Gear / Technical Help > Photo / Video Recording

First time DSLR purchase

<< < (3/3)

mnm207:
Photography is my day job, which makes this one of the rare topics I'm actually qualified to give any advice.

For used cameras/lenses a budget of $250 - $500 will get you a decent entry level camera. For new, I'd double that.

Don't get hung up on sensor size. Your partner would do just as well with an APS-C or m4/3 camera as a "full frame". I shoot professionally for corporate clients (portraits, lifestyle and events); my cameras have APS-C sensors; no client has ever questioned or complained about image quality. I shot with a full frame system before switching to the smaller cameras so I know what I'm "missing". (And I cut my teeth shooting 4"x5", so I really know what I'm missing.)

A Canon 5D (original version) with a 50mm f1.8 lens would be a fair option, but more for its well thought out user interface and decent viewfinder rather than its sensor size. It's a beast though; at a recent corporate event my second shooter's 5d Mk3 and 70-200 lens weighed more than my entire system.

My suggestion would be to look at the newer crop of mirrorless cameras. I'm smitten by my Fuji cameras and find many of the Panasonic and Olympus m4/3 cameras interesting. In particular, look at a used Fuji X-T1 with the 18-55 f2.8-4.0 kit zoom or 35mm f2 normal lens. I think it's several steps above the entry level DSLRs from Canon or Nikon in terms of usability (control interface and viewfinder); I'd expect them to be more responsive than an original Canon 5D with better image quality. It's a nice little camera.

goodcooker:

Not anything real special but I wanted to start shooting at some shows so I bought a nearly new Nikon 3200 kit at the local camera shop for 40% off new price and it had maybe 1000 snaps on it. Picked up a decent 50mm f1.8 for $200 at B&H and I was good. The camera has a bunch of settings for noobs or people too lazy to deal with the menus and they work just fine or you can shoot in full manual mode with access to all the settings. I also chose it because it shoots decent video and has a mic input so I can shoot some video from my recording position and take a camera output from my recording deck.

Getting a fixed focal length lens gets you much better glass for your money but they are kind of mission specific. I got my 50mm because it's a good for shooting people on stage from the front of the stage.

A zoom lens can be much more adaptable depending on the situation but is typically more expensive.

Not recommending this camera specifically but rather the approach - buy a kit with a decent body that someone traded into the shop for an upgrade and get a good lens new later.

tedyun:

--- Quote from: ycoop on June 04, 2019, 01:12:56 PM ---Subjects would be mostly nature pictures. We live in California, where there are countless vista points with stunning views, which makes me think a wide-angle lens might be a good way to go.

If it wasn’t abundantly clear, I’m a total photography noob.

--- End quote ---

For landscape shots, a good wide angle lens on a full frame will serve you well. You'll also want a good tripod. I'm a Canon guy, so I would suggest getting a used 5D mkII or mkIII and a 17-35 L.

The newer expensive bodies and lenses give you more versatility to shoot in more challenging conditions. So if you think you will be at all interested in portraits, night-photography, sports, birding, concerts, etc., my recommendation would be different. Or you could buy a starter set now, get used to the settings then upgrade the body and lenses when you need the capability.

johnny9fingers:
A fine, but often overlooked camera.  The Pentax KP.  The web address below provides some info on the camera.

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORqzQce9wto

It’s discontinued, but used cameras can be found from time to time.

John

SMsound:
I recently bought a Sony ZV-E10.

It's a new, smaller-body (they removed the viewfinder to make it more compact) version of the venerable Sony a6400, but with updated color tech inside, no video time limits on 4k/30, and USB-C with great features for streaming, USB-C charging, etc.

That means that it takes great pictures like an A6400, takes fantastic unlimited 4k video with really good autofocus that is better than anything else in the same price bracket, it can use the same Anker USB-C batteries you use for your mixpre's and stuff which makes it great for open taping, and it's really easy to also use it for zoom and stuff. It's also tiny and lightweight.

If you don't need a viewfinder (or don't mind plugging a little external one into the very fancy hotshoe it has when you do need one), I think this camera is ideal for most of this crowd.

If you're sharing it with your girl, you may also note that this camera and the very similar a6400, a6100 are used by the youtube beauty community a lot for filming youtube videos, as they make people look nice (unlike my older compact sony digital cameras, which for some reason always made people's faces look worse than in real life)

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page