Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Mirrorless Interchangeable lens with Wifi -$1000-1500

Jul 17, 2015 12:51PM PDT

Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.

between 500-1500$ Could go higher if need be.

Size

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?

Small like in Mirrorless Interchangeable lens with Wifi connectivity.Definitely not the big DSLR's.
I have an Canon EOs rebel analog SLR that i don't use anymore.
really liked Canon's Menu option dial for portrait,landscape, action,AF etc.

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you?

Not sure. 20+ MP.Not sure if I need that much.
Mostly upload to Facebook and Google+ 99% of the time.So, ease of use there will be helpful.

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x)
Not sure-Ultra Zoom maybe.


* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)

yes for my kids pics.

Do you care for manual exposure modes (shutter priority, aperture priority, manual)?
Not that much.

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?

Take pics of my daughter-portrait and dance parties at home- low light at night and with movement.
Autofocus important.


* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?

No.

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
Yes.

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
Yes.

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate?
No.But want a good eco-system for lenses if I get into it.

Are there particular models you already have in mind?

Saw a samsung NX1 which looked cool feature wise.Also, saw a Sony a6000 at a good price at costco.
Also been looking at Fuji X-T1 and Panasonic Lumix GH4.
If Sony or samsung, what kind of lens should I be getting ?

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)
IS, Rotating LCD, Weatherproof

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
Here's the lens I carried.
Jul 17, 2015 1:04PM PDT

18-55mm (stock lens)
40mm fixed. For some the 50mm is their choice but I wanted to pull back just a notch.
55-300 Image Stabilized for zoom.

Wide angle? Haven't felt the need for it as 18 wasn't so bad.

- Collapse -
Answer
re: Mirrorless Ultra Zoom Interchangeable lens
Jul 19, 2015 11:17PM PDT

Ultra zoom interchangeable lenses are rare (because the idea of an interchangeable lens system is that you will change lenses as the need arises). Bright (f2.8 or brighter) ultra zoom interchangeable lenses are basically non-existent (because they would be extraordinarily large, heavy and expensive; e.g. Canon's CN-E30-300mm T2.95-3.7 -- which is just 10X zoom and not constant aperture -- is over a foot long, weighs more than 12 lbs., and costs more than $30,000).

So if you really need that much zoom in a single lens that performs well in low light, along with Wi-Fi and weather sealing, I think you'd be best served by waiting a few months until Panasonic releases the FZ300. And while it's not 20MP, a) that's a good thing because it will perform better in low light, and b) you don't need 20MP for posting on social media.

- Collapse -
About the social media posting.
Jul 20, 2015 9:25AM PDT

For now the biggest image one might post is 1080p or 1920x1080 which as just over 2 million pixels.

If this was for social media they could curb the pixel count by many times.

-> About bright lens. My 40mm was marked f1.4 so in fixed lens you see some hope. But zoom and bright? May as well hock everything for one lens.