Which camera system? Why change? What are the requirements?
Just a few of the questions I have been asking myself more and more recently. At first I thought I had a clear plan of what I wanted out of my gear, how I would use it and invest for the foreseeable future.
Let’s start by going through the camera gear I currently use;
My camera - Nikon D750 full frame DSLR
Wide Angle Lens - Nikon AF-S 16-35mm f/4G VR
Standard Zoom Lens - Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G IF-ED
Telephoto Zoom Lens - Nikon AF-S 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR
Macro Lens - Nikon AF-S 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED VR Micro
I have used this gear for several years now and have been very happy with it. With this focal range and the quality of the lenses I can get great results in almost any situation. I say almost as I would probably look to get a faster wide angle prime for astrophotography.
So if I am happy with my gear, why the need to change? A question I have been asked many times, mainly by my wife.
"In a nutshell, it is mainly down to the weight"
When I got serious about photography DSLRs were king and like most photography enthusiasts you started with a beginner to intermediate level DSLR with the plan to one day upgrade to the best in the line. For me that started with the Nikon D5200, and I quickly moved up to the full frame Nikon D750 investing in better glass along the way. I noticed a big difference moving between the two models, and naturally thought my next step would be the big brother, the Nikon D850. At this point in my photography though I didn’t concern myself with things like the weight of the kit, I just wanted the best I could afford at the time. I was not going out on long hikes on a regular basis and could manage the weight for the odd occasion I did go out all day.
My passion for photography has continued to grow and grow and I find myself wanting to be out with the camera more and more. Especially now the family and I live in the Lake District. Just looking out of the window now while writing this blog post the scenery calls out to you to go out and explore. There are countless times where I have gone out with the family and left the camera gear behind because I’m lacking the enthusiasm to carry the camera bag around.
It is often not until someone else points it out that you realise what has been holding you back. First time this happened was when I asked my wife to carry my tripod for me and she couldn’t believe I had been carrying it around all day. A new lighter carbon fibre one was my next purchase. Already I found this made a huge difference, shedding half a kilo in weight. Fast forward a year or so and we find ourselves spoilt for choice with smaller lighter mirrorless systems. I know, the likes of Sony, have been producing mirrorless systems for some time now and are one of the leaders in this sector. Other brands have been playing catchup for the most part.
To begin with I was not a fan of mirrorless systems and that was mainly down to the poor EVFs on them. I just couldn’t get along with them. However these have vastly improved and continue to do so. Which now opens up more possibilities for my next camera system. Weight is going to be key, as is image quality. Making this choice is not going to be easy.
Key points to look for;
Size and weight
Image quality
Resolution
Does brand matter?
Lenses available now and future releases
Price - we all want the best value for our money right
My D750 has a 24 megapixel full frame sensor, and I think it is fair to say 24 megapixels is what you will find in most cameras today. Some are much higher than this, for example the Nikon D850 with 45.7 megapixels and the Sony A7R IV with 61 megapixels. But do you need that many?
I have been a victim of the chasing megapixels and more is always better propaganda. I will not go into the details of this, however there are many articles and videos out there that explain why this is not always the case. In short this is often down to what you do with your photos. For example higher megapixels could be very useful for studio work, or having the need to crop down to extremes without losing too much image quality.
If you are only going to show your images on social media, or a website then you probably won’t notice a huge difference.
Honestly have you ever sat at your desk looking through your photos thinking “I really need more megapixels, this photo is terrible because it only has 24 megapixels”? I know I haven’t.
When Nikon released the Z6/Z7 mirrorless cameras with the FTZ adapter, I thought this is a great way to move to a mirrorless system without having to invest in lenses all over again. There is one big problem with that though, it doesn’t really reduce the size and weight of all my gear. Sure the camera body is now smaller and lighter with improved functionality but my lenses are still the same. To really take advantage of the size/weight savings a mirrorless system offers you really need to use the lenses designed for them.
Essentially it is like starting all over again.
Before writing this I had already decided on the brands I was willing to consider, they were;
Nikon
Canon
Sony
Fujifilm
Olympus
I have since narrowed this list down to three, Nikon, Sony and Fujifilm. When I chose my first camera it was between Canon and Nikon, I tried out both camera systems and both are great, however I just couldn’t get on with the Canon and there hasn’t been anything they have released since that has made me want to switch to them. Sorry Canon users. As for Olympus, I have heard great things about their camera system and know several people that use them, but I don’t like the idea of dropping down from full frame to micro four thirds. That’s just too much of a jump for me. If you own a Canon or Olympus mirrorless camera, please leave a comment with your thoughts on them. I’d be interested to know how you’ve got on.
Now I thought it would be a good idea to create a table comparing the remaining brands and the camera models I will be considering with the lenses that would provide a similar range to what I currently have. I am not going to do a full spec comparison at this point, and will be focusing on the weight and price;
Unfortunately Nikon do not have as wide a range of mirrorless lenses as the other brands at present, so I would need to continue using a couple of F mount lenses with the adapter. No weight saving there, but certainly a cost saving for now.
Yes there are smaller, lighter, and cheaper lenses for each brand and possible third party brands to consider, though for this comparison I wanted to select as close to what I have now as possible. Clearly the Fujifilm system is both lighter and cheaper by quite a margin. Is this down to the sensor size? We need to remember that the Fuji has a crop sensor whereas the Sony and Nikon are both full frame. If we look at the actual camera body though there is not a huge amount between them, a mere 68g between the lightest and the heaviest mirrorless camera. The lenses appear to make a big difference with up to 200g saving on a lens. Looking at this table it shows I could reduce the weight by up to 1000g.
Does the sensor size matter? I’m not so sure anymore, especially for the type of photography I do.
Can you create great images on with APS-C sensor? Yes.
Can you create great images on a full frame sensor? Yes.
What makes you choose one over the other?
Writing this blog has raised more questions and left me with more to think about before pulling the trigger.
If I was to make the decision based on size and weight alone then the Fujifilm X-T4 would be the winner here. Is it that simple though?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Have you recently made the switch? What factors did you consider?
Be sure to come back soon to find out what I decided to do.