Trading in DSLR kit for Bridge Camera

[Derek Smith]

Micro four-thirds user here.

I went for the size because of a bad back, meaning I can't carry heavy weights. MFT cameras are not particularly lighter, but the lenses are, and smaller, remarkably so. I've got a 14-140 (28-280 equivalent) lens as a GP. I can carry my 100-300 (200-600) for a few hours without problems. It also means I can carry spare lenses. My camera bag, a backpack, is smallish, and I can fit most things in it. My favourite lens is a 25mm (work it out yourself) 1.4. All but weightless.

If size and weight are what you want reduced, but still want an SLR, consider MFT.

[andburg]

As a word of caution

I bought a canon tz100 and it takes lovely photos but it’s still too big to comfortably pocket.
If I have to carry a bag I may aswell carry as bigger camera and get the extra light. Now sold my tz100 and back to using a dslr.

Will upgrade my mobile phone before I go ahead and switch to mirrorless

[sgrimshaw]

mattyn1 said:

All seemingly consistent stuff so thank you. Am leaning to RX10 III based on the responses….. will get to handle them over the weekend hopefully.

Am I miles off with my mirrorless suggestion?

I absolutely love my RX10M3, but do not buy one without handling one .... small and light it isn't.

You'd still need to carry lenses with a mirrorless, RX10's lens is 24-600 giving you a huge range in a single fixed lens

[mikiec]

Not sure of 2nd prices but have a look at Olympus 4/3. One of these with a 14-150mm lens (28-300 equivalent) or better yet a 12-200mm (24-400mm) covers off all I need for travel photos. Far better sensor than a bridge and still pretty lightweight and compact

[Derek Smith]

Not sure if relevant, but that's never bothered me, however:

I have a 12mp Panasonic GH2 that I keep as a back-up camera. It's ultra light and quite small. I also have a Panasonic TZ25 with Leica lens. It's 12mp as well. The difference in image between the two in adequate and better lighting is so small, I'm damned if I can see it. In very dark situations, there's fall-off.

I'd consider what is important to you with regards a camera. If compact and lightness are the main drivers, I'd consider a modern compact. I take my TZ, now a dozen or so years old, but still in perfect condition, everywhere. It's in my pocket most of the time, even when I'm out on a shoot. It's got good stabilisation. I'd have called it excellent before I bought my G9. If late night, and poor lighting photography is your thing, I'd probably give it a miss, but for touring, with the occasional shot in a club or of an evening, there's little to criticise.

My TZ is feature-light in comparison to my G9, but it's great for the quick candid shot. The image quality is much better than the iPhone model recently replaced - my daughter has one and she's impressed by the quality. It's also quicker to use.

[mattyn1]

Sincerest thanks to all those that took the time to reply and advise.

I have a short list - in order of pref:

1 - Used RX10 III
2 - Used FZ1000 II
3 - New Canon SH70

I am pausing for a moment as I don't feel fully informed as yet.......Am intrigued about the MFT as never heard of it before.

If you had £800 to spend, what would you buy (body and 1 x lens) or one of the above?

[DibblyDobbler]

mattyn1 said:

Sincerest thanks to all those that took the time to reply and advise.

I have a short list - in order of pref:

1 - Used RX10 III
2 - Used FZ1000 II
3 - New Canon SH70

I am pausing for a moment as I don't feel fully informed as yet.......Am intrigued about the MFT as never heard of it before.

If you had £800 to spend, what would you buy (body and 1 x lens) or one of the above?

The trouble with this kind of thread is that you could ask 100 different photograhers and probably get nearly 100 different answers! There are a whole series of subtly different attributes to each possible option and what is right for you and how you'll use the camera is probably slightly different to everybody else... having said that the RX10iii is a no brainer

[Tony1963]

Most of us adapt to the kit we buy. I’ve never had a camera and/or lens on an extended trial, and have never felt the need to. My most recent camera body was purchased from MPB and I’d never even seen one in the flesh!

For the OP, one of the most important factors is going to be familiarity with the kit before the holiday begins, so stop your dilly dallying and buy something NOW!

[DodgyGeezer]

an interesting thread, and a semi-thread-hijack (albeit still on topic!) - I'm sort of coming at it from the other side. That is to say, currently, I have a bridge camera Canon G3X which I really like and am loathe to upgrade to a DSLR for similar reasons that the OP is looking to downgrade, that is to say: portability/convenience. I'd add in here that I'm a klutz and a constant concern would be 'foreign objects' getting into the camera body whilst changing lenses.

The whole thing about bridge cameras is that they are a reasonable compromise but there are a number of shortcomings along with the advantages. In my case (G3X) here are a few of the pros/cons:


Pros:

that long lens (25x optical zoom - 24-600mm equiv)
physical size
portability
'flip' screen
built-in flash
20 megapixel
decent sensor (for a non-DSLR)
reasonable burst mode (5.9fps)


Cons:
poor auto-focus
small sensor (1")
poor image stabilisation


To be honest this is pretty much an ideal camera for us and reasonably priced (£350, used) but... but... a Sony RX10 IV has a burst of 24fps and supposedly a far better autofocus. The question is, is it 'worth' an outlay of £1,400... I'd say at this point the reason for thinking of a change is we're looking at a safari holiday next year and a quicker AF (along with a similarly decent telephoto lens) would be helpful

[Whoozit]

DodgyGeezer said:

The question is, is it 'worth' an outlay of £1,400... I'd say at this point the reason for thinking of a change is we're looking at a safari holiday next year and a quicker AF (along with a similarly decent telephoto lens) would be helpful

One of the best pieces of advice I ever read on safari holidays was to compare the cost of the new equipment, with the cost of the holiday itself, vs the likelihood of you ever going back. If it's a once-in-a-lifetime situation and you want to take worthy photos, then it makes sense to spend the money to get the right kit.

On your point about changing lenses, whenever I've thought about gear for safaris, I concluded that I'd take two identical bodies, one with the 24-70 or 28-120 equivalent lens and one with the super long lens. No need to change lenses and that also give you backup if one body fails. That said, I shoot with Fujifilm gear, so a body from a couple of generations back is under £500 from MPB. Not expensive.

[isaldiri]

DodgyGeezer said:

an interesting thread, and a semi-thread-hijack (albeit still on topic!) - I'm sort of coming at it from the other side. That is to say, currently, I have a bridge camera Canon G3X which I really like and am loathe to upgrade to a DSLR for similar reasons that the OP is looking to downgrade, that is to say: portability/convenience. I'd add in here that I'm a klutz and a constant concern would be 'foreign objects' getting into the camera body whilst changing lenses.

The whole thing about bridge cameras is that they are a reasonable compromise but there are a number of shortcomings along with the advantages. In my case (G3X) here are a few of the pros/cons:

Pros:

that long lens (25x optical zoom - 24-600mm equiv)
physical size
portability
'flip' screen
built-in flash
20 megapixel
decent sensor (for a non-DSLR)
reasonable burst mode (5.9fps)


Cons:
poor auto-focus
small sensor (1")
poor image stabilisation

To be honest this is pretty much an ideal camera for us and reasonably priced (£350, used) but... but... a Sony RX10 IV has a burst of 24fps and supposedly a far better autofocus. The question is, is it 'worth' an outlay of £1,400... I'd say at this point the reason for thinking of a change is we're looking at a safari holiday next year and a quicker AF (along with a similarly decent telephoto lens) would be helpful

the g3x is probably broadly the same as the the rx10 mk 3 I'd say or fz1000, 1 inch sensor, approx 600-ish mm of reach but the sensor/focusing is likely less good being more comparable to the rx10 mk2 generation.

the rx10 mk 4 still has the same basic architecture as the mk 3 (same lens and 1" stacked sensor) but has improved software to enable for phase detection autofocus. While it'll likely never get up to what a (much) larger sensor can do, it's supposedly very good indeed.

That said, as far as the rx10 mk3 (which I had until er.. the thing unfortunately finally threw a tantrum after 7 years of use recently) is concerned, as long as you are not trying to take pictures of birds in flight (and fast flying birds like a hirundine or falcon at that), the autofocus is 'good enough' on most other things I'd say. (just look at Dibblydobbler's pictures which are superb here).

While I've switched to a 200-600 and full frame setup, I do miss the packability of the bridge tbh and keep on getting tempted to nab a used rx10 mk3 again or a mk 4 but can't quite decide if the difference in price is worth the better focus capability just yet....

[mattyn1]

I was about to purchase the RX10 III (a used one) but between me deciding, finishing top the meeting and going to WEX, the used one had gone. The one there now looks battered and cannot bring myself to get that. What do you think?

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/sony-cyber-shot-rx10...

So do I wait to see what else comes in, or go for something else?

I nearly went for a Rx10 IV based on the chat here - the used one for a smidge over £1k is tempting..... (now sold FFS) or do I go new and go for this

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/panasonic-lumix-dmc-... or

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/canon-powershot-sx70...

Am thinking the RX10 IV ............... she is gonna kill me!!!!!

Edited by mattyn1 on Tuesday 27th February 18:13

[Bill]

I did read a review that suggested the Lumix FZ2000 wasn't as well regarded as the FZ1000 for some reason. Annoyingly I can't remember the details though!

[andburg]

There are other suppliers

https://www.harrisoncameras.co.uk/used/used-compac...

[Tony1963]

And more for the RX10 iii

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/search?q=Sony%20Cyber-sh...

[DibblyDobbler]

If it helps I upgraded from RX10iii to RX10iv and there is really very little difference unless you are doing birds in flight tracking autofocus type stuff - if you just use basic autofocus on static subjects you'd struggle to tell the difference

[mattyn1]

DibblyDobbler said:

If it helps I upgraded from RX10iii to RX10iv and there is really very little difference unless you are doing birds in flight tracking autofocus type stuff - if you just use basic autofocus on static subjects you'd struggle to tell the difference

Thanks. I know what I want now!

[mattyn1]

andburg said:

There are other suppliers

https://www.harrisoncameras.co.uk/used/used-compac...

There are but my voucher is with Wex so sort of tied.

One will come along. Fate and all that!

[isaldiri]

DibblyDobbler said:

If it helps I upgraded from RX10iii to RX10iv and there is really very little difference unless you are doing birds in flight tracking autofocus type stuff - if you just use basic autofocus on static subjects you'd struggle to tell the difference

How is the mk iv for birds in flight btw? Apologies for slight thread hijack as I've always wondered if it was meaningfully (as in £400 quid ) better than the mk 3...

[andburg]

If you jack some lenses you could maybe upgrade your body?

It’s worth considering as it’ll keep you in an apsc sensor

Edit: and the wife won’t have a clue youve spent a penny

Edited by andburg on Tuesday 27th February 19:52