Worth switching to mirrorless?

[Gad-Westy]

GetCarter said:

Gad-Westy said:

Ignoring all the other obvious benefits of the Sony, the above can't be true can it? Or at least not like for like?

An A7Rii is only about 250g lighter than a D800 and I was under the impression lenses were more or less the same size and weight.

Current camera bag: 10" x 8" x 5" with two bodies and lenses attached:

https://hawkesmill.com/product/small-regent-street...

But surely you must have changed your lens line up considerably to have quartered the volume and weight?

[GravelBen]

Gad-Westy said:

Ignoring all the other obvious benefits of the Sony, the above can't be true can it? Or at least not like for like?

An A7Rii is only about 250g lighter than a D800 and I was under the impression lenses were more or less the same size and weight.

The extra spare batteries for the mirrorless to take the same number of shots would probably balance out some of the difference too.

Edited by GravelBen on Tuesday 14th August 12:10

[GetCarter]

Gad-Westy said:

GetCarter said:

Gad-Westy said:

Ignoring all the other obvious benefits of the Sony, the above can't be true can it? Or at least not like for like?

An A7Rii is only about 250g lighter than a D800 and I was under the impression lenses were more or less the same size and weight.

Current camera bag: 10" x 8" x 5" with two bodies and lenses attached:

https://hawkesmill.com/product/small-regent-street...

But surely you must have changed your lens line up considerably to have quartered the volume and weight?

Yep.. I still have my Nikon lenses but will sell when I get round to it. For the Sony I have two primes (also fit in the bag) and two zooms. The bodies are full frame and crop (with a 'long' lens).

[ukaskew]

V8_Fastback said:

True... thinking of upgrading my fairly new a6300 already.

In Dubai and our equivilant of Amazon currently has the a7rii at a 40% discount, so can get it for £1500 (Body only) which seems like a good deal.

Of course I’d rather the new a7riii but my skills don’t justify the outlay!

a7RII is on £400 cashback here in the UK, so only £1600 anyhow.

[Gad-Westy]

GetCarter said:

Gad-Westy said:

GetCarter said:

Gad-Westy said:

Ignoring all the other obvious benefits of the Sony, the above can't be true can it? Or at least not like for like?

An A7Rii is only about 250g lighter than a D800 and I was under the impression lenses were more or less the same size and weight.

Current camera bag: 10" x 8" x 5" with two bodies and lenses attached:

https://hawkesmill.com/product/small-regent-street...

But surely you must have changed your lens line up considerably to have quartered the volume and weight?

Yep.. I still have my Nikon lenses but will sell when I get round to it. For the Sony I have two primes (also fit in the bag) and two zooms. The bodies are full frame and crop (with a 'long' lens).

Yeah, I definitely think it's wider prime lenses where the shorter flange distance of mirrorless gives most size benefit. The bigger zooms etc look basically the same size.

[steveatesh]

I moved from a crop Nikon to the Sony A7iii a few months ago and to be honest it was the best camera decision I have made.

Not because the Sony is a FF camera but because of its sheer versatility and quality.

The main reason I moved was it’s auto focus system which rightly gets rave reviews. Not only does it spread virtually right across the frame but it’s very very fast and accurate too. IIRC it’s the same system as in the A9.

The eye focus for portraits is amazing, with just about every shot being sharp, even if the model is moving. Superb for moving children for example.

There are different focus tracking tools depending upon the job, I have not tried them all but when I have used tracking it has been excellent.

The camera responds well in low light for grain, sometimes it struggles to focus in very low light or not much contrast conditions though.

I like the customisation and the 2 saved settings (eg turn to 1 for personalised portrait settings and 2 for personalised landscape settings) and the camera itself is ok to hold, although not quite as easy as the Nikon.

I bought the 24-70 f2.8 GM and the 70-200 f2.8GM from eBay - I sweated on that but they were both perfect and have EU markings on them too - saved a fortune over high street prices. The lense themselves are sharp and very fast focus.

I had to change my flash system and triggers (move from yangnuo to Godox) but I have kept all of the Nikon stuff for holidays abroad. I wasn’t heavily invested in lens mind which made the decision easier.

For time lapse I already have a third party system, I have not yet used the WiFi facilities for transferring photos to phones etc so can not comment on that.

I’d recommend the move if you are happy to change ecosystems.

[R1 Dave]

Thanks for all the replies. I see an expensive switch on the horizon!

[R1 Dave]

Update: I popped into a branch of LCE today and they had an a7iii in stick so I had a little play around with it. I think the EVF would take a bit of getting used to as it's not as nice to look through as an SLR but the focusing and shooting was nice and quick. I really like the retro styling, it reminds me of my old film SLRs that I started out with.

[tonyb1968]

R1 Dave said:

Update: I popped into a branch of LCE today and they had an a7iii in stick so I had a little play around with it. I think the EVF would take a bit of getting used to as it's not as nice to look through as an SLR but the focusing and shooting was nice and quick. I really like the retro styling, it reminds me of my old film SLRs that I started out with.

Why go for an expensive change? Nikon have 2 mirrorless camera's in the pipeline, wait and see how they fare, tbh you really don't need a mirrorless just yet as the D500 is a seriously good camera in its own right.

[R1 Dave]

tonyb1968 said:

R1 Dave said:

Update: I popped into a branch of LCE today and they had an a7iii in stick so I had a little play around with it. I think the EVF would take a bit of getting used to as it's not as nice to look through as an SLR but the focusing and shooting was nice and quick. I really like the retro styling, it reminds me of my old film SLRs that I started out with.

Why go for an expensive change? Nikon have 2 mirrorless camera's in the pipeline, wait and see how they fare, tbh you really don't need a mirrorless just yet as the D500 is a seriously good camera in its own right.

Essentially I know you're right, the D500 is excellent. One of the things swaying me to change is that looking at current value, I could sell it for roughly what I paid and coupled with the sale of lenses/flashgun it really wouldn't cost me all that much to change and I suspect that, as good as the D500 is, the Sony is a good deal superior. I do fancy having a punt at full frame too. I guess I do just fancy a change.

RE Nikon Mirrorless: that would be an ideal solution but I suspect it will be far more money than I'm looking to spend. I might shift my d500 and then hold off buying a replacement for a while to see what happens in the next month or so.

[Simpo Two]

Not really my debate, as whilst I could probably sell my D500 for a small profit, I don't need or want to invest Ks in a new system.

FWIW this review has the Sony a clear winner: https://cameradecision.com/compare/Sony-Alpha-A7R-... But it should be because it costs a lot more...

[ukaskew]

It doesn't need to be expensive (relatively speaking). I guess it depends on which focal lengths you 'need' to cover but I for example do 90% of my day to day photography with the a7RII and 55mm 1.8. That's a ridiculously high end combo in terms of resolution and sharpness but cost less than £1600 all in (I buy everything lightly used), which is not far out from D500 territory. Until recently that was supplemented by the 28mm f2 and 85mm 1.8, which effectively were a no-cost switch from Nikon DSLR equivalents.

[R1 Dave]

ukaskew said:

It doesn't need to be expensive (relatively speaking). I guess it depends on which focal lengths you 'need' to cover but I for example do 90% of my day to day photography with the a7RII and 55mm 1.8. That's a ridiculously high end combo in terms of resolution and sharpness but cost less than £1600 all in (I buy everything lightly used), which is not far out from D500 territory. Until recently that was supplemented by the 28mm f2 and 85mm 1.8, which effectively were a no-cost switch from Nikon DSLR equivalents.

The DSLR kit I'm willing to part with has used values of around £2200, new a7iii can be got for around £2000 including the 28-70 kit lens which has mixed reviews. I'll probably get it with the lens to get me started and supplement it with a couple of nice fast primes a bit later. I'd like the 24-105 too at some point. The initial switch shouldn't cost much, its just supplementary lenses that'll add up but I don't have a huge selection of lenses for my D500 and I'd likely have got the same addition lenses for that anyway so it's pretty negligible really.

[TheRainMaker]

If you can, I would try and get the Zeiss 24-70 f4 it is so much better (maybe look for a second hand one).

I was in a rush to buy a camera when in America so got the camera with the kit lens, sold it when I got home and went for the Zeiss, it really is a step up.

[R1 Dave]

TheRainMaker said:

If you can, I would try and get the Zeiss 24-70 f4 it is so much better (maybe look for a second hand one).

I was in a rush to buy a camera when in America so got the camera with the kit lens, sold it when I got home and went for the Zeiss, it really is a step up.

Thanks. I'd only get it as a stop gap, it's just so cheap with the kit it seems a no brainer as i can my money back once I find a replacement.

[Simpo Two]

Worth checking which Sony you're after, A7ii, A7Rii, A7iii or A7Riii.

Does the R stand for 'Race'?

Edited by Simpo Two on Thursday 16th August 10:58

[R1 Dave]

Simpo Two said:

Worth checking which Sony you're after, A7ii, A7Rii, A7iii or A7Riii.

Does the R stand for 'Race'?

Edited by Simpo Two on Thursday 16th August 10:58

A7iii. The R models have a higher resolution sensor but the 24mp in the a7iii should be plenty for my needs

[ukaskew]

And weirdly the a7RII is the start of the 'next gen' Sony bodies with Eye AF, decent Auto ISO etc, but it's not till the a7III that the non R line gets that stuff. The S line has also followed its own, separate, path.

[TheRainMaker]

I have eye auto focus on my A7

[Andy M]

I owned the A7ii and A7Rii and found both relatively soulless with little weight saving versus a dSLR kit due to the relatively large and heavy lenses.

I now own both the Fuji X-H1 and X-T2 and have never shot so many photos. Highly recommended.

This may be of interest: https://youtu.be/mYYaQz83etY