Q3 was less than I expected, so given the incremental upgrades on teh Q3 I went for that. I felt that when you put all the upgrades together it was a better package

1) Better EVF
2) Tilt Rear Screen (though I conceed that the Q2 does look neater!)
3) Faster AF (Phase Detection)
4) At least one stop better DR
5) Higher resolution gave more cropping options (not a major biggie, but certainly nice to have)
 
Thank Mr P. Looks like a good one saves around 2grand at present. I note various tests also dislike the Q2’s jpeg output. I rarely use it but did the Q3 solve that?
 
Why would you want to use jpg with such a camera though? If you're not using the DNG output you're missing out IMHO.
 
Rockmeister said:
Thank Mr P. Looks like a good one saves around 2grand at present. I note various tests also dislike the Q2’s jpeg output. I rarely use it but did the Q3 solve that?
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Q3 has similar JPEGs but has a new feature "leica Looks" whereby you can download further profiles into the camera - I've downloaded thses but not really played with them yet. The only time I change something like that in camera is if I want to see a monochrome view in the EVF. I suspect that user access to Leica Looks may become available in the future enabling custom profiles to be held in camera.

JTC said:
Why would you want to use jpg with such a camera though? If you're not using the DNG output you're missing out IMHO.
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This^ The DNGs are lovely to work with, and certainly on-par with my GFX50S for Shadow/Highlight recovery, I've also found the colours to be quite pleasing in Q3 Raws, and haven't yet felt the need to play about in post production, so I'm finding post work quite quick.

I felt the saving Q2 to Q3 for a really good one was about £1500 through a dealer. Either is certainly a considered purchase though.

This is good for difference summary

keithwee.com

Leica Q3 in-depth review – Five critical improvements to the Q-system.

Review of the 2023 Leica Q3, focusing on the 5 critical areas of improvement over the Q2 touching on my hands-on experience with real life samples.
keithwee.com keithwee.com

Using the Q3 for a month has certainly opened my eyes, the Q3 is a very effective camera, lovely to use, with amazing image quality (yes there is some slight loss of resolution to the corners, but the sharpness wide open is simply fantastic) and details in the mid-ground and distance are very well resolved.. Whats really been interesting to me is that it has really made me think about my GFX lens choice, the main reason being as follows:-

The GF45mm (35mm FF) which I use a lot in vertical format, on the 4:3 sensor has the same angle of field of view (within 0.1 degree)as the Q3 (28mm) on a 3:2 sensor, cropping the Q3 to 4:3 also gives a similar size (pixel resolution) image - the Q3 image being slightly higher resolution. The Q3 is half the weight of the GFX50S+GF45mm!!

I can see me selling some GFX lenses! Last Saturday I look the Q3 and GFX50S+GF63mm (50mm FOV) out together, and felt that they worked well as a pair.
 
My perfect walkaround is my Leica M and a tiny 35/1.4 pre-asph Summilux lens. It fits inside my jacket or trouser pocket. This goes with me everywhere including to work.

Most of the time it's a M10 (used now about £3.5k). If you want a slightly cheaper version of the 35/1.4, the Voigtlander 35/1.4 classic comes pretty close at a fraction of the price (c. £400 used).

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"The perfect walkaround camera"...is - IMO..

Olympus 35 RC...
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Bought this used, for £30, many years ago. It's tiny... Fits in one pocket, flash in another (if required). Tae use a worn-out phrase...30 years before its time. Even the 42mm lens is the perfect size and one of Olympus's finest. Came across this Ken Rockwell piece around 10 years ago and for the first time ever, agreed with EVERY word he wrote. Read the article/review...

Pros... Everything Rockwell said. Cons...Nothing ! Except ......... It's a film camera...😎

Of all my cameras...it's my go-to...

No flash...Pan F 50...

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I have a similar situation where large Nikon D3X are a bit too large and heavy to go on trips and not even taken the D850 out of the box yet and the iPhone 14 Pro Max has been more useful as it's so easy to use the various lenses and the image quality is not bad. The Leica M9P with 50mm F1.4 and the 28mm F2 are in a small bag so that has been the main carry around and I have a 35mm F1.4 as well.

However the iPhone seems to free me from faffing around and just get into the mode of capturing images acting as a visual notebook but with a considered approach excellent images and ideas do evolve. I have been thinking of the Leica Q3 and not yet ready to make the decision as the M9P seems to be doing a decent job so far.
 
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