I’m looking to move away from my 30x compact zoom camera (Panasonic TZ70) and buy a camera and lens for wildlife, birds, landscape and night sky photography. My budget is £1300 and I’ve been looking at a canon 7d mk1 with a mk1 canon 100-400 lens to get me going. Could I get anything better for my budget? Both camera and lens received good reviews back in the day but I just wondered if there was anything more modern that I should be looking at before I push the button?

Definitely take a look at the Sony A7 range. The A7s II can shoot up ISO 409,600 which is pretty crazy and obviously a big benefit for low light shooting. Only the Nikon D5 has higher ISO. The A7 range is actually pretty bewildering but it definitely merits research. My next camera will almost certainly be from that range, but which one I can’t say for sure yet.

Sony A7. Hmmmmm seems I have some reading to do. Thanks for the suggestion. I’m looking for good frames per second, good auto focus, decent low light capability and the best reach I can afford within my budget.

What about the Olympus OM-D series, maybe the EM1?

It’s a m4/3 sensor so focal lengths on lenses are doubled meaning you’ll get good focal length and the autofocus system is supposed to be very quick. Only issue could be the low light performance with such a small sensor. Worth looking into anyway.

I have looked at MFT and was considering a lumix gh4 and the new 100-400 lumix lens but they were over budget.

Also, the lack of bulk was quite appealing with the MFT systems

MFT system is lovely. I’ve got a Panasonic GX80 and a canon 50d. The 50d barely sees use these days as the panny is so capable.

For high ISO work though it’s hard to beat the full frame a7. Sony’s outlet often has them reduced.

Straying away from Canon or to a lesser degree Nikon is always going to be a risk of limiting future choice of new and second hand glass.

Look Here

Spend on lenses not bodies.. Marketing sells bodies, my Nikon D90 is years old, still more than adequate for most needs. Lenses are quality can be moved from body to body

nickfrog – Member
Straying away from Canon or to a lesser degree Nikon is always going to be a risk of limiting future choice of new and second hand glass.

Not so bad these days, M3/4 has a good following and are well supported, Pentax APSC cameras can take any K series lens

Pentax are under rated and backward capability is great. K3/K3 II is a good shout and the DA*/HD/Limited lenses are quality. Not as fast as Canikon but I prefer the build of Pentax though I’ve not seen one since they launched the K5II…

I shoot Fuji now still rocking a X-Pro 1…… auto focus isn’t it’s strong point… but the more modern stuff is a lot better XT1 or 2, XT20 etc

M3/4 is a good shout with a decent about of AF and lens support all in a small package. Battery life is the downside.

Not had much dealing with canikon since the the film T90 and EOS 1, I did use a EOS 1Dn for a wedding which was a nightmare due to the weight! Though my X-Pro 1 wasn’t much better for my sisters wedding as I don’t have an 18-55mm lens, was switching between 18, 35 and 60mm lenses on the fly… they were happy with the results I wasn’t so much…..

Websites to check out:

https://www.srsmicrosystems.co.uk/
https://www.lcegroup.co.uk/secondhand-search/
http://www.wexphotographic.com/

Sony a6000. Not quite A7 stuff but APS sized sensor, great handling too.

Put a decent lens on it,

I’ve recently traded from Nikon DSLR to MF/T. Night and day difference with weight and bulk – camera actually leaves the house now! Tech has moved on so much – I’d recommend a new camera with a lower spec than an old camera with a higher spec. I have a Panasonic GX8 – video is wonderful with constant autofocus, it does stop motion and time lapse, 30 fps, external mic support etc etc. I have taken loads of pics and videos that wouldn’t have been possible with a full frame DSLR from even a few years ago…

Sony A77ii SLT & 16-50 f2.8 kit lens – fast, continuous AF due to the translucent mirror, 79 phase detection AF points, 12fps.

The kit lens is sublime – some reviews state it’s a G lens in all but name – constant f2.8 aperture through the focal range
A77ii

Keep talking to me about MFThirds, I’m liking the sound of it more and more. 😀 I’m looking at getting myself set up for wildlife first, so what long reach lens should I be looking at and do they have to be from the same manufacturer as the body it’s attached to to make use of image stabilisation, auto focus etc? I was out last night watching barn owls with some friends and there APS-C cameras with 400mm f5.6 lens were struggling in the low light so I assume MFT will be no better or worse?

I’ve recently traded from Nikon DSLR to MF/T. Night and day difference with weight and bulk – camera actually leaves the house now!

I’ve got both and would like to leave the DSLR at home to save my poor aching back, but the simple fact is that when you need resolution and dynamic range and high ISO performance, you need the DSLR.

forgetting the fact that I completely ignored your lens requirement 😉 I’ll revise my suggestion to a s/h A77ii body and Sigma 100-300 f4 (constant aperture) with a 1.4x teleconvertor if you need the extra reach.

I don’t see the point of m4/3 cameras with huge lenses

Thanks for the replies so far. I’ve been looking at the micro four thirds options since I posted my original question and the Panasonic GX8 with the lumix 100-400mm lens has caught my attention. It’s funny how you start off on one path but end up taking a different route. I do suffer with joint problems that seem to be getting worse with age and the lack of weight/bulk that a MFT camera has the advantage over a large(ish) dslr and big lens. I can see me being able to use a lighter set up more comfortably and hadn’t properly considered MFT cameras before.

One thing on m43… The 2x crop factor vs the 1.6 of the apsc Canon means you get a lot more reach from a 400mm on m43.

800mm equivalent is ludicrously long (starting at 200mm equivalent is long in itself). You may want to look at a 300mm lens if you want a smaller system with similar reach to the Canon.

ignoring the body question (there’s very few bad ones out there), I’d suggest a more restricted ‘long’ lens may have better results – for example a 200-400, and a separate 50-200 (or similar). you’ll rarely need to switch quickly between them with the type of photography you’re looking to do

5thElefant – Member
One thing on m43… The 2x crop factor vs the 1.6 of the apsc Canon means you get a lot more reach from a 400mm on m43.

800mm equivalent is ludicrously long (starting at 200mm equivalent is long in itself). You may want to look at a 300mm lens if you want a smaller system with similar reach to the Canon.

That’s a good point. The GX8 has a tilting screen and I was looking to use the camera + the 100-400 as a spotting scope/stills camera. I will look at getting a couple of other lenses that I can use for landscapes/street/night sky photography but that will be when my budget allows and bank balance recovers

New Olympus bodies have a great live composite mode for shooting star trails etc which makes it a doddle to get it right.

For wildlife, birds in particular, I think the continuous AF may be a limitation.

That said, if you like the smaller size and as a result, will use the camera more I’d fully endorse such a setup. Buying a nice, compact fast prime makes it an extremely compact system to carry the rest of the time and the EVFs are fantastic now.

Edit: Oh, and the Image Stabilisation is second to none so handheld telephoto shots te also easier.

Yeah, the size and weight for use without a tripod is what is putting me off. I had a go with my original set up (friends camera) and it made me realise how awkward it would be with my joint issues, so something small, powerful and the flexibility to do a bit of everything reasonably well is what I’m after. I’m aware that bird in flight shots will be difficult but I like the challenge 😀 To be honest, my little pocket zoom camera has produced some good ‘record’ shots but I feel I’d get better images from a dedicated interchangeable lens system (hopefully 😀 )