I lay awake last night thinking about what I’d written, and decided to apologize to Canon owners the world over, as that comment is probably not constructive. Canon cameras are quite capable, particularly with Canon lenses. Nikon sensors are just really good.
If anyone’s consideration of particular trades in all this gets them to Canon, they’re still getting a really good camera…
A agree that Canon has great camera’s but I think even Canon owners would agree that Canon has a tendency to cripple some of their cameras on purpose in ways that are just not necessary. Sure feature cuts make sense but some camera’s they even cripple the sensor.
If you look at Canon’s high end camera’s like the 5D Mark IV the DR range and noise handling is amazing and this carries over to the EOS R that uses the same sensor. If you look at the EOS RP they chose to use the 6D Mark II sensor which quite honestly I have seen images has very bad noise and rather low DR. If you look at the 90D that is a awesome APS-C (actually thought of getting one of these since I already have the amazing 17-55mm F/2.8). I just don’t see why they could not have had the RP and the R have the same sensor as the RP is lacking quite a few features compared and I am sure the cost would be similar at this point.
My biggest issue with the current canon state is how as a company they are all over the place and it is very difficult trying to figure out what they are going to do. In one sense it seems like they are all in with the new RF mount and it seems they are slowly working towards more M lenses not sure why they should just unify the mounts RF on all mirrorless. But yet they are still pushing out DSLR stuff like the 90D and soon a T8i but they are not making more EF glass from the sounds of it.
So in that respect Canon is kinda pushing me another direction simply because I don’t know what they are doing lol.
Don’t get me wrong if I went with a 90D I would not be in a bad spot because I would have access to some amazing affordable full frame lenses as well. Not like I would run out anytime soon. I am just not sure it is the right choice atm even tho I love my T7i’s color and feel.
Simply put, M-mount is very limiting for full-frame but perfect for small size, while RF-mount is perfect for full-frame and allows them a huge design liberty (see the lenses they’ve been releasing, nobody has things like that). But effectively, the M series seems to be a bit in the air right now.
They’re just milking it all the way until they run out of stock parts. I think it’s pretty clear they’re all in with RF. High-end EF lenses will survive as long as there is a 1D DSLR. If buying Canon now, and you don’t need 1D level, you should go RF.
Depending on the timeframe, you could wait for the R5, on paper it seems to be a great camera (but maybe a bit over-budget).
(all of the above is based on things I read “on the internet”, so take it with a pinch of salt 
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I have a good Fuji kit and I’m a fan, so I figured I should comment here…
If you’re considering Fuji, be careful as the real macro lenses can be expensive. I got the xf60mm and it’s not really a macro lens as this table attests: it has only 0.5 magnification instead of 1.0. And it shows: I’ve tried doing some electronics macro pictures and I was better off with my old Canon powershot G12 or even my phone than this expensive kit.
Fuji does have an awesome Macro lens (the 90mm f/2 R WR), but it’s 300$USD more than the 60mm…
Interesting, I didn’t even realize the X-T2 did not have this, I guess I don’t do enough macro to need that. 
I gotta say the Fuji X-T2 is an amazing camera. I started shooting photography with film cameras, before the world went digital, and I was really missing a camera with all the controls on the body. No camera got as close as Fuji did. They did an amazing job at that. The X-T2 has some flaws, that said: autofocus goes hunting sometimes, but apparently they fixed that in the X-T3.
The lenses are expensive too: because Fuji is kind of a niche player, it’s not as big as Sony, Canon, Nikon or Olympus/Panasonic. So most lens makers don’t also make lenses for Fuji: they start with the big four and we’re kind of left behind. But the glass that Fuji makes is just amazing. I’m critical of the xf60 (and to be fair, it’s the second lens they made in the series), but all other lenses I got from them are just excellent hardware and make crisp images.
That said: you can’t go wrong with Nikon, I would say. I almost got a full frame in the line of the old D300: it was the closest to the good “feel” I was looking for. But for me the mirrorless won: unless you really, really need the best battery life and auto-focus, I don’t think the DSLRs are worth the weight anymore, and I say this as a X-T2 user, which does have problems with autofocus and battery. I still wouldn’t go DSLR.
One thing I did before buying the X-T2 is loan one from the shop. Fuji has this program that you can just walk into a camera store (well, if those are still open with the virus and all) and borrow the camera for a day or two. So I just did that: swipe my credit card (for insurance) and I got the X-T2 with the 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR.
I was hooked.
But yeah, there’s nothing like getting the camera in your hands and actually shooting, outside of a store, to get a feel for the hardware. After all, what you’re buying is not just “the system” with the lenses and everything: it is, fundamentally, a body, its menu and controls. And while you can learn that system, some are just too painful for my taste. (I’m looking at you, Olympus ).
All this, of course, is a matter of opinion. All manufacturers make great cameras. Sony just rocks, and Olympus is absolutely amazing for bird photography because of the cheap lenses and awesome crop factor… Your mileage may vary, as they say…
Good luck!
PS: Oh my, and the X-T4 just came out! You ruined my evening.
Anyone have experience with Olympus m 4/3 camera’s? The lens selections look quite nice for the stuff I do and the prices seem sane and ultra portable for my hiking antics. In the mean time I am going to try and scour for some images on the net.
I use Olympus mft since 2007. Since 2013, I have the E-M1 Mark1. For me it is still the best option for hiking as it is very lightweight. Even with the 300mm (crop factor 2, i.e. 600mm) f4 lens and body weight around 2.2 Kg.
But the best lens I have is the 12-40 f2.8 (lens & body ~ 900g) The quality of the top lenses is very good and the AF very quick.
If I would buy now I would go for the E-M1 Mark2/3 or E-M5 Mark3.
By the way, one can test Olympus hardware for free, see here: https://wow.olympus.eu/ 
Just a quick update. I decided to stick with my T7i for now. It is a solid camera. Being that I am transitioning away from landscape to more of a Extreme close up/macro point of view which is something I have really wanted to do since I started photography, having full frame is not as such of a clear choice.
Instead I picked up a EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro lens which will go well with my EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 for close up. Also picked up a Godox TT685 speedlight with remote trigger for off camera flash. I think the 100mm Macro and the TT685 speedlight will give me much more bang for my buck then a new camera will.
X-T2 also has it, but not from the beginning. If you updated your firmware, it can do it
Correct. I believe the feature was first introduced with the XH1 and then they backported it to the XT2 (same sensor and processor so why not).
If you think about macro and focus stacking then check if your camera support some sort of focus stacking function (you need a macro lens with AF though). At this point you can eliminate Sony.
Not sure about other brands, just know that Canon does not have this function. BUT you can install a software called Magic Lantern that does exactly that (and other stuff I guess).
And once you have your images of different focus points I am sad to say that all open source solutions I saw so far totally failed. The Hugin/Enfuse combo gave me quite a bit of ghosting. Doing it manually with Gimp is possible, but you need like 2 hours per image.
Since I wanted to do some shots I tried then a (3 month free) trial version of Affinity Photo. That did the job in 2 Minutes, even though images where not 100% aligned.
Since you mentioned the a7Rii (I have one). It’s OK, it works for me (other than focus stacking). I hear many complains about the menu. Not sure why. Everything that is important to me I put either in the Fn screen, or onto one of the C1-C4 buttons. Wifi I don’t really use (had an a7 before, really bad Wifi) and the Sony Apps are total crap. (just saw there is some open source focus stacker for Sony a7 series > https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4314348 - github link in post #1)
I still use Photoshop to be honest. No matter what else I try I find it really hard to replace. So if I do need focus stacking I have that which does a ok job in most cases and at least you get access to all the masks. If I get so deep in macro that I do need focus stacking that is super high quality I can always buy one of the dedicated options. I love open source the more I learn and dive into RawTherapee the more amazed I am of it’s capabilities. Sadly some things are just really hard to replace so some FOSS is better then no FOSS.
As for now I am sticking with my T7i it really is quite the impressive APSC for it’s cost. I might eventually upgrade to a EOS R but not anytime soon. Until then I am going to just focus on full frame glass which can be adapted. Can’t wait to try out the EF 100mm f/2.8L sadly my speedlight came with no batteries… Need to get a hold of some… Darn this lockdown crap…
Hello Bill, I simply wanted to maybe “correct” your comment (quoted below) – or simply add my opinion I should say – on the EOS RP since I’ve recently bought one and really I don’t see bad noise and low DR nor do I understand what is this camera missing in terms of features… for the street price I think it’s an awesome little camera (and just as a frame of reference, my other camera is a Nikon D810 and I have sold a Fuji X2 kit to get this Canon, so it’s not like I’m upgrading from a mobile phone).
If I had to point out a couple of things that I miss in the RP:
Again, this is just for completeness in case a future reader comes here and takes this impression of yours as the final word on the EOS RP…