Camera for the rucksack

Hi,

I have a Nikon D200 with a 18-70mm lens together with a couple additional lenses. The kit has worked well and produced good images and I intend to continue using the system for the majority of my photography. However, with 'age', I am beginning to be-grudge the amount of weight and rucksack space it takes up when on a day in the hills. I am looking for something smaller and lighter (for a mountain day) which will retain the image quality of the Nikon, enable me to use filters (polarising and neutral grads), have good wide angle capacity for landscapes, reasonable macro facility, and be 10 - 12MP. It does'nt necessarily have to be a SLR. Do you have any suggestions re what might be suitable now or in the near future?

Charlie

Charlie, check out the Panasonic GF-1. It's the only thing close to being smaller than a D200 but still giving you quality. I'm not sure that there are any options available to use filters with it though, although I would image there are for four/thirds lenses which you can use with an adaptor.

Other than that, why not look at the smaller Nikons (D40/D60/D3000) with a Nikkor 20mm or 24mm lens? It might not give you 12MP but it will give you the option to use filters, plus it would be significantlly lighter than a D200. The fact that you'd have to manually focus them shouldn't be an issue for landscape work. For macro work you;d have to take another lens though.

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Originally Posted by Barney

Charlie, check out the Panasonic GF-1. It's the only thing close to being smaller than a D200 but still giving you quality. I'm not sure that there are any options available to use filters with it though, although I would image there are for four/thirds lenses which you can use with an adaptor.

Other than that, why not look at the smaller Nikons (D40/D60/D3000) with a Nikkor 20mm or 24mm lens? It might not give you 12MP but it will give you the option to use filters, plus it would be significantlly lighter than a D200. The fact that you'd have to manually focus them shouldn't be an issue for landscape work. For macro work you;d have to take another lens though.

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Sounds like good advice to me:)

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Originally Posted by Charlie

It does'nt necessarily have to be a SLR. Do you have any suggestions re what might be suitable now or in the near future?

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A high-end compact like a Canon G11? It does most things without needing to carry other lenses and I'm sure you can get adaptors to use various filters.

I can't really better those suggestions. The only other one worth mentioning is the forthcoming Samsung NX system which is a bit like the GF1 but uses an APS-C size sensor, the same as your D200. But it's not going to be out till early next year and you might not want to wait that long.

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Originally Posted by Nigel Atherton

I can't really better those suggestions. The only other one worth mentioning is the forthcoming Samsung NX system which is a bit like the GF1 but uses an APS-C size sensor, the same as your D200. But it's not going to be out till early next year and you might not want to wait that long.

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Nigel, I was under the impression that the Samsung NX was going to be more like the Panasonic G1 than the GF1? Have you heard/seen anything to make you think differently?

Yes, you're right. It's DSLR style, like the G1, but it looks smaller than the G1. Its certainly a lot thinner. Certainly half the size and weight of the D200.