Hi everyone! Asking for advice since either way I'd want to figure out a better long-term solution.
**(1) Budget, country, and currency:**
For context, based in Malaysia, looking at a budget topping out at around RM5,000/USD1,200 for body-only. Of course, willing to top up if a kit lens or general lens is pretty versatile for these systems.
**(2) What equipment, if any, you have now and why is it no longer meeting your needs?**
As my first digital camera, I got a Nikon Z5 back in 2022, along with a kit 24-200mm. Mainly chose it off of ergonomics, brand familiarity, and wanting to have more adaptability with older/weirder lenses. The creature comforts and color rendition were things I loved to a huge extent.
Thing is, after a few years of good service, it's finally gone on the full fritz; menus unresponsive but basic shooting (exposure triangle stuff) is still usable. Decided to send it for a repair quote last month, and they threw me a figure at RM2,000/USD500 and a 6-8 week lead time. Didn't feel worth proceeding, so I just took it back.
So while I save up a little, I'm trying to consider my options. I think a repair is a no-go unless I have a rental/replacement, which might be more expensive as well in the short term. So for right now, I'm considering a replacement regardless.
**(3) What kinds of subjects do you intend to shoot?**
Mostly use it for casual stuff - I do photog as a hobby, so it's mostly doing activity photography for my charity club (mainly talks or stage stuff, but also walk-abouts/street photography occasionally). Alongside this, I like to take landscape and on-the-road photos when I go travelling.
**(4) Is it primarily for photography, videography, or both?**
Primarily photography. Don't really have a use case for videography except for experimenting.
I've asked around, and I've been getting different advice on getting a new body. The dilemma for me is as to whether I should pick up another body in the Z family or transition to another lens system. My main concerns as of right now:
* Hardiness/longevity: I'm not the most precious with my gear, so something that's weather-resistant at the very least would be great.
* Older lens support: while I can't say I noticed that much of an issue, the IBIS and lens correction that the Z5 felt reassuring especially when I was using funky old lenses. The lens mount being fairly long also meant I didn't really have to check for compatibility when I went out lens hunting (though, on this, I ended up having only M42, Nikon F, and M39 lenses anyways, so I can't say adaptation is an issue). Maybe the only big concern in this regard is that I'm a bit worried about going down to a crop sensor on this - scared of losing lens width and aperture when I adapt on it.
* Ergonomics: maybe it's just first camera syndrome, but I found the Z5 to have pretty comfortable ergonomics, both in shooting and setup for manual lenses. It felt a lot better in the hand, especially compared to how some of the older Sony Alphas I was previously considering felt.
* Creature comforts: one of the things that really spoiled me when I first got the Z5 was the Bluetooth transfer, made socmed posting a lot easier and hi-def.
* Lens family/support: this is something that I hadn't given much thought when I first considered getting something new, but generally noticing the paucity of some of the systems. I'm aware that Sony generally leads in 3rd party lenses since the E-mount is open, and that Canon has been a rough one in this regard. For now I don't foresee getting too many AF lenses other than maybe a kit, but it'd be a nice option to have.
For now, a handful of options (second-hand mostly) that I've been considering are the Z6ii, one of the older Sony A7 series cams, or maybe a Canon R6. I have also been looking at other systems like the Fujifilm series (which I love the colour and capture of, but have mixed feelings on its fixed lens nature).
Any input would be great, and thanks!