A Brand Agnostics Fantasy Shopping List For Each Brand.

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This one is pretty much what it says on the tin.

I talk a lot about not understanding debates regarding personal preference. Have also mentioned a few times that there are no bad cameras on the market now and that I could make do with any brand. With a money tree in hand, I would sample every mount available. Every brand has something that interests me. With the release of the Nikon Zf I wrote a post that included what my shopping list would be if I went with Nikon. It included the minimum gear required for the occasional photo session in the wild.

I will forgo the lighting outline, but it would be Godox/Flashpoint based since that is a wonderfully brand agnostic system. It will include two bodies, high spec and/or practical main body mainly for photo sessions and a lower spec everyday body, followed by the minimal lenses I believe I would need to replicate my current setup. Emphasis will be on bang for buck over the latest and most expensive offerings.

No real goal or rhyme or reason other than a thought exercise. Gear acquisition syndrome fluff, said another way. There is a chance that I may talk myself into yet camera mount to feed… but that is no different than any other day.

I will start by listing the Nikon selections from that earlier post, followed by other brands, and will wrap up with my current photo session setup. Only full-frame mirrorless contenders will be listed. Otherwise, this post could go on for days. DSLR, crop, and medium format solutions are just fine, but these are the class of cameras I would look to first. Personal preference. For lenses I will only be listing native mount options. No DSLR to missorless options. Again. This would draw this thing out even further.

<cut and paste from earlier post>

Nikon

Two bodies:

  • Nikon Z7II
    • The least costly option to get me in the high performance and high MP game.
    • The Z8 would be nice, but I could easily make do with the Z7II.
  • Nikon Zf
    • Naturally. I really like this camera. May be a vintage digital purchase years from now when depreciation finally takes hold.

Lens lineup:

On to my selections for other brands.

Canon

Two bodies:

  • Canon EOS R5
    • A great camera. 45 MP does the trick and it is a great camera otherwise. In all honesty nearly any other EOS RF full frame body would do, but this is a solid choice.
  • Canon EOS RP
    • I have owned this camera… twice. It is great bang for buck. Also makes for a great daily carry camera. Especially teamed up with the 35mm or 50mm f/1.8 STM lenses listed below.

Lens lineup:

  • The RF STM triplets. (35mm, 50mm, and 85mm)
    • Have owned all three and they are great. There are higher spec’d RF lenses for sure but I could make do with these for everything from day to day to photo sessions. Because of these three lenses, I am ok with Canon blocking other makers on the prime side.
    • If I were not so smitten with the 50mm STM I would consider the excellent Canon RF 50mm f/1.2 L USM also.
  • Canon RF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Lens?
    • The question mark here is because Canon lacks an alternative to the excellent Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8. That lens has spoiled me honestly. In the past I would have listed the 70-200mm f/2.8 and some variant of 24-70mm-ish lens. But I have gone for quite some time now with either the 35-150mm alone or pairing it with a second body with a favorite prime. I would rather not go back to two zooms on two bodies. The RF 70-200mm is excellent, but I would need to pair it with a second prime or zoom for wider work. 105mm is not that much reach, but my thinking is that I could make do with APS-C crop mode with the R5 and get that 150mm equivalent focal length. I could make it work. But I must admit that I would prefer that Canon open up its lens mount to other makers.

L Mount Alliance

Two bodies:

My first thought was to make a Pansonic and Leica selections, but I changed my mind. Instead, I thought I could leverage the shared mount to obtain two distinct camera solutions that could share the same lenses. While part of me would love an oddball shutter free tiny SIGMA fp (I have a well documented SIGMA Foveon problem.) I went a bit more sensible with a split Leica and Panasonic set up instead. I will break my high MP/low MP body combo here for a “conventional” and interesting pairing.

  • Panasonic Lumix S5 II Mirrorless Camera
    • This is the sensible choice. It has the one thing that has kept me from considering an L Mount alliance camera up to this point. Phase detect AF. I have not mentioned it but I came much closer to buying this camera than the Nikon Zf I have been going on about. It is a fantastic value. And at $700 off right now the 50mm lens kit would be a no-brainer L Mount alliance starter kit for me.
  • Leica SL (Type 601) Used
    • I know. I know. This makes no sense. But look at the thing! It is gorgeous. Spec sheet wise it is arguably an inferior camera as compared to the Panasonic above, but… look at the thing! As much as makes no sense I would happily pair this up adapted with my knock off M Mount glass for everyday. Yes. I know. Technically any mirrorless camera could be used for this and the lenses are not even Leica branded… But I do not care. The L Mount would allow me to pick up this camera I have always wanted and it could serve as a second body behind the more sensible camera above. Would get the older SL because the new ones are priced outside of my sensibilities. Sure, the SL also costs more than the S5 II, but that S5 II sale price can offset the nonsensical price difference. I did not say this list would make sense.

Lens lineup:

Um. This one gets confusing. Of course I would have the 50mm from the Panasonic kit above, but there are three companies making AF lenses for this system. I will say that the Leica options are off of the table thanks to their asking prices and… size weirdly. Most of them seem to be unnessarily bulky. But mainly price. Understandable as this is quite normal for the brand, but it cannot be ignored. Welp. Here we go.

  • Panasonic Lumix S 50mm f/1.8 Lens
    • This right here is what you would call a no-brainer. A proper nifty fifty for a reasonable price. Would likely be the most used AF lens.
  • Panasonic Lumix S 24-105mm f/4 Macro O.I.S. Lens
    • Is this the lens I really want? No. Would prefer that Tamron worked their 35-150mm f/2-2.8 magic with the L Mount alliance also, but I could never see that happening. This would do just fine.
  • Um… Sigma 105mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens for Leica L… Maybe?
    • I do like this lens a lot. Took a long look at the full L Mount alliance zoom and prime line up and nothing jumped out at me. Would have to live with the system for a while and see what suited my fancy I guess. The 50mm and 24-105mm above could hold things down in the meantime. But I would not regret picking up this lens.

Oddly the last and most nonsensical setup above intrigues me the most of those listed so far. Anything that gets a Leica SL in my hands I guess. Now on to my current kit that has been holding things down for me.

Sony

Two bodies:

  • Sony A7RV
    • This was more of a tactical decision than a functional one. I had and was quite happy with an A7III. But I had it for quite some time, it had quite a few miles on it, and after a brief dance with a high MP offering I decided to make a move. An A7IV or A7RIV could do just as well for me. I am not into sports or wildlife photography so the mega spec top tier Sony cameras are not necessary for me.
  • Sony A7C
    • This camera has been a bit of a Sony anomaly for me. My allegiance to the A7III was largely practical and based on its impeccable performance no matter what I threw at it. The A7C took that functionality and added “like”. I really like this camera. So much so that I was not interested when the new A7C versions were announced. Fine cameras, but I am good. The few demerits documented do not bother me in the least. Starting clean sheet a newer A7C II or A7 R may make more sense, but I would have no issue going out and plunking my money down on another first gen model. I have written more posts about this camera and taken more pictures with it than any camera before it. Even those that I have owned much longer, including the A7III.

Lens lineup:

  • Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD
    • If I had to name a “one lens only” lens, this would be it. It does so many things well that this lens and one camera body would cover 90% of my needs. Will stop there. If you would like to know more, check out the link.
  • A 50mm -ish lens.
    • Have tried many of Sony’s 50mm-ish offerings. Depending on budget I would be just fine with the two below.
      • Sony FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA Zeiss Sonnar T* (Used)
        • I specify used because I am not built to spend almost $1,000 for an f/1.8 lens no matter how good it is. Almost half the new price used. But…
        • This lens is so good that, setting aside my own cheapskate budget minded issues, it is worth the money new or used.
        • Swift, silent, and accurate AF and wonderful image quality. But it I were swinging for the fences then I would get the…
      • Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM
        • Without question the best overall lens I have ever owned. Period. Check out my link over the name because if I start in on this lens it will take over the post.
    • Honestly, that is about it.
      • Thought I would recommend the SIGMA 105mm f/1.4 but honestly as much as I like that lens it is a bit redundant if I have the Tamron above. 150mm at f/2.8 does a decent enough job that I would be fine. Maybe a Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 to cover the wide end? But for those lenses and others, I seriously doubt I would get any of them if I already had the Tamron 35-150mm. It is that good.

Wrap up.

I would be happy with any of those systems. If I already had one I would see no reason to switch to another. Sure, the Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 could be seen as a definite plus for Sony or Nikon… but I did fine before that lens existed. Right now I could talk myself into any of them. But clean sheet right now, today, the L Mount alliance interests me the most. For two reasons:

  • That $700 off of a Lumix S5 II plus lens is hard to beat.
    • I was just asked today for a camera recommendation and after some back and forth that is what I recommended to them. This two lens kit, that I recommended, is all that many would need and it is on sale at the time of this post for less than most recently released full-frame camera body only options right now.
  • <ahem> I would love to have a Leica SL.
    • I cannot make a rational case for this. But to have this camera along with a sensible mount compatible companion camera sounds pretty sweet to me.

I will be scheming on a way to get that S5 II until the sale goes away. But as I have said any of these systems would do.

This was all just a thought experiment. A distraction. But it does quantify my contention that one would be fortunate to have any of these systems.

Happy capturing.

-ELW

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Published by Eric L. Woods

Photography, Baritone, Industrial Engineer, IT person.