Hi all, I'm a hobbyist tired of lugging around DSLR weight on vacations and would love to make the switch to mirrorless. I'm currently using a Canon XT mostly with Sigma 30mm f/1.4 and Sigma 10-20mm. So bokeh and ultra wide angle are what I'd be looking for in mirrorless lenses. My budget would be around 1k, and I have no problem buying used or refurbished.
I liked a lot of the MFT options but the lenses that suit my needs were more expensive than their DSLR counterparts! It looks like Canon is coming out with a well priced 11-22mm with IS but I have my reservations about the body and 22mm f/2 as the wide walkaround option. Nikon 1 series doesn't look very bokeh friendly. Suggestions?
Well if you knock out the Canon-M and Nikon-1, then you still have Fuji, Nex, and u4/3. If you want the same lenses as the ones on your XT, it's probably gonna be over 1k to be honest.
Are you comfortable with manual focus? Mirrorless systems are really great for this and that will keep the bokeh part of your requirements cheap. Otherwise I find it really hard to get a lens with good bokeh, a wide angle, and newer body for $1k.
Finally, these mirrorless systems (combined with the lenses you'll want) aren't a whole lot smaller than the Rebel XT and the lenses you own, IMHO. Granted, they'll all be newer and all the goodness that comes from recent technological developments since 2005 (XT release year)
Have you thought about just getting the Canon M with an EF/EF-s adapter to continue using your current lenses? You'd save a lot of money this way (I think I've seen Canon M's in the $300-400 range).
sophia wrote:
Hi all, I'm a hobbyist tired of lugging around DSLR weight on vacations and would love to make the switch to mirrorless. I'm currently using a Canon XT mostly with Sigma 30mm f/1.4 and Sigma 10-20mm. So bokeh and ultra wide angle are what I'd be looking for in mirrorless lenses. My budget would be around 1k, and I have no problem buying used or refurbished.
I liked a lot of the MFT options but the lenses that suit my needs were more expensive than their DSLR counterparts! It looks like Canon is coming out with a well priced 11-22mm with IS but I have my reservations about the body and 22mm f/2 as the wide walkaround option. Nikon 1 series doesn't look very bokeh friendly. Suggestions?...Show more →
$1K total budget? Not going to make it today, you're looking at more like $1500-2K for a similar setup to your XT.
Closest would be a GX1 with the Leica 25/1.4 and the Oly 9-18. With a little judicious looking around you can get the GX1 body dirt cheap (like $200) and the lenses can be had for around $500 each (a little more for the 9-18, the 25 can be had a little cheaper used). This is also by far the smallest & most compact option, the 9-18 is actually smaller than the already compact 25. Given your budget, this is my recommendation. You can easily spend $2-3K on a similar setup by going to one of the better bodies (OM-D E-M5 or the PEN E-P5, both with in-body IS) and replacing the very good 9-18 with the outstanding 7-14.
In NEX land, you'd be looking at something akin to a 5N (again cheap), a Sony 35/1.8 OSS and a 10-18/4 OSS. That's going to run around $14-1500, you could also get a Smart Adapter and keep the Sigma instead of buying the Sony 35 (giving you a bit more DoF isolation at the cost of size, AF speed and optical performance)
From Fuji you can go with the X-E1, 35/1.4, and their upcoming UWA zoom (or the 14/2.8). But that's going a lot closer to $2K, Fuji doesn't have cheap options in their system yet.
In Samsung land you'd be looking at a cheap body, the 30/2 pancake and the 12-24. Around $900 for the lenses, bodies range in value so you can probably get an older body for ~2-300 or a newer body for more. Samsung is an interesting alternative for your needs as the bodies do not keep their value and the lens lineup is remarkably good for this much-ignored system. Downside is the sensors are not comparable to the best on the market, but they're comparable to anything Canon is selling in APS-C.
As to the EOS M. Well the body is mediocre at best. Slow AF, IQ inferior to all the options I mention above except some of the Samsungs, and really only 2 lenses of interest (albeit in your case close to what you want). The 22/2 is by all reports pretty good. But it's wider than what you have now, and won't give you anything longer than your wide zoom and less DoF isolation due to being somewhat wider.
And as to bokeh, all of the fast lenses discussed will allow you to get bokeh shots. Only the Fuji 35 will match your 30/1.4 in terms of DoF isolation, but all of the lenses you'd be looking at are far superior optically the the profoundly mediocre Sigma 30/1.4 (assuming you have the original, not the new one which just came out). You'll give up a stop of DoF, but get sharp shots wide open which the Sigma won't do.
Note in term of the lens quality, the Fuji 35 and the Leica 25 are pretty much tied for best in class, the Leica might be a bit better both are far superior to the Sigma 30/1.4. The rest I recommend are solid lenses comparable to your 10-20 or better.
Adam, super job in putting all of that together for Sophia. I agree completely and anything I might add would only reflect my bias toward micro four thirds (For example, don't underestimate the difference the Olympus IBIS can make.)
But Sophia, remember that, whichever choice you make, for the extra $$$ you are moving up a couple of steps in technology over what you have now, so it really is a meaningful investment.
Thanks for all the thorough responses! I'm coming around to seeing MFTs as a worthy investment. I certainly hope they'd be a lot smaller and lighter, because that's half the point of upgrading. I'm looking at Olympus bodies for the IS, finding good prices for the E-PM1 and E-PL2. Also do you think the Panasonic 20/1.7 would be a reasonable substitute for the 25/1.4? It's almost half the price!
Sophia, the 20mm/1.7 and the 25mm/1.4 are quite different lenses.
20mm/1.7: Small and light, generally quite sharp (there is sample variation), and focuses reasonably quickly and accurately, but the focus system buzzes a bit. The rendering of this lens is generally considered to be "blah" as there is not much micro contrast to add depth, detail and character. In general, an adequate but not stunning travel lens. I owned one, but I sold it after trying the 25mm/1.4.
25mm/1.4: Larger and heavier (but still small compared to FF lenses). A bit faster, obviously. But this lens has great micro contrast and character galore resulting from its Leica design heritage, and superior quality as quality control for this lens is performed by Leica employees. Many people (including me) consider this to be the one of the best micro four thirds lenses, and in fact rate it among the better lenses available for any format. Even with the older 12 megapixel cameras you are considering, you would likely see the difference in image quality, as I did.
So the choice between the two comes down to three things: Intent as to how you will use the camera, image quality expectations, and budget.
sophia wrote:
Thanks for all the thorough responses! I'm coming around to seeing MFTs as a worthy investment. I certainly hope they'd be a lot smaller and lighter, because that's half the point of upgrading. I'm looking at Olympus bodies for the IS, finding good prices for the E-PM1 and E-PL2. Also do you think the Panasonic 20/1.7 would be a reasonable substitute for the 25/1.4? It's almost half the price!
You really want to get one of the 16MP bodies. The increase in IQ is substantial over the older 12MP sensor, particularly at mid ISO's, even if it means giving up the IBIS system IMHO.
As to the 20 vs the 25, It's worth paying the extra again. It's simply one of the best normal lenses made today, while the 20's a decent lens but both somewhat slow to AF (OK on the Panasonic bodies, slow on the Olympus) and unimpressive in rendering. If Budget is truly cramped the 20 is worth choosing, but frankly I'd buy less body just to fit the 25 into the system.
Note my current system is the OM-D E-M5 with the 25/1.4 and the kit 12-50 (which I use as a 12mm prime and a 43mm macro, it's two best areas). My next lenses will be the 9-18 and 60 macro (with an eventual goal of owning the Panny 7-14/4 & 35-100/2.8, the 25/1.4 and the 60 Macro. May have a normal zoom in there too, probably the 12-35/2.8 or whatever Oly comes up with to match)
(For example, don't underestimate the difference the Olympus IBIS can make.)