ditch the dslr for a mirrorless?

lately the idea of moving from dslr to either micro 4/3s or rangefinder film has been haunting me. as a hobbiest photography the idea of uber expensive camera equipment just doesnt seem all that practical anymore. i'm finding myself not bringing my dslr out with me where ever i go now because of the weight and size of the thing. i have a 5dmII+50 1.2.

that being said, has anyone actually made the move to something smaller or even back to film for the simplicty? i'm currently looking at getting either the fuji x pro 1 or the oly OM-D, the NEX 5n/7 has cross my mind but the camera doesnt really tickle my fancy. i suppose i'm more attracted to the classic looking cameras?

each of those options has their advantages and disadvantages, fuji has the AF low light AF issue which might be fixed by a firmware update but has an APS-C sized sensor. but on the other hand, the oly has the hybrid 5 way IS, advanced AF, and more lens options. i'm stuck between these two...any opinions?

i shoot mainly travel and street

if i were you, i might wait. there's a big rumor going around (via canonrumors) that canon is going to release a full mirrorless system with it's own lenses with DSLR quality in images.

I had a Fuji X100 and it is a fantastic little camera. The only thing i hated about it is how slow the AF was.

yeah i heard about that rumor too, but it's only a rumor and we all know how long we waited for the mkIII =/

wasabean wrote in post #14367354
yeah i heard about that rumor too, but it's only a rumor and we all know how long we waited for the mkIII =/

Well, buy what you want then, and then if it's not what you like, sell it and get the money back. I sold my Fuji X100 with accessories on fredmiranda for about $900. Bought it for $1200 from amazon so it wasn't necessarily a loss to me.

it would be awesome to keep my 50 1.2 and be able to use it on a mirrorless canon body. but right now the option just doesnt exsist. the inbody IS of the Oly is the selling point right now.

wasabean wrote in post #14367399
it would be awesome to keep my 50 1.2 and be able to use it on a mirrorless canon body. but right now the option just doesnt exsist. the inbody IS of the Oly is the selling point right now.

I think you should pick up the 7N or the X-pro 1 if you're interested in mirrorless. You get APS-C size sensor and IQ looks very nice.

i think in a couple/three years this will be a desirable thing to do - but not yet. they're getting close.

Check this out.

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1152828

The new Olympus m4/3 is kind of tempting. I don't think I will make the move to m4/3 permanently, but I have a PEN already for my wife, so at some point I might pick my own high quality m4/3 body to use with her lenses for a smaller general carry camera. But so far I am pretty happy with my 5d3 and Voightlander 40mm pancake when I want to keep things as small and light as possible.

I just got a GF2 and will be getting an Oly E-M5 soon to complement the 5DII - I like the pure quality and glass and handling of the 5DII a great deal, but in all honesty it only comes with me when I'm going somewhere that's photography-friendly, or where I know I'm going to focus significantly on said photography. This ends up being events where I'm not going to be drinking and vacations to exotic, unique locations.

I had an LX3 as a 'backup' that fit in a coat pocket, but it did not get quite enough use, largely due to the lack of decent performance at higher ISO values. Then it got stolen in a break-in, the OM-D was announced, scene was set. I got the GF2 because I wanted the 14mm for the Oly, and for a 50 euro up charge (cost of bare lens vs kit with GF2) it seemed silly not to get a 'spare', small, cheap body that fits in a coat pocket (or cargo pants pocket when I'm doing lightweight hiking).

For me, micro 43 is the only system mature enough at this point in time - solid AF, Oly's in-body IS, very solid lineup of very, very compact glassware (with some searching, about 1000 euros will get me a 14/2.5, 20/1.7, 45/1.8 and a 14-42X zoom) and adapters for almost every old lens mount known to man. The primary attraction for me is portability with decent to good low-light performance and general IQ (compared to my 'standard', the 5DII). I think Olympus has found the right balance for now, and if I don't like it/use it enough I can sell it all again. I'm sure I can get the few hundred bucks worth of 'fun' value out of it at the very least

I just bought a 5d mark 2 (upgrading from t2i), but even when I bring my t2i around it feels at times that it's too much of a hassle (size and weight).

I had an Oly XZ-1 (I know, not mirrorless), and it was perfect for wherever I wanted a nice camera but didn't want to lug around a dslr, but I ended up selling it to fund something else in life. I told myself I would eventually go back and grab a mirrorless body.

I have the E-M5 right now, played with it for a bit. I love it, but the price point is really high, and I got the black 14-42 kit, and I just realized over the last week that I would prefer the silver & 12-50 kit (might as well get what I REALLY want at that price, right?). When I do get it, I really want to try out the Oly 45 1.8 as well, the sample shots I've seen on that is top notch. But in all honestly, for me I wouldn't take DSLR out of the equation, I would get a m4/3 as a second body, I would still like to have the full 'power' of a DSLR whenever I wanted.

thanks for the honest input everyone. i came to realize that not being a pro doesnt warrant me to have a full dslr AND a full featured 4/3s. thats for me at least. it first started as a hobby and now i find myself taking less and less pictures bc of the shear size and weight of the thing. i'm beginning to think this thing is too big as a carry around even with a comfortable bag. my back has been complaining. i guess i'm thinking from the standpoint of no matter what kind of full powered dslr i have, 1 bajillion megapixel, 500 af point dslr, its all useless if i'm too lazy to bring it with me and have it sit at home all the time.

It's all about compromises and what's important to YOU. I keep toying with the idea of downsizing strictly because I find myself finding more and more excuses to not want to lug a bunch of gear around with me. I realize that by downsizing I'll be sacrificing quality, flexibility, and features, but at least I'll be more apt to have a camera with me. I've tried the P&S route but being an old film shooter I just have to have a viewfinder. I had a Nikon V1 but ended up returning it. Nice EVF, great performance, but smaller sensor and funky user interface just didn't do it for me. Just received a Pen Mini and the accesory EVF. Haven't had a chance to shoot with it yet. Whether something like this ends up replacing (or at least supplementing) my dslr kit remains to be seen.

One thing to keep in mind is that smaller sensors usually hold their own really well in good lighting, but fall off rapidly in poorer lighting. I took some test shots with my wifes Olympus E-P1 outdoors right after we got it and even with the Kit lens the results were pretty dang good. But of course it was about useless inside the house or at night unless I wanted the shots too be very dark. So that is either an argument for a DSLR for indoors/lowlight and m4/3 for every DAY carry, or.....

If I were going to go m4/3 right now as my only camera this is what I would probably purchase (in this order, but not all at once except the first three):

Camera:
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …OM_D_E_M5_Micro​_Four.html

Flash for low-light:
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …_600R_Wireless_​Flash.html

Normal Lens:
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …_20mm_f_1_7_Asp​heric.html

Macro and "medium" Lens:
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …G_Macro_Elmarit​_45mm.html

Wide Angle Lens:
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …0_M_Zuiko_Digit​al_ED.html

Portrait and "long" lens, the 75mm f/1.8 on this page, once it becomes available:
http://www.four-thirds.org …/single.html#c=​NEWPRODUCT

wasabean wrote in post #14367266
... i'm finding myself not bringing my dslr out with me where ever i go now because of the weight and size of the thing. i have a 5dmII+50 1.2.

... that being said, has anyone actually made the move to something smaller or even back to film for the simplicty? i'm currently looking at getting either the fuji x pro 1 or the oly OM-D, the NEX 5n/7 has cross my mind but the camera doesnt really tickle my fancy. i suppose i'm more attracted to the classic looking cameras?

I'm a Leica M B&W film user with a number of Leica lenses who is very disappointed in the Leica M digitals, and I don't see any improvement in their future. I've been using a dSLR for the past 4 years (Fuji S5 + Nikkor 17-55/2.8) which is great but I'm also tired of the bulk and heft. I only use digital for family snaps and such so I'll continue to use B&W film 95% of the time, but I'm going to sell all my dSLR stuff and get an APS-C mirrorless. It looks to me that the NEX-7 is the best solution for Leica glass so I'm likely to go that route.

I don't really care what a camera looks like and I'm not put off by the fact that the NEX-7 won't give me the "rangefinder experience" but what I do care about is the ability to use my Leica lenses and being able to focus with some ease. It looks to me that the images from the NEX are perfectly acceptable as I'm really interested in image content and could care less about pixel peeping. I've yet to make my mind up fully but that's the way I'm leaning.