Camera recommendations (I'm sorry..)

Dashing

Dashing

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Richard
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Hi everyone!

I'm going to be upgrading my camera at some point towards the end of the year and could think of no better brains than the talk photography forums!

I've been using my Nikon D3300 for the past few years. Mainly for landscape and travel type photography. Been using the standard kit lens without real problem to be honest so I haven't had a need to change anything.

More recently I've started my own digital advertising company (mainly social media based) with my fiance and am fast being approached for work so would like to invest in new equipment. My main issue with the D3300 is the lack of WiFi/Bluetooth. The silly little adapter keeps losing signal when transferring to my phone. D3300 really struggles in low light too which is annoying as we review alot of restaurants with varying light levels. I'm not going to lie, I've been taking a lot of photos recently with the iPhone X for ease..

The majority of the photos we're taking are for our food/hotel/product reviews. We do still go out and about for landscape and nature shots too.. I've also read somewhere on this forum that DSLR's are dying out.. Any truth to that?

TL:DR - Looking for camera recommendations. Roughly £1000 to spend. DSLR preferred as I would still like some creative control... although I dont know how much those point and shoots have come along in recent years?

Thanks :ty:
 
Dashing said:
Hi everyone!

I'm going to be upgrading my camera at some point towards the end of the year and could think of no better brains than the talk photography forums!

I've been using my Nikon D3300 for the past few years. Mainly for landscape and travel type photography. Been using the standard kit lens without real problem to be honest so I haven't had a need to change anything.

More recently I've started my own digital advertising company (mainly social media based) with my fiance and am fast being approached for work so would like to invest in new equipment. My main issue with the D3300 is the lack of WiFi/Bluetooth. The silly little adapter keeps losing signal when transferring to my phone. D3300 really struggles in low light too which is annoying as we review alot of restaurants with varying light levels. I'm not going to lie, I've been taking a lot of photos recently with the iPhone X for ease..

The majority of the photos we're taking are for our food/hotel/product reviews. We do still go out and about for landscape and nature shots too.. I've also read somewhere on this forum that DSLR's are dying out.. Any truth to that?

TL:DR - Looking for camera recommendations. Roughly £1000 to spend. DSLR preferred as I would still like some creative control... although I dont know how much those point and shoots have come along in recent years?

Thanks :ty:
Click to expand...

DSLR's are dying out and being replaced by mirrorless cameras.

Most modern mirrorless camera's have wifi and bluetooth, they will all have similar controls etc to the DSLR you are currently using.

£1000 will be a tight budget though if that includes lenses.

You will likely have to stick to APSC to keep the costs down Fuji and Sony will likely be the two best options. I won't recommend a particular model because you will need to have a look at what suits best for your needs. In terms of lenses a lot of the food photographers seem to use a wide angle prime usually a 24mm f/1.4 and a macro so possibly a 16mm f/1.4 lens might suit on APSC and a macro lens of some sort.

I know a little bit more about Sony so you could have a look at the A6400 and the new models that are being launched today the A6100 and A6600 in terms of lenses Sigma do a 16mmm f/1.4 which is highly regarded and you could look at a cheap adapted macro lens to keep the cost down. The Sony 90mm Macro is very good but even buying from a grey importer would be just under £700.

A Sony A6400 from e-infin is £649 body only or with a kit lens £749. The Sigma 16mm f/1.4 is £315.
 
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D750 :)
It's the photographic equivalent of '42'
 
kendo1 said:
D750 :)
It's the photographic equivalent of '42'
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Not "so long and thanks for all the fish..." then ;) Or maybe that quote belongs in a hot topic thread :lol:
 
Box Brownie said:
Not "so long and thanks for all the fish..." then ;) Or maybe that quote belongs in a hot topic thread :LOL:
Click to expand...
That's the Brexit answer, seen from a Scottish perspective :)
 
Have a look at the thread that I started asking if anyone had gone back to their DSLR. There is absolutely no doubt that mirrorless is going to evolve to be the dominant system however, suggestions that DSLRs are 'dying out' are a tad premature! Consider also used to make your money go further; check out prices on MPB - there are other sources eg WEX or LCE.
 
Why the need for BT or Wireless? I do use the app for my Fuji occasionally but its not a deal breaker.

I have recently moved from DSLR to mirrorless and aside from the nostalgia (habit) and snob value (telling myself that DSLRs are god) have no regrets at all. The only downside is battery life but just have a couple of spares/battery pack.

Do you only have the kit lens? I don't think you would notice much of a gain from getting a DSLR - you could get a used Nikon D750 for around £650, not too sure on the 3/5/7xxx models. I would suggest you just get a better lens, getting a 2.8 16-50 range would be ideal and give you a lot of creativity. Whack on a 35 or 50 prime for £100 too.

IF you went down mirrorless you could get the XT2, 18-55 and a prime if bought used.
 
If a d3300 with kit lens is nearly good enough for you i wouldn't bother with an interchangeable camera system.

Buy a lumix LX100ii, all manual control, f1.8 at the wider end which will help in low light. Great camera for close up shot too with very close focusing capability. A lot of creativity included choice of image ratio incorporated to the lens, 4k video, 4k photo from video, maybe post-focus....

Myself i have a GX9 which is the same camera with intechangeable lens.
 
Thank you all for the responses so far.

Total honesty, I didn't even realise mirrorless cameras supported interchangeable lenses.. I think because the look so much like an older point and shoot, I assumed them to be the same..

I actually quite like the idea of a smaller camera as I will still be taking it abroad with me. Being able to whip a camera out of my pocket rather than having to carry it constantly is a definite plus.

I would like the freedom to change lenses, as mentioned the camera will be used for a variety of different shoots - Example, we're going to a hotel next week to review new menu and the grounds of the hotel. The week after we will be shooting at an art gallery.. In between these shoots we have weekend events to go to where we need to be shooting the guests and portraits. So being able to change it up at a bit would be wonderful.

The 4k video on the Lumix LX100ii is really appealing too. We will be shooting video at events!

The £1000 budget is flexible. For the right camera/set up I would go higher, so dont be scared to suggest something a little more expensive.

My head is going to explode with the choices, so it's not a snap decision I'll be taking lightly.
 
Do check out Fuji. Great cameras and many people are moving to them from dslr. Great lenses and even things like the kit lens is way better than Nikon.
 
I have been toying with the idea of selling off my Nikon D7100 and associated lenses, in order to change it for a Fuji X100F. I have a separate FF setup, which I can use when needed, but the Fuji is tempting for when a bag of lenses isn't practical. There is a long thread here about the X100F. It has an equivalent of 35mm length - but they make a tele converter to go with it. If you can handle its limitations I would imagine the quality of the Fuji will be hard to beat at your budget (unless you go secondhand I.e. D750 or Sony). For restaurant reviews and the like the Fuji will work very well (check out its 'velvia' mode and the like).
 
WD40 said:
I have been toying with the idea of selling off my Nikon D7100 and associated lenses, in order to change it for a Fuji X100F. I have a separate FF setup, which I can use when needed, but the Fuji is tempting for when a bag of lenses isn't practical. There is a long thread here about the X100F. It has an equivalent of 35mm length - but they make a tele converter to go with it. If you can handle its limitations I would imagine the quality of the Fuji will be hard to beat at your budget (unless you go secondhand I.e. D750 or Sony). For restaurant reviews and the like the Fuji will work very well (check out its 'velvia' mode and the like).
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The 100F was the reason for me moving from Nikon, I found I was taking it out instead of the D750 so made sense to go.
 
Dashing said:
he 4k video on the Lumix LX100ii is really appealing too. We will be shooting video at events!
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That's a whole other kettle of fish.
It really depends on your intended output for your photos and videos, your iPhone may well be good enough to do that.
Outside of that you'll want a hybrid stills/video camera. Panasonic have led the way for a while with this type of thing - consider the G80, G9 or GH5 depending on budget.
 
One thing that puts me off the more expensive fixed lens cameras is the thought of getting sensor contamination and not being able to do anything about it... I know that these cameras are perhaps less likely to suffer sensor contamination than a changeable lens camera but the nagging fear is there for me and there are reports of LX100's (and other fixed lens cameras) suffering sensor contamination. I'd rather have a changeable lens camera like the GX9 (and indeed I do have one) so that I can easily clean the sensor if needed.
 
Before you buy anything, try it out. Hold the camera; take pictures; try the menu system; look through the viewfinder. I tried Canon before settling in Nikon. Part of what helped me decide was the smaller size of the Canon bodies - it felt awkward in hands (which are larger). For me, mirrorless is a no-go. I have a strong dislike for Electronic viewfinders - they divorce me from the real world and have lags that I find annoying. An optical viewfinder fits my needs much better. DSLR will around for a long time and I will stick with that with no worries.

Having said this, YMMV. Some people love small cameras and EVF's. Choice is great :-) But, the only way to tell is to actually try them out.
 
I've just had a look at that Lumix LX100ii ... interesting!

But the Lumix GX80 + 12-32mm (24-64 equiv.) kit is and interesting option. And the 45-150mm (90-300 equiv.) is a fab little (but long), inexpensive addition.

What I like about the this over the LX100 is the tilt up screen.
 
ruckers said:
Before you buy anything, try it out. Hold the camera; take pictures; try the menu system; look through the viewfinder. I tried Canon before settling in Nikon. Part of what helped me decide was the smaller size of the Canon bodies - it felt awkward in hands (which are larger). For me, mirrorless is a no-go. I have a strong dislike for Electronic viewfinders - they divorce me from the real world and have lags that I find annoying. An optical viewfinder fits my needs much better. DSLR will around for a long time and I will stick with that with no worries.

Having said this, YMMV. Some people love small cameras and EVF's. Choice is great :) But, the only way to tell is to actually try them out.
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Must agree with this statement, tried a couple of mirrorless camera's and to be frank they were not for me. Didn't feel right, awkward to use and I couldn't get on with the menus (Sony, Fuji). No regrets in my DSLR purchase, feels great and produces cracking images with hardly any noise at all.
 
Lemaildetom said:
If a d3300 with kit lens is nearly good enough for you i wouldn't bother with an interchangeable camera system.

Buy a lumix LX100ii, all manual control, f1.8 at the wider end which will help in low light. Great camera for close up shot too with very close focusing capability. A lot of creativity included choice of image ratio incorporated to the lens, 4k video, 4k photo from video, maybe post-focus....

Myself i have a GX9 which is the same camera with intechangeable lens.
Click to expand...
A good bit of advice here. But, should you be wanting virtually the same camera at a much cheaper price the LX100 mark 1 is the same camera. There were few upgrades in the newer model. So, if money is important to you you might take a look at the mark 1, instead. Might even find a good used one for even less.
 
Currently swaying towards the GX 9 or the Fuji X-T30..

The X-T30 looks stunnnnning. Seems to be a damn good camera too. Much prefer the price point of GX9 though. [emoji23] GX09 instead of the LX100 because I like the freedom of being able to use different lenses. While I haven’t invested in lens on my Nikon, I will be with the next camera I buy.

I think I’ve chosen two very different cameras though...

I’m probably going to be renting both for a day to get a feel for them both...
 
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