Mirrorless Starter Camera

I’m looking at a small mirrorless camera for my arthritic hands (Nikon D3500 feels very heavy to me now)
I’ve seen Olympus OM D E M10 Mkii (micro 4/3rds) on offer at £329 new with 14-42mm lens, Or a Sony A6000 (APS-C) with 16-50mm lens for £359
I’m going to sell my Nikon soon, it’s with Nikon being repaired, and my Samsung NX2000 is still going strong and feels real good in my hands but I want to update.
Any ideas about the above, or any other suggestions
What’s better M4/3 or APS-C

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I switched to Olympus OMD EM1 ii (can never remember where the dashes got) a year ago. Love it. For size and price I think you should go Micro 4/3.

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Thanks for your input, I’m going to get my hands on them, have a feel.
I had an OM10 in 1980 !

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I thought the Canon M200 that Ant got introduced to at CES was an interesting camera for someone who doesn’t want to spend loads. (i.e. a good starter introduction to mirrorless.) But I have to say… if you’re in mirrorless territory you’re still probably having swappable lenses and good quality glass is gonna weight way more than the camera body in a lot of cases.

Granted in this video they’re selling it as a high end web camera, but I went and looked at the info on DPReview it seems like a good basic starter mirrorless.

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Thanks @PHolder, I’ve just watched that episode and done some looking around.
Im interested in the M200, but in UK the M200 is priced at £500 so may be a stretch.
I know its new compared to the others, again I’ll have to handle the cameras to get the feel.

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All great points mentioned by @PHolder about the M200. But you make an even better point, @andrewmelder. You said you’ll go hold one to FEEL IT. That matters most, in my opinion. Sony alpha series are nice, but most don’t feel good to me. So why would one shoot with gear that doesn’t feel right? Not my cup of tea.

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I can happily recommend the Olympus OM-D line of cameras. I used to be a nikon shooter (D700) and made the switch to Olympus. The system is cheaper (especially for telephotos) and lighter to carry than anything with a full frame sensor. Quality does take a small hit, but only pixel peepers will notice.

Low light performance might be the biggest drawback compared to new full frame cameras, but fast lenses are often cheaper and lighter in the Olympus system which helps mitigate this.

Hopefully you can hold it and shoot with it before having to commit to it.

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I have a Sony A6300. The differences between it and the A6000 are minor, so I’m happy to recommend the A6000. In fact, the main reason I wanted the A6300 was the wifi, but it’s so crappy that I never use that feature, so the A6000 is probably better.

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Thanks @Uzetaab, I’ve sold the D3500 and A5100 and got an A6000. Feels good in my hands, but I’ve been ill for a month so haven’t actually tried it yet. Hoping weather and health improve so I can give it a whirl. Also got iPhone 11 Pro and an Osmo mobile 3, so I’ve got lots to go at.

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I hope you feel better soon.

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What do you think of the new OM-D E-M1 Mark iii?

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ON Paper it seems like a very incremental update. But I haven’t shot with one so who knows.

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I am a huge fan of the X100 series. The X100V was just released and you can probably get a good price on a like-new X100F.

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I’d say a little more than “very incremental.” It is a “mark” upgrade and not a new camera.

Upgraded image processor which has the ability to do 50MP, hand-held, and 80MP tripod resolution photos
In-camera ND filter replication
2 more stops of in-body image stabilization (7.5 versus 5.5)
RAW video file format
Starry Sky AF (Olympus is bringing more cell phone type computational photography to the “real” camera)

This is not a new feature, but I like REALLY like the fact the OM-D E-M1 and Pro lenses are weather sealed. If you do a lot of outdoor, in-the-wild photography like I do that is an awesome feature.

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This is the most important feature to me, but likely not something I would use often.

The improvements to IBIS sounds great but Olympus IBIS is already so good that the limiting factor for me is often subject movement.

Of course I wouldn’t be opposed to someone getting me the Mark III for me to test:)

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Agree :slight_smile:

I’ve had the 300mm PRO and 2x converter attached to my Mark ii so I need all the stabilization I can get.

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The X100 series also feature built-in ND filters.

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I am jealous! I am very tempted by that lens… I am just waiting to see how the 150-400 lens performs to decide which one to buy

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It is a nice lens. Using it with the 2x converter is taking some getting used to. That’s 1200mm equivalent field of view. Sometimes hard to find your subject when it’s a tiny bird.

I have a piggy bank started for 150-400. What’s your guess on the price tag for it?

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I have no idea what the cost will be. Hopefully not much more that the 300mm lens.

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