Quite overwhelmed with choices, please help with process of elimination...

[TimmyD11]

First, thanks for all of the replies - I appreciate it...

Well things just got a little more interesting. I'm going to tell you a quick story, and I don't want what I am about to tell you to nail me down to one option because of it, but it probably must be considered.

I have a 20+ year old Canon EOS A2 that I broke and then put away and forgot about as I moved away from photography and started to get into other things.

I have 3 lenses with that, one more than I thought, all Canon lenses, and I'm not sure how good they are, or how good they would be on a modern Canon DSLR, if they fit and the autofucus works.

The lenses are:

Canon EF 85mm 1:1.8

Canon EF 28-105mm 1:3.5-4.5

Canon EF 70-210mm 1:4

I don't know if this glass is compatible or good enough to build around or if I should just sell for whatever I can get and start over...

but it looks like I now have more options...

and depending on what I can get for them, perhaps a bigger budget.

 

[Designer]

I don't know if this glass is compatible or good enough to build around ..

You can consult the user's manuals for any particular camera model online. Somewhere in the manual will be a listing of compatible lenses for that model.

 

[Peeb]

... the D610 has a sensor score of 94, and has un-be-lievably gorgeous image quality.
...

Ain't that the truth???

Seriously, I set down my Nikon D40 years ago and took a photo hiatus and when I came back and picked up some 'modern' cameras (first the D5500, then the D610), I was like - DANG, this is nice!

Not denigrating other brands, but as a Nikon guy, I've seen that particular line make remarkable leaps in a relatively short span. I'm sure the same is true of Canon and others. Heck, Sony seems to be breaking barriers weekly!

 

[gckless]

I have a D7200. Love it, it's an awesome camera, it's great as long as you know the limitations. It doesn't have the highest FPS, you have to use the fastest SD cards or else the buffer can be a problem, though that's not a big issue for you shooting landscape and stuff. Low light performance isn't awesome, for me ISO 1600 is the limit, anything I'm printing large I like to keep at 800 or below, but is about the best APS-C performance you'll get except for the D500. If you're doing low light stuff then full frame really can't be beat. Other than that, it will serve you great. If you go with a D7200 new, the kit 18-140mm lens is pretty decent, and will serve you just fine. I actually think you'd be happier with a long-range zoom lens like that, you can get wide shots and then have a telephoto without having to carry extra lenses. You may eventually want an ultrawide, but coming from a phone the 18-140mm will be about the same. Converted to 35mm equivalent lengths, the S6 is 28mm, the 18-140mm will give you ~27mm on the wide end.

As for your Canon lenses, do some research. Will they even work with modern cameras? Are they good enough to resolve enough detail to make use of a modern sensor? I searched for the Canon EF 70-210mm 1:4, and it looks like it was made in 1987. Now that doesn't mean they're garbage, but it does warrant some research. If the answer to either of those questions are no, maybe try to sell them and get whatever you can for them, and start over.

I think you have a lot of good advice in this thread.

 

[Derrel]

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8: owned it for 5,6 years, VERY good. Dan Ostergren does remarkable work with this venerable 85mm f/1.8 prime lens on the Canon 5D classic, the full-frame camwera. Not much difference in 85/1.8 Canon since it was introduced...always been good, always will be. 70-210 f/4...a very easy zoom lens to make....JUST bought a pawnshot F-mount one, payed $29.95 for an older Tokina f/4~5.6 variable-aperture model...Nikon made a variable aperture f/4~5.6 model AND also a constant f/stop one...this is a lens type that's decent even if fairly old. The Canon 28-135mm was a kit lens type in the film days, it is usable today, sure, not super-duper, but usable, yes. But NOT really a great lens length on APS-C with Canon's 1.6x crop.

The thing is...when you take a lens and multiply it by 1.6x factor, the lens becomes "something other than what it was designed to be."

Case in point: want an 8.5-foot tall picturte are, to do a full-length standing portrait with the 85mm lens? With a full-frame camera, you stand 20.0 feet away; with the Canon 1.6x sensor camera or a Nikon 1/5x, you must be right around 34 feet away to get the same picture height with the same lens. This camera-to-subjkect diostance makes the depth of field GREATER, more-recongnizable behind the subject, due to the camera-to-subject distance.

if you want a new camera, but have old lenses like a 50mm and an 85 and a 70-200 and a 28-135---you really,really might want to think used Canon 5D-II or used Canon 6D. I saw a nice used 6D for $795 last month at PPS.

 

[TimmyD11]

Would my old lenses be of more value to me on a new Canon SLR or sold for what I could get for them with the money put towards whatever I wanted...if I wasn't tied down to something because I own these lenses and feel the need to use them?

I'm having a bit of "analysis paralysis" and it's driving me a little bonkers because I've also been due for my 2 year phone change and I can't really decide on that either!

So a DSLR would be larger than a mirrorless camera, otherwise flip a coin...and the Nikon DSLR I've considered may be a little better than the Canon DSLR I've considered...but maybe not!

So all of these close calls maybe I should just get the Canon 70D or 80D...or a T6i or T6s, with money left over for another lens or a better lens?

 

[Designer]

Would my old lenses be of more value to me on a new Canon SLR or sold for what I could get for them with the money put towards whatever I wanted...if I wasn't tied down to something because I own these lenses and feel the need to use them?

When considering a newer camera body, consult the listing of lenses that will be compatible with that body. That will be your answer.

 

[TimmyD11]

$1200 theoretical budget...

a $600 DSLR with a $600 lens

or

a $1200 DSLR with kit lens? (and perhaps lenses to come later)

What can't a $600 DSLR do that a $1200 one can?

I'm just wondering if there are really any scenarios where I'd use features in the more expensive DSLR.

 

[chuasam]

EM5 mk II with the superb 14-150mm lens.
Weather sealed and light.

 

[fmw]

Just to throw in more confusion, give some thought to a mirrorless camera. Since they all have less space between lens and sensor you can adapt an SLR lens on virtually any of the interchangeable lens mirrroless cameras. Adapters are cheap.