mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

Most of the opinions you get here on equipment will be just that - opinions. Many of those opinions, especially those that declare "[[insert camera brand]] is the best" are just justifying their own purchase decisions. Very few people on UHH are in a position to advise you impartially on the whole range of 'smaller cameras'. A very popular segment of the 'smaller camera' market is the Micro 4/3 cameras, with several manufacturers. The learning curve to establish the knowledge to make an informed decision is long and steep. I recommend you tap into a web site dedicated to the Micro 4/3 field: http://www.four-thirds.org/en/index.html

jackpi Loc: Southwest Ohio

There are many options: Sony, Olympus, Nikon, Panasonic, Fuji, etc. They are all good and produce high quality images. They all can be purchased as a package with at least one general purpose lens. Go to a camera store and ask the sales people to show you packages in your price range.

If anyone tells you on this site which is the best. Don't listen to them. They are biased.

bkellyusa Loc: Nashville, TN

Is that spreadsheet avaialble? Sounds interesting.

rawlins

Sure. I wouldn't act on one person's opinion. It's great to see the range of cameras out there and the opinions. ;)

Festus Loc: North Dakota

You can take the recommendations of all the UUG responders you want, and there will be many. It boils down to YOU MAKING YOUR OWN DECISION!

rawlins

Of course. The responders give me a better idea of what's available. I need to get my hands on some cameras. I'll know...

Dalek Loc: Detroit, Miami, Goffstown

get an olympus om1 or mark two and a lens or two. great camera for old, less than steady, hands.

Jerry Coupe

Hi, I am also looking to go to a smaller size camera from my FF Canon. I rented the Olympus OMD-EM1 MK II this week and did some shoots of migrating swans and snow geese in NW Washington. I also did some landscape images and so far am very pleased with the system. I also rented the 12-100 MM F4 zoom and the 300 mm F4 telephoto. I like both lenses. I have a few more days to use the system before returning it, and will post some images after I have a chance to finish shooting it.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

You have mentioned outdoors and hiking. That, to me, means getting wet. I suggest looking at one of the splashproof/weatherproof cameras from Olympus and Panasonic. I would also look at the Olympus TG-4 plus attachments. One drawback to the TG-4 is that it does not have a viewfinder. But on the plus side, it's designed to be waterproof, survive drops, shoot RAW, geotag, and do night photography. The Olympus E-M1 series and the E-M5 series are all splashproof or weatherproof. The Olympus upper end lenses are sealed also. One can shoot in the rain and snow. Panasonic also has some water resistant bodies and lenses. And the lenses can be used on either camera. Below is a photo I took in the pouring rain. The camera was all wet. Heck, I was soaking wet. No extra protection for the camera other than the camera itself.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Sorry, the photo did not load properly. Here is the photo taken with a soaking wet E-M5 and soaking wet photographer.

markjay

Hi,
I have had the new Canon M5 for about a month.
I seriously thought about the Fuji. It is a nice camera, but for the size - heavy. And the lenses are heavy. They may be small, but everything is made of very solid metal, and the weight is there as a result. If you are going mirrorless, like I was, for smaller size and weight - than many of the cameras like Fuji defeat that purpose with their weight.
I also seriously thought about the Sony's. The problem with them is their user interface is simply not good. You can get lost in their menus, and it is not easy to navigate once out of auto mode.
Cant comment on the Olympus. They seemed more expensive when I checked them. Personally, I was not that impressed but I know many people like them.
The Canon is light and has the quality Canon interface. The M5 also has most features and specs of the much larger 80D.
The only downside that I have found with the M5 is that I have to turn the camera off after every picture (rather than leaving it on, and letting it turn off by itself after 2 minutes). The reason - all the buttons are very sensitive. If you have the camera hanging off your shoulder and walking - if it is on you are guaranteed to have some of the buttons "hit" and it changes settings.
The picture quality is fantastic.
Finally - while I have not done so yet - with a small adaptor, the camera can take any Canon lens. There may be a size unbalance - but if you do want a specific lens - you can use it. I am using the new zoom. 18-135. It is tack sharp, small and light.

Al Freeedman

Markjay,

You can set the auto off time to 1 minute and I don't think that if a button is pushed in error it wont change any of the settings unless the set button is pushed.
(That's the way it is with the Canon ,T6i).

markjay

Thanks. Will try.

markjay

Seems you are biased against Canon !
Listing half a dozen brands and excluding Canon ? Not logical.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

If you have followed the development of mirrorless cameras for a decade, it is quite logical. Canon and Nikon are, quite unfortunately, the least interesting players in the mirrorless camera market. They make great dSLRs, but have been outpaced in mirrorless by Sony, Fujifilm, Panasonic, and Olympus.

Both Canon and Nikon seem to have been overly worried about cannibalizing their dSLR sales. Eastman Kodak acted that way about digital technologies they mostly invented, and we know what happened there. It may take awhile, but the paradigm will shift.

That said, the M5 shows some real promise. But the adapter idea is a fall-back... Canon needs more native lenses to reap the full potential of mirrorless.