CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Don't put off until tomorrow your plan to buy a mirrorless camera today.

aphelps Loc: Central Ohio

I am close to your age and have physical limitations. I went with the Oly m4/3 system for light weight, compact size and excellent optics. Low light performance is not up to that of larger sensored cameras. That is the only compromise I had to make. Overall, I am very happy with the m4/3 system. Its capabilites exceed my skill level. I am not interested in large, heavy camera again.

jtm1943

Yes. I'm a youngster at 78, but I find the m4/3 system completely satisfactory.

fetzler Loc: North West PA

I do not agree with your statement. Olympus has a kit lens that is 40-150mm (FF equiv - 300mm). Yes it is plastic but is quite good and is super light weight.

I have a Panasonic 100-300mm that is also quite light but not a s light as the one above. It is a 600mm equivalent.

rfbeams Loc: Stanwood, Washington

I'm 86, and also shaky. I use a faster shutter speed and/or a tripod. The quality of my work is on the same level as during my years as a professional. I'm familiar with my equipment and thus have no need to update to mirrorless. I've never chased after the latest equipment. I was once a dyed-in-the-wool Nikon user. When digital beckoned, I switched to Canon (I was no longer making my living with my cameras.)

Greenhi

My Olympus system is dramatically lighter than a comparable SLR system, even including pro lens.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Sounds like Olympus is you best option to explore.

Paul Diamond Loc: Atlanta, GA, USA

I do not own a D7000 or a D300E camera or the lenses you are using.

I own Nikon D800E and D850 cameras with 36MP and 45.6MP sensors. I use the highest resolution lenses that I can afford. I want the highest possible resolution image I can achieve for my images. I believe that I own an "epic camera" and should produce "epic" images whenever it is possible to do so.

Will mirrorless be better than what I am shooting with??? I could purchase a Z 711 or Z9 at 45.6MP with the same quality of lenses. Would I get better or dramatically better images??? Statistically, no. At an "advanced age", would my pictures be better with a lighter camera/lens system??? Highly unlikely.

So, buy the best you can afford. Pay attention to the weight of the camera/lens, if it is really more important than the results you can achieve - and hold your head high. You did the best you could with the best you could afford and the best that you could reasonably carry to take pictures in the style that is yours personally.

This is really all that everything is actually about - doing the best you can with the best you can afford.

zug55 Loc: Naivasha, Kenya, and Austin, Texas

The Nikon D850 is an awesome camera. I nearly bought one three years ago when I decided to upgrade to full frame. Instead, I shoot with a Sony A7R III (and with an A7 III) now. I think that the D850 and the A7R III are very close in specs and in image quality.

There are two reasons why I am glad that I did not get the D850. The first is weight and size. I travel a lot, and the thought of carrying a bulky and heavy D850 turned me off. I am retirement age, although not retired, so size and weight matters to me, as it does to OP.

The second is technology. DSLR technology has reached its end. There likely will not be a successor model to the D850. So why invest in a system in which Nikon is no longer investing? I plan to take pictures for another twenty years, inshallah.

I am not trying to convince you to make any changes--you own great cameras that take great images. However, these questions are relevant for OP. He wants to lighten the load and is considering a new system that will allow him to take pictures in the future. To me, it is evident that the sound advice is to go mirrorless and to probably look at an APS-C system.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

I don't suggest you get rid of your present equipment until you have determined that your present needs and wants are filled better by other equipment. That should be your deciding factor.

Having said that, your main goal was stated as, "As time goes on I am getting weaker and a little shakier. My main reason for personally moving to mirror-less is to end up with a capable system but much lighter than my present systems." That can be done. But the main weight savings is to be found in changing your format and not in just going to mirrorless. Mirrorless bodies are only a very little lighter than their DSLR counterparts. A likewise for a particular formats lenses; there is not much difference between mirrorless and standard DSLR lenses weight wise. But there is a fair amount of weight difference in the lenses between formats. This is where the main weight savings will be.

In general, to lighten the weight of a system one must change the format. This is not a problem from a quality point of view. The three formats, full frame, APS-C, and 4/3rds will all produce more than acceptable image quality. Going to an all-in-one 1" sensor camera will not give you a camera system that I think you are use to and desire. The image quality is still very good but a touch less quality that the other three formats offer. The all-in-ones are worth looking at but I feel they would disappoint you in the long run.

In general, full frame tends to be the largest, heaviest, and most costly. 4/3rds tends to be the smallest, lightest, and least costly. APS-C tends to be between full frame and 4/3rds in size, weight, and cost.

The best stabilization system in the industry right now is Olympus with Panasonic and Canon not that far behind.

And camera store visits and renting are your best bets to sort out what will meet your wants and needs.

One more note on Olympus: The scroll menu is extensive and somewhat less straight forward than others. Be sure to have the salesperson show you Olympus's Super Control Panel. It is much easier than the scroll menu and very quickly allows you to change about 95% of your camera settings.

My overall suggestions to meet the needs and wants you have stated are Olympus and Panasonic 4/3rds systems. I would look at an Olympus body matched up with the 12-100 f4 Pro IS lens (24-200 angle of view in 35mm terms). But only you can really decide if that is true for you.

tcthome Loc: NJ

Have you considered a tripod or mono pod. More to carry but you shouldn't have to worry about camera shake. I believe the Nikon's Z6 & 7 cameras have a function where you can hit a button & zoom the EVF to a 100%. But check the manual or ask a sales person first. The built in IBIS should help some also.

jtm1943

M4/3 and be happy.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

I considered a Canon M50, even with the longest zoom lens they make for it I found it to be tiny and light compared to my dslr's.
But the number of M mount lenses is limited and none as long as the lenses I use for birds. With the adapter and using my EF lenses the weight became nearly even (a big tele weighs a lot more than an M50 or even a dslr FF).
I see from the reviews that the M50 II is even better. The guy at the camera store used an M50 for his "keep in the car" camera and had some poster size images of drag racers done with it that were fabulous. A Canon rep I met at the store also used an M50 for his "keep it around all the time" camera.

For you the Z50 would be the equivalent and you could keep using the lenses you have now or add a couple of smaller lighter lens since the Z50 uses the same mount as the full size Z series cameras.
The Z50 gets very good reviews and some reviewers say the same lenses AF etc. are even faster and more accurate on the Z50 than on the FF Zs since it is a bit newer tech. Those fairly tiny cameras (M50 & Z50) do look a bit funny hanging off a big tele for birds and I have stubby fat fingers so the tiny body is a bit awkward in my hands - but with time that problem will probably go away.

Boney Loc: Huntington Beach

What a great response to my questions. These replies should be merged into a single article and submitted (where, I don't know except here?) for others to read.
I will keep my existing equipment for now, but will certainly pursue a lighter system of some sort for the future. But thanks to you folks I feel much more educated.
I am a retired engineer, having worked in the electro-optics field for most of my life. As with most engineers I love technology and tend to sop up new devices and with the information received here I feel much more enlightened. I am a little trapped at home taking care of my wife after having several strokes. In addition many of my friends and co-workers are no longer with us. Being retired one loses that fellowship found in the people that you work with is gone. I always felt that I got to work with some of the most intelligent people on the planet, but this is a good replacement for those people.
Today's companies do a mediocre job of explaining their equipment so getting input from actual users helps tremendously.
Thanks again to all of you.

fforbes Loc: Florida

I came back from a camera club shoot lugging 60 lbs of Canon gear and figured enough is enough. Jumped on the micro 4/3 system from Olympus and never looked back. Problem with Nikon and Canon mirrorless is that the lenses with adapters are still pretty clunky. BTW, Olympus stabilization is excellent. Getting great results with a lot less grief.