Going to Japan at end of year...Which ILC camera to buy?

[Agrivar]

Can the lens between the G3 and EP3 be used for each other since the belong to the m4/3 system? If so, the m4/3 system cameras have much more advantages compare to Sony

Yes. The lenses are interchangable. But as been mentioned before, the Panny zoom lenses have OIS in lens, while oly has IS in body (IBIS).
But not to fear using oly lens on panny or panny lens on oly, except for using oly tele zooms on panny bodies in low light, its quite ok.

Why do i say this? Well, the rule of thumb to not get camera shake (which is what IS is for), the shutter speed should be inverse of the 2 x FL (m4/3 terms). i.e. if you are using 20mm panny, your shutter should not be lower than 1/40 s. But I personally have used the 20mm panny at 1/10 and still can get good shots. So its also how stable you can hold the camera.

For longer FL, yes, the shake is more pronounced. so that may not be so good.

Also if you shoot mainly in bright light, no issues as you can always get fast ss

one last thing is that panny prime lenses (14mm 20mm 25mm panleica) dont have OIS anyway.. so why worry .. lol

I'm using an oly 14-54 Mk II as my adapted kit lens on my GH2. I still am able to get good shots even in low light.. its more to do with technique.. my 2 cents

 

[Agrivar]

One more thing about the m4/3 system. Panny has announced the Lumix X lenses. And the first one that will be available in October is the 14-42 PANCAKE zoom with power zoom ! Check this out :

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/panasonic_x_14-42_3p5-5p6/

There's also a review here on CS... This is a game changer.. a GF3 with this lens can now give you better IQ and is as pocketable as a compact camera !! Totall awesome!

 

[zapp!]

I just been to Japan late Aug, the prices of E-P3 there not attractive at all! I think u can use amazon.jp as a reference and do the necessary conversion to give u a ball park price. Now with the yen hitting historic highs against SGD, it might not be a good idea.

 

[pinholecam]

Here is a rough breakdown of the pros and cons.


1. High iso performance - NEX
2. Small compact native lenses with good performance - m43
3. More DOF control - NEX
4. More DOF at same f-stop (ie. Better light gathering ability with more DOF) - m43


Pentax Q is more of a point and shoot camera with options for fast and unique lenses. It also is a unique 'crop, engine with its 5.6x crop. Very tolerant to focus errors due to the large dof. 5.6x crop has interesting uses for long range and macro.


If you look at a Nex with its largish lenses, you can also consider a small body dslr like the pentax Kr. The DA limited primes are very small.

G3 to me is a very good option on m43, better iso performance over the previous models, good evf, small size, but not too small, always fast af (since G1).