I was looking to add a small walk around camera to my kit. I have an om-d e-m5 ii right now and a few m43 lenses. I’ve been really happy with that, but I want something a little more slim and with a flip up screen (as opposed to flip out screen). IBIS is a must have for me. Other than that, I’ve just been looking to not spend a ton.
So in that vein I’ve been looking at used m43 cameras in the less than $400usd range (preferably less than 200, but I’m considering more to add features). Ones that have gotten my attention have been:
- lumix gx7
- lumix gx80/85
- olympus e-pl6 (and successors)
- olympus e-p5
- exciting mystery option (your suggestion goes here)
I’m mostly wondering if people have used these and have any experience or advice on which is best. If there are other things to consider I don’t know about that would be helpful.
The lumix gx7 seems like a really solid choice but I’ve never used a lumix camera before so IDK how they stack up against some of those olympus ones. I’d be buying from mpb, upp, or keh so it had some kind of warranty at least (avoiding ebay et al)… but that does bump the initial price up just a little bit.
Also, my lenses are primarily olympus lenses… which should work but I know sometimes there are quirks with putting them on lumix and vice versa. 🤷
Anyway… if anyone has suggestions or insights it would be much appreciated. 😊
Thanks.
any experience or advice on which is best
Depends a lot what you want to with it, aka where you will ‘walk around’ with your camera ;)
And also it depends a lot how you like to take pictures, and what is your level of expertise.
I’ve quit photography almost completely (I’m sketching now) but was mostly doing street and wildlife. The last camera I ever purchased was an used OM-d 5 MK II (I would have to get it out of the closet to be sure of the exact model, the one that’s weather-sealed but not top of the line from 2015 or 2016) and I could not be happier. It was to the point that I stopped being interested in new gear.
(for context: I have been using almost anything you can think of since the late 70s, from your standard 35mm to large format chambers, from fully automatic cameras to full manual ones with nothing but the sunny 16 (not even a portable light-meter). And I started fiddling with digital starting in the late 90s)
Yeah:
- Lightweight and not bulky. Those two things alone make it a blessing if you carry the camera all day long on the streets, and even more so when hiking in the wilderness.
- Edit: It’s also much less intrusive than a bulky DSLR for street. And a tad less of a thieve magnet than, say, a Leica.
- Image stabilization works great.
- Fully articulated screen is so useful in so many situations.
- Silent (if you want it to be).
- Excellent lenses. Even basic kit lenses are decent (unlike so many other brands kit lenses). I mean they’re not amazing but anyone should be able to use the 14-42 from Olympus or from Panasonic and get decent shots. Which is great considering how cheap they can be found used. Much better lenses will be, well, much better but it’s hard to beat the 14-42 price used (I paid something like 25€ for the first one I got, and got a second one new for free by someone that refused to use nothing but the most expensive lenses to take snapshots (which was more than by me). Not my favorite lens by any means but one I would never hesitate to pick in many common situations.
- Very niche, but this OM camera has a very usable focus stacking mode.
- Did I mention it was so fucking not bulky with great image quality (given enough light)?
- Edit: dirt cheap, used.
BTW, I also own a Lumix GH5 that I mostly use(d) for video. It’s great for that but I prefer the OM for photography.
Meh:
- Poor low light perfs compared to larger sensors. I never cared that much about my images being noisier I cared a lot more about my gear being too bulky and too heavy to easily carry around ;)
- In-lens stabilization doesn’t work between Lumix<>Olympus (depending the type of photos, it will work wonder within each specific brand) but the in camera does work cross-brands.
- Weak battery life. I carried 2 spares on a standard day, to be on the safe side. Still less than the 4 I used to carry with my Fuji X100 and the 6 or 8 I had to carry with the now long forgotten but still beloved Epson RD-1s.
- Menus are a mess. It’s even worse with the Olympus than with the Pana but one gets used to them and since one seldom need to access more than handful of those menus. Plus, all buttons are configurable for quick access to whatever you often use.
For walking around… I want something I can walk around in the city. I don’t really do street photography per se since I don’t like photographing people… but I do like landscape and architectural and just documenting my life sort of things. I like nature walks and parks and such as well… not really hiking… more casual stuff.
My experience is moderate. I started with 35mm in the 80’s and 90’s and worked as an assistant to a portrait and event photog in the early 00’s. So I am not a pro but I’m not new to using a camera. Like I said, I have am om-d e-m5 ii now, which is great but I’d like something with a flip up screen and with a slimmer profile than the SLR body style of the e-m5 as well as a bit less weight. Since I already have several m43 lenses that cover a gamut of focal lengths (7.5mm FE, 14-42mm, 45mm f/1.8, 40-150mm) it feels like just slotting a small m43 body into my kit will be a no brainer. I plan on picking up some small primes soon as well, so all the more reason that sticking with just adding a new m43 body for versatility makes sense. I primarily shoot in manual mode, so having some physical controls to adjust those quickly would be nice, but since this is a secondary body it isn’t a deal breaker if it doesn’t have dual dials.
I think a GX7/GX80 etc would be fairly much what you’re after. I have a GX9 and it does everything you’ve asked for, though is possibly slightly more than you want to pay - I paid £440 I think. The GX8 was a departure from the formula that made these cameras so special, but the 7/80/85 are all the same body layout. The 85 is pretty close to the GX9, but with a fixed EVF as opposed to tilting, 16mp as opposed to 20, and a few less bells and whistles. I chose to save a little more to get the GX9 and don’t regret that at all, it’s a fantastic camera, but if you could try out an 85, you may find the it’s what you’re after. Hope that helps
Yeah… I’ve had my eye on the gx8 for a while but it’s still more than I want to pay. The gx9 is like $900-1000 used… way outside what I’m looking at.
I was originally looking at the olympus e-pl6 because it’s about 200… but I started seeing that for just a little more if I pushed I might get noticeable feature boost… so I’m considering a little more to get nicer features. The gx7 seems like it’s got good quality and checks most of the boxes (slightly larger than I wanted but that’s ok)… but I’m stuck in a cycle of comparing it to all the stuff in it’s range.
Have you used the gx7 at all to compare to the gx85 / gx9? Also, how is the focus peaking on lumix cameras. I’d like to be able to use manual lenses but I really like focus peaking to be an option.
Wow, that’s a lot! USD? I kind of expected it to be a similar figure to what I paid, but if that’s in USD, that’s about what I paid for my used Fuji X-T5! I bought mine a few years ago, but I’d have thought they’d have gone down in price, not up! The world is weird these days, huh?
I’ve never used any of the older cameras than the GX9, but from what I’ve read, they’re pretty similar to operate. The focus peaking on mine is pretty good, I use manual lenses a lot, and it’s a pretty enjoyable experience
Yeah… some of the models that are popular have insane prices… and it’s gonna probably get worse what with the apocalypse and all. :(
Looks like a gx7 is about 300-350, a gx85 is 450-500, a gx8 is 600-750, and gx9 is 850-1050. Like… I see a G9 II on the page for 1300… IDK why some of those rangefinder models from several years ago are so high priced. smh.
