Need advise for new camera.

[swifty]

Hi Spidy,
You're buying at a good time because I honestly feel you can't really go wrong with any new model today, regardless of format. Yes, there are capabilities that differ between sensor formats but the majority has an adequate shooting envelope to encompass the majority of shooting conditions.

Since I'm most familiar with m43 for mirrorless systems, here's my 2 cents worth.

I'd personally skip the 12-50mm kit lens. I still have mine from when I bought the original E-M5 but the ring clutch to engage the macro mode became stuck and so it's neither sellable nor worth the price to fix it.
Quite frankly the image quality is just so-so and it's not a particularly fast lens but having said that, I've still had some memorable captures with this zoom lens.
Also the semi-macro mode was nice, as was the dual mechanical and motorized zoom for the occasional videos that I took.

If I'm not mistaken, the E-M5 Mk II comes bundled with a FL-LM3 flash. It's better than the clip-on one that came with the mk I and has bounce capabilities.

I feel m43 strikes a nice balance between performance and size with a very fleshed out lineup of lenses and accessories, perhaps the best for mirrorless systems but I haven't been keeping count closely.
But I guess it's not the overall lens count that matters but what suits you and it seems many of the small, fast/moderately fast primes available in m43 might be a good fit.

I'm currently out of the m43 system but am eyeing getting back in with a Panasonic G9 or a speculated E-M5 mkIII, which might be happening in 2018. But as with all speculations, please take it with a pinch of salt.

 

[Octarine]

Octarine
How's about indoor group photos where u need to fit in large group of people but u can't back far away becoz the room is just 6 meters wide kind of situation? I might face that a lot.

The Depth of Field topic remains: wide open aperture will cause people being out of focus. But you can do several things to verify that part.
1) DOF calculators (online) - check the results for your cameras type and lens. From what I saw, you should be fine.
2) Do a test setup with some friends. Rent the lens you have in mind.
- Use a tripod to keep the camera stationary, set the focus to one specific point (e.g.g front middle) and switch to manual focus.
- Move people to different areas of the image, take pics and check on a monitor if they are sufficiently sharp.
Do these tests at widest aperture and stopped down (e.g. f/5.6), check shutter speed, play with ISO, check sharpness and image noise.
If you do this in structured way you can get a pretty good overview about what works for you in such a situation.
Do keep sufficient space between people at the edge of the group and your image corners to avoid perspective distortions.
The other solution is: light, additional light, and more light .. and stop down. Dimly lit rooms down't look good even with high ISO, uneven light will cause dark corners.
You will need two flashes, triggers for your system (get ETTL types) light stands, umbrellas - and a lot of reading time for the 101 of flash usage: https://strobist.blogspot.sg/

 

[Ah Keong]

Ah Keong,

I believe the decision on the E-M5 mark II has been set.
U can consider used E-M5 mark II to save some budget.

Shoot more and have fun!

 

[SpiderX]

I believe the decision on the E-M5 mark II has been set.
U can consider used E-M5 mark II to save some budget.

Shoot more and have fun!

Thanks for all the advises. Yesterday I went down to the shop and spend a couple of hours to try out few cameras. I tried AX-3, A6300, EM-10MK3 and EM5Mk2. The more I tried the more I understand that EM5Mk2 is more suitable for me in many aspects. So I take it into my possession. I just bought the kit (with 14-150mm lens), a decent tripod (Jusino TK-225S) and a dry cabinet. Here's the baby I've had. I'll spend hours to try and find the best out of the camera, and maybe later, I'll buy a 45mm F1.8 lens to shoot good portraits. Not immediately though.

 

[Edwin Francis]

Congrats, and have fun with your new camera!

 

[Ah Keong]

congrats!

shoot more! have fun!!