New enthusiast camera help!

[robinh73]

I currently have a Nikon D2XS and a Canon Powershot G1Xii, both of which I want to sell and replace with "one camera that does it all!!". I love the big Nikon, but it is simply too big and heavy to take away on holiday and I thought the small Canon would be a good compromise for the pocketable stuff, but in reality, I find that neither is getting used sadly. Therefore I want to get one camera that will replace both. I have a budget of around the £1200 mark for a camera body, as lenses I will decide on later. I have been looking at mirrorless options from Panasonic (Lumix G9), Fuji XH-1, Olympus OM DE M1 and then the Nikon D500 as a DSLR. I am currently baffled and in need of some pointers. I mainly shoot landscapes, but the option of some motorsport stuff also crops up every now and then. So, any help would be much appreciated.

[StevieBee]

Well, be prepared to be bamboozled by many suggestions but from my perspective.....

Motorsport and Landscape are my chosen genres too (though more cityscape that mountains). I use a Nikon D7200 which for me is spot on. I use a battery pack which adds to the bulk but without is reasonably compact.

A couple of examples with with just a smidge of post editing (actually, the Le Mans one is straight out of the camera as you can still make out the chain link fence I had to shoot through to get the shot.

This is Cluj (Romania) - Sigma 10 - 20



Le Mans Sigma - 150 - 600

[Simpo Two]

Ever since 1983 when I got an Olympus XA2 for Christmas (I thought 'strange, I already have a camera'), I've operated two cameras and it's worked really well. One a DSLR for the serious stuff, the other a small compact for snaps when you want a record with minimal bulk.

Currently on a D500 and Lumix XS3.

If it helps, your D2X is 1,252g with batteries, the D500 only 860g. So if weight is the issue, the D500 is a third lighter and will thrash the D2X in every respect!

[chandrew]

I moved from a Canon 5D mk III to a Fujifilm X-T20 12 months ago and haven't looked back. I shoot mainly landscapes, often involving a decent hike / climb. The reduced weight - not just of the body but lenses, tripod etc has made a significant difference to my shooting and I reckon I might have taken 10x more images than the preceding year.

I have the Fujinon 16mm, 28mm and 35mm f2 lenses. I also planned to use some old Contax G lenses on an adapter but in truth do much less than I expected due to lesser image quality. In the coming weeks I'll sell the old Contax kit and get one of the Fuji zooms - probably the 55-200 (I shoot in the f8-f16 range so the lighter weight outweighs the advantages of the 50-140).

Personally the move from Canon to Fuji has been one of the best decisions I've made photography-wise.

A couple of shots from the last 10 days:




Sunrise



10 minutes after sunset

[robinh73]

Cheers for the replies chaps, fantastic shots there too. Having slept on the dilemma, I feel that mirrorless is probably the way forward due to reduced size and weight. I did have a good look at a Fuji XT2 and the results were superb, but I did feel the body was a bit small maybe, but then I guess that can be an advantage at the same time.I need to physically handle the Panasonic and Olympus and maybe have a dabble with a Sony too, but at the same time pick up a Nikon D500.