Cheapest small prime set up

ukaskew

ukaskew

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I'm going on a family holiday next week and I don't fancy taking the DSLR as I ideally want a camera I can chuck in the bag, take to dinner etc. We're not venturing out a great deal, just letting the 2 year old enjoy the pool mainly. I was tempted by just taking the iPhone, but I figured I must be able to do better than that sub £200. My only requirement is a fast-ish prime lens, preferably somewhere between 28-40mm.

The best I've so far come up with is:

Olympus E-PL1
Panasonic 20mm 1.7

= £193

Anything different/better worth considering that I can get hold of within a week?
 
How much is a used Fuji X100 now? A few quirks but they're a really nice camera and lovely image quality.
 
If you're looking at Olympus cameras then I would try and find one with the 16mp sensor as it was a proper step forwards in IQ. The E-PM2 has it and also has IBIS which is handy, nice and small too. IQ with that and the 20mm would be lovely.
 
The Samsung nx 30mm is my favourite lens I've ever owned. Most Samsung cameras are cheap as chips take your pick.

They were often sold in a twin lens kits that you can pick up for £150 then sell the kit lens for £50. You then have a apsc camera with a great 30mm pancake lens for £100!

Another option is the Ricoh GR which can be picked up for a tidy price. The eBay sale price is really inconsistent some go for over £300 but if you're patient you can win a auction for £150-£170.
 
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We had a trip to Thailand and Cambodia recently, I bought a used Sony a6000 with the 16-50 kit lens and a Sigma 19mm f/2.8 from eBay for the trip. After we got back I stuck them back up for sale on eBay even after fee's, I ended up making £20.
 
f/2.8 said:
We had a trip to Thailand and Cambodia recently, I bought a used Sony a6000 with the 16-50 kit lens and a Sigma 19mm f/2.8 from eBay for the trip. After we got back I stuck them back up for sale on eBay even after fee's, I ended up making £20.
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That's a great set-up, but I'd go with the 30mm Sigma. Or a second hand X100.
 
davek said:
That's a great set-up, but I'd go with the 30mm Sigma. Or a second hand X100.
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Yeah worked well and as long as your careful with what you buy there should be no issues doing similar we have another trip coming up soon too Florida but this time I am gonna buy a Sony RX1 for it and then sell on after the trip
 
I'm a Fuji (and Nikon) user so I'd go with an X100 but the m43 have always intrigued me too. Selling it on return is a good idea if it means you can stretch your budget. If you buy a Fuji though you will need several batteries.
 
I used a Canon Sureshot (260 I think) compact for several years. Pocketable quality camera. I wore it out!!
 
I know you say you don't want to use a DSLR, but I went down this road and bought a Canon G16 Powershot (had RAW capability and a viewfinder which I considered important), but just missed having what felt like a more "real" camera in my hands. I know its personal preference, but I therefore sold it and bought a Canon 100D and the 50mm 1.8 lens. Depends on the size of your bag of course, but I find this small enough to carry without too much issue and is a nice compromise from carrying a 5DMk3 and associated larger lens as per my norm.
 
Eos m used body grade 9 £89 at Wex
Used 22mm f2 from Lce for £100. Get both delivered in time and both with 12/6 month warranty. Job done. Great holiday camera that will fit in medium pockets.
 
Thanks for the options everyone. X100 is out of budget really as I want something to keep rather than immediately sell again.

EOS M is looking good as the 22mm f2 keeps the cost down and sounds like a great little lens.
 
ukaskew said:
I'm going on a family holiday next week and I don't fancy taking the DSLR as I ideally want a camera I can chuck in the bag, take to dinner etc. We're not venturing out a great deal, just letting the 2 year old enjoy the pool mainly. I was tempted by just taking the iPhone, but I figured I must be able to do better than that sub £200. My only requirement is a fast-ish prime lens, preferably somewhere between 28-40mm.

The best I've so far come up with is:

Olympus E-PL1
Panasonic 20mm 1.7

= £193

Anything different/better worth considering that I can get hold of within a week?
Click to expand...

I have the 20mm f1.7 and it's a good lens but with a couple of annoyances... it's a bit slow to focus compared to some other lenses but his may not be a real world issue and on some bodies it can cause noise banding at higher ISO's but maybe the Oly body you're looking at wont go high enough to display the issue, my GF1 and G1 didn't. Other than those little quibbles the only lenses I'd add to the list of possibilities are the Sigma 19mm f2.8, the Oly 17mm f2.8 (but theses are f2.8) or maybe the Panasonic 14mm f2.5 or one of the various 25mm f1.8's if you find one in budget. You could even add an old film era 50mm f1.8 and use it via a cheap adapter for a FF equivalent filed of view of 100mm :D

If it helps at all... I took my GF1 and 20mm f1.7 abroad a couple of times and apart from the lack of a VF it performed well at up to and including ISO 1600. I usually take a compact too for wider and longer shots in good light and the combination of a compact and a MFT camera with a quality wide aperture lens seems to work well for me :D

With respect to those who like real cameras this is indeed a personal thing and personally I find DSLR's too big and attention grabbing especially on holiday so give me a more discrete, easier to carry and virtually silent in comparison CSC every time :D

I don't know if you've used MFT before? But if you haven't... I find that shooting raw and exposing to the right if at all possible and backing it off post capture can help performance a lot especially at the higher ISO's and the files can be messed about with quite a bit post capture without falling apart.

Good luck choosing :D
 
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As you wanted options... as you're Nikon, how about a D60 + 35/1.8? Maybe even stretching to add an 18-55?? Might feel more familiar, while smaller than what you have and still quite lightweight -- still much bigger than an E-PL and prime though.

Do like my E-PL3 and primes, especially with an external (VF-4) viewfinder -- said it'd never be a second system but :rolleyes: The old bodies are showing their age but I'd echo what Alan/ Woof Woof said esp. re. the 20.
 
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