Replace my Canon 60D with something newer/smaller

[GWestphal]

My 60D is just too big to lug around. Thinking of selling the 60D, 70-200 f4 IS, 50 f1.4, and sigma 17-70 macro, and 580ex II.

Something small enough I can walk around with and also able to use for basic studio work.

 

[iGas]

EOS M, isn't a quick camera for sport, but it should be suitable as a walk around & studio camera.

 

[Berliner]

I would probably look either at the Sony Alpha series (or the new A7) or even a half-decent point and shoot, depending on how big you want to print and if you need anything else besides studio and walk around, both of which are not very demaning for a camera.

 

[corkyg]

Agree with iGas. The Canon EOS-M is their mirrorless body. It will let you continue to use all your existing lenses.

 

[slashbinslashbash]

You can get into an EOS-M system quite cheaply now, $299 gets you a body and 18-55 lens. An adapter lets you keep using your EF lenses.

It's either that, or m4/3. I am a Canon DSLR guy, but Olympus and Panasonic have been keeping the m4/3 format quite competitive IMO. The EOS-M has its problems; it its AF is slow as hell, and its touchscreen UI is lacking, especially if you're used to Canon DSLRs. With m4/3 you have a good selection of bodies and lenses, and the AF on newer bodies is quite fast; slower than a DSLR, but not bad at all.

 

[GWestphal]

I would still like something with fast autofocus, the EOS M does not have very flattering reviews. Do any of these mirrorless or m4/3 have comparable AF to my current 60D with 70-200 f4?

 

[NAC]

I don't think any mirrorless can keep up with a DSLR and good lens for sports. Nikon 1 comes closest. I had a Nikon V1 and used it for soccer and softball some. It wasn't too bad, but I preferred my T1i for a few reasons:
Electronic viewfinder had a slight lag.
The shutter on the DSLR is more immediate, a slight lag with the V1 was critical for things like a softball swing.
I could get narrower DOF, better looking pics with the crop DSLR.

The Nikon V1 has a much faster frame rate than my T1i, but that couldn't overcome the above shortcomings.

If I were you, I would consider getting a second camera for walking around with, and keeping the DSLR for sports / low light / narrow DOF work.

 

[iGas]

I would still like something with fast autofocus, the EOS M does not have very flattering reviews. Do any of these mirrorless or m4/3 have comparable AF to my current 60D with 70-200 f4?

The complaints/negative review is because of the slow AF which isn't suitable for sport photography, but should be adequate as a portrait/candid/landscape/architecture walk around camera.

 

[GWestphal]

you can control "shutter", aperture, and iso on the mirrorless systems, right?

 

[tfinch2]

I would still like something with fast autofocus, the EOS M does not have very flattering reviews. Do any of these mirrorless or m4/3 have comparable AF to my current 60D with 70-200 f4?

Recent Micro 4/3 cameras have very fast AF. I upgraded to a Panasonic G5 from a GF1, and it is like night and day.

 

[jaedaliu]

you can control "shutter", aperture, and iso on the mirrorless systems, right?

Yes. I find the speed of focusing on the Panasonic Gx7 I have is faster (or at least as fast as) the D5200 I was using for comparison.

The Olympus EM-1 is the better camera, but I fell in love with Panasonic's styling.

 

[iGas]

Sony NEX-5t kit is a good choice at roughly the same price as the Canon 60D body, if you don't mine paying 2X more than the EOS-M kit. And, at theother end of the spectrum is the Leica M series that can be had if you have money to burn.

And, yes you should be able to control ISO, shutter, and aperture with a mirrorless camera.

 

[AViking]

Are you lugging all that gear around at once? I have a lot of gear and a much smaller bag with just the camera and maybe an extra lens thrown over my shoulder is not that big of a deal. If you want smaller though you have the above posts.

 

[SecurityTheatre]

There are pretty few cameras that don't fall in the "extreme budget" category that don't have full manual modes.

 

[fralexandr]

olympus' newest pen (ep-5?) is probably the fastest autofocusing mirrorless. It's noticeably faster than the eos-m (with recent firmware)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwZDStFUixQ
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympus-pen-e-p5
Olympus has some neat accessories like the MAL (uses camera's battery)

you could also look at the sl1 if you're looking for a smaller DSLR to replace your bigger DSLR
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-eos-100d-rebel-sl1

eos 60d vs sl1 (eos 100d) vs eos m
weight (w/ battery): 755g -> 407g -> 298g
Dimensions (W x H x D): 144.5 x 105.8 x 78.6mm -> 117 x 91 x 69 mm -> 108.6 x 66.5 x 32.3mm

edit: the eos m2 is reported to have 2.3x the autofocus speed of the eos m. No release info known yet for most places though (currently japan only?).

 

[tfinch2]

If you want to try out M4/3, Amazon has the Olympus E-PM2 with 2 lenses for $349. Pretty cheap way to give M4/3 a try before totally jumping ship.

 

[Alamat]

Wife has a Nikon S1, almost as fast as my 60D ono the shutter release with manual controls to boot.

 

[GWestphal]

I've been looking at the Panasonic GX7 with the 14-140 3.5-5.6 lens and maybe something like the 20mm 1.7 to round it out.

 

[jaedaliu]

I've been looking at the Panasonic GX7 with the 14-140 3.5-5.6 lens and maybe something like the 20mm 1.7 to round it out.

I LOVE my GX7. However, the new Olympus is a better camera. The styling won me over for the GX7 (and the extra $ for the Oly also would have put me over my budget.)

I got my GX7 with the 14-42 kit, and added the 20mm f/1.7 II a month later. The 20mm 1.7 is great. Perfect for social situations indoors. It's securely pocketable in my winter coat. Not so much in my light fall jacket.

I have no suggestion on the long zoom (other than 28-280 full frame equiv zoom is a ton of reach.) Personally, I'm targeting the 45-200 due to its low price and complement to the original kit lens. Hopefully I won't want to upgrade to a faster lens after I get and use it.

 

[slatr]

I've been looking at the Panasonic GX7 with the 14-140 3.5-5.6 lens and maybe something like the 20mm 1.7 to round it out.

The GM1 has started shipping as well. No hot shoe though and some other limitations from GX7, but it does use a new sensor that seems to do better in low light.

Site below is slanted towards video capability, but dpreview has a preview up.

http://www.eoshd.com/content/11643/panasonic-gm1-review-another-pocket-cinema-camera

 

[jaedaliu]

Oh, and make sure that you test it out. Have a friend that uses full frame and couldn't stand the Olympus EM5 because of poor picture quality.

 

[GWestphal]

I got almost 3k for my trade in, so I picked up the gx7, 14-140 3.5, 360l flash. Trying to decide between 20 1.7 or the 25 1.4

 

[slatr]

I got almost 3k for my trade in, so I picked up the gx7, 14-140 3.5, 360l flash. Trying to decide between 20 1.7 or the 25 1.4

I'd get the 1.4 for the bokeh. The tradeoff for me would be the 1.7 would make the camera even more portable/pocketable.

How do you like the in body stabilization on the GX7?