Advice and Recommendations needed.
What is a good all round camera for someone who would like to take up photography in retirement. Not a starter camera as such, but one that you would buy for keeps. Does not need to be cheap, more interested in overall functionality and perhaps ease of use too. I like to take photos of wildlife and vistas mainly, perhaps the odd video.
I have owned some good Cameras but not really for the photography usage aspect. I bought them to design mounts for commercial drone applications and sold them after the projects were complete. So currently I only have a small point and shoot. I used to have a few Canon Lenses, but again all have been sold off to fund the next project. So I am really starting from scratch now.
I think I would like a full frame camera as I have never owned one.
Some in order of the latest are:
Sony 6500 - This was a nice camera, but seemed very complicated.
Sony 5000
Ricoh GR
NX-1100
Canon 7D
Some older Canon EOS DSLR Models.
Any Recommendations would be helpful.
After quite a lot of research, I bought a Sony RX10 MIV, a fixed lens 24-600 mm (35mm equivalent). At the highest zoom setting I can take good photos of surfers from the shore or birds at quite a distance. It also has a fast auto focus system. I have had the camera for about six months and have been very happy with the quality of photos and features. Cost was about $1700, expensive for a bridge type camera but very reasonable compared to the lenses I would need to make my old Nikon D7000 as versatile as the Sony. It also has 20.1 MP whereas the Nikon had only 16.2 MP. It has video features also but frankly I have not used them.
It is hardly a professional’s camera but it is a great all-around performer and an easy traveler. And the best thing about it is you always have a powerful zoom available without changing lenses.
Can a Camera's MPs be controlled. What I mean is if it is say 42mp, can it be set below that for certain applications, say 24mps?
If this is your first real camera (I don't count smartphones as cameras, I feel sorry for people who use them for photography), you may just want to start with a bridge camera like the Sony RX10 or the Lumix FZ1000 to keep it simple.
All digital cameras allow you to lower your capture resolution. If you want a great deal on a camera, buy it in November around Black Friday. The best discounts are available at that time. It's also a good idea to buy a camera that has been on the market after the first firmware update. Which means, don't buy the latest just released model. If this is your first real camera (I don't count smartphones as cameras, I feel sorry for people who use them for photography), you may just want to start with a bridge camera like the Sony RX10 or the Lumix FZ1000 to keep it simple.
(I don't count smartphones as cameras, I feel sorry for people who use them for photography)
Recently procured a Nikon Z6 with the 24-70/4 kit lens, and I'm just loving it:
- Full frame 24MP: sweet spot for me regarding resolution versus file size
- Low-light performance: between the sensor and the IBIS stabilization, I can shoot hand-held down to 1/10sec.
- Highlight-weighted matrix metering: On-the-run exposure that doesn't blow the highlights. Does take some post processing to pull up the shadows, but well-worth the effort.
For what it's worth...
Oh! How snobbish it that. Of course, they are cameras and they are used in photography even if only because of the #1 rule -- "the only bad picture is the one not taken." In any event, there are many professional photographers (you know, the ones that make a living at it) that make great use of their cell phone cameras.
Definitely not my first. I have owned all those in the list in the OP and more, I just really did not use them full time for pleasure as they were mounted on drones or gimbals.
Most recently, I did have and use the Sony A6500 for a while, but I was not really into photography as a hobby at that time so I ended up selling it. In retrospect I probably should have kept it. But my desire to own a full frame got the better of me.
Sorry just my observations from travelling the world and observing people with smartphones. There is a big difference between taking a picture with correct focus and exposure (very few people are doing that) and holding a smartphone on a selfie stick and snapping a picture or taking a video (the vast majority of people are doing that). The former is photography I don't know what to call the latter, maybe Instagram/facebook modelling. I don't know too many professionals using a smartphone as their primary tool for photography. For that matter, you really have to be outstanding these days to make a living as a photographer. It is a profession that is becoming extinct as fewer and fewer people use their services as cameras have become more and more sophisticated. Sorry, but the vast majority of smartphone users don't know how to take photos and videos. They don't even understand basic composition and exposure control. All they want to do is take a selfie photo or video in front of an iconic landmark and move onto the next one. I see that everywhere I go. That isn't photography.
I lug my heavy gear around all over the world. The same places I'm taking pictures there are hundreds of others taking pictures with their phones.
I use my iPhone for some pictures too, to complement the ones I take with the DSLR
Of course the DSLR pictures have better dynamic range, resolution, color, etc
But the iPhone ones aren't bad, especially if you're mostly viewing them on a computer screen, which is my case, I haven't done any large prints.
And for most people, phone pictures are "good enough" and show that they were at particular places. They will likely be viewing them on their phone screens not even a large computer monitor.
They're not trying to make art, just a memento of various times in their lives, kind of like the old Kodak Instamatics that people used to buy.
Those snapshot images have just as much impact on their memories as a high resolution tack sharp photo does.
Speaking of time lapses, I've gotten good time lapses from capturing on my iPhone for 3-5 minutes.
Enough to see the clouds move.
And for most people, phone pictures are "good enough" and show that they were at particular places. They will likely be viewing them on their phone screens not even a large computer monitor.
They're not trying to make art, just a memento of various times in their lives, kind of like the old Kodak Instamatics that people used to buy.
Can your Iphone shoot a time-lapse like this one? This was shot with a $300 Panasonic Lumix bridge camera.
But those limitations are severe. And the disdain is rightfully reserved not for the equipment, but for those who don't even know there is a difference.
Can your Iphone shoot a time-lapse like this one? This was shot with a $300 Panasonic Lumix bridge camera.
I have no illusion that a fancy camera would turn me into a protégé of Ansel Adams.
Thought about getting a DSLR a few times, then decided that a pocket camera was all I needed to take travel snapshots, when I wanted something better than could be taken with a smartphone. Even with this little camera, the limitation that shows up in the results is more mine than its.
I have no illusion that a fancy camera would turn me into a protégé of Ansel Adams.
Thought about getting a DSLR a few times, then decided that a pocket camera was all I needed to take travel snapshots, when I wanted something better than could be taken with a smartphone. Even with this little camera, the limitation that shows up in the results is more mine than its.
I've never shot a time-lapse, and didn't know that an iPhone could do a time lapse until I just looked. I'll try a timelapse this weekend with an iPhone and Sony RX100 and see what happens. I'm 100% sure neither will be as good as yours.