Asking for advice on first camera.

esmikell · Jul 27, 2017

Hello,

I am about to purchase my first real digital camera. I would like the opinions and advice of those with the knowledge and experience. I am leaning towards mirrorless and want to be in the $550 and below range. And, should I go brand new or with a used one?

Thank you,

ES

jaomul · Jul 27, 2017

550 dollars new gets you a very basic setup.

I'm not sure prices second hand there but if you could bag an Olympus Omd em5 with an Olympus 12-50mm for your money you'd get a lovely weather sealed camera with a viewfinder.

esmikell · Jul 27, 2017

Thank you, that gives me a starting point.

Solarflare · Jul 27, 2017

- If you want best bang for the buck: thats still DSLR. That might change soon, but not too soon.

- If you want to really get into photography: buy a used semi-professional camera. For your budget, that would for example be a Nikon D7000 (approx $300). If you do NOT want to get into photography, then a large sensor camera is maybe a bad choice for you.

The main benefits of a semi-professional camera, compared to lower models:
1. Fast operation. Semi professional cameras can be operated just as fast as professional cameras once you learned the buttons.
2. Photographic completeness. While they dont have the full performance of the bigger brothers, they also dont have any important photographic features left out. For example HSS (high speed [flash] sync, the ability to shoot with flash above flash sync speed) is an important feature for any portrait photographer - but entry level models dont have it.

- Nothing else has nearly as much influence on image quality as the glas you pick. Which by the way isnt always the most expensive glas; far from it. Though sometimes it is. For your budget, I would recomment a used Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC, of course the Nikon version (approx $300).

- Sharpness isnt the only property of image quality; in fact its not even the only property of resolution, which requires both sharpness and contrast, namely micro contrast or "lens pop". Anyone can make a very sharp glas by putting lots of glas elements into a lens.

Derrel · Jul 27, 2017

The semi-pro type cameras from Nikon have been extremely competent 'shooters' since the 1960's...the Nikkormat EL...the Nikon FE, The FE-2, the FM and FM-2, the N8008s, the N90s,the F100, the D200, the D300,the D700, the D7200, etc.. This class of camera has been called the serious enthusiast camera class by me, for a long time.

Older, used digital cameras like the Nikon D7000, or Canon 70D, or Nikon D700 or Canon 5D classic...fairly low prices these days, lots of bang for dollar spent. In-store, I saw a Canon 5D classi for $395 recently...a semi-ro camera in its day, lotta camera for approximately $400 used! I saw a D7000 for about the same price as the 5D. The D300 is now $295, but the sensor is OLD...same with the D90...OLD sensor technology.

Solarflare's Post #4 has a lot of wisdom in it.

Personally: I PREFER to buy used digtital SLR cameras, rather than new.

jaomul · Jul 28, 2017

All valid points, though I got the impression op wanted mirrorless, but that's probably not set in stone either. There's a lot of good Pentax cameras for not huge money around also, k5 being one

OldManJim · Jul 28, 2017

I agree with the comments earlier. I would suggest that you stick with a name brand camera. Go to a local camera store and try both a Canon and Nikon to see which one "feels" better. If you get "into" photography, you'll probably stick with one brand or the other. A used semi-pro digital will give you a lot of features at a lower cost and allow you to experiment and see what works for you. You can always sell it later and recoup some of your costs if you want to move to a newer version.

SquarePeg · Jul 28, 2017

Mirrorless or dslr, definitely look at used/refurbished to stretch your budget. Having just started switching over to mirrorless myself, I don't know enough yet to offer advice on which models are in your price range. for dslrs I can highly recommend the Nikon 7100 which you can find used in your price range. Another option is the 5500. I don't know anything about Canon.

Have fun shopping! Do some research, narrow it down to a few options and repost for advice on pros and cons of each.

goodguy · Jul 28, 2017

In your price range I would recommend one of two cameras

Mirrorless then the Sony a6000
Or
DSLR Nikon D3300

From personal experience I would not recommend smaller then APS-C sensor camera, I had a Panasonic G7 which is a Micro Four Thirds sensor and the low light performance and dynamic range were very disappointing.

The advantage of the Nikon D3300 is the access to tons of lenses, new or used for VERY affordable prices
Sony's lenses are stupid expensive compared to Nikon and Canon and there are very few of them especially APS-C size lenses.

beagle100 · Jul 29, 2017

esmikell said:
Hello,

I am about to purchase my first real digital camera. I would like the opinions and advice of those with the knowledge and experience. I am leaning towards mirrorless and want to be in the $550 and below range. And, should I go brand new or with a used one?

Thank you,
ES

I agree with the other posters, go to a store and check them out. A Canon DSLR might be your best option but mirrorless cameras are smaller and lighter and can still use DSLR lens
www.flickr.com/photos/mmirrorless

esmikell · Jul 29, 2017

Thank you to everyone who responded. When considering my photography targets, the environment of the targets and I leaning in a less costly direction. I have a 14ft row boat (I am half finished with construction) and will be photographing cargo ships, shrimping boats, wildlife along the shore in hard to reach places. Taking a costly, even used, electronic device on the water in a small row boat with oars and such moving about does not sound like smart exposure of my invested money. All of your advice I will use towards the purchase of a DSLR in a few months. But for now I am going for the Canon F-1 or FTb or A-1 series SLR (used of course) with 35mm film and a massive following of inexpensive zoom/telephoto lens. If this new hobby sticks I will move into DSLRs. Thanks to user Mr. Rain Cloud, for his advice on older Canon 35mm cameras.

benhasajeep · Jul 29, 2017

esmikell said:
Thank you to everyone who responded. When considering my photography targets, the environment of the targets and I leaning in a less costly direction. I have a 14ft row boat (I am half finished with construction) and will be photographing cargo ships, shrimping boats, wildlife along the shore in hard to reach places. Taking a costly, even used, electronic device on the water in a small row boat with oars and such moving about does not sound like smart exposure of my invested money. All of your advice I will use towards the purchase of a DSLR in a few months. But for now I am going for the Canon F-1 or FTb or A-1 series SLR (used of course) with 35mm film and a massive following of inexpensive zoom/telephoto lens. If this new hobby sticks I will move into DSLRs. Thanks to user Mr. Rain Cloud, for his advice on older Canon 35mm cameras.

If your going to go with manual focus film, then plan to move onto digital. I highly suggest you go with Nikon. Nikon manual focus film lenses will work on digital bodies (except the very oldest). If you go with Canon manual film cameras, the lenses will not directly connect to Canon AF bodies film or digital. Canon changed their mount. So if you go Canon, you will have to buy lenses again. With Nikon they will be at least usable, and in many cases normal functions on the camera except AF (depends on digital camera you buy).

If your on a budget and will be in the future. Nikon is the way to go. I have used all 4 of the bigger brands in my life. Pentax first, Minolta second, Nikon third, and Canon 4th. I kept my Nikon system as I tried Canon. I ended up dropping Canon and staying with Nikon (too expensive to run both systems, and had quite a bit more Nikon gear than Canon). I also dabbled with Olympus but never owned one (was loaned to me for about 3 months).

Also believe it or not. Nikon MF lenses work better on Canon DSLR's than Canon FD lenses! Nikon's will focus to infinity with just a simple adapter. Canon FD lenses require an adapter with a lens in it to reach infinity focus! Same with Pentax on Canon DSLR, they use just simple adapter. When I had my Canon 20D I had a Nikon to Canon adapter. It worked pretty well. And was like $20 at the time. Think they are less expensive now.

esmikell · Jul 29, 2017

Wow, that is a new angle to research. Thank you very much.

benhasajeep · Jul 29, 2017

esmikell said:
Wow, that is a new angle to research. Thank you very much.

I should have made it more clear. You can use older Canon lenses on the Canon DSLR's. But need an adapter with a lens in it that basically acts like a mini tele-extender. And some adapters that have chips will give you focus confirmation. Unsure of their prices.

With Nikon no adapter is needed. You can get copies of almost any nikon manual film or dslr online for free. There are links on this site to some. You can check the manuals for the different dslr's as to which Nikon lenses will allow what function on the cameras with no adapters at all. In most cases you get focus confirmation and basic metering.