Another “which camera?” You betcha!

inn3rs3lf

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Hey all.

First post here after lurking for a while.

This is basically a question for those that have been shooting for a while. So here goes.

I have always been an admirer of photography. It brings about emotions within me that no other medium does. So I have dabbled in it in the past.

My cameras that I had was a 50D, a 7D mark 1 and a Nikon D7000. I enjoyed the Canon more due to the pricing of the nifty fifty at the time and the images that it gave.

However, I did not dabble long within the medium and actually sold all my gear within a 3 month period due to financial constraints (I didn’t have more than 1 camera at a time, I was just trying them all out). But now, at 35 years of age and with my own business, I am in a financial position to try this again.

I am in two kinds of what system to invest in. I don’t have a style as yet obviously, but have always been a fan of fine art regardless of the subjects. So this makes it even harder really. But I have limited my choices to the following:

Nikon D750
Canon 6D
Fujifilm XT-2

All three systems are basically the same price here in South Africa, except the 6D is a bit cheaper.

If any of you had the choice of the above, what would you go for, and why? I am leaning towards a full frame due to the wide angle nature of some ideas I have, but the crop sensor wouldn’t be too much of a hindrance.

But then again, I don’t have much real world experience....



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Well, all 3 cameras are quite different. What exactly are you planning to shoot? What lenses do you intend to use? What features do you expect?
 
What is your range of budget? Would your ideal projected price point include a lens?
 
What is your range of budget? Would your ideal projected price point include a lens?

Budget would be roughly $1800 with some extra for some glass. Issue is, we work on different costs here in South Africa. Nikon is overpriced compared to its Nikon counterparts.

The above recommendations I am looking at all come in at the same price in our currency. The XT-2 does come with the grip and the kit lens though.

Canon side, I would want to add a wide zoom, so a $1000 dollar budget for an additional lens for both the Nikon and canon and then perhaps I can also add a 50 odd mm for the Fuji as well.

Type of photography will be documentary/landscapes/some portraiture. Documentary style does not include fast moving stuff, but a better AF system will always be welcome.


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Personally, I would go wih the Fuji. I prefer the images that its different sensor array produces.
 
I'm a former Nikon user and and now a Fuji user. Obviously I would go with Fuji. Small, light with superior performance. But my best advice is to choose whatever appeals to you. All these systems will take great images. Pick what you like.
 
The Fuji system is extremely appealing. I’m just worried about the crop sensor and ultra wide shots. Suppose that’s a secondary issue though, because how far does one truly want to go without distortion?


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You're right....APS-C is not quite as wide as Full Frame on very wide shots, and UW lenses need to be aspherical for the same degree of correction that non-aspherical designs offer on FF....but still, all three are nice cameras, all in the 20-24MP files size range. I'd buy the D750 for the absolute best sensor performance and best dynamic range and the most-workable raw files, with the greatest color depth-but then I already have Nikkor lenses for it. I DO SEE the improved image quality of FX and FF over APS-C is some situations, especially at elevated ISOs or night-time work, but I never shoot that, and you might not either.
DXOMARK D750 vs 6D.jpg


Is a difference of 2.4 EV more dynamic range enough to make you spend more for the D750, or would the cheaper, less-capable 6D be enough? Would you like a sleeker, more-ergonomic body like the Fuji XT-2 and lenses that feel like silk-and-butter?

These are NOT 'equal' cameras, nor are they 'identical', but all three are highly regarded. You want to LIKE whatever one you buy. The Fuji has the shortest battery life, due to EVF and smaller batteries, but the camera is also handier, prettier, and has a company-wide ethos that no other camera approaches.

YOU need to decide, for YOU, which of the three is the one to pick.
 
I have Canon FF cameras (1Ds), MFT cameras (OMD-EM1) and APS-C (XT2/XP2). My choice of camera is the Fuji because of the great lenses and the slightly different rendering from its unique sensor/CFA.

I shoot very little landscape or architectural photography. I shoot mainly documentary/people/theatre type stuff. I have yet to find a case where the greater dynamic range of FF would make a significant difference between an image being successful or failing ion what I shoot and how I shoot. Sure it would be nice to have a zillion shades of gray ... but does it make a significant difference ... not in my images. Yes, going wide with an APS-C is harder than a FF ... but on the flip-side of that coin, going long is easier with APS-C is easier than with a FF.

If Fuji made a FF, I would get it, (for a number of subtle reasons). But, again in what I shoot and how I shoot, there is enough positives in Fuji APS-C cameras and lenses to overcome the small advantages of a Canon or Nikon FF. (I truly love the manual controls, all the levers, rings and dials of Fuji.)

In reality, any modern digital system is capable of delivering great images and you will/should be quite happy with any system.
 
Well, all 3 cameras are quite different. What exactly are you planning to shoot? What lenses do you intend to use? What features do you expect?

This is really a big part of the equation: what do you expect the camera to be best at?

DYnamic range is not just for landscapes...it applies to every single lighting scenario, studio flash, speedlight flash, back-lighting,side-lighting, etc.. A sensor that has a wide DR and is ISO invaiant is very,very liberating. Buuuuut-if the camera or lenses are too big or bulky, will you enjoy using the camera? Do you favor a bigger body, or a smaller body? Do you want a handy camera, one that can be slim and trim and easy to tote? Or do you actually want a larger body, perhaps with a second battery in a vertical grip? Do you shoot a lot of "talls", or will the camera almost always be held in horizontal mode? Is there a "special lens" you want, like a 200-500mm or 100-400mm for longer-range stuff outdoors? Or a 14mm wide-angle? etc,etc.
 
Well, all 3 cameras are quite different. What exactly are you planning to shoot? What lenses do you intend to use? What features do you expect?

This is really a big part of the equation: what do you expect the camera to be best at?

DYnamic range is not just for landscapes...it applies to every single lighting scenario, studio flash, speedlight flash, back-lighting,side-lighting, etc.. A sensor that has a wide DR and is ISO invaiant is very,very liberating. Buuuuut-if the camera or lenses are too big or bulky, will you enjoy using the camera? Do you favor a bigger body, or a smaller body? Do you want a handy camera, one that can be slim and trim and easy to tote? Or do you actually want a larger body, perhaps with a second battery in a vertical grip? Do you shoot a lot of "talls", or will the camera almost always be held in horizontal mode? Is there a "special lens" you want, like a 200-500mm or 100-400mm for longer-range stuff outdoors? Or a 14mm wide-angle? etc,etc.
While I agree that a sensor's dynamic range does affect nearly every image ... my comment is about the significance of that extra dynamic range. What is more important, quick external controls or extra dynamic range which does not significantly improve the impact of the image? For me, shooting moving subjects in uncontrolled environments, the quicker manual controls and EVF is more important than extra dynamic range. There is a point, that while measurable, 'more' doesn't translate to 'better' ... but rather it translates to just 'more'.
 
While I agree that a sensor's dynamic range does affect nearly every image ... my comment is about the significance of that extra dynamic range. What is more important, quick external controls or extra dynamic range which does not significantly improve the impact of the image? For me, shooting moving subjects in uncontrolled environments, the quicker manual controls and EVF is more important than extra dynamic range. There is a point, that while measurable, 'more' doesn't translate to 'better' ... but rather it translates to just 'more'.

Your question is a strawman one...deliberately ignoring that the sensors under discussion (by me at least) are truly ISO Invariant...the exposure can be made wayyyyyyyyyyyy off, and yet the file can be manipulated HUGELY, with very little loss of quality...there's no need to manipulate the controls as long as you're within 5 to 7 f/stops or shutter speeds of optimal exposure.

You cannot compare a Canon 1Ds and its ancient, outdated sensor technology with say, a modern 24-,36,or 45-megapixel Nikon with a sensor developed by Sony, or made within the Exmor sensor era...

The issue is not the dynamic range per se, but the fact that sensors that possess this type of state-of-the-art technology have an incredible degree of file recovery and file manipulation ability: no matter what the exposure setting used happen to be.

Your Canon 1Ds is way out of date and way before this type of sensor was developed. Modern, state-of-the-art sensors, both FX, and APS-C and MF (like the ones Nikon, Pentax, and Sony put in their d-slrs) and the ones that Pentax, and Hasselblad, and Fuji put into their digital medium-format cameras offer something that is more-valuable than almost anything else; in-fricking-credible file manipulation ability.

You are utterly missing the point: it is NOT about dynamic range, as a thing; it is that the SONY-developed EXMOR era and newer sensors, are ISO invariant, and can allow a user to take a 5- to 7-stop underexposed image, and make a good image out of it. NO NEED to move the ISO settings; no NEED to move the aperture value; no NEED to move the f/stop controls--instead, just SHOOT the pic, and deal with it later, in software.

Your comment was <"my comment is about the significance of that extra dynamic range. What is more important, quick external controls or extra dynamic range which does not significantly improve the impact of the image?"

Shows that you are utterly not getting the point; that the extra DR is not what we're talking about; we're talking about a NEW way of exposing, no longer ETTR. We are talking about a sensor technology that allows the users to do wildly incredible things with the captured data--without the need to fuss over ISO, or f/stop, or speed constraints. While I respect your shooting ability, I think you're way off base in making a strawman claim in a technically-oriented part of photography, and you're denying what I know to be facts, and which you seem to be behind the times on. You are confusing these high DR sensors and their DR with something ELSE they can do: be ISO-invariant! You are neglecting to mention that these newer sensors have capabilities that have CHANGED the way we can capture image data, and how we can manipulate it.

I do not know any way to state the above delicately or without potentially hurting your feelings, since I've seen you make the same strawman claim here on TPF like 20 times. To me, I think it's time to set the record straight as to why so,so many people and why Nikon, Sony,Fuji,and Hasselblad, and Pentax, have changed the face of camera-making. it is NOT about DR, but ISO invariance, superior High ISO capability, better color depth, and HUGE file-recoverability and HUGE tone-maping range.

It's not the extra DR that is improving the image: its much,much more than that! External controls have very little impact on the image data.
 
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You are missing my point. I still would a “properly exposed” image than a randomly exposed image. Getting the image right-in-the-camera is a methodology consistent with paying attention to the details. Paying attention to the details separates the consistently good photographers from the wannabes. Manipulating controls is much more than ISO ... much more than exposure only. The difference between blur and crisp is a manipulation of the controls, the difference between shallow DOF and wide DOF is controls. I am amazed that you of all people state that there is no need to fuss over aperture or shutter speed ... that is a significant portion of the photograph. As Nikon, Sony and Fuji all use ISO invariant sensors ... that is pretty much a moot point. If ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed are irreverent ... then why do manufactures still fabricate cameras with those very expensive elements in cameras?

For the record, my point is to look at significance. A few EV’s of DR, isn’t as significant as a compact body, or manual controls or an EVF. I have always qualified my statements with “How I shoot and What I shoot”. I shoot with ISO Invaritive sensors. I have found that generally, it is much easier to get the final image I desire, with much less time on the computer, if I capture an image which is closer to the final image than if I capture an image a number of stops from the image I desire. An ISO invaritive sensor is significant ... a few EV’s of DR range is not significant in how I shoot and what I shoot. But, you did mention DR first.

I believe that solely relying on sensor technology for a proper exposure is a crutch for bad photography. Using sensor technology as another tool for greater detail in highlights, shadows, when desired and the occasional bad exposure, is a good thing.

For the record, I failed to use an apostrophe in identifying my FF cameras ... 1D’s, as in a pair of 4’s.
 
I agree with Gary. I use ISO invariant sensors and I get better results when I get it right in the camera. I suppose an underexposed image is fine if you don't have time to get it right in the first place. In that case I'm thankful for the modern sensors. But whenever possible, I'll continue to think through what I'm doing before I fire the shutter.
 
Given your budget...Canon T7i with the 10-18mm lens
 

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