gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

What to do, what to do? Been giving this some thought lately. I consider myself to be an advanced amateur and technically proficient. I have a D7000 with a few assorted lenses and a dedicated Speedlight. I have a little stress when thinking about having to send my camera in for repairs, not being able to take the kinds of pictures with my wife's Nikon A 120 that I want to take while waiting waiting waiting. If I do pop for a better backup, I think I'd go for one of the magical pocketable mirrorless models that can do wonders and blunders: shoot in RAW, use available dark, shoot closeups, and reach out to that eagle flying two miles away. But then I'd have to lock it away in favor of my big gun so it wouldn't be my go to camera. What to do, what to do?

craggycrossers Loc: Robin Hood Country, UK

I'll start you rolling with my twopennyworth ........

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-351046-1.html

Morning Star Loc: West coast, North of the 49th N.

You really are the only one that can answer that....

I have one of the mirror-less (Oly E-M1) and wouldn't trade it in for a larger camera!
I do however still have my old, larger camera - it is larger and a lot heavier than the mirrorless.
I have found that I still use both cameras: the old one, because of its weight, I now find to heavy to carry around, but it is perfect for tripod work.
The mirror-less is perfect for carrying around (especially if I can talk my husband into carrying my camera bag with additional lenses and accessories :-)
So, rather thatn locking away a new camera, look at the pros and cons of both, and use both or either when it is appropriate to do so.

RichardTaylor Loc: Sydney, Australia

How big is your budget?
Building a completly new system from scatch, including good lenses can become expensive.

I shoot with DSLRs (Canon) and mirrorless (Olympus) cameras.
Which system I use depend on what and where I am shooting.

MtnMan Loc: ID

One problem with that approach is that if not a Nikon you need to replicate your lens collection and maybe switch back and forth between programming systems. I got a NEX7 to have a lightweight tool. It took great pictures and had programming features better than Nikon. But it drove me crazy going back and forth between Sonyspeak and Nikonspeak. I replaced it with a D5300 and am much happier...albeit with more weight.

RichardTaylor Loc: Sydney, Australia

You may find this thread, here on HH, helpful also. A similar question was asked.

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-351641-1.html#5914066

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

How about a refurb D7000-something? Good price, same controls.

CatMarley Loc: North Carolina

Get a 5500 or a 3xxx. Takes the same pictures as the 7200 but lighter and smaller. OR get a 7200 and move up.

Jim Bob

You will get a million opinions none of which will be better than your own. Translated: make up your own damn mind.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Agreed. That's what it comes down to. Perfection is in the eye of the beholder.

orrie smith Loc: Kansas

upgrade to a d7100 or d7200. will work with all your lenses and will add desirable features to what you have already learned how to use

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

If you are going to carry two cameras, best that they are both identical. Then you can concentrate on what's in front of the lens rather than two sets of menus, etc.
--Bob

rdgreenwood Loc: Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

A while back I faced the same quandary and resolved it in a way that turned out to be perfect. I began by asking myself what I wanted to do that my Nikon D800E wouldn't do. I quickly decided my D800E did it all for me except do it discretely. I occasionally want to shoot on the street, but the D800E is anything but discrete. So that told me I needed a camera with a reticulating LCD. It also suggested I wanted something small.

Then I asked myself what I absolutely wanted in performance. That was easy: the new guy had to shoot RAW and had to produce sharp images. Well, I'm a lifelong Nikon guy, but after lots and lots of reading and lots and lots of conversing with knowledgeable friends, I bought a Canon G-12. I LOVE IT! I've won numerous competitions with its images; I have many winning images that I honestly can't tell which cameras I used.

What I'm encouraging you to do is to analyze your shooting, risk moving out of your comfort zone, and be willing to try something that compliments and supplements your shooting style. Good luck.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Two cameras don't have to be identical to get that benefit - usually being related is enough. Back when an ancient Canon Rebel was my primary camera, I found that I could pick up a current Rebel at the local Target and immediately feel comfortable with it. Today, my primary camera is a Pentax K-30, and I have no problem switching to my Pentax Q-7, a smaller sensor MILC, because even those two cameras have enough in common.

In actual practice, once I have a camera set up, I hardly ever have to go to the menus; what matters is the dials and buttons that allow me to control the camera apart from the menu system.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I shoot with two cameras a lot of the time... Two identical models that make switching back and forth between them as quick and seamless as possible. I need this for speed, for a lot of what I shoot. (For "backup", I've got three, identical older model cameras... haven't needed them much, though.)

But I also use a different and complementary camera model that's better than my two primary users for certain other purposes. In my case, this is a full frame DSLR (for low light and/or more sedate shooting such as portraits and landscapes... with shorter and wide angle lenses particularly), while my two primary cameras are APS-C croppers (for sports/action shooting, often with telephoto lenses). The controls, menus, functions and even size, shape and weight of my FF and APS-C cameras are very similar, too (all Canon stuff).

But for someone else, their ideal might be a mix of a small mirrorless with a DSLR, or any other combination of dissimilar models. In fact, back in my "film" days, when I traveled I usually carried several SLRs for most of my shooting, plus a smaller rangefinder camera that served as backup and for less intrusive shooting in candid situations. I also had medium and large format cameras, for some other purposes.

One thing that I'd suggest you think about is interchangeability of lenses and other accessories. It's always nice when you can get by with less... When your cameras can mostly share the same lenses, flashes, etc.... rather than needing duplicate items for each. This is more easily done today with digital, than it was with film gear.