I was looking to add a small walk around camera to my kit. I have an om-d e-m5 ii right now and a few m43 lenses. I've been really happy with that, but I want something a little more slim and with a flip up screen (as opposed to flip out screen). IBIS is a must have for me. Other than that, I've just been looking to not spend a ton.
So in that vein I've been looking at used m43 cameras in the less than $400usd range (preferably less than 200, but I'm considering more to add features). Ones that have gotten my attention have been:
- lumix gx7
- lumix gx80/85
- olympus e-pl6 (and successors)
- olympus e-p5
- exciting mystery option (your suggestion goes here)
I'm mostly wondering if people have used these and have any experience or advice on which is best. If there are other things to consider I don't know about that would be helpful.
The lumix gx7 seems like a really solid choice but I've never used a lumix camera before so IDK how they stack up against some of those olympus ones. I'd be buying from mpb, upp, or keh so it had some kind of warranty at least (avoiding ebay et al)... but that does bump the initial price up just a little bit.
Also, my lenses are primarily olympus lenses... which should work but I know sometimes there are quirks with putting them on lumix and vice versa. 🤷
Anyway... if anyone has suggestions or insights it would be much appreciated. 😊
Thanks.
I think a GX7/GX80 etc would be fairly much what you’re after. I have a GX9 and it does everything you’ve asked for, though is possibly slightly more than you want to pay - I paid £440 I think. The GX8 was a departure from the formula that made these cameras so special, but the 7/80/85 are all the same body layout. The 85 is pretty close to the GX9, but with a fixed EVF as opposed to tilting, 16mp as opposed to 20, and a few less bells and whistles. I chose to save a little more to get the GX9 and don’t regret that at all, it’s a fantastic camera, but if you could try out an 85, you may find the it’s what you’re after. Hope that helps
Yeah... I've had my eye on the gx8 for a while but it's still more than I want to pay. The gx9 is like $900-1000 used.. way outside what I'm looking at.
I was originally looking at the olympus e-pl6 because it's about 200... but I started seeing that for just a little more if I pushed I might get noticeable feature boost... so I'm considering a little more to get nicer features. The gx7 seems like it's got good quality and checks most of the boxes (slightly larger than I wanted but that's ok)... but I'm stuck in a cycle of comparing it to all the stuff in it's range.
Have you used the gx7 at all to compare to the gx85 / gx9? Also, how is the focus peaking on lumix cameras. I'd like to be able to use manual lenses but I really like focus peaking to be an option.
Wow, that’s a lot! USD? I kind of expected it to be a similar figure to what I paid, but if that’s in USD, that’s about what I paid for my used Fuji X-T5! I bought mine a few years ago, but I’d have thought they’d have gone down in price, not up! The world is weird these days, huh?
I’ve never used any of the older cameras than the GX9, but from what I’ve read, they’re pretty similar to operate. The focus peaking on mine is pretty good, I use manual lenses a lot, and it’s a pretty enjoyable experience
Yeah... some of the models that are popular have insane prices... and it's gonna probably get worse what with the apocalypse and all. :(
Looks like a gx7 is about 300-350, a gx85 is 450-500, a gx8 is 600-750, and gx9 is 850-1050. Like... I see a G9 II on the page for 1300... IDK why some of those rangefinder models from several years ago are so high priced. smh.