If There Were No M4/3s...

[tjdean01]

If there were no m4/3s, what you would you get, and why? We are all in the forum so we know how good m4/3s is, and we like it because of the following:

*Many small bodies for $500 or less
*Ahead of its time sensors
*Cheap, small, sharp lenses - 20, 25, 45
*High quality native glass available - 42/1.2, 75, 12-40
*Can adapt virtually any lens including good, vintage glass for under $100
*Many good pancakes like the 14, 20, 12-32
*5-axis, weatherproof, viewfinder OMD type options
*Low cost
*Used 12MP bodies for $150
*"fun" lenses like body cap, 3d, and fisheye for cheap.

No other system can claim size, price, quality, and versatility, but many can claim larger sensors, when, with all things considered, could technically be a bit better at high ISO and give better bokeh.

So, you could get the boxy Sony A7 full frame thing and some lenses and spend $5000. Or you could get Fuji would seems like a good second choice to m4/3s except for cost and maybe size. Sony NEX has been around a while and although I don't like them, I'm sure they're doing some good things and could also be a second place to m4/3s in our hearts. DSLRs are an option, especially now that you can get that Sigma f1.8 zoom. There's full frame DSLRs like the Nikon D800 or DF. Then there's the Canon EOS-M or whatever their mirrorless thing is called, and Nikon and Austen Kucher's Nikon 1 system. Then there's whatever Pentax and other companies are doing that I haven't been keeping up with.

I didn't want to make this a poll, but, if you couldn't use m4/3s, what would it be?

 

[nickthetasmaniac]

We are all in the forum so we know how good m4/3s is, and I like it because of the following:

*Many small bodies for $500 or less
*Ahead of its time sensors
*Cheap, small, sharp lenses - 20, 25, 45
*High quality native glass available - 42/1.2, 75, 12-40
*Can adapt virtually any lens including good, vintage glass for under $100
*Many good pancakes like the 14, 20, 12-32
*5-axis, weatherproof, viewfinder OMD type options
*Low cost
*Used 12MP bodies for $150
*"fun" lenses like body cap, 3d, and fisheye for cheap.

I didn't want to make this a poll, but, if you couldn't use m4/3s, what would it be?

Corrected, oh how it bugs me when people imply that their view is the cummunity's view...

Anyhoo, to the question... I like MFT but it's not the be-all-end-all - it has it's flaws like everything else. I don't have any great technical demands with my gear - give me decent IQ, good ergonomics with an intuitive user-interface, and a couple of nice primes and with time I'll grow comfortable with whatever.

Fuji X would be tempting due to a few of their primes. Their bodies strike me as being a little style over function though (my experience, YMMV).

Sony full-frame looks good and I'm treating their A7x bodies as very much first-gen, so I'm assuming they'll iron out some issues down the track. The two CZ primes available so far look excellent.

I've always enjoyed Pentax dSLR gear and the K-3 looks excellent.

Several friends have used Nikon full-frame semi-professionaly and I'd be quite happy with either the D700 or D800.

To be honest, my newly begun affair with the Ricoh GR has me wondering if I need a system at all :smile: Oh to be young and in love...

 

[Luckypenguin]

I think that I would have stuck with DSLRs longer than I did, but at this moment in time:

- I wouldn't have a DSLR whether APS-C or full-frame. Old technology, bigger than they need to be, etc.
- I wouldn't go for a full-frame mirrorless (Sony) for the same reason I currently don't i.e. diminishing returns against increasing costs
- APS-C NEX nee Alpha is just a bit icky. Don't know how to explain it; just don't like it.
- Don't have enough of a desire for nostalgia to go full-time with Fujifilm, but if I was to have a dabble with a second system it would be this.

My winner is the Samsung NX system, especially now with some great new zoom lenses coming to go with their already impressive primes. I have owned and sold all three Micro 4/3 pancakes, and yet the Samsung 20mm and 30mm pancakes are amongst my favourite lenses. The NX300 added some refinement to the 20mp sensor which already boasted excellent resolution, as well as an excellent touchscreen interface. The NX30 takes that hardware and puts it into a larger body with more controls and built-in viewfinder.

 

[biomed]

I might start shooting film again with my Voigtländer Bessa M-mount cameras full time. If I had to pick a digital camera I would probably go the single camera/lens route with the Sony RX1.

 

[pdk42]

I guess for me, it would be Fuji - now that they (mostly) sorted out the AF. It has nice lenses that don't break the bank and the IQ looks good (at least as good a u43 )

 

[hazwing]

dunno... probably would be a good compact like the sony rx100II + DSLR of some sort. Probably full frame if I could afford it. Probably canon/nikon due to good selection of lenses.

 

[agentlossing]

I'd probably still have a Nikon DSLR. And if I was still in the Nikon camp I'd probably have bought the 35mm f1.8 AF-S that didn't exist when I got my D40, and I'd be plenty happy with that combo. Maybe a more up to date body.

 

[Livnius]

Firstly, I have to say that I disagree with the idea that m43 is all about small and cheap bodies and lenses......IMO the EPM2 and Pana 14mm are no more or less 'true to m43' than their vastly bigger and more expensive brothers the EM1 and Pana Nocticron and I hope that both Panasonic and Olympus continue to push the envelope and give us even more 'premium' options.

If m43 wasn't around ? ....hmmm....probably would have gotten onto the Fuji bandwagon then would have got off that bandwagon after the Xtrans sensor. Probably kicking the proverbial hornets nest here but after 4 months with the X100S and trying every trick in the book I just couldn't shake the feeling that this particular sensor type is not yet a finished product....brilliant most of the time but all too often it would throw me a curve ball with ugly smeared and mottled hair, skin and foliage. If Fuji offered Bayer sensor versions of their cameras like Sony does 'R' versions then I'd probably be super interested.

After shooting the GR I can only hope Ricoh expands this line and give us an equally excellent 50mm version.....BUT, the RX1 has completely ruined any idea I thought I had as to what was 'good enough'...and the RX1 isn't even subtle about it either, in terms of pure pixel peeping (NOTE: not talking about how great or otherwise the photograph itself is) it takes to EVERYTHING else I've tried with a sledge hammer...but I'll give Sony a couple of more years yet to really refine and bulk out their FF mirrorless offerings...(they have a hell of a lot of catching up to do to compete with the feature set and breadth of m43 gear).

Come to think of it...I really like what Samsung is doing in some ways but I need more options with inbuilt EVFs before I take a serious look......( I use the rear LCD for about less than 5% of my shots).

I have zero interest in an APS or FF DSLR. Zero.


There are lots of options out there...as a system however, m43 stacks up VERY nicely against anything.

 

[Joe Billingham]

Luckily I seem to like almost all formats and the best designs thereof. So if M43 tanked there is plenty of great gear to shoot. Love my FF gear the most--6D and 5D2--but FujiFilm has it going on and that Pentax K3 is a little screamer. I'm not a fan of Sony--lots of bad experiences with their pro audio division--but I think I could rough it with a Sigma SD1 or DP3 if I had too!

 

[lightmonkey]

Firstly, I have to say that I disagree with the idea that m43 is all about small and cheap bodies and lenses......

agreed with everything you said. i lived before m43 and wager ill be able to live after m43. for me fuji makes cameras for the enjoyment of shooting, and sony makes the camera for photographic results. you're right that the rx1 has really, really spoiled people in terms of PQ.

if sony had swapped an EVF in place of that useless flash - or even better made the camera slightly taller to accomodate a hybrid VF.... id live with it for a long time. with 24mp of insane quality i could crop all day to desired AOV

 

[mattia]

Firstly, I have to say that I disagree with the idea that m43 is all about small and cheap bodies and lenses......

Gotta agree with that - lower price at entry and lower price options are certainly attractive to many, but coming from a 5DII with L glass, it's the high quality in a small package that's of primary interest to me. Less so the fact there are a few cheap and good options in the system. Not that I don't appreciate them, but there's a reason my first MFT body wouldn't have dragged me into the system (GF2 - fun, but meh sensor, meh handling, overall unengaging camera to me), but my second (and E-M5) did. And that the only MFT cam I'm shooting now is the E-M1, though I'd love a GM1 as a tiny companion. The IBIS in the oly's is a major selling point for me, mitigating the slightly worse sensor performance (compared to FF and a very select few APS-C systems).

I'd probably shoot Fuji if M43 didn't exist, and still would have bought the NEX FF for my landscapey needs. The latter is not well rounded/versatile enough for me, and will be too big a system if/when native telephoto options show, but I love it as a companion system. Perfect synergy, much better than my 5DII was.

 

[Your Funny Uncle]

After learning that I enjoyed shooting with an EVF on my Sony A77, I'd certainly come to the conclusion that mirrorless was the way forward, but the small, cheap bodies were actually what put me off MFT for a while. I wanted something a little more serious. The O-MD series piqued my interest and the arrival of the E-M1 and 12-40/2.8 sold me on the system.

As to the question, I guess Fuji looks like the next best bet at the moment. I never really liked the look of NEX or Samsung's offering, and I don't want to go back to DSLRs now...

 

[Crushader]

I'd using the Sony DSC QX-10 or QX-100 right now, which was my initial choice before got lured into m4/3 =D

 

[Verdant]

Almost certainly the Fuji X system.

 

[BigTom]

I would probably still have been using my Nikon DSLR kit. Fuji would be my second choice but until recently were too expensive and had no super-wide option.

If I were investing right now it'd probably be a toss-up between m43 and Fuji but I suspect m43 would still win out as it just seems to hit my personal sweet spot for size vs IQ vs cost vs versatility.

 

[Superstriker#8]

Probably the nex, or Samsung.

 

[drd1135]

The Fuji system would be very tempting, but I probably would have kept going with Pentax DSLRs and gotten a compact like the RX100 or X20. The Fuji system would have been an expensive investment in lenses and I already had a nice collection of Pentax lenses.

 

[demiro]

m4/3s for me, at this point, is all about the 45/1.8 and 17/1.8 lenses. If I had to replace that I'd go with Canon 5D + 85/1.8 and a Fuji X100 for the 35mm equiv.

But if the question is interpreted to mean that m4/3s never existed, then I'd likely still be in a Canon DSLR. 6D I'd guess. For me, m4/3s was the gateway system that motivated me to seriously consider the likes of NEX and Fuji X and Nikon 1. The cost of entry was pretty low for a used E-PL1 or GF1, and the advancements were frequent and significant.

 

[Neftun]

I'd go with sony, I think. Maybe fuji, or stay with nikon. They have excellent service and representation next to back good products up.
After a decade or so in electronics/photo retailing, I've seen enough of samsung in all their divisions to put them at the very bottom of my list. Maybe if it was a written list I'd make it another page just so I could put samsung even further down. My impression is that what they make tend to either fall apart, or their colours way off, or they have serious designflaws they flaunt as being the best on the marked. I do not like being so negative about a brand, I am sure they make some good products. But I have been to so many productpresentstions, heard so many samsung-reps pitches and got excited so many times, but dissapointed twice as many as all of them, I personally feel a little bit of bad conscience everytime I sell a samsung product.

 

[nardoleo]

The retro design of the epl1 was what got me into m43 and photography.

If the epl1 ever existed, I would most likely go for the fuji x100.

What I love about m43 is not so much the small bodies or lenses, its thr overall experience. To me, its photography made simpler.

Sent from my trusty Samsung Galaxy Note 2