Reconciling my gear

[agitlits]

Hi,

I have been an amature photographer for a number of years, starting around 2005 with Nikon D70 then D200 and later D700. I was photography mad when I started and it lasted until about 2013 when kids and the job required more attention and the passion kind of slowly fizzled out.

I still get "spikes" of passion but my life style is pretty busy. I have a demanding job requiring a lot of domestic and international travel. I also love trail running and go to a few Australia based and international events. What I am getting is I travel quiet a bit (not now obviously) but my current gear, i.e. Nikon D700 with vertical grip, Nikkor 70-200 AF, etc do not let me bring my photo gear with me and hence most very occasional photography I get to do now is of my kids and my dog lol!

I want to re-ignite my long lost passion and I think one of the ways to do it is convert to something more practical to my life style... I was thinking about a Leica camera. I know they are extremely expensive but I was thinking may be an entry model? What about a Lecia D-Lux 7 set with the kit lens? The photography I want to do is street photography and family photos, may be some macros (not necessary).

I currently have and very rarely use: Nikon D700, Nikkor 50 mm f1.4; Nikkor 20-35 f2.8, Nikkor 70-200 AF, Nikon flash, studio kit and other stuff. All of these I rarely use for the above mentioned reasons. I don't see it improving or changing. I haven't taken my camera on any of my travels for years.

ADMIN *edited and removed - breaches the site rules*

I would also prefer to work with RAW file format rather than jpeg and would prefer not to use point and shoot options hence Leica is what I am thinking about but I have been out of the gear market for a long while and hence don't really know my way around now but love the look and feel of Leicas.

Looking forward to thoughts/ questions/ recommendations.

Thanks

Alex

[ricktas]

if you are doing street photography as your primary interest, perhaps look at some of the mirrorless options from Olympus, Nikon, Canon etc. Mirrorless offers compact sizes that are perfect for walking around with.

Leica is an amazing brand, but at present you have a heap of gear that by your own admission doesn't get used a lot. Spending a heap on Leica, to then have it sit in a cupboard as your interest ebbs, is probably not the best thing. Spend less, get something good in a mirrorless, and then if your interest stays high, you have some great gear to use, if not, you don't have money sitting in a cupboard.

[agitlits]

Oh by the way, prefer to use a view finder instead of a back (lifeview) screen and don't need the video option.
Thanks
Alex

[Bensch]

+1 on Rick's comments in regards to looking at mirrorless

Perhaps look into the Olympus or Panasonic Micro Four Thirds range of cameras? Great performance and lightweight.


I carry my Olympus E-M10 MkII with me when I go out, but don't necessarily want to take a great deal of camera gear with me, as it is small and lightweight.

Here is my E-M10 MkII with a 14-42 EZ lens on (showing the lens extended) with a pencil for size reference.

_5120010.jpg

It shoots in RAW mode, and produces nice results (check out this AP thread).

[peterb666]

I wouldn't get rid of the Nikon lenses and the D700 is a pretty good camera despite it's age and poor implementation of Live View. It is a camera I always enjoyed using.

I run dual systems - Nikon (mainly full-frame but I do have a DX camera body) and Olympus with an old Olympus OM-D E-M5 and Pen F. The Olympus stuff I use for travel, surf photography and fun. The Nikon I use as my general use and low-light camera - especially indoor music venues and night landscape.

The funny thing is I almost ditched my Micro Four Thirds gear after returning to Nikon full-frame but I have some fabulous MFT lenses like the Voigtlander f/0.95 10.5 and 25mm lenses and they are simply fantastic as are any of the Pro lenses.


Bensch's choice of the OM-D E-M10 Mk II and kit lens is a great choice for a (coat) pocket camera. They are cheap too.

[Aus275]

Another small but good camera to consider is the Sony a6000 series cameras. Small, takes good pictures and again lightweight.

[agitlits]

Thank you. Your set up looks pretty cool.

Regards
Alex

+1 on Rick's comments in regards to looking at mirrorless

Perhaps look into the Olympus or Panasonic Micro Four Thirds range of cameras? Great performance and lightweight.


I carry my Olympus E-M10 MkII with me when I go out, but don't necessarily want to take a great deal of camera gear with me, as it is small and lightweight.

Here is my E-M10 MkII with a 14-42 EZ lens on (showing the lens extended) with a pencil for size reference.

_5120010.jpg

It shoots in RAW mode, and produces nice results (check out this AP thread).

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Thank you Peter.

Sounds like may be the way to go!

Alex