FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO1000)
Above an image of my very first and my newest mirrorless camera. The question is obvious: What happened to mirrorless?
Flashback: September 2010. We are on our first vacation in the USA. I brought three cameras: a full frame and an APS-C DSLR from Canon, a bunch of Canon lenses and a small mirrorless camera from Sony that I bought just before the trip. I ended up taking more than 60% of the images with the Sony NEX 5. The first mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses and a rather big APS-C sensor. It was a radical design with a lens mount that was bigger than the camera body. It was slow, loud and the interface was menu driven but I loved the camera for its size and weight.
Now 14 years later my newest camera is mirrorless too but that is the only thing that those two cameras have in common. The new one is the Nikon Z8 and it is ultra fast, silent and full of knobs and dials so that you don’t have to dive into the menu at all but it is big and heavy. This camera is as fast and snappy as my Nikon D2H was 20 years ago but it is almost the same size and weight. But if you want really big and heavy Nikon has you covered with the Nikon Z9. No need to worry in that regard. But if you want compact but powerful you are currently served better elsewhere.
Below image illustrates the size difference. Nikon Z20/1.8 S lens on the Nikon Z8, Sony 16/2.8 (24mm on full frame) on the Sony NEX 5.
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO800)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO1000)
Why I’m writing that? Is the honeymoon period already over? Do I consider to go back to Fuji X? No, but I would love to have a second camera that is small and light. I’m willing to compromise: No need for a sensor shield, no need for IBIS, no need for high res but I would love to have a full frame sensor, the same AF and general snappiness. In short I want a Canon R8 from Nikon. Or even a full frame Sony NEX 5 but made from Nikon. No viewfinder, no fancies, just a big sensor and fast AF.
Of course both will not happen anytime soon. I could simply get the Canon R8 with the 28mm lens as a compact camera but of course I want a camera with the Nikon Z-mount so that I can use my lenses.
I could wait for a small full frame camera from Nikon or simply get the Nikon Z30 and live with the smaller sensor. Right now I think that is the more likely scenario.
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO800)