Camera recommendations wanted

Chuckoir

Chuckoir

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Hi guys, it's another one of those threads...

My sister is after a camera to "take better pictures" of her 8 month old, and has asked me for help. Trouble is, I've only ever had DSLRs and I'm reluctant to recommend one of those to her because it'd be wasted on her - although the small Nikons might be okay? So I'm thinking of sending her down the compact/mirrorless route but have no idea what's good and what's not.

Her budget is around £500.

She's open to buying used if it means she can get something a bit better for her money.
 
My daughter wanted similar a couple of years ago. Eventually she plumped for a Nkon D3100 + kit lens, BUT apart from taking it on holiday & even though she now has a 5 month old baby, it gets very little use. It's just not as readily at hand as a phone cam & bulkier to take out + she rarely, if ever, prints anything.

Maybe tell her to save her money & put it towards the best phone cam? Also, you (uncle) can always provide the odd photo shoot when needed. ;)
 
OldCarlos said:
My daughter wanted similar a couple of years ago. Eventually she plumped for a Nkon D3100 + kit lens, BUT apart from taking it on holiday & even though she now has a 5 month old baby, it gets very little use. It's just not as readily at hand as a phone cam & bulkier to take out + she rarely, if ever, prints anything.

Maybe tell her to save her money & put it towards the best phone cam? Also, you (uncle) can always provide the odd photo shoot when needed. ;)
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:plus1: :agree:
 
OldCarlos said:
My daughter wanted similar a couple of years ago. Eventually she plumped for a Nkon D3100 + kit lens, BUT apart from taking it on holiday & even though she now has a 5 month old baby, it gets very little use. It's just not as readily at hand as a phone cam & bulkier to take out + she rarely, if ever, prints anything.

Maybe tell her to save her money & put it towards the best phone cam? Also, you (uncle) can always provide the odd photo shoot when needed. ;)
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I agree, but alas I sold my camera a couple months ago :( otherwise I'd have lent her mine to see how she got on with it.

I've asked her if she'd take them with a view to getting any prints done, because as you say, a phone with a decent camera seems like the most sensible option but I suspect she'll have her heart set on a camera.
 
I would strongly suggest the Sony A6000 with 16-50mm kit lens, amazing image quality, very quick af and pretty tiny in comparison to any dslr, and £499 after cashback
 
The way I read it?

She seems to think the camera takes the "better picture" so the question is 'better than what' and just what are her expectations???

There IMO the adage the best camera to have is the one you have on you are the time you need/want to take a picture. Therefore, when is she anticipating those moments will occur and will she want video as well???

Based on the vagueness of her question I surmise a dSLR will be a 5 minute wonder so perhaps a fixed focal length compact or one with a short zoom that has good low light capability. So nice one maybe that i have read is good is a Sony RX100 mk1 ???
 
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Okay some I've managed to extract a few more bones...

She's looking to get into this properly - we all have to start somewhere, right?

Size isn't an issue, and as she put it "I'm a flipping donkey anyway"

She wants something that can throw the background OOF.

She wants to get them printed (at some point)

I have no idea if compacts/fixed focal length cameras will do what she's after (the oof bit), but I'm tempted to just say "f*** it" and suggest she gets a second hand Nikon DSLR... :D
 
In regard to background oof 'control'

The small sensors in phones and modest compacts and the lenses will severely limit her results.

So 'think' bigger sensor I.e. some "compact" types with maybe they 1inch size sensor, CSC and of course at least a dSLR with an APC sized sensor. With a lens that has at least a Max f5.6 aperture at the FL she wants to use.............then she will have practice to learn the camera craft to be the oof background she desires ;) perhaps also get her a good(?) book about exposure and camera usage?
 
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If I only had £500 ish starting off I would try to get :

Nikon D3200
Tripod and head
1 zoom lens
1 50mm Prime
memory cards and bag

Yes I said tripod and head because guess what you can put it on a timer and get in the shot with your kids yourself
 
If you're willing to consider m4/3 I would recommend:

E-M10 I or II
Olympus 17 f/1.8 or 25 f/1.8
Panasonic 14-45 OIS

One of the features of mirrorless is that you can configure face detection which makes it much easier for a beginner to take a decent photo with a fast lens. I've had a much reduced rate of OOF focus shots since I switched to m4/3. DOF at the same aperture is greater compared to full frame but you can still achieve blurred backgrounds.

The above setup is very portable and can yield very good results. Another option is the Sony RX100 III or IV. This has a 1 inch sensor (smaller than m4/3) but you can still achieve some blurring of the background due to the fast lens it comes with.
 
I've not used this combination myself but the Fuji X-T10 with 16-50 would come way under budget second hand, but it's only a 3.5-5.6, upgrading the lens would bump the price up though.

MPB even has one at £240, but it's well used, no doubt some better options in the classifieds

The upside though is that you're firmly in crop territory so bokeh is very possible, but even the smallest camera is less convenient than a phone.
 
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Thanks for all the suggestions folks, good thing is I was thinking along the same lines, and have already scoped out the Oly and Fuji, and know the Nikon lineup pretty well already.

I've told her to wander in to currys/jessops and have a play and see what size of camera "feels right", then come back with her thoughts and we can go from there.

I've got a 50mm prime kicking about she can have, if she was to get a Nikon - along with flash/tripod etc should she need it.

Which of the 5XXX series nikons was better? Was the 5300 better spec'd than the newer models?
 
Good advice - only she will know what size works for her - she could have the greatest camera in the world but if she doesn't use it theres no point.

Once she has an idea of size then the scope opens up again and we can offer up more options, after all there a lot of size\feel difference between models in the same range and maker.
 
Chuckoir said:
Thanks for all the suggestions folks, good thing is I was thinking along the same lines, and have already scoped out the Oly and Fuji, and know the Nikon lineup pretty well already.

I've told her to wander in to currys/jessops and have a play and see what size of camera "feels right", then come back with her thoughts and we can go from there.

I've got a 50mm prime kicking about she can have, if she was to get a Nikon - along with flash/tripod etc should she need it.

Which of the 5XXX series nikons was better? Was the 5300 better spec'd than the newer models?
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I got a Nikon D5200 with kit lens and 50mm prime for £400 a few weeks back. I had been looking at the full range and couldn't justify any of the newer ones for the extra money. The 5300 I believe had the best low light performance. The later models have built in wifi though.
 
realspeed said:
I am so glad I used my camcorder when my grand children were younger, never able to get the videos again
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Yep, even just the odd 30 sec clip here & there are fantastic. (y)

I & my sisters were lucky as kids, my dad liked his photography and my parents had a cine camera in the early 60's & great to look back on (no sound though, but better than nothing) :cool:
I got the majority of the reels put on to DVD a few years ago.
 
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