What is in your opinion the best EVIL(mirrorless) setup?

[siguen]

Just curious, I can't afford having one of those setups.

After some research I find that the best mirrorless setups are at this moment the Panasonic GH2 or the Olympus OMD, both with nauticam housings. I don't know about the olympus Housing or if there are other options for the Panasonic camera. Other options?
Would Oly EPL(2-5) do also the work?

Apart of it use underwater, I find a plus on this cameras the 2x factor for above water photography, mainly nature, that's why I haven't listed other brands (and I don't know much about the others).

Sorry for my ignorance.

 

[Peter Guy]

Just to start, prior to asking what is "the best" you need to define "best?" In cameras, as in so much of life, there are so many tradeoffs that "the best" really depends on what is important to you.

 

[Nemrod]

Just to start, prior to asking what is "the best" you need to define "best?" In cameras, as in so much of life, there are so many tradeoffs that "the best" really depends on what is important to you.

Able to use a variety lenses and ports and a (zoom) fisheye.

More than one housing available with full control funtion, prefer aluminum housings

Full range ASA from 80 to whatever

FAST, immediate shutter

Easy manual focus and dials for manual shutter and aperture

Fast auto focus, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast

Did I say fast shutter, fast focus, fast, fast, fast, fast.

Optical strobe support

Little, bitty,bitty, tiny, small

Did I say direct access to functions like shutter speed and aperture, no stupid menu levels to work through or buttons to hold down while pushing other buttons

I would also like a range finder like optical vf for surface use, screens, all of them, are useless outdoors in sunlight, totally worthless.

And for surface use dust proof, water resistant controls, shock proofed for normal bumps, strap compatible, instant on.

When I say instant on, I would like to be able to see a flying saucer, raise and aim the camera and push the shutter button and take the shot without having to turn the camera on, watch it go through some sort of internal diagnostic check, give some cute, stupid startup screen and then finally let me take a picture after taking another five seconds to respond to my shutter press.

Cameras today, largely suck at outdoor photography.

N

 

[Tigerman]

...
When I say instant on, I would like to be able to see a flying saucer, raise and aim the camera and push the shutter button and take the shot without having to turn the camera on, watch it go through some sort of internal diagnostic check, give some cute, stupid startup screen and then finally let me take a picture after taking another five seconds to respond to my shutter press.

Cameras today, largely suck at outdoor photography.

N

I suspect that it might NOT be the cameras fault that the aliens, flying saucer and nessie pics is so bad. I think that might just be the conspiracy photographers that REALLY REALLY suck at taking pictures and keeping their lense clean. I think they might store the lenses with the uncapped vaseline boxes actually...

 

[bvanant]

There is always film, raise the camera focus and shoot. When you say cameras today largely suck at outdoor photography I think you mean point and shoots and such. Go over to Fred Miranda's site (Battle in the skies II - FM Forums) and look at the eagle battles in the sky. If those cameras suck I want mine to suck that much as well.
Bill

 

[Tigerman]

Well, you just need to buy a Canon 1D and some seriously expensive lenses??

 

[Nemrod]

There is always film, raise the camera focus and shoot. When you say cameras today largely suck at outdoor photography I think you mean point and shoots and such. Go over to Fred Miranda's site (Battle in the skies II - FM Forums) and look at the eagle battles in the sky. If those cameras suck I want mine to suck that much as well.
Bill

No, I mean they all suck. Very few are dust proof, do not work well in the rain and cold, do not like getting bumped about, the lenses are plastic and one tiny drop of water kills them.

The Sony Nex 7 ??. Just looked at one of those the other day, pretty impressive. The new OMD is in fact built to take outside but the minimum ASA of only 200 is weird. Not completely sold on the electronic EVF but I am trying to be open minded. I would say now, the best would be the Oly OMD and the Sony Nex 7. Both have dials and seem to be semi-fast.

Film is not possible anymore, they took my Kodachrome away, why bother. I know it is contrarian thinking, you know, cameras that can function outside, imagine that, who would have ever thought of such a thing. People that go outside and with a camera, wow.

N

 

[Tigerman]

If you buy cheapass cameras and/or cheapass lenses you get what you pay for.. cheap crap?
People want stuff to be cheap these days, so cheap crap becomes the norm..

 

[siguen]

Interesting points.

For me, as an old cameras user most of the time, what I would like to see in my up to date setup, if I had the money, would be a camera small light camera for travelling that would never make me miss a big slr. I have never liked my P&S cameras, and my slr is big, heavy and old.

After spending some time comparing cameras, I see now that what I would buy would be the environmentally sealed Olympus OMD or Panasonic GH3. Actually, after so long without a built-in flash in my old camera, I would like a built-in flash in OMD, apart of all its features. I don't know much about Sony Nex but if I had to spend hundreds of money to buy the setup, I don't want to fear rain when shooting in land, for example. What if my housing leaks???

 

[Tigerman]

If your housing leaks, you wanna make sure you have insurance - and not of the kind my insurance company suggested, given they "were not allowed" to answer if it covered leaking underwater housings