Shopping for a new entry-level enthusiast camera

[beagle100]

When you say you want to shoot animals and eventually outdoor sport can you give us a better idea of what is in your head for these subjects?

Animals, mostly smaller wild animals and birds I come accross when hiking in nature. I wont be the kind to specifically go "hunting" for a shoot, or spend hours hiding in the hope to get a sighting, it's more of a casual, spur of the moment thing. I also don't "need" a super long zoom range, I rarely used the full extent of my Canon S2's anyway, except for snapshots.

Here are a few examples I took with my good ol' S2, forgive the low resolution since those were formatted to fit online friendly contests:


As for outdoor sports, it will be my son (4.5 years old) "playing soccer", maybe not this summer but in 2016 for sure.

why not a Pentax K-50 or even the new K-S2? They compare quite favorably, spec for spec with Canon/Nikon and are both weather-resistant....

Will check those out more in detail, thanks! I've been told about the K-50 yesterday, looks very promising.

If you shoot sports or action shots a DSLR will have better focusing

with Canon 60D

 

[sashbar]

I am not sure if such a thing as "enthusiast entry level camera" actually exists . Sort of contradiction in terms.

 

[mcap1972]

Have a look at new Fuji cameras as well. Great cameras.

 

[Didereaux]

Sice you are used to Canon I suggest a Canon 7D (not the II) They are VERY affordable right now and are great cmeras. For a lens I wholeheartedly suggest the Canon 24-105mm. I have a lot of experience with both.

Our setup(wife and I shoot outdoors alot) is a 6D, a 7D, bodies. Lens are 100-400mm L IS USM, 70-200mm L IS USM, 24-105mm L, and an EF-s 24mm wide for the 7D. This set up covers just about anything from low light to fast action, close or far. But the 7D is the most versatile paired with the 24-105.

 

[cferreira]

You want a jack of all trades and that cost money if you were happy with a g2 for 10 years a long zoomed bridge camera will do the same as a DSLR with average Glass.

Personal opinion fujifilm with EXR sensors are not bad and the lenses in general are better than basic kit lenses. Panasonic have a few nice one out there and they have Leica design lenses so a fairly good piece of glass on the front of a pretty good sensor at a good price. Nikon Canon Olympus all have their offerings all in entry and the prosumer grade. A nice prosumer camera will go a long way in ticking most of your boxes.

One step up is the great Big Bang of mirror less cameras some cheap some expensive. In my experience the Olympus glass in kitset is actually pretty darn good bit slow but focus is fast and iq is very good. Panasonic same deal and if your in the market for something special the x series fujifilms with trans moss sensors great just remember not all editing software can open fujifilm raw files.

Good luck and happy hunting.

 

[BlueTropic]

Another camera made it to my list, the Olympus OM-D E-M10. I also realized that I don't need a DSLR, and the compactness really grew on me. So it's down to the A6000 or the E-M10. Visited a couple of stores today, the first was out of Sonys but I tried out the Olympus, and loved it. The second store didn't have anything Olympus, so I got around the Sony. Just by look and feel I really prefer the E-M10, and for features and performance both offer plenty... but neither give me everything I want.

On the top of my head, here are the advantages (for me) of both.

Sony:

Fast focus, can focus on moving targets in burst mode (though some reviews showed that it wasn't that efficient, while others praised it)

Low light performance, tiltable flash

Sensor, megapixel count (a minor plus)


Olympus:
Overall grip and feel, seemed "thougher"

Dual dials on top

Touch screen (I wouldn't have thought I'd like it)

Features, like Intervalometer, Live composite preview


Everything else being of equal importance or doesn't really matter.

 

[Derrel]

The Oly E-M10 seems like a very good value. The Sony A6000 has its own following. You say that of those two cameras, "neither give me everything I want." So, what is the lacking stuff? Is it a feature, or a group of features, or lens options, or multiple things?

Which one do you think you LIKE more?

 

[BlueTropic]

The Oly E-M10 seems like a very good value. The Sony A6000 has its own following. You say that of those two cameras, "neither give me everything I want." So, what is the lacking stuff? Is it a feature, or a group of features, or lens options, or multiple things?

Which one do you think you LIKE more?

Well my ideal camera would be an E-M10 with *some* of the A6000 features I've named added in. I really like the Olympus more though.