Choosing A Mirrorless Camera
Derek Smith • 18 February 2022
Going Underground
Photo By: Derek Smith - Olympus E-PL7
Puffin
Photo By: Derek Smith - Olympus OM-D E-M5 iii
Flamborough Head Stack
Photo By: Derek Smith - Fuji X-T3
Fuji - Twin Lens Kit
Photo by: Derek Smith
There are so many excellent mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras on the market at the moment, choosing the right camera for your needs can be quite daunting. These are my thoughts, and personal opinion on choosing a mirrorless camera.
The first choice would possibly be on sensor size; there are four to consider, medium format, full frame, APS-C (Nikon DX), and micro four thirds. Medium format sensors as used in Hasselblad, and Fuji GFX cameras are probably too “high end”, and specialised for the average photographer. Most photographers will opt for a full frame camera, or an APS-C camera. The advantage of a full frame sensor is improved dynamic range, and low light capability, the disadvantages of a full frame camera, are the larger size, weight of the lenses, and higher costs of buying those lenses. Personally for my needs an APS-C camera hits the “sweet spot” on weight, physical size and price of the camera, and lenses. Micro four thirds, is the smallest sensor used in the Olympus / Panasonic partnership cameras, I have used micro four thirds cameras since I bought my first Olympus E-PL1 in 2010, and never found the image quality lacking in any respect. Some of my best photography of late has been taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 iii which has been a sterling performer in all weathers, and never let me down, and the amazing Olympus E-PL7 using the 17mm f/1.8 pancake prime (34mm full frame).
Possibly the next choice would be brand loyalty, if you’ve used brand “X” for a number of years, then you might consider buying a mirrorless camera from that brand if upgrading. I believe however that rather than focus on a particular brand of camera, your choice might be better served by the camera features needed, and the choice of lenses, and the price of those lenses.
Sony produce some excellent cameras, the auto focus, and subject tracking on those cameras is first rate, however for me the APS-C A6000 range of cameras are ergonomically flawed, fine if shooting in semi automatic mode, set the ISO, and white balance to auto, the mode dial to Aperture Priority, and use the single control wheel to adjust the aperture. Choosing to shoot in Manual Mode is a different proposition entirely. Set the ISO from the menu, aperture from the control wheel on the top of the camera, and the shutter speed is adjusted by the tiny thumb wheel on the back of the camera, and it’s not possible to adjust the settings while holding the camera up to the eye!! I upgraded to the Sony A7 ii, a far better camera in my opinion, but the lens mount is too close to the handgrip, I had to squeeze my fingers in between the lens barrel on some lenses, and the handgrip, and personally I’ve never been able to see much difference between a full frame camera, and an APS-C image.
It was the ergonomics that prompted my return to the Olympus fold, even the base camera Olympus OM-D E-M10 iv has twin control dials on top of the camera, and can be bought new, as a kit, from under £800. Olympus, and Panasonic have over 100 lenses to choose from, with the micro four thirds mirrorless cameras having been in existence since Panasonic produced the G1 in 2008, followed by the Olympus E-PL1 in 2009.
My choice of camera system was based on my change of needs. My workflow had markedly changed, I now predominantly shoot in RAW, and edit the images, but I also liked to shoot in JPEG to share on social media, and a single SD card meant that I had to separate out the RAW images, and the JPEG images when loading onto the computer, which slowed my workflow down. I therefore needed to have two SD card slots, I also wanted to have a joystick to control the focus point, and the camera must be weatherproof. My immediate upgrade path would have been to the Olympus OM-D E-M1 iii, but I felt like a change.
Canon make some excellent cameras, I looked at the M mount APS-C cameras, but currently a poor range of lenses, no weatherproofing, and no dual card slots, the Canon RP is a great camera but no dual card slots.
Nikon next, I like the Z50, but again with only two lenses for the APS-C (Nikon DX), I seriously considered the Nikon Z5, dual SD card slots, weatherproofing, and IBIS, however it was the lens choice, and cost of lenses, that determined my rejection of this choice.
Sony wasn’t even a consideration, due to the ergonomics, but the lens choice, and image quality are outstanding, apart from the dust spots on the sensor which is a common problem on Sony cameras.
Panasonic S5, I nearly bought this, my finger hovered over the “buy now” button, especially over the Christmas period when the camera body, and 20-60mm lens were on offer at £1300!!
Eventually it was the Fuji APS-C range of cameras that I was drawn to, with a choice of over 40 native lenses, the weatherproofing, dual UHS ii SD card slots, a joystick and the analogue dials on top of the camera of the X-T3 that won me over. I needed a high quality prime lens for my portraiture, and this has been filled by the excellent 35mm f/2 lens (50mm full frame equivalent). The 16-80mm f/4 constant aperture lens (24-120mm full frame) is ideal for travel, and landscape, and I have the excellent 70-300mm variable aperture lens (105-450mm full frame) for the wildlife. As a wide angle lens I have the Samyang 12mm AF f/2 prime lens (18mm full frame). The camera is reasonably small, and light, (heavier though than the Olympus), and makes a complete set with the camera body, the 16-80mm lens, and the 70-300mm lens all fitted into a small Manfrotto camera bag.
As to costs, the X-T3 body was £899 new, the 35mm lens, and the 16-80mm lens were bought second hand, and I had to buy the 70-300mm lens new at £729, as it was only introduced late last year, so the price, size, and weight of the lenses suit my needs.
The learning curve moving to the Fuji system has been fairly steep, some of the settings are inter dependent, as an example if I want to use the face / eye auto focus, then that overrides the choice of focus point, but once you know these things then it becomes easy, I’ll have the face / eye auto focus on for portrait sessions, and switch it off when shooting in other genres, and I have a function button assigned for this.
Louth Photographic Society
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Roger Hance Memorial Lecture 16th October
Last night Lee Dixon from Cleethorpes Camera Club gave his first ever presentation to a camera club, which we were privileged to view. His presentation consisted of portraiture, creative, and his genre of choice; wildlife. Lee is an extremely talented photographer, with a highly creative portfolio, his portraits are quite atmospheric, unusual, and capture the essence of the model, and scene. For Lee’s creative work, he buys props from charity shops, often very cheaply, reusing those props in various scenes. For his composite work he will often take one of his photos of a room, and blend it with a subject in Photoshop using “blend” modes. For wildlife he visited Lake Kerkini in Greece to photograph the Pelicans, if the sky is a little on the bland side, Lee will often over expose the image resulting in a striking white background to the subject. On safari in Africa Lee showed us some amazing images of the wildlife, the close-up images of elephants, the wildebeest migration, and this stunning image of a cheetah. Lee was ably assisted by Mike Bennett. More of Lee’s work can be found on his website: https://leedixonphoto.co.uk/ Lee his kindly given permission for his images to be used in this post. Many thanks to Lee, and Mike for an amazing evening.
Good Morning All Last week at the club we held our monthly PDI competition, with the categories of "Objects in the Air" and "Open", there was a very high-quality entry in both competitions and judge Mike Bennett had quite a job on his hands scoring the entries. Well, done to Dave Turner for first place in the Objects in the Air and Tony Gaskins for first place in the Open. All the results are on our website. This week, Wednesday 30th September, our speaker will be Lee Dixon from Cleethorpes Camera Club showing us his natural history, Creative and many other photographs he has taken. It will be the first time Lee has shown his photographs at our club. If anyone else wants to enter PDI's in the 2027 N&EMPF Exhibition, the deadline is this Wednesday at midnight. Harry is still taking entries for the PDI competition, with the categories of "Local Straight from Camera" (unedited .jpg), and "Open", to be held on Wednesday 7th October. Regards Graham
At the meeting last night Mike Bennett judged our competition with the categories of “Objects in the Air”, and “Open”. The standard of entries was excellent, and it gave Mike a tough task of judging the images, Mike gave some very good critique of the images displayed, the feedback helps members to develop compositional skills. Dave Turner was awarded first place for his image of the “Tiger Club Display Team” in the “Objects in the Air” category. Tony Gaskins was awarded first place for his image of the “Spectacular Rustgill” in the “Open” category.
Good Morning All, Last week at the club we watched the N&EMPF PDI Exhibition for 2026, it was a very good evening viewing very high standard images from all over the East Midlands. Dave Turner and I did manage to get images accepted; there is a full report on our website. This week, Wednesday 23rd September, we will hold our monthly PDI competition, with the categories of "Objects in the Air" and "Open", please send entries to Harry by midnight tonight. Harry is also accepting images for the PDI competition, with the categories of "Local Straight out of the Camera (only resizing permitted)" and "Open". Regards Graham
Members were shown the 2026 N&EMPF PDI Exhibition video last night with all of the accepted PDI images in the first part, and after the break the awarded PDI images. There were some stunning images on view, and Louth was successful in having 3 PDI images accepted, Graham Harrison with his image of a Stonechat, and Dave Turner with his portrait of Paul Rudd, and his monochrome image of Kings Cross railway station "Going Down". Overall it was a good inspirational evening.
Good Morning All Last week at the club members had 15 minutes to show what they had done over the summer. It was a very interesting evening with eight members taking part. There were many locations on show and as usual some excellent photography. There is a full report on our blog. This week, Wednesday 16th September, we will be showing the N&EMPF exhibition, this is part one showing all the PDI's that were accepted. This is the highest standard of photography we as individuals take part in as a club. Members sent around 50 entries but only 3 were accepted. If you are inspired to enter the 2027 Exhibition after seeing the show, I send the clubs entries and I can give you more information. Closing date is the end of September. The Maximum size for N&EMPF is 1600 x 1200 3MB sRGB Harry is still taking entries for the monthly PDI competition, with the categories of "Objects in the Air" and "Open". Harry did ask about what can be accepted, and we couldn't really say as long as it's an object in the Air. The best way is to look up the definition of an object first. Harry is also accepting entries for the Local and Open competition in October. Robin is going to judge the Open competition, does anyone fancy judging the "Straight from the camera" category? Regards Graham
The Louth Photographic Society has returned after the summer break. It was an incredible return, with members providing us with some stunning images from over the summer break. A full, and varied smorgasbord of well executed photos, many of us visited Whitby, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, and further north images from Staithes, and Sandbanks. Tony showed us his long exposure minimalist calming coastal scenes, from the Lincolnshire coast, and Whitby.. Chris brought us some beautiful photos taken of local churches, many of which many of us have never seen. Now I’ve never really seen the attraction of an expensive Leica camera, but when Mark showed his photos from his visit to the German Leica factory in Wetzlar, I now understand, camera bodies, and lenses milled from solid blocks of aluminium, hand polished, hand finished lens glass, and textured leather applied to the camera body, not a robot in sight, just craftsmen, and women making a superb photographic instrument. Sue brought us “pink” ladies driving tractors to raise money for cancer research. Last but definitely not least Richard showed his monochrome, and infrared images of trees, his compositions, and photographic eye bring these tree studies to life, we appreciate them even if some judges don’t understand. Many thanks to all of those members who contributed.
Good Morning All We spent last week on the Isle of Wight visiting many of the attractions. This week, Wednesday 9th September, we are back at the club with 15-minute PDI shows of what you did during the summer break, I have Derek Smith, Tony Gaskins, Harry Kerman, Chris Birchmore and Richard Hildred on the list, if I have missed you off, please let me know. I should be there but could be late as away playing golf. Harry is taking entries for the September PDI competition, with the categories of "Objects in the Air" and "Open". Harry will miss the October local competition but will sort the entries out for us, The competition categories will be "Local-Not Edited" and "Open". We judge this competition in house so could do with two volunteers to judge. The local competition is a .jpeg photograph taken and straight from the camera, no cropping, or post processing etc, like the old days taken no more than 25 miles from St James church. Regards Graham
