Returning advice

C

Charles B

Suspended / Banned
Messages
88
Name
Charles
Edit My Images
Yes
It’s been quite a while - pre digital - since I took photography seriously but now retired I’m keen to pick it up again. My interests are very general with only sports not featuring. I used to develop and print from film and want to print again (up to A3). I have read many online equipment reviews but wonder just how many are from ‘ordinary’ non-professional enthusiasts. My budget is about £2,000 for camera and lenses. Any advice on what to go for would be very gratefully received.
 
There is so much choice available you probably won’t go far wrong with whatever you choose. If you haven’t already I suggest getting along to a camera shop and see which one feels most comfortable to use and menu systems you can follow. This should narrow down what you’re going for, then you could look for pre-owned if you want to get better value for money. I’d say the main thing is to pick one and getting shooting again - if it turns out you don’t like it, you can always sell on yourself and try another one.
 
What was your old gear? Any brand preference?
 
You really need to prioritise the following, then you can make a choice much easier:
- price
- weight/size
- sensor size
- sensor resolution
- toughness (weather sealing/metal body etc)
- features (e.g. optical vs electronic viewfinder, autofocus etc...this likely boils down to DSLR vs Mirrorless which is a whole topic itself)

Like Tim said though, if you want to just get back into it, any modern camera will be sufficient.
 
No particular preference although My film camera was a Nikon.
 
Go to a shop and have a feel of a few, as the ergonomics varies. I'm assuming you want an interchangeable lens system so your choice is either a cropped or full frame DSLR or go for a mirrorless system. It's also worth having a look at the menu systems for different manufacturers. A decent shop should be able to do some demonstrations for you.
Someone else can give you the pros and cons with both systems as I've yet to venture into mirrorless camera's.
2K will buy you some nice kit but you don't have to spend it all for a decent setup.
 
Charles B said:
It’s been quite a while - pre digital - since I took photography seriously but now retired I’m keen to pick it up again. My interests are very general with only sports not featuring. I used to develop and print from film and want to print again (up to A3). I have read many online equipment reviews but wonder just how many are from ‘ordinary’ non-professional enthusiasts. My budget is about £2,000 for camera and lenses. Any advice on what to go for would be very gratefully received.
Click to expand...

There's so much choice these days.

Format size wise if you want a camera with interchangeable lenses there's Micro Four Thirds, APS-C and Full Frame and even MF too and there are conventional optical viewfinder equipped cameras and mirrorless cameras which instead of an OVF have an electronic view finder. I much prefer these mirrorless cameras. You could also think about what style of camera you want, an RF style camera with the VF in the corner or a SLR style camera.

I have a couple of MFT cameras with the EVF in the corner RF style which easily beat anything I got from 35mm film and I also have a SLR style FF Sony A7, these are all mirrorless cameras. Mirrorless cameras can give you the exposure and DoF in real time, allow you to focus anywhere in the frame and have focus aids such as face and eye detect, a greatly magnified view and focus peaking and you can also have an in view histogram. These things are in my opinion real helps and these cameras are (IMO) the future. Plus if you want to look back in time you can use old film era lenses on mirrorless cameras quite easily. I use Minolta Rokkor, Olympus Zuiko and Canon FD's on my cameras as well as modern AF lenses.

Just about anything from the last few years will allow you to print to A3 and get good results. £2k is a decent budget especially if you're willing to look at used kit. You could have a look at some used sellers web sites and see what's in your budget and then Google your way to some reviews. I've bought a few used things from these people...

https://www.ffordes.com/

and this is a nice site to look at new prices...

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/

Once you decide on the format be careful when looking at the lenses as the smaller systems have a "crop factor" and to convert the focal length to a 35mm equivalent, such as 28 or 35mm, you apply the crop factor. For example if you want a 35mm equivalent lens for MFT you apply a crop factor of x2 so you'll need a 17mm lens. If you want a 35mm equivalent lens for an APS-C camera the crop is x1.5 for Nikon and x1.6 for Canon so for a Canon APS-C camera you'll need a 22mm lens etc...

So, I think the big decisions include - What format do you want? MFT, APS-C or FF? - Do you want a conventional OVF equipped camera or one with an EVF? - Do you want to buy new or used.

As I much prefer mirrorless cameras I'd look at the Panasonic and Olympus MFT range, the APS-C Sony A6xxx and Fuji ranges and the FF Sony A7 range. The latter are in some cases more expensive but the original A7 is still in production and can sometimes be found at good prices on the used market and if you're happy with manual primes you can have a lot of fun with a set of three cheap lenses for under £100, for example 28mm f2.8, 50mm f1.8 and 135mm f3.5 o f2.8 :D

You should also investigate processing software and there are some free ones. You probably know that digital cameras can shoot raw and/or JPEG. I prefer to shoot raw and process for best effect but there's really no right or wrong, just do whatever gets you the results you want.

Good luck researching and choosing.
 
My advice is rather unusual. I am not sure where you live. But, if you live in the United States I'd become a member of Costco if I were you. And, when you go to buy your camera (if new) buy it from Costco. Costco has a 90 day, no questions asked, return policy. Three months would be plenty of time to learn if you liked the camera you purchased or have second thoughts. As for making the choice for which camera to buy, I would go to a camera shop (not a big box store) and see if you could rent a camera you are thinking about for the weekend. Give it a try. And, then the next weekend try a different camera and so on and so on. There is just so much variation between the cameras today that just looking at specs on a spec sheet does not give you much to go on. You could also go into the many threads here on different cameras and read other people's experiences with each camera. That would be a real world, nonprofessional review. Good luck.
 
This sounds a lot like myself. What I do was a lot of online research and then made a short list. I then went and tried them. So make sure they are right for you buttons on the right position. Menu system is right for you. Do not settle for I will get used to it. Good luck
 
If you’re interested in Olympus they do what they call WOW, where you can try bodies and lenses from a dealer. You do have to leave a deposit, but it’s a great way of trying items. I borrowed an OM-D E1mkII with a 7-14mm (14-28mm 35mm film equivalent), 12-40mm (24-80mm) and 40-150mm (80-300mm) all F2.8. Nearly £3,500 worth of kit that I would never otherwise have got to try, and once the deposit is returned you’ve had a free road test - with no hard sell afterwards.
 
Charles B said:
Thank you all for the advice. Will get myself along to Park Cameras and try a few out. Thanks again.
Click to expand...
GordonM said:
If you’re interested in Olympus they do what they call WOW, where you can try bodies and lenses from a dealer. You do have to leave a deposit, but it’s a great way of trying items. I borrowed an OM-D E1mkII with a 7-14mm (14-28mm 35mm film equivalent), 12-40mm (24-80mm) and 40-150mm (80-300mm) all F2.8. Nearly £3,500 worth of kit that I would never otherwise have got to try, and once the deposit is returned you’ve had a free road test - with no hard sell afterwards.
Click to expand...
As far as I recall, Park were/are an Olympus WoW retailer.
 
Before you spend a chunk of your retirement fund during the uncertainty of Brexit and a possible general election, etc., have you thought about shooting film again? A fully working, high-quality film camera can still be bought for many times less than a new, high-quality digital camera, and the fun and anticipation of getting your photos back from the lab (with a digital scan of the negatives or slides) is still there.

While digital offers instant results and some lovely looking photos (that seem easier to achieve than ever), there's still some good-value enjoyment to be had from film photography. Perhaps have a look at the Film and Conventional section of this forum https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/talk-film-conventional.56/ and see what they get up to (there's a bit of old fashioned banter to be had in there too). :)

Don't get me wrong, I use digital cameras for every-day record type/work shots and I have a nice full-frame digital SLR camera which I enjoy using, but if you're retired and looking for a familiar, engaging, enjoyable, but mildly challenging hobby, then film photography is still very much alive and seems to be growing in momentum.

If you think that sounds interesting, do visit the F&C section, have a look around and ask some questions before making your mind up and spending any money on film kit, as the regulars on there can probably give you some useful buying advice. Hope this is useful and best of luck finding what's right for you. :)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top