Thinking of getting a mirrorless

[Jcederroth94]

Ok so I have a D3400 right now it works well and I'm enjoying it so far. I was looking into getting a second camera since it never hurts to have and my girlfriend is starting to get interested. I was thinking of getting a mirrorless since I'm not too invested in the dslr yet and kind of like the idea of seeing both worlds. I was thinking of going with a used one to save some money. My question is what is a good used option around the $500 mark, less isn't bad either. And second question is, is it worth getting a mirrorless to begin with. Yes I know the differences. Any help would be amazing. Btw mostly shoot plants,street and getting into macro.

 

[goodguy]

Mirrorless and DSLR, I own both.
Mirrorless has mainly 3 sensor sizes in your price range, 1", MFT and APS-C
From my experience 1" and MFT are not impressive with their low light performance so I would personally stick with APS-C
Being on limited budget and 2 different systems makes ZERO logic to me, best stick to ONE system, invest in lenses and share them between you and your GF

 

[Jcederroth94]

Ok, my plan is to navigate to 1 main system I just feel as though I should try out both before devoting more money into a DSLR when I may prefer the mirrorless system better. I got the dslr as a gift so it wasn't really a choice in where to start. But you may be 100% right that's why I'm asking if it even makes sense. I have a couple Grand set asside to get a good setup so before spending it I just want to make sure I put it to the right stuff for me

 

[Light Guru]

I recently got a used Fuji X100T as an everyday, everywhere cary camera. While it is not a interchangeable lens mirrorless camera I am absolutely loving it. It has got me shooting more then I have in years because it is an easy cary around camera.

If you want you can always rent a miracles camera and try it out first before buying.

 

[astroNikon]

If you want you can always rent a miracles camera and try it out first before buying.

Where do you rent a "Miracle" camera??!
I Want ONE of those ...

 

[Light Guru]

If you want you can always rent a miracles camera and try it out first before buying.

Where do you rent a "Miracle" camera??!
I Want ONE of those ...

LOL I meant mirrorless.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jaomul]

Small bit of advice from experience, always use sunscreen, as the song says.

Seriously, decide if Nikon is a good setup for you. If not, grand, if you want mirrorless grand. If you are not majorly concerned with system it would make sense just to have one system, and if your girlfriend gets into photography maybe get the same system.

Mirrorless is just a system, not a better/worse way of taking photos, it's financially better to pick a system and stick to it

 

[beagle100]

I also own both but now use the mirrorless with both DSLR and mirrorless lens. That's the good thing with mirrorless cameras, they can use all lens
www.flickr.com/photos/mmirrorless

 

[Jcederroth94]

A lot to think about I decided I'm going to wait it out and rent a mirrorless for a few days before jumping in but within the few days of posting this I'm not really sure I want mirrorless anymore lol only time will tell and I have plenty of it

 

[waday]

From my experience 1" and MFT are not impressive with their low light performance

I've shot 1/8-sec, 1/10-sec, and 1/15-sec exposures, handheld, in less than stellar light with decent results. Olympus' IBIS is spectacular.

 

[Solarflare]

This is extremely silly.

Just try to find a photoclub or something in your area, to find other people interested in photography and try out their gear.

Dont split an already meager budget into half and expect to get any relevant kind of experience out of this. Yes there are excellent mirrorless out there, and stunning mirrorless glas. But not at a mere $500 which is hardly enough for even the simplest DSLR, and its by far not enough for a decent mirrorless setup.

So far I've invested about 8k€ into my DSLR setup and are still not at the point that I would say OK now it should get another camera system because this one cant offer me more.

 

[Jcederroth94]

This is extremely silly.

Just try to find a photoclub or something in your area, to find other people interested in photography and try out their gear.

Dont split an already meager budget into half and expect to get any relevant kind of experience out of this. Yes there are excellent mirrorless out there, and stunning mirrorless glas. But not at a mere $500 which is hardly enough for even the simplest DSLR, and its by far not enough for a decent mirrorless setup.

So far I've invested about 8k€ into my DSLR setup and are still not at the point that I would say OK now it should get another camera system because this one cant offer me more.

Why would I be splitting anything in half? I'm not saying it's time for a new camera I'm saying I want to settle into a setup to build with weather it be Nikon cannon Sony... mirrorless dslr like I said in a previous post I have a few k to put into something. My girlfriend wants a camera and my d3400 is more than enough for her she's not that into photography and she as well as I do not feel as though it makes sense to get her something else. That leaves me needing a camera. I'm not very invested at all in Nikon so I felt as though now is the best time to figure out what route to go. Yes I realized getting a $500 camera does not make sense at all,was thinking just replace my d3400 aka $500 range. Now I decided I'm not going to do that and just wanted opinions on mirrorless. But now I don't think I'm even going to go that route

 

[goodguy]

From my experience 1" and MFT are not impressive with their low light performance

I've shot 1/8-sec, 1/10-sec, and 1/15-sec exposures, handheld, in less than stellar light with decent results. Olympus' IBIS is spectacular.

The best in the market for sure but IBIS is good for camera shake and not the subject moving so its good for some applications.

 

[waday]

From my experience 1" and MFT are not impressive with their low light performance

I've shot 1/8-sec, 1/10-sec, and 1/15-sec exposures, handheld, in less than stellar light with decent results. Olympus' IBIS is spectacular.

The best in the market for sure but IBIS is good for camera shake and not the subject moving so its good for some applications.

I don't necessarily disagree with that, but it's an unfair generalization. If you're shooting moving subjects in low light without adding light, you're going to have a tough time no matter the sensor size, especially with purchasing budgets like the OP's.

 

[Dave Colangelo]

Lots of good advice here so far, after some skimming ill throw in some words of not so wise wisdom....

All modern cameras (made in the past 3-5 years) take great pictures. All the systems out there are solid and offer a full compliment of lenses. In some cases one system may lack a specialty lens and another may lack some rare color capture ability but the chances that you need either of these features is slim at best and non-existent for most. As many have mentioned sticking with one system (lens mount) will go a long way to building your lens collection and save you money especially if you are sharing gear with a significant other. In an attempt to get my GF into film I got her an old Nikon FE precisely because I was shooting an F3 and we could swap lenses etc. I could have gotten her a pentax or cannon from the same era but then also need to get her some lenses to make it worth while. Most of the debates boil down to pixel peeping, menu frustration and arbitrary lens choice (much like... "blah blah blah I cant get a Zeiss f0.7 for my infrared large format photography rig...").

For macro stuff your money is best spent on a real macro lens (capable of producing at least 1:1 or better).

You can get her a used D3300 and use the rest of the money on a new nikon lens.


Regards
Dave