Which camera should I buy.. No, I'm serious...

[robbins.photo]

Ok, we must have all seen 10 million of these by now, but this is actually a serious inquiry. Ok, so for those of you who may not know I already own a Nikon D7100, and no I have no plans on getting rid of it.

I have however realized that there are some shooting situations for which a second camera might be better suited. In particular I need something with a swivel screen - unfortunately due to a recent auto accident I am finding it almost impossible to kneel, which means I need something that will allow me to shoot at lower angles and to be able to line up shots using the LCD.

Ok, so that having been said, I'm not necessarily looking for another Nikon here, I don't really care if it will use the same lenses as my D7100 or not. In fact having a non-nikon might be a bit of an advantage in that it would allow me to use lenses that the D7100 won't.

This camera will mostly be for closer in work, maybe the odd landscape or two - but I've got most of my telephoto needs covered already by the 7100. Most of what I'll be shooting will be non-moving targets so frames per second isn't a huge issue either. I will be shooting a lot outdoors in direct sunlight, car shows are one of the main reasons I'd like a second camera with a swivel LCD.

Budget wise I'm hoping to stay around 500ish or so, might go a bit more for the right camera but hopefully not a huge amount more than that. Another consideration, as the selfie might indicate I've got pretty big hands. So something in the standard DSLR size is a better fit for me, I know smaller and lighter is all the rage but if it gets much smaller than my D7100 it gets hard for my big bear paws to be able to use it properly.

So, interested in hearing from you Canon folks, Pentax Lovers, Sony Aficionados, et al -what would you recommend?

 

[rudimaes]

The best fixed lens camera is the Panasonic FZ1000. A large bridge camera. It's very fast (AF in 1/10 of a second in daylight), has a good 25-400mm eq. F2.8-F4 Leica zoomlens. Has an articulated screen and a good EVF and equals an entry level DSLR in IQ. This is one of the most versatile cameras I ever worked with. It has everything you need, except for changing lenses.
Rudi

 

[Raj_55555]

Hey Todd, sorry to hear about your injury, hope you're doing better now. Anything serious?

As for your camera, why not use an external monitor instead? That way you get to keep your current setup, otherwise the choices are pretty limited, take a look at the Sony NEX-5T, if you want to go the mirrorless route, but it doesn't have a viewfinder and is a little smallish.

 

[jaomul]

Take or leave this. I advise buy Nikon. I use olly and Nikon. It's expensive. I could have a more control single system but it just worked out this way. I bought olly for size and excellent image quality, but ended up buying Nikon for birds, moving animals etc. Both are good but running two systems is not really best option.

 

[Solarflare]

The Nikon D5x00 and the Nikon D750 (full frame) do have flippable monitors. The D750 and D5000 can only be flipped up and down, the D5100 and successors can also be flipped sideways and forward (and around, protecting the monitor completely).

A system that can adapt most lenses is the Sony A7* cameras, which have tiltscreens like the Nikon D750. The A7s and possibly also the brand new A7r2 seem to be very tolerant in respect to adapting lenses; Steve Huff keeps mentioning that his A7s even manages to work with a Voigtländer 15mm lens that wouldnt work on a Leica M Type 240. Its very likely that the A7r2 is compareable in this respect since its backlit, i.e. the color layer and the photodiode layer are directly next to each other, minimizing the effect of steep angles of light. All A7* cameras of course can handle any DSLR lens without problem.



P.s.: Steve Huff just confirmed his 15mm Voigtländer works well on the A7r2: Day Two with the Sony A7RII..so far. WOW STEVE HUFF PHOTOS

 

[robbins.photo]

The best fixed lens camera is the Panasonic FZ1000. A large bridge camera. It's very fast (AF in 1/10 of a second in daylight), has a good 25-400mm eq. F2.8-F4 Leica zoomlens. Has an articulated screen and a good EVF and equals an entry level DSLR in IQ. This is one of the most versatile cameras I ever worked with. It has everything you need, except for changing lenses.
Rudi

Thanks Rudi. I have to be honest, I never really considered a bridge. I'm rather fond of the larger sensors in the DSLR, but it's definitely worth giving some consideration.

 

[robbins.photo]

Take or leave this. I advise buy Nikon. I use olly and Nikon. It's expensive. I could have a more control single system but it just worked out this way. I bought olly for size and excellent image quality, but ended up buying Nikon for birds, moving animals etc. Both are good but running two systems is not really best option.

Honestly I'm not to worried about "maintaining" the second system, I just need something that will sit in the bag 90+% of the time that I can take out on the rare occasion that I need the tilt screen. The 7100 will still be my go to camera, so really I just need something with say an 18-55mm or something in that range that takes half way decent photos and has a tilt screen so I can get the right perspective at the 3-4 car shows I hit each year.

Not opposed to getting another Nikon, I shot both the 5100 and 5200 and I liked both, just thought it might be nice to "branch out" a bit, try a different camera system and get a chance to evaluate the pluses and minuses of each. I do appreciate what your saying though, so it's something I guess I'll give a bit more thought too before deciding to purchase.

 

[robbins.photo]

Hey Todd, sorry to hear about your injury, hope you're doing better now. Anything serious?

As for your camera, why not use an external monitor instead? That way you get to keep your current setup, otherwise the choices are pretty limited, take a look at the Sony NEX-5T, if you want to go the mirrorless route, but it doesn't have a viewfinder and is a little smallish.

Heya Raj

Nothing to serious, moving a bit slower but still moving. Hadn't really considered a monitor but depending on price might be worth looking at. Would have to be pretty portable though since I'll be waking around with it all day

Sent from my 306SH using Tapatalk

 

[robbins.photo]

The Nikon D5x00 and the Nikon D750 (full frame) do have flippable monitors. The D750 and D5000 can only be flipped up and down, the D5100 and successors can also be flipped sideways and forward (and around, protecting the monitor completely).

A system that can adapt most lenses is the Sony A7* cameras, which have tiltscreens like the Nikon D750. The A7s and possibly also the brand new A7r2 seem to be very tolerant in respect to adapting lenses; Steve Huff keeps mentioning that his A7s even manages to work with a Voigtländer 15mm lens that wouldnt work on a Leica M Type 240. Its very likely that the A7r2 is compareable in this respect since its backlit, i.e. the color layer and the photodiode layer are directly next to each other, minimizing the effect of steep angles of light. All A7* cameras of course can handle any DSLR lens without problem.



P.s.: Steve Huff just confirmed his 15mm Voigtländer works well on the A7r2: Day Two with the Sony A7RII..so far. WOW STEVE HUFF PHOTOS

Thanks soloflare, I took a look at the Sony A65, not sure if the screen really flips around enough for what I need though.

 

[Raj_55555]

Heya Raj

Nothing to serious, moving a bit slower but still moving.

Glad to hear that, and good to have you back!

 

[Braineack]

3/4th the size with 1/10th the sensor!

 

[astroNikon]

Nikon p900 ... bridge camera
it has a flippy screen
apparently really good ISO for what it is
and a monstrous zoom range
but no RAW format

 

[robbins.photo]

Nikon p900 ... bridge camera
it has a flippy screen
apparently really good ISO for what it is
and a monstrous zoom range
but no RAW format

Think I'm pretty much set on DSLR, bridge just isn't going to give me the kind of results I want and I really do need something that will shoot RAW - I'm kinda serious about my car pics.. lol.

 

[table1349]

Well so much for my suggestion of a G1 X MkII.

 

[sashbar]

If you want a different brand, you might also have a look at this one:

PENTAX K-S2 - RICOH IMAGING UK LTD.

It may be too small for you, but the grip is decent size.