Fastest 4/3 camera for street photography?

[Fenwick]

Im going to buy a 4/3 camera for street shooting(mostly people)
I dont want the smaller DSLR style camera (Olympus OM-G etc)
I prefer the RF style camera or more compact type
Fast auto focus (fast as a 4/3 can be)
Want to spend less the $ 800 (so Fuji X100 is out)

Any suggestions?

 

[gavinlg]

Any of the e-pX series, with the 17mm f2.8 zuiko and the 17mm olympus optical finder. Cheap and adequate in every way.

The x100 is much nicer if you can stretch for it.

 

[btgc]

Fast means not only fast AF. If light changes dramatically as you move, you may want to change ISO or depending on place you frequent, exp. comp. Or constantly adjust exposure in M mode, if you prefer so. Here command interface plays bigger role than AF, I think. I'd go with EP-L1 as cheapest (even if it is not RF or RF-style, it's mirrorless compact type) and spend more on lenses instead (resulting in ~28mm and ~40mm FOV) . Master most frequent adjustments, make some compromises and be sure I'm there. My experience since now shows it's not possible to adjust at time of THEN, it has to be done moment or two before so I'm not too worried about adjusting in very same moment when I have to release shutter instead.

 

[jammcat]

If you don't want OM-D, go EP-3. Very fast.

 

[Sam N]

If you want something really cheap grab a GF3 + 14/2.5 kit. I think you can pick them up for around 300 bucks. It has the old 12mp sensor, but so do all the other m43 cameras other than the G3 and EM5 which you say you don't like.

Personally I'd go for the G3 + 14/2.5. Yes the G3 has a "viewfinder hump", but the sensor is great, the camera is still quite cheap, and the tilt/flip screen is great for waist-level shooting or horizontal or vertical shots.

 

[back alley]

there is a local shooter doing some great street shooting with a panasonic lx3...

not 4/3rds i know...

 

[Vobluda]

x100 is all but fast camera..

 

[OlliL]

Depends.

If your shooting AF, then no camera will be extremely fast, neither perfectly accurate.

I tend to use zone focussing and ISO >400, even in bright condition.
With the (any) X100 (camera) set up this way, it won't get faster.

 

[steveniphoto]

x100 ive seen used as low as $850. if you're into zone focusing, its one of the best camera to own for street. noise is clean up to 6400 (with a little NR) and the build is solid. one of the best mirrorless cameras ive owned.

otherwise a gf2 with 14 2.5 and the evf run for less than $600 easy. if you dont need the viewfinder the gf3 is smaller.
there's also the olympus e-p# line. cant go wrong with any of those really as long as you have good glass.

there's also the samsung line of mirrorless cameras. ive heard good things about the nx200 and such so its worth looking into.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I have a Lumix GF1, and if they were still being made, I'd recommend getting one new. The autofocus is faster than the equivalent m4/3 Olympus cameras.

Either 40mm or 14mm primes, because the zooms on that little body just looks weird and pulls people's attention.

 

[thegman]

Must it be 4/3rds? If not, the Nikon V1 is pretty good value considering it has an EVF. The crop factor means it's not much good for M lenses, but you could argue m43 wasn't either.

Also NEX 5N is pretty nice.

Also there is the Canon G1X, OVF and manual controls for a lot of stuff.

 

[Pherdinand]

epson rd-1 😀

 

[jsrockit]

Im going to buy a 4/3 camera for street shooting(mostly people)
I dont want the smaller DSLR style camera (Olympus OM-G etc)
I prefer the RF style camera or more compact type
Fast auto focus (fast as a 4/3 can be)
Want to spend less the $ 800 (so Fuji X100 is out)

Any suggestions?

You can buy a used X100 for $800... but the AF is not fast. The OMD is the fastest, but you don't like it. E-P3?

 

[gilpen123]

EP3 no question but I like OMD better.

 

[Fenwick]

It doesnt have to be 4/3
I do like the OMD just not the price and prefer not to have another slr style camera
Locally the x100 are still $1100
I was considering the nikon v1 it feel good In the hand and appears to have good build quality

 

[raid]

I would consider as an option an EP model with a fast lens. That should do it. The EP line can take sharp images in near darkness with its built-in IS system. I used the EPL-1 recently when it was virtually dark, and people movements were blurred, but buildings were sharp. I used a zoom 14-42/3.5-4.5, which is too slow for darkness. I wondered how I would have done with a 1.4 lens or at least a 2.0 lens. I bought the EPL-1 with zoom for $199 shipped, so it is cheap for what it can deliver.

 

[Fenwick]

So seem like a person cant go wrong with any of the EP line?

 

[smbilgin]

I know it is not in that range but, how about X10? It's a pretty fast and stealth camera for street shooting with very decent image quality.

 

[raid]

So seem like a person can go wrong with any of the EP line?

You will get a 12MP camera that has built-in IS and that accepts almost any lens out there. The main issue is the M 4/3 format which results in a half size sensor. With the right lenses, it is a great system for little money spent.

I have the EP-2 and the EPL-1. The EP-2 feels more solid. I have the EV-2 electronic VF that fits both cameras. It is useful for focusing in bright daylight with non-AF lenses.

 

[nightfly]

How important is sensor size and interchangeable lenses?

The Ricoh GRD is hard to beat for ease of use for street shooting and it does well with a small sensor. I had a EP2 briefly and didn't get on with it very well. It was bigger and heavier than I thought and I wasn't blown away by image quality. Also had to jump through lots of menu hoops to get it do what I wanted and stay out of my way.

Someone here has a theory about camera size that basically amounts to, if it isn't small enough to fit in your pocket, it doesn't really matter how much bigger than that it is. For me although the EP2 was small, it was over the line so it might as well have been bigger if I need to carry a bag anyway.