Originally Posted by
wco81
I still have a Canon A-1, which is over 30 years old. Used to take film rolls and some X-ray proof bags for developed film.
There are now full frame DSLRs which are smaller and lighter than these old film SLRs.
Mirrorless may or may not be the future. Actually last couple of years were the first in 10 years that both Nikon and Canon saw declines in sales compared to the previous year.
They attributed some of that to phone cameras, not to mirrorless, which actually saw bigger sales declines in the same period.
I like the idea of the Sony A7 but they lack geotagging support and their output isn't quite the same as the Nikons using equivalent sensors (24 or 36 Mp), according to some reviewers.
I have to get a new kit for a trip in November and right now, I'm leaning towards the D750 with a pretty heavy 24-120 for walking around lens. I'd love to save money and size/weight but looking at the OMDs for instance, I see it as a step back or at best staying at the same level for not an insignificant amount of money, unless I buy used kit.
I like the idea of a pocketable camera but if you're spending thousands to go on a overseas trip, do you want to record on something with image limitations?
I use my iPhone for some easy panoramas. And may use it more with apps. which put together quick travel blogs integrating the photos and videos you take with it.
But otherwise, I'm inclined to spend the money and deal with the weight to use the best gear I can afford.
If I'm spending thousands on an overseas trip, I have no way to fit a DSLR and several lenses in my carry-on luggage, and certainly no desire to carry such a system if I even could fit it in my carry-on bags. As I said, I had the experience of leaving my DSLR and lenses at home rather than take them with me on several years of trips. It was the realization that as a matter of living the experience, that I would rather do without a high quality camera system on the trip, and not take my DSLR and lenses with me that caused me to make the move. So, basically, I'm constrained to either a high quality point and shoot, or a Mirrorless interchangeable lens system. And the Mirrorless interchangeable lens system wins for me in that scenario. Although, I could just as easily see me taking it a step further to a camera of the LX100 class, were it not for the lack of a telephoto option. If a good quality 2X front converter were to exist for that camera, I'd probably go that route.
And as I said, this is deja vu for me - I stopped carrying film SLRs on trips and made the move to a Leica CL with 3 tiny primes as my travel film setup some ~35 years ago.