Mirrorless/CSC/MFT - General Discussion Thread

Qactuar

I think either of those would fit in a pocket, just about. I'm not sure I like the idea of the powered lens just yet, but I think I'd have to play with one to really get a proper opinion on them - it's just my experience with motor-zoom isn't great and it's one of those things you can't shake until you shake it!

snerkler

Funny isn't it. I had nothing but powered zooms and when moving to DSLR's I didn't like the idea of manual zoom. I think we tend to be creatures of familiarity. I now prefer manual zoom and don't like the thought of going back to powered, but I'm sure if I actually took the plunge I'd be perfectly happy with it.

Thinking about it most of my shots either tend to be at either end of the range and I rarely use the mid range anyway. When I had my powered zooms before they were superzooms and so used the mid range point. Plus as they spanned a wider range I guess there's more chance of inaccuracies.

Qactuar

I played with a Minolta 7000AF (first ever auto-AF and auto-advance film camera!) and it was a manual zoom and motorised AF, so I started out that way (most people start out compact these days).

Then I had a Fuji S304 "bridge" style, as film was getting very expensive to develop in volume. Great 3.2MP camera, but the power-zoom was jerky looking back at it now. Lasted me a couple of years, then I sold it and bought the 350D and felt a lot more comfortable with it.

Now it sits neglected, as neither me or OH likes lugging bulk around

AMc

FWIW I don't think it comes down to power/manual but smooth, proportional control.
My canon compacts have power zoom and they tend to move quite fast which can make getting framing "just so" awkward when you overshoot in both directions trying to hit a sweet spot.  Slow moving can also be frustrating - my old MiniDV camcorder took an age to (smoothly) go to it's full telephoto which meant you could miss things or put up with wobbly zoom at the start of the clip.

The Panasonic powerzoom seems to have a 2 speed switch for zoom which as I've not used it I can't comment on other than it sounds better than fixed speed and not as adaptable as an analogue/proportional control.

One thing in favour of power zoom is they can be very smooth which is arguably better for video though I'm not a massive fan of zooming during shooting.

My older DSLR and E-PL5 have manual zoom on a twist which seems to be easier to control.  I suspect that a well implemented powered twist would suit me fine.  AFAIK The "manual" focus on the Olympus zooms isn't actually physically connected to the elements but controls the motors - it feels analogue though so I don't notice it feeling odd.

Of course in the early 90's when I did a GCSE in photography we shot film on fixed focal lengths and "zoomed with our feet"

Bl4ckGryph0n

Looking at your kit list...shallower dof can be obtained much more easily with many of the M43 lenses...If you are really a DOF junky I could lend you my medium format gear

snerkler

Thanks, that's a very kind offer. I will graciously decline though as I'm a bit 'funny' about borrowing gear 'just in case'.

It's a compromise tbh. Whilst I like shallow DOF, a lot of the time I don't like to be carrying several lenses, therefore a constant f2.8 short zoom is an ideal compromise (in my ideal world you'd be able to get a constant f1.4 zoom ). I'm sure putting a f1.4 on a MFT would give me nice shallow DOF, but f1.4's are only primes and so don't have the flexibility. Constant f2.8 short zooms on CSC's are quite pricey, and quite big which kind of negates the idea for me. A CSC would be a supplement to my A77 rather than a replacement, mainly for travel, and so would need to be compact, and not break the bank.

Fuji's or Sonys could fit the bill as the APS-C would give me the shallower DOF compared to the olly's (at the same aperture), but with the compact/pancake zooms they're only f5.6 at the wide, compared with f2.8 of my 16-50mm SSM. Obviously that's 2 stops of light too. I have to say though I could be swayed away from the shallow DOF just cos the Olly's look so cool

A lot to think about for sure and I'm in no rush, and in no financial position at present anyway

Bl4ckGryph0n

As I said before...my 35-100 f2.8 is about the same size as the tripod colour of my old nikon 70-200vr and provides the same focal range...They are much much smaller...And lets not even get to the 85mm f1.2 equivalent...

snerkler

Thanks. Is that a panny lens? Do you need adapters to fit panny to olly and vice versa or do they fit straight on?

shotokan101

all M4/3 lenses are body interchangeable...

Bl4ckGryph0n

Yes the panasonic 35-100

Indeed it is a native m43 lens just like those from Olympus, Sigma, Voightlander, SLR Magic, Leica etc...