I'm struggling to decide on a camera, sensor size, mirrorless or SLR...Think you can help? ;)

TimmyD11 · Aug 20, 2017

I remember Tamron and Sigma as a lens you'd get if you just didn't care or if you couldn't afford what you should get 30 years ago.

Is my understanding that they are actually respectable now correct?

TimmyD11 · Aug 20, 2017

You guys have answered a lot of questions and I'm very appreciative but sometimes my best questions, the ones I really am eager to inquire about, go unanswered.

Money being no object, are there Tamron or Sigma lenses you'd prefer to have over the camera manufacturers lenses?

SCraig · Aug 20, 2017

I have 3 Sigma lenses because they are what I wanted, not because of cost.

cherylynne1 · Aug 20, 2017

The Sigma Art series are designed to be outstanding lenses by any standard.

However, honestly, if money were no object, I would probably go with Sony G-master (Sony's equivalent of Canon L) and Zeiss lenses (because autofocusing Zeiss is one of the biggest perks of being a Sony shooter.

) I'd prefer something made for only Sony. Is it a perceived value thing? Yeah, definitely.

I know Sigma makes excellent optics. But when I had to send my rented Zeiss 85 back, I literally cried a little. I doubt Sigma would make me feel like that.

Dragster3 · Aug 20, 2017

just remember... the camera is the "film", the lens is still the "lens".

When film was king, the camera didn't mean anything... the quality was in the lens and the film.

Stop asking questions about opinions, all you will get is more confused.

the film is now the camera, and if 35mm film was good enough for you 20 years ago, then a crop camera will be fine.

Anyone? Good explanation? I think a lot of people forget about what is really important.

Derrel · Aug 20, 2017

Dragster3 said:
just remember... the camera is the "film", the lens is still the "lens".

When film was king, the camera didn't mean anything... the quality was in the lens and the film.

Stop asking questions about opinions, all you will get is more confused.

the film is now the camera, and if 35mm film was good enough for you 20 years ago, then a crop camera will be fine.

Anyone? Good explanation? I think a lot of people forget about what is really important.

Yes, a good explanation, Dragster3, I agree!

A little over 10 years ago, a college-era photo friend of mine brought over the THEN-new, current, Canon EOS 10D d-slr, and we shot a bunch of photos of his wife and young son with it, using my Speedotron studio flash system (itself from the 1980's). We both were of the opinion that at ISO 100, the 6-megapixel 10D was better than the ISO 100 color films that we'd shot for years: more detail (down to young-child's eyebrow and eyelash hair detail and definition) and finer "grain" than ISO 100 color film, eitger slide or color negative, in 35mm size.

Yeah...today's APS-C cameras at lower ISO levels match or beat 120 rollfilm performance. Modern, higher-MP digital SLR and mirrorless image quality is better than what we had for decades and decades.

Gary A. · Aug 20, 2017

cherylynne1 said:
The Sigma Art series are designed to be outstanding lenses by any standard.

However, honestly, if money were no object, I would probably go with Sony G-master (Sony's equivalent of Canon L) and Zeiss lenses (because autofocusing Zeiss is one of the biggest perks of being a Sony shooter. ) I'd prefer something made for only Sony. Is it a perceived value thing? Yeah, definitely.

I know Sigma makes excellent optics. But when I had to send my rented Zeiss 85 back, I literally cried a little. I doubt Sigma would make me feel like that.

Zeiss makes native mount, AF lenses for a number of platforms. I personally own AF Zeiss 12mm, 32mm and 50mm (macro) for my Fuji cameras.

cherylynne1 · Aug 20, 2017

Gary A. said:
cherylynne1 said:

The Sigma Art series are designed to be outstanding lenses by any standard.

However, honestly, if money were no object, I would probably go with Sony G-master (Sony's equivalent of Canon L) and Zeiss lenses (because autofocusing Zeiss is one of the biggest perks of being a Sony shooter. ) I'd prefer something made for only Sony. Is it a perceived value thing? Yeah, definitely.

I know Sigma makes excellent optics. But when I had to send my rented Zeiss 85 back, I literally cried a little. I doubt Sigma would make me feel like that.

Click to expand...

Zeiss makes native mount, AF lenses for a number of platforms. I personally own AF Zeiss 12mm, 32mm and 50mm (macro) for my Fuji cameras.

Yeah, I guess I was thinking more as vs. Nikon or Canon. I always forget about Fuji. Do they make autofocusing lenses for anyone else besides Sony and Fuji?

TimmyD11 · Aug 21, 2017

How much can I expect to sell my 77D or 80D for in a few years if I buy it now and wait for the cost of the 6D Mark ii to come down?

jaomul · Aug 21, 2017

TimmyD11 said:
How much can I expect to sell my 77D or 80D for in a few years if I buy it now and wait for the cost of the 6D Mark ii to come down?

I'll give you ten dollars for it in 3 yrs subject to inspection

TimmyD11 · Aug 21, 2017

Yeah, that was a serious question about what I could expect for depreciation...to factor in...if I wanted to just take the full frame plunge right now. I don't want to lose a boatload of money on a camera I will use only on the rare trip and occasion every year. (but will hope to use more as time goes on.)

jaomul · Aug 21, 2017

You can't tell the future price of electronics. Next week some new company releases some new camera that is better than any camera in its price range. This camera comes with clip out adapters that can use any variety of lenses. Nobody wants your second hand relic.

Pawn shops are full of secondhand crap electronics that nobody wants even though they were top dog a few long years ago.

Think of all the money you are saving and photos you're not taking worrying about depreciation.

TimmyD11 · Aug 21, 2017

Just so you guys know, I'm currently not missing out on taking photographs with this prolonged research and decision making...I want to have this by the time I hope to go back out to the Canadian Rockies the third week in September.

Anybody sell anything recently to get an idea of what percentage of original purchase price (new) I can expect to sell for used?

cherylynne1 · Aug 21, 2017

TimmyD11 said:
Just so you guys know, I'm currently not missing out on taking photographs with this prolonged research and decision making...I want to have this by the time I hope to go back out to the Canadian Rockies the third week in September.

Anybody sell anything recently to get an idea of what percentage of original purchase price (new) I can expect to sell for used?

I'm sorry, but you're completely wrong there. If you wait until the day before you leave to buy a camera, you'll spend your entire trip trying to figure it out. It takes at least a month to get familiar enough with your camera to be able to change settings and everything without looking, and longer than that when you need to learn the basics of photography in the first place. You are way, way behind, and dropping more every day.

You can't even get a general idea of selling used, because every item from every company is different and no one can predict what will happen to the market in a few years. You'll get less than you paid for it, that's probably as specific as anyone can get.