Take this with a salt lick, but I've been agonizing over this for the past month ever since I picked up an A7 for the first time. I started with the A7 and kit lens, then swapped it for the A7r. I then found a used RX1r at BH, and previously had sold my GM1 and moved to the RX100ii. I would like to get down to a minimum of muss and fuss. The RX1r was picked up specifically to shoot silent, which I need to do from time to time (documenting video shoots). I have been eyeing Fuji for some time, but didn't care for the previous bodies. When my local shop got an XT1 in I went to check it out. It is a very quiet body, and I liked the lens so I picked one up. But after shooting if for all of a day, I packed it up and it's going back.
As for why - well, there are a couple of things. I'm not really an "old school" guy, so the manual dials actually are kind of wonky to me. I prefer other ways of dialing up settings. Second, the raw workflow isn't there yet as I'm in LR5 mostly with some Aperture these days. I figured that would be no big deal - just shoot jpg since the Fuji jpgs are so good. Well, after shooting back to back, I found in my hands I wasn't feeling the final files. And my typical tweaks made them worse rather than better.
I probably could work with it, but I decided in my case it wasn't worth it. I really like the files from the A7r and the RX1r. Significantly more than anything that came out of the XT1. Also the EVF in the Fuji, while being bigger and brighter than the A7r, is terrible in low light. The Sony stays usable under any conditions, but the Fuji gets really noisy. I work primarily in low light handheld, so that is another negative to me.
If the A7r had a quiet shutter, I'd be done. I can crop the snot out of things and get effectively a longer reach. I am missing the EVF on the RX1r, but the files out of that are crazy good as well. I can really push the Sony FF files around in post.
Wild card is the RX100ii. Actually punches above its weight and is close in file quality to u4/3. Plus it is truly pocketable. But the RX1r isn't that much bigger, and the files in bad conditions are much better. If the light is decent, actually the RX100ii, or any modern camera really, does pretty well.
Just depends on what you want/need. If you like the manual dials, then the Fuji will feel like home. The glass is good and Fuji is responsive to users.
As for sensor size - I'm smitten with the Sony FF and I'm struggling to figure out what second system I should support, if any. I still have a 6D w/ 24-105/4 and 16-35/2.8 lenses but I never use it and it sits in the drawer and my wife occasionally uses it to shoot her artwork. I was kinda figuring I'd have 1", APS-C, and FF, using the APS-C for longer lenses (the Fuji 55-200 seems like a nice lens). But now I'm thinking if I want to go that route I'll check out the a6000 when it comes out as it is APS-C w/EVF and I can use the FE glass on it (55/1.8 turns into about an 85).
All of the choices are so good that it really comes down to ergonomics and intangibles, like does the camera inspire you to pick it up and shoot. The A7 did that (oddly enough I liked the A7 a bit more than the A7r, but love the files from the A7r). The Fuji kind of got in my way, but again, just my preference for controlling the camera. And even though I'm newer school, I'm not that crazy about touch screens (e.g. newer Panny, Oly, Canon). They can be fast but I found often I was hitting things I didn't want to. So the Sony is a fit in that way - no touchscreen. Other people complain about that so there ya go...there's a butt for every seat.
Jez Todd, have you been sitting here in my office reading my mind? No wait, your a BASSPLAYER! Of course, explains everything
My wife is a bass player as well, so indeed I do understand better than you mite think
oke: We should meet up sometime and compare notes. My wife and I are fairly new here, so could benefit from your insight to the LA music scene, and possibly we can talk a bit about cameras as well ...
The A7/A7R has certainly shaken up thinking with a few of us.
As to the touch screen, you nailed it dude. Touch screens are great when you have a big enough screen to touch without your finger hitting two or three things at once. Call it a 4" screen and up, I love it. Put touch controls on something as small as my GH3 though, and it is a damn nightmare. Gets in my way far more often than it helps. As you say, different strokes....
One thing is for certain. There is no such a thing anymore as a bad digital camera. Even the cheapest point and shoot (think $30 cell phone) can today take a reasonably good photograph in normal light. The pro & semi pro gear is getting down right amazing in what it can do. ALL OF THEM. So I guess it now comes down to personal nit picking. Which ones work best FOR ME. And for YOU, not necessarily for anybody else.
The video quality is great from the GH3 no question. I am used to professional Canon/Nikon/Leica controls and build so to me the GH3 body plain sucks. Go ahead and grind me for that comment, I am just calling it as I see it for me.
Tiny little buttons, complex menu controls, auto EVERYTHING and hard to disable "automation" are the bane of my existence. Beautiful video if you like deep depth of field, but shooting the GH3 is a camera that frankly gets in my way. Add the micro 4/3 sensor size, low MP for cropping stills, and the brittle RAW files in post workup, for me it becomes a dead end. For someone else, it is nirvana. It is a great camera. The GH3 works great for most, it is just not a great camera for my all around use.
The Canon 5D Mark III is a great camera. Canon has advanced the entire SLR video industry built on the back of the 5D series. They all have a well deserved reputation, they get the job done. The 5D enjoys the widest support of any camera for video and for still work. Around this town they call it the "Hollywood Workhorse" it is so popular. This means more toys than even Guy or I could ever want. Pro quality tools too. Want lenses? Take your pick. You can rent ANYTHING here for a 5DIII.
But the 5D III is also a large DSLR. Not the tank my old Canon's were, nor the 1DX or 1DC, nor even the Nikon D3/3S/4/4S are, but the 5D III is still a large and heavy body, built to last. Solid. Indestructible. Couple up to some of that fabby Canon "L" glass, a second body to mount the long lens, and you are toting around a thirty plus pound bag for your ten hour work day. No question I can get the job done with a Canon Pro rig. Equally no question that I've paid the price for years of abusing my body doing so.
The Postman and I both list to the right when we walk. :loco:
For size and weight, the A7/A7R bodies are great. So are the lenses. Fantastic glass used to cost a small fortune (still does?) and weigh a ton. Want a Zeiss OTUS? Me too, but costs $4k I don't have and weighs in at a whopping 1030 g (2.43 lbs) I have NO desire to carry or the 5DIII to put it on.
On the other hand, the Sony Zeiss 55 FE lens gives up a bit of speed going from f/1.4 to f/1.8 but it also sheds 2/3 of the weight to a reasonable 281g AND gains autofocus - giving up little IQ. It's also 1/4 the cost. What is not to love?
I'm off to WPPI in Las Vegas in a couple of hours to set hands on both the X-T1 and the A7 for myself, now that I am familiar with the A7R. Honestly I doubt it will change my mind. I love my X-E1, and the great Fuji glass. If I was only going to be shooting stills from here on, the Fuji may be all I would ever need or want. But that is not the case. The genie is out of the bottle. I am also a filmmaker, so if the video isn't pretty it doesn't fit in the bag.
Bottom line, all of the newer model cameras are excellent. Equally, none are perfect for everything or for everybody. I figure selling off everything else, focusing my time on A7/A7R bodies I can concentrate enough on them to overcome most obstacles I mite encounter. And if I don't, I can always visit a local rental department and rent everything else I will ever need.
So for me, the mantra for 2014 is simplify, focus, concentrate on what works for me, lighten the load as much as possible, and ignore the rest. I'm likely buying a second and possibly a third A7 series body. Your own mileage may vary.