I've been shooting a Nikon Z8 for the past several years, living closer to Yellowstone area with a lot of opportunities for wildlife. Now I've moved back to the desert and am doing quite a lot more hiking or travel where photography is secondary. I don't want to throw out wildlife forever but am having a hard time justifying owning a big, expensive lens that I never bring. I'm barely ever bringing even the Z8 + 24-120 now.
Long story short, I'm looking to downsize dramatically to something that'll fit in a big backpack hip-belt pocket. My can't-live-withouts are decent IBIS, very compact body, at least one good pancake, at least one small wide angle. Ideally, I'd also get weather sealing and image quality better than say the 16MP m4/3 camera generation.
I tried a Canon Powershot V1 and worried it wasn't dust/sand proof enough to survive outdoors, plus no filters. I bought a Fuji X-M5 and am not getting along with it. The controls are really small and fiddly, I'm not wild about Fuji menus, and no IBIS.
What are some other good options? I'm willing to look back a few years for the right camera. So far my best ideas are...
- X-E5: new 13-33 is compact and useful zoom, slightly bigger body, no weather seal, still Fuji menus/controls
- OM-3: computer photography, weather-sealed, smallest telephotos by far, much bigger body with viewfinder hump, no compact and wide zoom for m4/3, worst sensor
- A7Cii: best image, best AF, very limited small autofocus lens choices, probably just leads me to buying big lenses
Is there something I'm not thinking of? m4/3 seems like the thing, but where are the rangefinder-style, no hump bodies?
With your list of likes and dislikes in mind - I'd probably go with an A7CR 20-70 combo.
The 40 2.5 is a nice pancake. The 20 1.8 is a very sharp and compact wide but the 20-70 is my go-to travel / daily carry lens. Plenty of megapickles for room to crop.
The 20-70 is way bigger than I'm thinking, but I do like it a lot too.
Maybe I have a 40 2.5 or 35 2.8 for small camera mode, and normal size lenses for when I'm shooting from the truck or willing to carry a camera backpack.
Have you looked at the OM-5 II? It's super lightweight and delivers awesome images. I have the first generation OM-5, and I absolutely love it! I also have a Canon R6II, Sony A7c, and Sony A7IV, but my OM-5 is my main backup camera (it's also the camera I use whenever I'm in adverse weather conditions).
I got rid on my Ricoh GRIII Street Edition because it really didn't live up to the hype. It wasn't weather sealed, and AF tracking was terrible.
Just one data point. Unless you plan to shoot an unprotected camera (and lens) in a downpour, true weather sealing may not be needed.
lawa222 wrote:
I've been shooting a Nikon Z8 for the past several years, living closer to Yellowstone area with a lot of opportunities for wildlife. Now I've moved back to the desert and am doing quite a lot more hiking or travel where photography is secondary. I don't want to throw out wildlife forever but am having a hard time justifying owning a big, expensive lens that I never bring. I'm barely ever bringing even the Z8 + 24-120 now.
Long story short, I'm looking to downsize dramatically to something that'll fit in a big backpack hip-belt pocket. My can't-live-withouts are decent IBIS, very compact body, at least one good pancake, at least one small wide angle. Ideally, I'd also get weather sealing and image quality better than say the 16MP m4/3 camera generation.
I tried a Canon Powershot V1 and worried it wasn't dust/sand proof enough to survive outdoors, plus no filters. I bought a Fuji X-M5 and am not getting along with it. The controls are really small and fiddly, I'm not wild about Fuji menus, and no IBIS.
What are some other good options? I'm willing to look back a few years for the right camera. So far my best ideas are...
- X-E5: new 13-33 is compact and useful zoom, slightly bigger body, no weather seal, still Fuji menus/controls
- OM-3: computer photography, weather-sealed, smallest telephotos by far, much bigger body with viewfinder hump, no compact and wide zoom for m4/3, worst sensor
- A7Cii: best image, best AF, very limited small autofocus lens choices, probably just leads me to buying big lenses
Is there something I'm not thinking of? m4/3 seems like the thing, but where are the rangefinder-style, no hump bodies?...Show more →
lawa222 wrote:
The 20-70 is way bigger than I'm thinking, but I do like it a lot too.
Maybe I have a 40 2.5 or 35 2.8 for small camera mode, and normal size lenses for when I'm shooting from the truck or willing to carry a camera backpack.
I believe A7cII or A7CR plus a number of small Sony and 3rd party lenses might meet your needs. Consider, "Sony Full Frame E-Mount Lens SEL2860 - The World’s Smallest & lightest* Full-Frame E-Mount Standard Zoom Lens" might be of interest as well if you are prioritizing "small" above all else. Also, If you are comfortable with MF-only, modern Voigtländer e-mount lenses will bring major prime IQ w/ plenty of light in small/compact form factor. As you wrote, if on occasion you need more light or reach you can attach the more normal sized/weight FF lenses either Sony or 3rd Party.
The smallest I can think of that works around your dislikes is the A7CII or R with one or two the small Sony primes 24/40/50 also Viltrox makes some small light primes too in their Air series.
lawa222 wrote:
The 20-70 is way bigger than I'm thinking, but I do like it a lot too.
Maybe I have a 40 2.5 or 35 2.8 for small camera mode, and normal size lenses for when I'm shooting from the truck or willing to carry a camera backpack.
If I'm going smaller than 20-70 then it's the Q2. . I do love the little CV40 but it's limited to 40 obviously.
I no longer have the A7CR, but I can positively review the Sigma 17mm & 90mm, 40G and 24-50mm G. The thing about the 24-50mm G is that with the A7CR in APSc mode the long end goes to 70mm. Here is the Sigma 17mm with just a bit of saturation…
It's really hard to give recommendations here. The best I can say is: shoot on what gives you joy.
If that's a Leica M11, get that. If that's Fuji X100VI, get that. If that's sticking to your Nikon Z8, use that.
It seems to me that picking the option that you enjoy is far more important than probably anything that we could suggest.
In your situation, I probably would just stick with the Z8, get a nice lightweight 35mm (or so, +/-) prime and enjoy walking around with that. I realize you list 3x compact camera bodies, and I'm not ignoring them per se. But again, to me it would simply be a function of what you like.
As an example, if size is the major conceit, it's probably a much bigger issue to find a camera system with compact lenses. Which is why a camera like the M11, would even come up. Sony has released a series of compact lenses like the 40mm f/2.5 G. Sigma has done the same with a series of compact "C" lenses that give options on a number of different camera system. That would allow you to choose Panasonic, Sony, Nikon, etc.
Anyway, if this isn't helpful, disregard. But for me, I've been approaching most things from a philosophical perspective, because it's that grounding that helps me make decisions that I don't regret at some point in the future.
lawa222 wrote:
I've been shooting a Nikon Z8 for the past several years, living closer to Yellowstone area with a lot of opportunities for wildlife. Now I've moved back to the desert and am doing quite a lot more hiking or travel where photography is secondary. I don't want to throw out wildlife forever but am having a hard time justifying owning a big, expensive lens that I never bring. I'm barely ever bringing even the Z8 + 24-120 now.
Long story short, I'm looking to downsize dramatically to something that'll fit in a big backpack hip-belt pocket. My can't-live-withouts are decent IBIS, very compact body, at least one good pancake, at least one small wide angle. Ideally, I'd also get weather sealing and image quality better than say the 16MP m4/3 camera generation.
I tried a Canon Powershot V1 and worried it wasn't dust/sand proof enough to survive outdoors, plus no filters. I bought a Fuji X-M5 and am not getting along with it. The controls are really small and fiddly, I'm not wild about Fuji menus, and no IBIS.
What are some other good options? I'm willing to look back a few years for the right camera. So far my best ideas are...
- X-E5: new 13-33 is compact and useful zoom, slightly bigger body, no weather seal, still Fuji menus/controls
- OM-3: computer photography, weather-sealed, smallest telephotos by far, much bigger body with viewfinder hump, no compact and wide zoom for m4/3, worst sensor
- A7Cii: best image, best AF, very limited small autofocus lens choices, probably just leads me to buying big lenses
Is there something I'm not thinking of? m4/3 seems like the thing, but where are the rangefinder-style, no hump bodies?...Show more →
What "big, expensive lens" were you using for wildlife?
jeffbuzz wrote:
What "big, expensive lens" were you using for wildlife?
I've used a mix of 400/4.5, 600G, 500/4E FL, 800PF, and 600PF. They all are great for various prices and expectation levels, especially the 500/4 and 600PF are wicked sharp. I've also used the Sony 200-600 extensively and am not a big fan of it.
Interestingly, I have gone the opposite way to you: from Fuji to Nikon, in particular from an XT3 to a Z5II. I have kept the Fuji, though, as I have a lot of fondness for the camera and its resale value is not worth the trouble.
I’ll put in a fairly platform agnostic recommendation here: manual focus primes might suit you in your quest for small size. Voigtländer makes lenses for Sony, Nikon, Fuji as well as Leica these days, and modern mirrorless technology makes focusing easy.
One choice for me in that use: Z50II. Perfect tool for the job. Small ight, cheap, disposable, same logic as your Z8 and it takes fantastic pictures. Con: you will not impress forum members with your purchase.
Canon has APC R-models have same capabilities and may be cheaper. I like them. Only knock is the Nikon-Canon logic mix.
lawa222 wrote:
- OM-3: computer photography, weather-sealed, smallest telephotos by far, much bigger body with viewfinder hump, no compact and wide zoom for m4/3, worst sensor
I just want to comment here, the "worst sensor" is still quite good. With modern noise reduction I find that shooting at 6400 or 12800 for birds/wildlife is perfectly doable with M43 sensors; I run it through DxO PureRAW and it cleans the files up nicely. That said, I think the dynamic range can be lacking if you are used to larger sensor cameras--I tried using M43 for landscape photos but I honestly was never 100% happy with the results. Others seem to manage fine though so perhaps I just didn't get it right somehow.
The lenses tend to range from good to excellent and there are so many options out there now. Three 40-150 and one 50-200 lens just as an example (and they're all good performers!). And for us birders the 150-400 1.25x is absolutely amazing.
If you want a compact-ish m43 rig, I think packing a small body with the 12-45/4 and 40-150/4 would be hard to beat. 24-300mm equivalent with great performance for around 1kg weight...
taildraggin wrote:
One choice for me in that use: Z50II. Perfect tool for the job. Small ight, cheap, disposable, same logic as your Z8 and it takes fantastic pictures. Con: you will not impress forum members with your purchase.
Hah! After how many people have come up to talk to me at animal traffic jams over the last 4 years, I can't wait to not impress anyone with my camera.
I did look at Z50ii as first option so I could keep the wonderful 600PF. It's a pass because no IBIS and not quite small enough with its viewfinder hump. I'd even gladly use a Z30 if it just had stabilization.
Here is another vote for the Z50ii. The DX lenses for it have stabilization. I have a couple of Z50’s bought when my Z6 and it’s FX lenses became too heavy and big to carry around for a few hours.
I can have a Z50 with the kit 16-50 or one of my smaller MF Voightlanders around my neck all day with no problem. If I was using the 600 I’d just carry a monopod for it if needed.
. I do love the little CV40 but it's limited to 40 obviously. 
