Was switching to mirrorless worth it?

[Cantab]

Hi Trevor, great to see you back!

[DanK]

Trevor,

Indeed, great to have you back.

I am also using two of the EF lenses you kept, my 70-200L IS USM f/4 MkII and my 100-400MKII. Both work flawlessly on my R6 II. I use the 100-400 so little that I'll never replace it. I'd like to replace the 70-200, even though the EF II is a superb lens, to have something shorter and better balanced than the EF with the adapter, but it ain't gonna happen. It seems that the used price of EF lenses has dropped, and it would cost me about UD $1000 to sell it and by the RF version. I did replace my 24-105; I bought the RF as the kit lens. I wasn't all that happy with the EF lens, and that one is on my camera so much that I wanted the shorter and lighter kit.

[Tronhard]

Hi Trevor, great to see you back!

Thank you Bruce, still a work in progress, I'm afraid. Still, any day above ground is a good one!

[Tronhard]

Trevor,

Indeed, great to have you back.

I am also using two of the EF lenses you kept, my 70-200L IS USM f/4 MkII and my 100-400MKII. Both work flawlessly on my R6 II. I use the 100-400 so little that I'll never replace it. I'd like to replace the 70-200, even though the EF II is a superb lens, to have something shorter and better balanced than the EF with the adapter, but it ain't gonna happen. It seems that the used price of EF lenses has dropped, and it would cost me about UD $1000 to sell it and by the RF version. I did replace my 24-105; I bought the RF as the kit lens. I wasn't all that happy with the EF lens, and that one is on my camera so much that I wanted the shorter and lighter kit.

Thanks Dan! I decided to keep the 70-200L IS USM f/4 MkII, because of its excellent optics, fast focus, light weight and compact design. I did sell my MkII f/2.8 IS version because it was so heavy and rarely used. I decided to stick with that because it is a focal range I don't use so much - I prefer to shoot with longer lenses, but also because it does not extend to focus, and thus will not have a bellows effect, pushing dust etc. towards to sensor. It's pretty clear that Canon are divesting the remnants of the DSLR range of optics, if the reports are to be believed. Still, there is a vast resource of good optics and bodies out there for those who want to expand their existing DSLR gear.

[inkista]

Since you say you like longer lenses, I feel I should mention that today, Canon announced the RF 200-800mm f/6.3-9 IS USM. MSRP is $1899, and it's what B&H and Adorama are listing it for. And here we thought the only budget superzoom options were the 100-400, 600/11, and 800/11. Does extend, though.

[JDW in Oz]

An update to my last update.

My Z6ii saga has come to a positive finale. In a different way from that I originally intended...

My dealer offered me a secondhand Z6, near-mint, lovingly looked after by its first owner, low actuations, the works. All well and good. They kindly let me play with it for a weekend, along with a 40/2.0 Z. Which was fun.

I passed. Not entirely sure why. Price was one factor - as an age pensioner I tend to watch my spending and budget with care, maybe too much, but that's me. Also I reckon my less than enjoyable experiences with two new Z6ii Nikons made me somewhat wary (here I must say that both my dealer and the repair centre did reassure me that those two misbehaving cameras were flukes and not typical, and I agree with this).

That, and I also had a little time to reconsider what I wanted in a new camera, what my new priorities were, and did I really need to spend all that money on a full frame Z. Maybe overthinking all that. Which can carry a risk...

Anyway, after a few discussions at home and with my dealer, I went for a Zfc (DX not FX, as esurely veryone here will already know) and a Nikon Z 28/2.8.

I am SO pleased to report I could not be happier with this Nikon. Next on my Must Buy list is be an FTZ adapter when a good used one comes into the shop, for my arsenal of Nikon D lenses (in the range 20-300, all primes as I'm not a 'Zoomie') I want to use. Manual focusing is not a problem for me - in fact my eyesight is one of (very few) good things I have at my age.

Getting used to DX again has been an interesting experience for me. At times I tend to slip back into my "old" thought-mode and I forget that the 28, a beaut lens in every way, is an FX and not a DX crop lens. I also get frustrated at not having a wider lens to play with, but that will change when I get the FTZ adapter. How soon we forget. My last DX baby was a Nikon D90 I bought new, which we still have, my partner uses it with the 18-55mVR kit lens and at most times the results put my own "arty" images to shame, but then it's the photographer, not the camera...

Two Nikon D800s and one D700 will soon be looking for new homes. I will hold on to my oldest (bought new in 2010) D700 as it has 130,000 miles, sorry, actuations! on its speedometer and I doubt I will be able to sell it for much more than "plonk" cheap wine money.

All this has been an interesting experience. It has taught me, among a few other things, to Go Slow with changing cameras, shop around, buy cautiously, and do a little homework before forking over a small bucket of cash without having thought out the matter first. But that's all due to age, I reckon.

In summing up, two key points here.

I would not discourage anyone from considering the Z6 or Z6ii as a purchase, they are both fine cameras and my experiences with them were just bad luck.

As well, part of me still regrets not having a Z6 or Z6ii, but as they say (or whomsoever says, or I say), them's the breaks.

[lunaticitizen]

Nice. I wish Sony made one or two retro cameras. I loved my Fuji X100F; I can't get any newer iterations of the camera at a reasonable price!

[Manfred M]

As all camera manufacturers, other than Pentax, are now only building mirrorless cameras, so this is a moot point.

If you are planning to buy a new camera, it will have to be a mirrorless one.

That being said, the manufacturers and distributors will have some old stock around if you are still planning to buy a DSLR, but these will all be "old technology" when it comes to sensors and processors. Once this stock has been run down, the used market will be the only option for those looking for DSLRs. The same comment goes for lenses for DSLRs; so far as I know, these are no longer in production and when the current stock is gone, there won't be any more made.

[inkista]

Happy new camera, Manfred!! Enjoy!

I will also point out that now that you have a mirrorless body, you can adapt lenses from a lot more mounts and you don't necessarily have to stick with F-mount lenses+the FTZ adapter.

And for a DX walkaround zoom, the new Z 16-50 is a far more compact choice than adapting an 18-55, 16-80, or 16-85. And there are some crazy 3rd-party options out there you may not have considered.

[Manfred M]

Happy new camera, Manfred!! Enjoy!

I will also point out that now that you have a mirrorless body, you can adapt lenses from a lot more mounts and you don't necessarily have to stick with F-mount lenses+the FTZ adapter.

And for a DX walkaround zoom, the new Z 16-50 is a far more compact choice than adapting an 18-55, 16-80, or 16-85. And there are some crazy 3rd-party options out there you may not have considered.

Actually no new camera for me yet...

I'm waiting to see what Fujifilm will be doing with the G mount.

The GFX100ii is a bit too expensive for me and the very affordable GFX100s is over 3 years old and due for a refresh. I am definitely heading to medium format for my next camera. I'm primarily looking at it for studio and location work.

The trusty old D810 still has a lot of life in it, so that will be my full-frame workhorse when travelling.

[JDW in Oz]

I am now playing with a borrowed Nikon Zfc. Which is about as far from my long-term 'fixation' with FF digital photography, as I have ever thought I would go. But I have. And I like it.

The Zfc is not a Z6-Z6ii-Z7 etc etc, but it stands on its own merits and to a mid-70s still active but starting to slow down and feel his age, happy wanderer-photographer who travels mostly to Asia and tries to get about as much as he can with a backpack and otherwise minimal baggage, it has been a godsend.

I'm using the kit lens which is entirely suitable for my needs as I rarely use any lens above 90mm and '50' on 1.5x is more than enough for most of my images. The camera's ergonomics please me. It does everything I want it to, and my images all show the same 'zip' I've come to associate with digital Nikons.

I haven't yet taken the plunge to sell my collection of two D800s and two D700s, but the temptation is there. Of course I will keep my D lenses as I can easily pick up the ZF adapter at a reasonable price even with our grossly devalued South Pacific Pesos (aka Australian dollars).

So it looks as if in one way or another, I will soon be another permanent 'convert' to the move to mirrorless.

In a way, it's all about "different strokes for different folks". And needs must. At 76, I no longer want to carry FF Nikons and an arsenal of D lenses, most of which I leave in the security of my hotel room anyway, but being me I always insist on having them with me.

If anyone here has experienced the same 'sea change' from Nikon FF to the smaller image format, I would be interested in your views.

[DanK]

I didn't, but I came close. I am pushing 75 and dislike the weight of FF equipment more and more. When I went mirrorless a year or two ago, I expected to go to APS-C, but my impression at the time is that the manufacturers were giving APS-C the short end of the stick. Certainly true of Canon. I came very, very close to going with the OM-1, which for my purposes is in many respects the best option out there for cutting weight, but I decided in the end that a 20 MPX MFT sensor was a step too far for me. So far, I absolutely love my FF Canon R6 Mark II, but every time I read yet another glowing review of the OM-1 (now the OM-1 mark II), I have second thoughts.