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New Camera Advice

R

Robby

pfm Member
I have recently sold my Leica Q and with some of the proceeds I am looking to get myself a new camera but having looked at dozens of different combinations I am at the point where I am going round in circles.

I mainly shoot landascapes but also family stuff (holidays etc).

I have around £1,600 to spend (no more though) and have narrowed down the following. A couple new tech, a couple "old". The issue I have with some of the new cameras is that they seem to be out of date within a year or so and the s/h prices plummet. Hence looking at a couple of older models where the hit has already happened.

1. Nikon D810 with 24-120 lens. I appreciate it will need something better in the lens department in the long run.

2. Sony A7R ii with 28-70 lens. Again in the lens department this will need improving in the long run - arguably an inferior lens to the Nikon

3. Sony A7 iii with 28-70 lens. The lens - yep, I know!

4. Fuji X-T3 with 18-55 kit lens. Could stick with this lens for a while.

The first three are, as you probably know, full frame which would be my preference. Whislt I appreciate the strengths of the Fuji I have had a couple before and for some reason been a little underwhelmed.

A couple of the above would be grey market purchases - not had a problem with these before and happy to take the gamble.

Any thoughts?
 
Have you discounted the Fuji X-T2? I picked mine up for under £600. I like the handling of it but I'm not sure that it is the very best for landscapes. Sure, it is great for other things and takes up little space. Hated the Sony A7 that I had. Took great photos but was like operating a computer. I've never had a Nikon digital camera, but from what I've seen on this site, the landscapes have been great. A D700 is crazy cheap now.
 
I still use the X-T1 and love it. The XF 18-55mm f2.8-4 seems like a good option since it's actually pretty fast and well built for the price (e.g. buying from someone who split it from a kit).

I actually use the 18-135 which has been very nice with weather sealing for travel. I would consider either the 18-55 or 18-135 as all around lenses, and then maybe one nice prime in your favorite focal length (e.g. 35mm or 23mm f1.4).
 
You can pick up XH1s for under a thousand now, I think that's a good buy. Partner that with a XF 16-55 / 2.8 rather than the kit lens and you'd have a smashing system. Alternatively the Pro 2 is discounted now, with a couple of primes.
 
k90tour said:
Have you discounted the Fuji X-T2? I picked mine up for under £600. I like the handling of it but I'm not sure that it is the very best for landscapes. Sure, it is great for other things and takes up little space. Hated the Sony A7 that I had. Took great photos but was like operating a computer. I've never had a Nikon digital camera, but from what I've seen on this site, the landscapes have been great. A D700 is crazy cheap now.
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I had the original A7 and agree that the menus are atrocious. Nice images though.
 
Why do you need full frame, to what size are you enlarging / printing the images ???

In my mind full frame is 10 inches by 8 inches on a glass plate or using cut film. And even 10x8 is smaller than the original plate camera
 
Derek Wright said:
Why do you need full frame, to what size are you enlarging / printing the images ???

In my mind full frame is 10 inches by 8 inches on a glass plate or using cut film. And even 10x8 is smaller than the original plate camera
Click to expand...

I usually go to A3+ with my Canon printer at home.

I don’t “need” full frame - I have always felt though that full frame sensors have a certain look.

Additionally, one thing that irritates is having to convert the 35mm focal length of the lens to the appropriate sensor size.
 
Derek Wright said:
Why not try out a m4/3rds camera via the Olympus Test and Wow scheme - you get 24 hours use of the equipment to see what the format can do.
see
https://wow.olympus.eu/

Your back will thank you for the experience.
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I have had the EM5 Mk2 in the past and hate to say it but was a little underwhelmed with the image quality.

Brilliant in every other way though.
 
It might be worth looking at the forthcoming Canon EOS RP - FF & lots of cheapish Canon lenses using the adapter. IQ of the R is excellent.
 
Robby,

If you're looking for a small camera, any Fuji mirrorless camera in your price range would be a good place to start. I don't know the Sony models well, but their full frame cameras aren't ginormous.

If the Nikon D810 is too big, maybe a D610 would be small enough.

Joe
 
Joe P said:
Robby,

If you're looking for a small camera, any Fuji mirrorless camera in your price range would be a good place to start. I don't know the Sony models well, but their full frame cameras aren't ginormous.

If the Nikon D810 is too big, maybe a D610 would be small enough.

Joe
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I moved from a big slr our of necessity a few years ago. For a while all I could hold wight-wise was a 1960s Minolta range finder. Eventually I settled on Fuji as things improved a little, and I would never consider going back to an slr now.
 
Gav,

I've gone with the smallest, lightest full-frame DSLR that Nikon makes, so I understand where you're coming from.

My out-and-about kit is a Nikon Df with a 20mm f/3.5 Voigtlander, 28mm f/2.8 Voigtlander, 40mm f/2 Voigtlander and one of the following, depending on what I'm planning to photograph — 105mm f/2.5 Nikkor, 105mm f/4 Micro-Nikkor or 75-150mm f/3.5 Nikkor.

If you're carrying the camera for a day size and weight do matter. As compact and as light as that kit is, it's still quite heavy if I'm lugging it around for a day.

Joe
 
I decided to go full-frame myself recently and went with the Pentax K1 (which I paid about £1300 for new) and a 2nd hand Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 (that I paid £200 for). In my case the reason for going with the K1 is that I already have lots of Pentax lenses from my film days that I can use - however it is proving to be a very good camera - so much so that my APS-C stuff (also Pentax) has gone to my son. I have a micro 4/3 system (a couple of bodies and maybe half a dozen lenses) which I use a fair bit however for me that's more as an alternative to a point and shoot and I find when using it that I miss my K1.

If I'm out with a full kit (typically something like the K1, 24-70 F2.8, 20-35 F2.8, 80-200 F2.8, 50mm macro, 14mm F2.8, 2xTC, flash, tripod - and often a little film camera like by Voigtlander Bessa-L with 25mm snapshot Skopar) then that does weigh a fair bit although it's not bad with a decent camera rucksack. For days out (e.g. hillwalking trips) I usually just take the K1, 24-70mm F2.8 plus consumer spec 19-35mm and 70-300 lenses, sticking the lenses in the side pockets of my OMM rucksack - in which case the weight isn't really noticeable. The micro 4/3 system gets used when I just want to stick a body and a couple of lens in my jacket pockets and not take a bag of any kind.
 
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