Bewildered returner to photography looking for advice and guidance

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Jez Harris

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Jez
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HI all,

I'm a born again previous 35mm film hobbyist I'm returning to photography.

I'm already swamped trying to juggle re-learning the old techniques, acquiring the new language and technology, and understanding the new DSLR kit available. You have been helpful so far in helping to choose a decent zoom lens to go on an existing Nikon D3400 (I went for a 2nd hand Tamron 70-200 2.8 VC Di G2). Navigating all the new retailers is something I hope you can support me with!

I'm thinking ahead to a better camera and I'm rather taken with the Nikon d850. Could your wonderful collective please advise on the best places to shop for one?
I have seen Grade 9 2nd hand with anywhere between 5000 and 60,000 shots for between £1,200 and £1,450 - no boxes, no manuals, 12 mth g/tee - I'm happy with this but I have also come across 2 on-line retailers - E-infinity and Panamoz who offer the same body brand new at £1493 and £1700 respectively with full 3 yr guarantees and complete as you would expect.

It seems a no-brainer to go for new kit for such little difference in price -and I'm not keen on paying 700-800 for a 2nd hand body with 100,000 or 150,000 + firings

Are these retailers reliable? Do they offer decent after-sales? or solve problems if encountered? Nearly everywhere else still seems to be selling new D850s for between £1800 and £2800 with an average of £2300

Are there other places I should consider?

Thank you once again. Jez
 
Panamoz are very reliable and offer good warranties. Loads of stories on the forum where Panamoz have paid out claims for repairs under their warranty.

You do need to be aware that these are grey imports and will ship from Hong Kong. Nothing wrong with a grey import camera, they are exactly the same as one you would buy from a UK retailer but they are brought in via unofficial channels and the manufacturer will probably not deal with any warranty issues for you. You will have to go through Panamoz.
 
So, a few thoughts:

i) There is still film! Just a thought. If you have the skills (and many find the muscle memory is strong) you might enjoy it more.
ii) Personally (and I am a cheapskate - my wife tells me so regularly) I prefer second hand. I buy the best quality models from several years back, typically when the replacement of the replacement has just come out. A lot of people skip alternate generations, and so there are many sellers and few buyers - lovely for me!
iii) If you are OK with the weight you won't really go far wrong with a pro level camera that doesn't have heavy usage, they are made for several hundred thousand activations.
iv) The old advice (and I think it still holds) is spend the money on the glass. The body will always lose value far more quickly - that is an exercise in damage limitation.
v) MPB seems to be a reputable seller of second hand equipment.

Good luck!
 
@Jez Harris I bought my D850 from E-infinity a few years ago and no complaints whatsoever. It's a fantastic camera a massive step up in capability from the D3400, albeit that is still a very good enthusiast camera especially to learn on. Given that mirrorless has been the new design though, be aware that you are looking at something with a probably significant depreciation (compensated by the reduced grey-import price tag). It may be wiser to get back into it with the D3400 and plan on buying into the Nikon Z range of mirrorless bodies and lenses later, but obviously costs will be higher.

Whatever you choose, you'll get loads of advice and support here on TP and welcome aboard.

We also do a lot of film stuff on the site - indeed both of us Admins are keen films still, so you may want to dust off the old gear too!
 
For goodness sake forget about old technology with the Nikon D850 and all that heavy weight to lug about. for that kind of money the The Panasonic G9 Mark II is the way to go. I part exchanged all my nikon gear for one of these
.

Panasonic G System Cameras Price Comparison, Compare Prices And Save Now!

Compare genuine UK stock prices for Panasonic G System Cameras, compare New & Used prices.
www.camerapricebuster.co.uk

flip screen- pre burst- great video - lighter lenses- dual SD slots- amazing 8 stop image stablisation- phase detection - and oh so much more far too much to put on here.


The panasonic G9ii with 12-60mm elmarit ( 24-120mm in full frame terms) lens covers nearly everything weight 2,16lb.
Nikon D850 alone weights 2.22lb without the lens


Panasonic G9ii cost £1949 brand new and less if P/x
the Nikon D850 £3,000 new

to me it is a no brainer and one hell of a lot of camera with a 25mm sensor and dual image stablisation so good you can forget tripods

so why buy second hand when you can get new beats me.

MY G9ii with that lens

P1060623aa.JPG

just looked up and what a bargain

Panasonic Lumix G9 II with Leica 12-60mm and 25mm Lens and Battery Kit Park Cameras £1999​


to be honest I would be buying it now if I didn't have one and sell my gear on ebay. this is their last one with that offer
but that is just my opinion and recommendation
 
Last edited:
Im assuming there is also the chance of tax and duties to pay?
 
I have used Panamoz a number of times over the years - most recently to buy some quite expensive Canon kit.

They are an excellent, responsive, trustworthy company. Shipping from Hong Kong was ridiculously quick (less than 4 days door to door just before Christmas) - I shipped the EF 100-400mm lens I'd sold to help with this purchase from.Sussex to S. Wales by Royal Mail Tracked 48 and it took longer!!!

There will not be any further import taxes to pay with a purchase from Panamoz.
 
realspeed said:
For goodness sake ....................................

to me it is a no brainer and one hell of a lot of camera with a 25mm sensor and dual image stablisation so good you can forget tripods
Click to expand...


25mm sensor ?????
 
Jez Harris said:
Im assuming there is also the chance of tax and duties to pay?
Click to expand...
There is a chance but it’s rare and if you are charged Panamoz will reimburse you.

I have bought numerous cameras and lenses from them and never had to pay anything more.
 
Last edited:
no tax or duties if your in the UK you don't say Jez
opps little slip I should have put a 25MP CMOS sensor. Anyway you know what I ment.
 
I assumed you meant a 1" sensor.
 
realspeed said:
For goodness sake forget about old technology with the Nikon D850 and all that heavy weight to lug about. for that kind of money the The Panasonic G9 Mark II is the way to go. I part exchanged all my nikon gear for one of these
.

Panasonic G System Cameras Price Comparison, Compare Prices And Save Now!

Compare genuine UK stock prices for Panasonic G System Cameras, compare New & Used prices.
www.camerapricebuster.co.uk

flip screen- pre burst- great video - lighter lenses- dual SD slots- amazing 8 stop image stablisation- phase detection - and oh so much more far too much to put on here.


The panasonic G9ii with 12-60mm elmarit ( 24-120mm in full frame terms) lens covers nearly everything weight 2,16lb.
Nikon D850 alone weights 2.22lb without the lens


Panasonic G9ii cost £1949 brand new and less if P/x
the Nikon D850 £3,000 new

to me it is a no brainer and one hell of a lot of camera with a 25mm sensor and dual image stablisation so good you can forget tripods

so why buy second hand when you can get new beats me.

MY G9ii with that lens

View attachment 442282

just looked up and what a bargain

Panasonic Lumix G9 II with Leica 12-60mm and 25mm Lens and Battery Kit Park Cameras £1999​


to be honest I would be buying it now if I didn't have one and sell my gear on ebay. this is their last one with that offer
but that is just my opinion and recommendation
Click to expand...

Whilst I agree with your praises for the G9ii, I don't agree with not buying second hand.

For about half the price of that new G9ii, you could buy a mint s/h G9, 12-60 lens and a 100-300 lens, which except in specific areas will give the same results and pleasure of use.
And of course if upgrading later to the G9ii, the lenses can be used on that.
That would give you 24-600 (with a small gap) FF eq, for relatively little. Of course you would save a large amount if the 100-300 lenas was not needed :)
 
TEST PHOTO
just also upgraded the editing suite to Adobe elements 2025 for various reasons

P1001213ab.jpg
Panasonic G9ii with the leica 12-60mm elmarit lens
slight deteriation with the internet.
 
Steve I have both the G9 and G9ii and definately won't give the same results. I have already tried

P1060625.JPG
G9 with100-30mm lens on the left---------- G9ii with the 12060 leica lens on the right

There is a world of difference between them even somone like me has even noticed. Apart from the obvious the menuis a lot bigger and easier to use in the G9ii.
Ok agreed the G9 is cheaper BUT for the extra few £ it is silly to go for the G9 although it is an excellet camera. I used the G9 extensively in Portugal and happy at the time with the results. even the video side of that G9 , Both lack only nothing a decent microphone

View: https://youtu.be/AsHaLD5bJK0

G9 with 12-60mm lens and an Azden SMX-30v microphone
 
I'd always recommend mirrorless cameras rather than DSLR's as even if you ignore some of the more obvious advantages of mirrorless which you can ignore or even in many instances turn off there's still the more basic things that give mirrorless cameras advantages such as more accurate and consistent focus over the whole frame.

The only advantages I can see for DSLR's are compatibility with existing DSLR lenses and accessories and possibly price too as some of the older DSLR kit looks to be cheaply priced these days.
 
woof woof said:
I'd always recommend mirrorless cameras rather than DSLR's as even if you ignore some of the more obvious advantages of mirrorless which you can ignore or even in many instances turn off there's still the more basic things that give mirrorless cameras advantages such as more accurate and consistent focus over the whole frame.

The only advantages I can see for DSLR's are compatibility with existing DSLR lenses and accessories and possibly price too as some of the older DSLR kit looks to be cheaply priced these days.
Click to expand...

And battery life.
 
whyone said:
I have used Panamoz a number of times over the years - most recently to buy some quite expensive Canon kit.

They are an excellent, responsive, trustworthy company. Shipping from Hong Kong was ridiculously quick (less than 4 days door to door just before Christmas)
Click to expand...

Likewise - I ordered my Canons last Wednesday, they’ve arrived this (Monday) morning.
 
Plain Nev said:
And battery life.
Click to expand...
Thats a biggie for me too. I'm often out for 12-14 hours at a wedding, and sometimes have to swop out the batteries in my 5d4 (2 in grip) so I dont really want to go for a worse battery life.
 
Jez, do you want a Dslr or a mirrorless? What is your main photography requirements from a unit?
 
Plain Nev said:
And battery life.
Click to expand...
I can only comment with regard to Sony mirrorless, as that's what I have, but as a hobby shooter there is no real issue with battery life on the current FF Sony models - much like with my previous FF DSLR, I carry a couple of spares, typically swap out a battery when it gets below 20% and I have a spare moment, and it's only occasionally if I've been shooting a lot (or have forgotten to recharge from a previous days shooting) that I'll need to use the 3rd battery.
The early Sony FF Mirrorless, and most of their APS-C range use a older, smaller battery - that does run down quickly, and I'll often end up on the 3rd battery on a day out.
I'm using an A7iv FF as my 'main' camera and an A6000 APS-C as my 'family day out / travel' camera.
Third party batteries are reasonably priced and readily available - if I was intending to travel where I'd be unable to recharge for 2-3 days I'd be comfortable just buying a couple of additional spares for the A7iv.
 
ecoleman said:
Panamoz are very reliable and offer good warranties. Loads of stories on the forum where Panamoz have paid out claims for repairs under their warranty.

You do need to be aware that these are grey imports and will ship from Hong Kong. Nothing wrong with a grey import camera, they are exactly the same as one you would buy from a UK retailer but they are brought in via unofficial channels and the manufacturer will probably not deal with any warranty issues for you. You will have to go through Panamoz.
Click to expand...
From personal experience with CANON repairs , you mail Panamoz with a description of the issue and they will tell you to send the item to Canon direct and then Panamoz will pay you the estimated repair costs, for my issue it was a near instant payment via paypal. This was my first issue in several purchases and only made me appreciate Panamoz more.
 
If you are happy with the crop sensor on your 70-200 then I'd suggest a used D500 for about £800. It is pretty much an APSC equivalent to a D850. The pictures won't look much different to a D3400 (which has a great sensor) but the controls and focus system are a lot better.

If you go full frame then the reach of your 70-200 lens will seem 1/3 less but it would work a bit better in low light. Cropping in a D850 to APSC size will give you an almost identical picture to a D500. The D850 is really big- see if you can try one first.

Leave your kit lens on the D3400 for close up shots.
 
swanseamale47 said:
Thats a biggie for me too. I'm often out for 12-14 hours at a wedding, and sometimes have to swop out the batteries in my 5d4 (2 in grip) so I dont really want to go for a worse battery life.
Click to expand...

That was one of my main hesitations with switching from DSLRs to mirrorless; the battery life of my D6 and D5 were so fantastic, it had been a huge relief to not have to worry about batteries wearing out. I don’t really have the luxury of swapping batteries during shoots.

(The other hesitation was having to learn how to use Canons after Nikons for so many years, but I’ve been practicing when I can for the past year.)
 
harpistic said:
That was one of my main hesitations with switching from DSLRs to mirrorless; the battery life of my D6 and D5 were so fantastic, it had been a huge relief to not have to worry about batteries wearing out. I don’t really have the luxury of swapping batteries during shoots.

(The other hesitation was having to learn how to use Canons after Nikons for so many years, but I’ve been practicing when I can for the past year.)
Click to expand...
For me it's not so much the swopping battries, weddings have gaps and as long as you keep an eye on the battery level, you can swop before the service or whatever (same with flash) when they get low. It's the problem of recharging the things after, I have 2 cameras on the go, (and a back-up) and sometimes 3 people shooting.
Thats a lot of batteries to charge, if I use 6 or 8 , and I have another wedding the next day. It's a PITA, especially if your late home and have an early start.
 
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