Urgent! Thinking of moving from 550D to mirrorless. Lots of questions!!

[tkp77]

I got my EP3 a month ago, and I am loving it more than my Nikon D7000.
Frankly speaking, I face the same problem as TS, I love my D7k, but I just struggle to bring it out every time I go for an outing, I always tell my wife the iPhone will do the job.

But when I got my EP3, the story changes, I got a small camera pouch, and put the camera on my belt, and it is with me for every outing, now, even my wife wants to use the EP3 to take pictures, and she even told me that she wants to carry it to take photos during our upcoming holidays.

I am currently using the camera with the kit lens, and I have borrowed the 20mm f1.7 from a friend, and I can say, I love the lens for its f1.7, but I find that it is a bit expensive, and also, I prefer wider angle, so I bought a 2nd hand 14mm f2.5. Have just got it yesterday, no chance to try out yet. but I think I will love it equally.

Btw, I was a little bit regret not waiting for OMD and get OMD instead of the EP3 initially, but after 1 month of using the EP3, I have no regrets anymore. I don't really need 5axis stabilization, thats too much for me, I love the tilty screen, but the angle the OMD has cannot allow u with many creative ideas, I love those in 60D, oh ya, I got the VF2, 2nd hand from clubsnap, and btw, if you add the cam price and a new VF2, it is still cheaper than the OMD kit, and you still have some money left for a good lens. Btw, you don't need EVF most of the time, unless you are using under bright sun light condition, I remove it to make it more compact.

Ultimately, you will enjoy this camera a lot, as you will bring it out more, and your family will like to use it too. (show them how fast it takes a photo using the touch screen).

Enjoy.

Only downside, is that the video file taken with EP3 is not native on my Mac, I have to import into iMovie, then convert to MP4 for viewing.

Cheers,
FT.

 

[ijnek]

i enjoy using the evf more than using the lcd. i can stablilize the cam better by keepin arms close and tight...used to use d90 and i miss the vf.
then change to ep2, using the lcd to compose pic is ok, but when i need to keep my arms stable, it feels weird...

with om-d, u can hv use flash n still use the evf, a big + for me

 

[titus1984]

Hi

i think i sold you my Sony dslr a few years back. You are still quite impulsive! lol

I think omd is pretty overpriced not to say it is not good. i waited for ep3 price to drop before getting it together with the VF2. one thing i learnt about technology is that you don't need the latest to get good pictures. i agree with some pro here that skill plays an important part as well. I personally think ep3 is good enough for your needs now.

i personally have the 550D as well. i think there are some areas m4/3 cant replace dslr with. I am those that are used to the larger grip, bigger buttons and weight in my hand and feel more comfortable with it. so don't be in a hurry to sell, unless u r certain that u are used to the ep3 and you can shoot using that alone.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[skyunicorn]

:bsmilie:

correction: almost ALL cameras these days come with tilt-able LCD Screens.

ALSO...

when purchasing cameras from brands other than Canon, don't go to John 3:16 unless you know your camera stuff well

Really? why? People a John 3:16 not good? I hate the stuck up attitude at other camera shops though.

John 3:16 is always super duper friendly, BUT I have to wait a loooong time everytime.

 

[skyunicorn]

I got my EP3 a month ago, and I am loving it more than my Nikon D7000.
Frankly speaking, I face the same problem as TS, I love my D7k, but I just struggle to bring it out every time I go for an outing, I always tell my wife the iPhone will do the job.

But when I got my EP3, the story changes, I got a small camera pouch, and put the camera on my belt, and it is with me for every outing, now, even my wife wants to use the EP3 to take pictures, and she even told me that she wants to carry it to take photos during our upcoming holidays.

I am currently using the camera with the kit lens, and I have borrowed the 20mm f1.7 from a friend, and I can say, I love the lens for its f1.7, but I find that it is a bit expensive, and also, I prefer wider angle, so I bought a 2nd hand 14mm f2.5. Have just got it yesterday, no chance to try out yet. but I think I will love it equally.

Btw, I was a little bit regret not waiting for OMD and get OMD instead of the EP3 initially, but after 1 month of using the EP3, I have no regrets anymore. I don't really need 5axis stabilization, thats too much for me, I love the tilty screen, but the angle the OMD has cannot allow u with many creative ideas, I love those in 60D, oh ya, I got the VF2, 2nd hand from clubsnap, and btw, if you add the cam price and a new VF2, it is still cheaper than the OMD kit, and you still have some money left for a good lens. Btw, you don't need EVF most of the time, unless you are using under bright sun light condition, I remove it to make it more compact.

Ultimately, you will enjoy this camera a lot, as you will bring it out more, and your family will like to use it too. (show them how fast it takes a photo using the touch screen).

Enjoy.

Only downside, is that the video file taken with EP3 is not native on my Mac, I have to import into iMovie, then convert to MP4 for viewing.

Cheers,
FT.

Yes ! I can totally relate !! Ohhh I feel quite desperate to run down to funan and myself a 20mm f1.7 ! BUT I'm even thinking of getting the 12mm f2 (so expensive!!).

The camera is SO pretty that I feel a great need to protect it. Which do you guys think is better, one of those half leather cases or get a small crumpler bag and change the neck strap to a wrist strap. Which will be safer?
I don't think those leather cases offer much protection when u are hanging it around your neck and trying to grab a kid. It will definitely hit something hard some day.
But putting it in a bag makes it troublesome to take out for some impromptu shooting. It's SO MUCH smaller than my dslr that I can see myself bringing it everywhere with me ! Especially after I get a pancake, making it EVEN more compact.

By the way, I did not end up buying a new EP3. I got a second hand dual lens kit set for $950 last night at 10pm. So the price difference between a EP3 and a OMD is even greater now to justify. Heck I can even splurge on the lens, or even a VF. I'd probably not get a VF as I don't wish to make it bulkier, but I do find myself keep holding it to my eye to compose... hahahaha hopefully the habit will go away soon coz it makes me look stupid.

 

[ijnek]

at least at john3:16 now, they hv some chairs for u to sit while waiting...like waitin for ur turn...LoL

 

[skyunicorn]

Hi

i think i sold you my Sony dslr a few years back. You are still quite impulsive! lol

I think omd is pretty overpriced not to say it is not good. i waited for ep3 price to drop before getting it together with the VF2. one thing i learnt about technology is that you don't need the latest to get good pictures. i agree with some pro here that skill plays an important part as well. I personally think ep3 is good enough for your needs now.

i personally have the 550D as well. i think there are some areas m4/3 cant replace dslr with. I am those that are used to the larger grip, bigger buttons and weight in my hand and feel more comfortable with it. so don't be in a hurry to sell, unless u r certain that u are used to the ep3 and you can shoot using that alone.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Hahaha my god you have unveiled my hideous history !!

I do find the ep3 awkward to hold after being used to the big and comfy dslr. I do agree with you that I really don't need the BEST camera, or BEST ISO performance. With my tamron and 550D, I'm using ISO 1600 indoors most of the time to be able to get adequate fast shutter speed. (the F1.7 is calling out to me with even faster shutter speed)
I feel that image quality wise I will not be able to tell much of a difference after I get the 20mm. I will miss the ability to zoom in and out though coz I'm lazy but 17-50mm isn't that much anyway, I always wish I have a telephoto lens when I go to the zoo. I frequent the zoo as we are friends of the zoo. With my new dual lens kit, I have the 40-150mm too so I am excited to go check out the white tigers with it !


Hmm u have tempted me with the VF2 now. That's bad !!

One of the thing I find the MOST fun is the tilt shift effect built into the camera !! My PP skills are super duper limited, only for cropping, exposure and vignette.

Taken from my balcony this morning.

One thing I like more on the EP3 than my 550D is taking videos ! First I don't need to twist the knob on the 550D all the way to the other end, EP3 just need to press one button. Second 550D don't do autofocusing in video, I have to focus manually so you will see that I go in and out of focus. I don't know a software as easy as iMovie for editing videos on the PC, so due to laziness I just leave it as it is.

 

[ijnek]

have fun and shoot more.

the art filters r fun

 

[rhema83]

Since skyunicorn has already bought herself a white E-P3, it is pointless for me to comment on which camera she should buy. But let's face it, the E-M5 is really good but expensive. While it is worth every penny, it clearly sits in a price bracket above the E-P3 and competes with enthusiast-level DSLRs such as Canon 60D and Nikon D7000. From my own experience transitioning from DSLR (60D) to m4/3 (E-M5), the two setups cost about the same ($2,650 for 60D + 15-85 + 50/1.4, $2,500 for E-M5 + 12-50 + 25/1.4) so I was simply trading the pros and cons between the two.

I sometimes miss the clear pentaprism OVF or the comfortable handgrip of my 60D. But the much smaller and lighter E-M5 is seeing much more action because I am more inclined to bring it out for random shots. The 60D used to sit in the dry cabinet most of the time and only gets used overseas. So even though the two systems cost about the same, the E-M5 is much more "value for money" to me.

 

[ijnek]

the cam that gets to go out is the better cam

 

[wonglp]

The 60D used to sit in the dry cabinet most of the time and only gets used overseas. So even though the two systems cost about the same, the E-M5 is much more "value for money" to me.

For me, I would bring E-M5/Pen still. I've had 5D for a short while but never once thought about bringing it for travel, say 17-40 and one more prime lens (50/1.4 or 135/2) max is the weight and bulk I can handle. While with Pen/E-M5, 9-18, 20/1.7, 45/1.8 and Samyang FE 7.5 and perhaps can squeeze in 100-300 or a second Pen body. The difference is the size of lenses makes it easy to just bring it without thinking much. Changing lenses is not really an issue for me in travel. not trying to deter you to sell your 60D though, just my personal thoughts.

 

[albertri]

the cam that gets to go out is the better cam

To me the cam that gets to go out more is the "more fun cam"

 

[rhema83]

For me, I would bring E-M5/Pen still. I've had 5D for a short while but never once thought about bringing it for travel, say 17-40 and one more prime lens (50/1.4 or 135/2) max is the weight and bulk I can handle. While with Pen/E-M5, 9-18, 20/1.7, 45/1.8 and Samyang FE 7.5 and perhaps can squeeze in 100-300 or a second Pen body. The difference is the size of lenses makes it easy to just bring it without thinking much. Changing lenses is not really an issue for me in travel. not trying to deter you to sell your 60D though, just my personal thoughts.

Actually I sold my 60D system before I even got my E-M5. I was quite certain that the smaller E-M5 system will be able to do everything I want it to, and be much more travel-friendly. :thumbsup:

For everything else, I still have my (officially my wife's) Canon S95. I will probably bring it to occasions where even the E-M5 will stick out like a sore thumb, or as a backup camera (which also keeps my wife busy while I shoot with the E-M5).

 

[albertri]

Actually TS already decided to get EP3 so I guess can close this already

TS enjoy your new found fun cam! get the 20mm prime or 25mm those are good or if you have extra cash the 12mm good for indoor wide shoots and landscape

 

[skyunicorn]

Is it me or is there a difference in the photos from the kit and the 20mm ? (or just bad skills on my part)

Photo A

Photo B

Can you tell which photo is from which lens?

 

[larrytok]

<start of long background>
I have a 550D that I use with a tamron 17-50mm F2.8 to take photos of my son. I love the photos, the bokeh ! Only thing I don't like is the size and weight of it. So I end up taking most of the photos at home and leaving it at home when we go out. Especially now that I have another newborn, lugging the dslr around take alot of determination and justification.

Reasons for changing:
1) size and weight
2) nobody in the family wants to go near that thing. Everytime I make them take a photo it comes out blur or the wrong thing is in focus because I have it set to focus on the center point all the time and in AF mode. I almost always use it in F2.8 as most shots are taken in doors and my son is not a stationary object. Out of the 3000 photos in my lightroom, I am in probably 50 of them? I will like my kids not to think that mummy did not carry them or play with them at all because there are NO photos of me !!

Anyways I went down to Funan to check out the nex 5n. Sadly john 3:16 does not have it in stock, and my attempt to check it out in SLR revo (no stock), TK photo (don't carry it), alan (gave me a demo set with NO BATTERY and just ask me to deal with it! WTH!), Song (only one that has a set with battery, the guy was FAR from helpful). My hubby was not impressed by the photos taken, and thinks my 550D makes it look like a PNS. I seriously think this is due to 2 things, my tamron lens vs nex kit 18-55mm lens and the LCD screen on my 550D is finer. I went to check the specs on this 550D has 1040k dots, and the nex 5n has 920K dots.

So anyway screw what my hubby thinks as he just doesn't like to spend money, so that is very biased opinions from him.

I am going down to check out the EP3 later and I actually sat down to think about all the differences between the cameras in question.
Namely: Nex 5N, E-P3, Nex 7, O-MD.
Obviously in terms of price, it's 5N vs E-P3 and 7 vs O-MD.
</END of long background>


Can someone please help me answer the questions below?

1. Can my tamron 17-50mm be mounted on any of the cameras?
2. Nex has no in-body image stabilization. So does this mean Nex + prime loses out to Oly + prime?
3. OMD's 5 axis stabilizer really worth it? Enough to annihilate the rest?
4. Video autofocus. All the cameras except OMD has it. Big no no? My 550D does not autofocus in video mode too and I do find it pretty stressful to keep the subject in focus when it moves.
5. EVF vs no EVF. I enjoy my OVF, will I miss it super duper alot until I go and buy the EVF for 5N or EP3? Coz if I do, might as well go for 7 or OMD.
6. Price of lenses. I am keen in the following setup. Either a wide angle prime (12mm ish for oly, 19mm ish for Nex due to crop factor) OR a walkabout lens like my tamron. And when I feel rich and spoilt again, a telephoto lens! Which one will turn out cheaper? Please don't ask me to get those MF lens, it will result in me being the ONLY person able to take a photo.
7. BOKEH ! I LOVE it ! Love the bokeh on my 550D, can I get the same thing on the oly being a M43? Should be easier on the NEX due to sensor size.
8. Tilty screen. Boo for EP3. Yay for everyone else.
9. Lenses wise the M43 wins. Lenses seem to make more difference than camera body. So much so that it wins Nex's better and bigger sensor?
10. In camera HDR? Both oly don't have, neither does my 550D. Is it totally awesome to have HDR in camera? I do like HDR effects though.

Some non objective stuff, olympus body looks nicer to me!
My hubby has made a judgement on the sony so it will be easier to push him to the oly than the sony.

I like the e-p3 for the price, but am afraid I will kick myself for not shelling out the dough (and get into serious ****) for the OMD. But OMD no video autofocus ! Arrghhh!

I only print normal 4x6 photos and post photos on facebook. So no need to pixel peep like siao. I know that in high ISO NEX beats Oly hands down, better IQ etc. I am wondering if I will even notice it.

I will be bringing my own memory card later to take photos on the EP3 and OMD and bring home to compare with my 550D. To make a fair comparison and see if my hubby can really tell the difference or not.

<out of topic>
WHY DID I MARRY A SUPER NON TECHY GUY !! ARRGGGHHHHHHH!!!!
</end>

1. yes , with adaptor on all of them. but u would probably lose AF, some additional stuffs and theres no point to doing that, since dslr lenses are mostly bigger.
2. image stabilization is useful no doubt.. but u must understand how it works.. like 1 to 2 stops difference.. if ur just taking photos (not alot of vids), a proper handheld technic, and the knowledge of the inverse focal length rule to set your proper shutter speed will be more useful, u dont need IS for photo taking in general. but it will be useful IF ur shooting something like 70-200mm lens, where 1-2 stops of IS makes a huge difference... like u can shoot at slower speeds without blur, as u would usually at 200mm , instead of using 1/200 u can probably use 1/60 or 1/100 easily... either oly/nex+prime combos will be the same, depending on the focal length (mostly, sinec their primes are not that long in length)
3. not sure about this.. newer tech probably is better than those other cameras of course..
4. other camera's autofocus might not be that fast during vid.. from what i see from alot of vids online.. people who shoot vid using dslrs usually use manual focus..
5. i dont know about the EVf on om-d, but as compare nex 7 vs xpro1, i can assure u nex 7 is much better in speed of the evf being updated
6. oly definetely has a wider range of lenses. nex is more for people like me who want to mount m mount lenses or other branded lenses .. their sony lenses are really limited.
7. bokeh will not be as good due to the sensor size. BUT, there are amazing lense like 25 1.4 25 0.95 17 0.95 45 1.8 12 2... i m quite sure, with these. its more than enough
8. weird angles, ok need tilty screen, else abit extra..
9. check out 6.
10. people who do HDR, i believe will normally do them with software .. instead of relying on the camera in-built.. just like when you do B+W photos.. u will use color photo first (cos if you just use B+W in built, there might be no way for you to convert back, unless it is taken in RAW, correct me if i m wrong though) then use silver efex pro to convert color-> B+W would be a much much better way.. same goes for HDR.

personally, i would prefer ep3, with good lenses. else get OM-D. not sure about the weight though. if u complained about getting ur camera out to shoot, it is better to get an EP3 honestly speaking.. with the EVF on the OMD inbuilt, it seems like it is kinda much bigger than ep 3 (IMO of course)

 

[skyunicorn]

Actually TS already decided to get EP3 so I guess can close this already

TS enjoy your new found fun cam! get the 20mm prime or 25mm those are good or if you have extra cash the 12mm good for indoor wide shoots and landscape

Yes now I have a new problem ! Which one !

I like the f1.7 but wish it to be wider.
I like the 12mm but wish it to have a bigger aperture for more bokeh.

 

[cannedpineapples]

Is it me or is there a difference in the photos from the kit and the 20mm ? (or just bad skills on my part)

Photo A

Photo B

Can you tell which photo is from which lens?

I vote photo B, sharper and just as cute

 

[albertri]

Yes now I have a new problem ! Which one !

I like the f1.7 but wish it to be wider.
I like the 12mm but wish it to have a bigger aperture for more bokeh.

based on what type of photo you take you need protrait primes than wide angle prime this is based on the photos I've seen you have posted ;-) I have not seen much landscape nor group photos so far mainly all portraits indoors so my best bet either 20mm f1.7 or 25mm f1.4 if you like much narrower field of view the oly 45mm f1.8 its cheaper than the two panasonic and obviously way much cheaper than mZuiko 12 f2

hope this helps

 

[skyunicorn]

I vote photo B, sharper and just as cute

Hahaha thanks! I normally cringe at the sight of my face. I hope you did not use logical deduction that the photo of me in the shop is the 20mm.

I am quite tempted to sell the 14-42 kit man. I will probably never use it after gettin my prime. I will still use the 40-150 for zoo and birds what not.