Good day all - hopefully this will be slightly different than the usual "what camera should I buy" question - a bit more narrowly focused.
I usually shoot with an m43 camera - an Olympus EM-5 Mk II. It serves both as a general purpose camera and for my stacking rig. I have a modest investment in m43 lenses, but for macro I only do studio work with a WeMacro rail - no field work at all. For my macro shooting, I use the Olympus 60 mm and a variety of objectives up to a Mitutoyo 10x. I do plan to pick up a 20x at some point.
Ok - that's the background. I'm looking for a new camera body exclusively for macro work (tired of disassembling/reassembling), and was looking hard at the EM-1 Mk III, but it occurred to me that I'm really not wedded to m43 for this - the only m43 lens I use there is the Olympus 60 mm, everything else is extension tubes and objectives. Basically, if I switched to some other format, I'd have to buy a few adapters and maybe a new macro lens.
Relative to the EM-1 Mk III, is there a *significant* advantage to another camera line for tethered studio macro work, in your opinion?
My previous reading about differences seemed to amount to "it's a wash" - the advantages and disadvantages were pretty small in this prosumer range. That preceded, though, the massive expansion in mirrorless cameras - everybody's got one now! A lot of the features of different camera lines just aren't relevant to my use case - I don't use autofocus or face recognition, I don't edit in-camera, battery life isn't an issue, special grips, etc.
I won't say "money is no object" but I'm in a place where I can invest a bit in this, though I might cringe a bit at the sticker prices.
Thoughts?
Yet another "what camera" question
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
Re: Yet another "what camera" question
If you go Canon, there's MP-E65. Depends a bit on your quality requirement, but at least it seems to beat the direct competitors. Considering the price, it better.
The problem in that route would be choosing the body. Currently all the mirrorless APS-C versions are in EF-M system, but only the latest work on remote and the AA filter is rather strong. On FF the best choices are likely the new mirrorless R-series bodies, but then the image circle of many microscope objectives can be a problem. A longer tube lens handles that. Both mirrorless systems as well as the old fashioned DSLR bodies in EF system work with the MP-E.
The problem in that route would be choosing the body. Currently all the mirrorless APS-C versions are in EF-M system, but only the latest work on remote and the AA filter is rather strong. On FF the best choices are likely the new mirrorless R-series bodies, but then the image circle of many microscope objectives can be a problem. A longer tube lens handles that. Both mirrorless systems as well as the old fashioned DSLR bodies in EF system work with the MP-E.
Re: Yet another "what camera" question
So I've been reading about the EOS-R series (not done yet) - here's a snippet of Canon's description of the silent shutter feature:
"... and situations where the photographer needs to remain discrete."
English is such an awful, awful language
"... and situations where the photographer needs to remain discrete."
English is such an awful, awful language
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Re: Yet another "what camera" question
From https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discrete :
I find these historical relationships to be very interesting, even more so since reading (several times) the book "Spellbound: The Surprising Origins and Astonishing Secrets of English Spelling" (https://www.amazon.com/Spellbound-Surpr ... 0385340842). Highly recommended...History and Etymology for discrete
Middle English discrete, discret, discreet — more at DISCREET
NOTE: The adjective discrete is etymologically identical with DISCREET, of which it was originally a simple spelling variant. The consistent discrimination of the two senses by spelling, with discrete corresponding more closely to classical Latin in both form and meaning, dates from the 18th century.
--Rik
Re: Yet another "what camera" question
"People who can't tell the difference between etymology and entomology bug me in ways I just cannot put into words"
I don't know who originally said it but *chef's kiss*
I don't know who originally said it but *chef's kiss*
Re: Yet another "what camera" question
I am deeply invested with MFT for my field work, where it excels. I used it extensively for studio macro work too, but I now use my FF mirrorless (S1R) for all my macro work, because of better resolution and dynamic range.
Re: Yet another "what camera" question
What's been your experience with availability of L-mount adapters et al.? BH prices for L-mount to M42 are...a bit high (~USD100)! I see at least 6 macro lenses on L-mount as well - did you go with one of those or adapt another one?