Simplifying My Already Simple Setup

topgazza

It's been a long, long while and after gazing at my navel, I think its my navel, I was wondering how basic I could make it.

So I have an

Olympus OM-D EM10 Mk2
Panasonic 14-140
Olympus 60mm macro
Panasonic 20mm 1.7
Sony RX100

All this started when I figured I would prefer an RX100 with a viewfinder. Like many of us here I no longer go out a lot with camera gear in tow. I usually take the RX if I am in town of want to travel light and the Oly on other times. I've even started using my iPhone Xs.

Recieved an offer of £715 for the Oly and lenses off MPB which is not too bad. But that then leaves me with a choice.

1. I can either just buy a Oly 25mm 1.8 prime lens for the OM-D and sell the 20mm.
2. Get rid of all of it and buy a Panny LX100 or similar so a fixed lens fairly small camera.
3. Just buy an RX100 Mk4 or 5

Whilst I dont use my camera gear a lot anymore it seems a shame to sell off the Oly when its still a god body and takes pinsharp pictures with whatever lens I use. Am I overthinking this ?

snerkler

Only you can decide really. I'm confused by 1 though, all this seems to be doing is swapping the 20mm for a 25mm and still being in the same predicament?

How much do you use the Olly? If it's very little indeed would you miss it?

I don't like the viewfinder in the RX100's, too small in terms of frame size, and also eyepiece size. YMMV. When I had the RX100-3 I just ended up using the rear screen, it didn't feel natural to use the viewfinder.

topgazza

I hardly use the Oly so would I miss it ? I guess not but seems a shame.

I dont mind the VF in the RX100. I have tried one and just found it useful to frame a shot when the sun is bright

Johnmcl7

After I upgraded my phone I found I mostly stopped using the RX100m4 even though I've been a big fan of the RX100 series with its 1in sensor but while the phone camera isn't as good as the RX100 it's mostly good enough.  The 1in sensor is good for its size but at the same time it doesn't have the high iso and wide dynamic range larger sensors offer leaving it with and awkward middle ground for me.  I know some swear by its viewfinder but I find the handling really awkward as there's not much of a lens barrel to hold onto to balance it so almost never use it.

I ended up with the FF RX1 replacing my RX100m4 as my carry around camera which in turns has left my D750 in a similar position to your Olympus setup.  However the times when I need it I do find it handy but I do feel frustrated it's in use so little of the time.

topgazza

That’s what I found scary John. How good the iPhone can be. For general shots it’s more than good, it’s quite brilliant. I have forced myself to just take my iPhone on days out and have always been pleased with the results.

But I still want a camera and that’s the conundrum. What you say about the RX100 mk4 occurs to me as well. It’s not often the sun plays a problem but  hence wanting a VF. My Mk1 still takes some of the best quality shots in most circumstances, especially indoors in museums and so on and crops really well. RX1 has been on my radar and MPB have some Mk1 at decent prices to try. At the other end I’m looking at the 1 inch RX10 bridge as, well , a bridge for now although I’m getting used to using fixed lens or even single small zoom. Size is against it to a degree and how much would I really use the 600mm ?

topgazza

Looking at the Panasonic LX100 II today and that was quite impressive as well. Handles well, little bit of a zoom similar to the RX100 and really good IQ.

topgazza

Having more thought on this I am beginning to suspect that I have an issue with my lens range. I really feel I want to just pick the camera up and take pictures without worrying about some of the settings. Although I'm used to the Oly's menu and rarely change things I always feel I'm not getting the most out of it or maybe just feeling I'm missing something. So I tend to pick up the RX100.

Looking at Fuji X-T30 I note their excellent lenses are still very expensive but Fuji, for me, was always a simple camera to use with the controls on the top that you mostly need. Perhaps my concern over the Oly is based on not using it as much but maybe I just need a zoom walkabout lens thats better than the very good Panny 14-140 I use. The Panny 12-35 f2.8 Mk1 looks ideal and gets as good write ups as the newer Mk2. Its 24-70 equivalent is fine and I find the same range on the RX100 perfect.

So the dilema is possibly down to lack of use and confidence in the camera and p[erhaps the lenses as well. All unjustified I suspect but the 12-35 is not cheap even second hand. ICould just sell the gear to MPB for £715 and have a ponder and use the RX100 for now or keep the OM-D EM10, sell the 14-140 and 20mm and invest in that 12-35. I dont want to change for the sake of change and the Oly really is an excellent camera.

I'll have a ponder

Johnmcl7

I've been surprised how much I use the phone as previously the pictures weren't bad but it was great for convenience however with the current phone the pictures are impressive as is the speed of opening the camera and taking the pictures.  

I thought the same about RX10 series and bought the current one at the time which was a mk2, I know that's a lot shorter than the mk3/4 but I don't think that would have changed my use of it.  The camera didn't work for me as I found that although it is smaller than my mirrorless setups, the size difference wasn't enough and I found I took the Nex-6/18-200mm or the D750/28-300mm instead with their much better sensors.  

The RX1 is a bit of an odd camera and not one I could recommend nor on paper is it suited to my use either given I normally prefer zooms and flexibility, the 35mm is neither a wide angle or telephoto.  The RX1 is an old camera and that's not so much an issue with the sensor as I expected but other aspects such as the auto-iso being very basic and no NFC/wifi.  It's much bulkier than the RX100 series as the lens doesn't retract and protrudes a long way out of the body so it can't really be carried in a pocket.  AF is very pedestrian, there's no IS and the video mode is largely worthless.

I bought it as a local camera store had one cheap and I've always been fascinated with it from a technology point of view, initially I thought I'd made a huge mistake as it feels like it's an RX100 with a fixed lens and no stabilisation but as odd as it sounds it's hard to appreciate it's an FF sensor it has.  It's quickly become one of my favourite cameras as it's still easy enough to carry around with me and the FF sensor gives it a noticeable advantage over the phone sensor for high iso, dynamic range and shallow depth of field.  The lens is sharp and although the 35mm was a bit odd to start with I'm used to it now and oddly while the fixed lens is limiting the flip side is I never have to think about which lens to take, just accept the limitations of the lens.

The difficulty is with choosing cameras is that there's ones that look perfect for my use like the RX10 but have ended up gathering dust while other unusual choices have worked out extremely well.

I've seen a lot of praise for the Fuji cameras and I've fancied picking one up with a prime when I've seen a good deal on them but that's clearly not a good idea for me.  I'd probably only be considering the Fuji over 4/3 if finding the DR or high iso a bit restrictive.

Good luck with the hunt

topgazza

Thanks for that John. Underlines some of my concerns over the RX1 and RX10. I've had two Fujis and enjoyed them immensly. PQ is outstanding and if I remember the reason I got rid of them was lens choice. At least the second one anyway as the first was fixed lens. Now the range has increased and although very expensive the are great lenses. Even the cheaper standard lenses are of a very high image quality. Love the rangefinder elemnt to them. I'm just not sure I want to invest all over again when in reality I have a decent camera.

I think I'm going for the 12-35 pro lens for my Oly OM-D Em10 Mk II and see if that give me the "ease of use" that will make me pick the camera up again. It does take excellent pictures with very little effort and like Fuji I've always loved the colours and detail on Olympus cameras

AMc

I’m curious that you’re looking at the Panasonic f2.8 12-35.
Have you ruled out the Olympus 12-40 f2.8 Pro for a particular reason?
I picked one up for £350 or so used. It’s a chunky lens compared to the 14-42 pancake I was using for general shooting but it’s not difficult to carry all day.

This weekend we went to Kew Gardens to see a glass sculpture trail, I  took all my lenses to London then at the last minute took just the 17mm f1.8 and the 12-40. I didn’t even take the 17 out of the bag.

One thing I love about the 17 is you can use the clutch to switch to manual focus and press an fn button to enable focus peaking. The pro is even better as it has the clutch and a fn button on the lens. I used that several times focusing on glass in bright sun.

I’ve not had the pro for long but there is an album in my Flickr - link in my sig - if you’re interested. They pop up around that price used on forums or grey is an option.