Anyone thinking about going-DSLR again?

pniev

Student for life
I noticed in the last week or so that I do miss my DSLR more than expected, especially for close-up and macro. I wonder if I made the wrong choice with the x-pro1. Don't get me wrong, I love the weight, size, etc. I love the buttons even more but it just doesn't feel right. I seem to take a different type of photos than I used to (which is not necessarily bad) but I am not sure if I like the results. My wife compared travel photos and told me she preferred the photos taken with the Nikon D200. I understand what she's saying because I have the same feeling. I am pretty sure that has less to do with IQ in a technical sense (sharpness, DR, etc) but more with the emotions triggered.

So I am starting to wonder if it makes sense to trade/sell my x-pro and buy the Nikon D800E and add a small fixed-lens 35mmeq camera to the collection for city trips and bike rides.

Does anyone of you have similar thoughts? Or am I just getting crazy? What's your opinion?

Peter
 
I don't have a Digital SLR camera & never used one but a month or so back I used my old film SLR & a Film Rangefinder.

The Film SLR was the best shooting experience - a real joy to look through - & when it comes to bulk & weight there was not a lot between the Rangefinder & the SLR.
Both had to be carried around in a bag / hung around my neck - which was cumbersome & a pain & Both attracted attention when shooting.

IMO Once you carry something around your neck there is little gain to be had, Some of the compacts are fairly bulky ie not discrete. I've also been wondering where the advantage is.

Something which slips into a pocket or a belt pouch has much greater attraction for me but as far as shooting experience the old SLR wins out & personally when it comes to my next camera I am really torn as to what to choose.
 
I've had a few DSLR's in the past including FF.
I think I miss having one until I realise its missing an electronic viewfinder. Over the last year or two I have become so used to a EVF , an optical one seems lacking . So I am patiently waiting for a FF EVF version of a 5D or similar
 
Never left. For me, though, it's about FF wonderfulness and objects-in-motion focusing. If those two get cracked by mirrorless, I'm not sure I'd stay DSLR.
 
Never left. For me, though, it's about FF wonderfulness and objects-in-motion focusing. If those two get cracked by mirrorless, I'm not sure I'd stay DSLR.

I think the focusing bit was cracked by the Nikon V1. That is every bit as good as my Canon 7D , if not better.
 
Nikon D800/E is bloody heavy to be carting about on bikes! If you really must... why FF? And if you want FF, why not the D600 which is a lot lighter? Or even one of the lesser, so called entry level bodies. In the meantime, the Nikon V1 is worth having if you can find one.
 
I'm sometimes tempted when I briefly use a friend's camera and remember how nice a big DSLR came feel in your hands. Of course, It's always nice when you can do the fondling and someone else does the carrying. In truth, I'd first go to the GH3 if I was leaning bigger.
 
Nikon D800/E is bloody heavy to be carting about on bikes! If you really must... why FF? And if you want FF, why not the D600 which is a lot lighter? Or even one of the lesser, so called entry level bodies. In the meantime, the Nikon V1 is worth having if you can find one.

I'd agree with Sue. XPro 1 to D800 is a large, large jump. XP1 to D600 might not seem as much. I have what you are contemplating, though. A Canon 6D + EOS-M w/22mm. Though not fixed lens, it's the only lens I have. It's a nice 1-2 combo.
 
I've had a few DSLR's in the past including FF.
I think I miss having one until I realise its missing an electronic viewfinder. Over the last year or two I have become so used to a EVF , an optical one seems lacking . So I am patiently waiting for a FF EVF version of a 5D or similar

Interesting... I still have a 5D (original) and the results from it still please me very much. However, the optical viewfinder - which previously, I saw as a major reason for staying with a DSLR - now seems, as you say, somehow "lacking".

It's a little disconcerting, since the 5D has a nice clear viewfinder - perhaps not the very best, but certainly very decent. The truth is, though, that I have now become so used to (good) EVFs, that they have become more enjoyable than optical finders (heresy, I know!:eek:). Not a comment that I would have expected to make a year or two ago!:confused::)
 
I may not have expressed myself well enough. I would use a small, fixed lens (35eq) system for city trips, bike rides, and alike. The Fuji X20 (which is in the house already) is an option.

I compared D800E and x-pro1 quite extensively (at least what I would call extensively). When I resized photos to the similar dimensions, the differences in sharpness, dynamic range, tonal range, etc. vanished except in shots of roses or other objects/subjects with intense reds. Sometimes differences in detail and tones were visible but it was not substantial enough to compensate for the weight and size of the D800. Of course, the difference is huge if you compare full size on 1:1. The details in the D800E are just incredible (I could read number plates of a car that seemed to be tiny in the photo). But I do not really like to crop and I also hardly print A1 size so this was less important.

I also compared to D600 and did not see any advantages at the time. I would probably draw a different conclusion now.

Thanks for your thoughts!


I'd agree with Sue. XPro 1 to D800 is a large, large jump. XP1 to D600 might not seem as much. I have what you are contemplating, though. A Canon 6D + EOS-M w/22mm. Though not fixed lens, it's the only lens I have. It's a nice 1-2 combo.

Nikon D800/E is bloody heavy to be carting about on bikes! If you really must... why FF? And if you want FF, why not the D600 which is a lot lighter? Or even one of the lesser, so called entry level bodies. In the meantime, the Nikon V1 is worth having if you can find one.
 
I recently made the switch back to the darkside. Really....all these modern cameras are so great that if YOU see something different in what you shoot or how you shoot or some fine undefinable characteristic that you like better, just go for it. I know this isn't the first time you've mentioned some dissatisfaction about the macro of the Fuji. Good luck with your decision.
 
the differences in sharpness, dynamic range, tonal range, etc. vanished except in shots of roses or other objects/subjects with intense reds.

Are you saying the Fuji blew out the reds or had other issues with reds? I thought I saw that with my XM-1, but I'm still interested in Fuji, so I was wondering about your thoughts.
 
I've had a few DSLR's in the past including FF.
I think I miss having one until I realise its missing an electronic viewfinder. Over the last year or two I have become so used to a EVF , an optical one seems lacking . So I am patiently waiting for a FF EVF version of a 5D or similar
that's one of the main points why i prefer (later) alphas over canikon - they have an evf. and their bodies are quite small. on this trip i'm on, i actually have my a77 and x100s. i can't wait for the FF mirrorless alphas to come out spring 2014 - one of the main reasons i passed on the a99.

dyne4ate.jpg



(Sent from my EVO via Tapatalk)
 
I still have my Canon 50D which I still use from time to time out of nostalgia, but these days the truth is that a camera with only an OVF and a clunky live view setup just isn't good enough for what I want.

Using a DSLR makes me feel like I'm 31 again, LOL.
 
There was (far) less contrast in the Fuji reds (and not in the greens). I don't have the examples anymore but I just could not get the same results as with the D800.
The jpegs looked awful. Raw with my standard preset looked much better but not up-to-par with D800.
I did not spend time on figuring out why/how and how to correct. I prefer to spend as less time on PP as possible.

Are you saying the Fuji blew out the reds or had other issues with reds? I thought I saw that with my XM-1, but I'm still interested in Fuji, so I was wondering about your thoughts.
 
I've only borrowed / used one DSLR, and it was a D70s. I had it for a little over a year, and used it on one trip and a few other here-and-there local outtings. I never got into the user inteface, and struggled to communicate with the camera. I loved the focus speed and shutter speed, but the files just never did much for me. If I got to use a much newer one, and someone walked me through settings on it to where I got competent, I might really enjoy it. But I'd never brign it with me on a weekend bike ride. The X100 just gets slung over my back, and away we go. I can shoot it one-handed while biking pretty easily.
 
I never got into the user inteface, and struggled to communicate with the camera.

Nikon makes very strange cameras, that's true. I sometimes think their corporate motto is "do everything differently." You even have to rotate the lens in the opposite (to every other camera) direction to mount it on the camera. The direction of the focusing ring is also opposite to everyone else. Have I mentioned that in their earlier cameras they used inverted exposure bar graph? It went to the left if overexposed and to the right if underexposed. Cameras built by Martians for Martians, lol.
 
I'm another one who isn't ready to give up his DSLR kit - yet. I have a Pentax K-5, K-30 and K-01. And, frankly, it's my collection of DA Limited primes at keeps me from selling off the system despite my ownership of a three-body micro four-thirds kit. I rarely use my big, heavy DA* zooms anymore.

But I'm keeping a close eye on Sony's progress with DSLR-class mirrorless cameras. The SLTs got my interest but had their own compromises. But if a traditional, full-frame DSLR makes some magic that you just can't find elsewhere -and you can deal with the size and weight - then it's time to be honest with yourself and go for what you know you really want. Especially if you'll also have something like an X-20 for when you absolutely need to go small.
 
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