[Closed] Weather Sealed Mirrorless Camera and Occasional Video Usage (4K Would Be Nice) Possibly up to $3,000

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  mooney on 13/05/2021 - 18:39

  +1

  You won't go too far wrong with an RP. I have this as well as the more premium R5.

  The RP is a nice little camera and uses the RF mount so if you're wanting to stick with Canon any investment in lenses won't be wasted as they will work with the next camera you're likely to buy.

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  Banj0 on 13/05/2021 - 23:56

  +2

  A good beginning budget. :-)

  Man, I can go on about this stuff…it’s a passion. I’ll try to keep it brief. Let’s give some suggestions. If you can get in store, then:

  • Lay your hands on a Canon RP
  • Lay your hands on a Nikon Z5
  • Lay your hands on an Olympus E-M1 Mark II or III
  • Lay your hands on a Panasonic G9 (a micro four thirds alternative to the Olympus)
  • If possible, maybe lay your hands also on a Fujifilm XT4 (or XT3). Maybe even look at an X-E4 so that you can set aside more for lenses!

  Of those cameras, I added the micro four thirds bodies because they are compact, rugged, and well weather sealed (especially Olympus). Note that their sensors are 1/4 the size of the full frame cameras, and so you lose some low light sensitivity and dynamic range, but there is a huge range of glass available for them with generally cheaper prices on high quality lenses. I think these are still worth considering as a camera system despite all of the talk of the demise of micro four thirds. They are also excellent for the macro work you mentioned).

  Whilst Canon says their RP is weather sealed, I have read that it is relying on panel fit rather than extensive gasket usage as you will find in the Olympus (or even a Pentax). Not sure about the Z5, but Nikon always had a very good reputation for the rugged build of their bodies (keeping in mind that the Z5 is entry level). I don’t know about the Fujifilm either, but man they make such pretty cameras!

  Other than that, the lens/lenses you buy would probably be a more important choice than the camera. If you only spent $1,000 on a body, and settled for something used or older so that you could spend $2k on lenses, then I think you would get nicer looking shots than on a $2,000 body with a couple of $500 lenses. Premium lenses will hold their value better than a camera body too.

  One last thing, do consider shooting in RAW, and learning to process your shots on a computer. People talk about how phones take just as good a photo as a dedicated camera can, which is rubbish of course, but much of that perception is down to computational photography and how much better it can make those images from tiny phone cameras. Camera manufacturers have been a little slow to pick up on this, but you can do an awful lot yourself on a computer to bring more out of your images.

  • 

    SomeGuyOnOzB on 17/05/2021 - 10:34

    Thanks Banj0,

    I read that about the Canon RP too … it's "as" water proof as the 6D (?) but then someone else pointed out there's no rubber, no seal on the battery case etc, whereas I spoke with someone on the weekend and he said you can run a weather sealed Olympus under the tap for 10 minutes and still take photos.

    Fujifilm do make pretty cameras :D

    Thanks for the suggestions, I am leaning towards the Olympus now. I'd thought the M5, but will check the M1 too.

    I'll see what I can find out about the water proofing on the Nikon, Panasonic and Fujifilms too.

    Thank you :)

  • 

    SomeGuyOnOzB on 20/05/2021 - 14:51

    It's only 1 lens, but the Olympus E-M1 Mark III with 12-40 F2.8 PRO lens is selling for ~ $3100 at the moment, with Digidirect's 20% off on eBay sale … tempting

    • 

      Banj0 on 20/05/2021 - 18:15

      +1

      Discount cap is fairly high…that's nice.

      Yes…it's a very nice combo for sure. That lens is of excellent build, and the whole lot is very well weather sealed of course.

      A normal zoom lens will do 95% of the shooting for most people…and a premium zoom like the Pro is never wasted money compared to a cheap kit zoom - it will offer much better imaging.

      Just to muddy the waters:

      https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/401690649908?epid=2306096752&has…

      Z6. Nice camera on paper (I've not seen one in the flesh). I expect that anybody pushing full-frame will come up with something like this, or an equivalent Sony or whatever. That is a comparable kit, though I'm not sure about the build of the Z6 (but as mentioned, Nikon has a good rep). The aperture on the full-frame f4 zoom is actually slightly bigger than the Pro 2.8 (6mm across at widest vs 4.3mm on the pro at the widest field of view for example - f5.6 on full-frame would actually be equal), and the zoom range is very close in terms of field of view - so I consider these comparable.

      The Olympus lens is 382g though, vs ~500g for the Nikon lens, and there will be the recurrent theme I think. In Micro four thirds you will have a big catalogue of lenses to choose from, and generally they will be lighter, smaller, and a little cheaper. For this advantage, and the excellent image stabilisation, you sacrifice a little low light performance. Swings and roundabouts.

      I did have misgivings about Olympus when they sold the camera division to JIP…but I still love the E-M1 Mk II, and it remains one of the best handling cameras I've owned.

      Edit:

      BTW…this here was probably a bit of a landmark deal: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/568450 Bloody fantastic piece of kit at that price…but Mk II. That was just before Olympus transferred the image division over to JIP, so I don't expect we'll see a deal like that again for a long time, if at all.

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  Koipanda on 14/05/2021 - 01:36

  +1

  The Nikon z5 is currently on sale on Amazon or other authorised retailers ( cashback @ Nikon). Brings price down to $1600 ish.

  • 

    SomeGuyOnOzB on 17/05/2021 - 10:34

    Thanks Koipanda

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  Banj0 on 14/05/2021 - 08:48

  +1

  Given the deep discount on the Sony A7C at JB HiFi today, one should probably also give it some consideration.

  • 

    SomeGuyOnOzB on 17/05/2021 - 10:34

    Thank you Banj0

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  SomeGuyOnOzB on 11/06/2021 - 18:44

  I ended up with a good deal on the Olympus M1 III + 12-40mm f/2.8 lens :)

  I found a guy who was able to beat the digiDirect sale :)