Simplicity needed!!

Olly B

Olly B

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Help, I’m in despair! I am after a camera that is for photography, I’m not interested in video, if needed, for that I would just use my phone. I currently have an OM3, a lovely camera, but it has so many bells and whistles it makes my head hurt just trying to fathom even the basics out. I really do not need all the computational options, I really just want to set the basics, maybe adjust the iso and/or wb, decide on shooting parameters and press the shutter, in essence cameras seem to have become too complex for my ageing brain! Before anyone suggests using a compact or indeed my phone, I actually enjoy the process of taking an image, and also have the possibility of swapping a lens for different focal lengths etc.

My preferred type of photography is reasonably eclectic, but I veer towards landscapes/urban settings (not street ) with a human element, rather like James Popsys or Roman Fox, I do like relatively simple compositions, and also minimalism, particularly by the coast. I love wildlife, but donot have the patience required, equally whilst I can appreciate a beautiful landscape, my photos of such scenes are very boring, it is not my forte!

So, any suggestions of cameras to look at? I don’t mind used, but don’t really want heavy, as I am getting older and don’t want to be lugging masses of kit around, I don’t have a spending sum in mind as I really wanted suggestions as to what is around, having said that, I’m not thinking a new leica or hasselbad! In the meantime I will keep trying with my OM3!
 
I would look for a camera that has old style control dials; something like Fuji XT5 or Nikon ZFc. They still have plenty of bells, but they can stay buried in the menus if you want to leave them there. You can set them up to work pretty much like an old school manual film camera. Of those two I would probably pick the ZFc for it's manual focus aids/tracking. But TBF, I don't know the XT line well at all.
 
I would say have a play around with a Fuji X100 series - I had a good play recently and there is something very appealing about it - it’s not super cheap for what it is- indeed, I’d argue it’s a perhaps a bit overpriced, but if my muscle memory wasn’t so firmly embedded with Canon I’d probably get one.

You’re stuck with a 35mm equivalent lens though - that might work for you or it might not. Personally, I wished thy did one that was around 24 or 28.
 
Many thanks for your thoughts all, I will have a look at the Fuji’s, I have downloaded a book about the OM3, but to be honest I think that is complicating things further!
 
You can usually set any camera to operate just like an old school film SLR. Or stick it in P mode and shoot away. Can't get much simpler than that!
 
Yeah, too many variables, too much complexity. An option is to just choose the basic menu choices that you relate to - & set & forget them. A kind of distillation. The danger is that you press something inadvertently thereafter & it starts inexplicably to go haywire ...

Digital Leica M series at least (& the l-mount bodies too, I've read) have very pared down menu structures & on-camera controls, but you'd have to be optically comfortable with rangefinder focusing. But could suit you at used prices? Lens could be Voigtlander etc in M mount to keep the budget within bounds ...

I recommend buying used - with due diligence of course, whatever that is. Groan.
 
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Olly B said:
Many thanks for your thoughts all, I will have a look at the Fuji’s, I have downloaded a book about the OM3, but to be honest I think that is complicating things further!
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There is a saying, often attributed to Arthur Fellig, who was known more commonly by his nickname: Weegee.

He said that the formula for successful photography is "f8 and be there". These days, you might usefully rewrite that advice as "Full auto and be there". If you wish to record interesting images, start by leaving the technical decisions to the camera and concentrate on finding and framing an image that shows the viewer what you think is interesting. If you get it right, they may well find it interesting too.
 
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GreenNinja67 said:
Stick it aperture priority and watch a few YouTube videos on the basics of photography.

It's just a camera, they are all the same.

Just don't use the "clever bits".

I have an EM1X and it's got stuff in it I'll never use. Just use the bits you want to.
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This
You can choose how little or how much work you want to do to take an image.

My R6 is by far the most complex camera I’ve ever owned, but my use of it requires much less work than the simplest camera I ever owned.

The simplest camera had no meter, the only ‘automation’ was that it allowed me to focus with a wide open aperture, that it would close as the shutter fired.

So moving to change the composition, maybe changing lenses (I had 2) metering, transferring settings, using a dark slide to change film, manual winding that cocked the shutter etc etc.

I switch on my R6, and from the scene I select an aperture, I then focus compose and shoot. The viewfinder has shown me how accurate the meter is (so I can tweak the exp comp if necessary) my zoom lens helps w composition, it’s the simplest process in the world, the camera has filled in all the blanks, leaving me to only choose my aperture, compose focus and press the button at exactly the right time.
 
Many thanks for all your input, I do like the suggestion of a leica, but even used I need the premium bonds to play ball next month. I have decided to do what many have suggested and simply stick the camera on auto wb, auto iso, f5.6, compose, press the shutter and forget about everything else!

I do enjoy the editing part so can do more fiddling then.

Thanks for all your responses
 
Olly B said:
Many thanks for all your input, I do like the suggestion of a leica, but even used I need the premium bonds to play ball next month. I have decided to do what many have suggested and simply stick the camera on auto wb, auto iso, f5.6, compose, press the shutter and forget about everything else!

I do enjoy the editing part so can do more fiddling then.

Thanks for all your responses
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The problem with not knowing ‘anything’ is that it’s difficult to know which bits of learning are important.

I personally can’t see the point in either full auto mode or arbitrarily selecting an aperture for a picture.

I think making pictures means that I have chosen:
Where to stand and what my composition looks like.
What should be in focus, both the focus point and depth of field.
When to press the shutter.

And therefore I’m happy for my camera to choose the ISO and shutter speed (based on my parameters) and the WB.

I’m swapping choosing the aperture to choosing the shutter speed if I’m shooting action.
 
At least learn the exposure triangle.

It's intrinsic to photography and more useful than you for now realise.
 
I recently went out with a friend who has early onset dementia who has decided that he wants to use his Nikon D5000 more but it was too complicated.
We got into the settings menu and set up all the things that he will never have to change again.
We then set the camera to Aperture mode, the WB to Auto, the ISO to Auto with a minimum shutter speed which took into account his lenses and focal lengths.
I explained how to focus and recompose. He now just has to set the aperture to largest for portraits, f11 for landscapes and between f5.6 and f8 for everything else.
As Phil V says he now concentrates on where to point the camera and when to press the shutter
 
Doesn't your existing camera have an "Auto" setting? Before replacing the camera, you should try this. It will let the camera make all of the adjustments and you won't need to do any more but turn the camera on and push the shutter button. You can then learn later how to use some of the other functions available on the camera.

Charley
 
Phil V said:
The problem with not knowing ‘anything’ is that it’s difficult to know which bits of learning are important.

I personally can’t see the point in either full auto mode or arbitrarily selecting an aperture for a picture.

I think making pictures means that I have chosen:
Where to stand and what my composition looks like.
What should be in focus, both the focus point and depth of field.
When to press the shutter.

And therefore I’m happy for my camera to choose the ISO and shutter speed (based on my parameters) and the WB.

I’m swapping choosing the aperture to choosing the shutter speed if I’m shooting action.
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That’s exactly how I see it. Aperture priority for much of the time (set min shutter speed and ISO range) auto WB,ISO and Shutter speed. Shutter priority for action stuff.
 
GreenNinja67 said:
At least learn the exposure triangle.

It's intrinsic to photography and more useful than you for now realise.
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It’s weird, I’d been shooting 20 years before I heard the phrase. :thinking:

When ISO was fixed by the film we only needed to know that a wider smaller aperture required a longer SS.

And IMO understanding exposure won’t make anyone a ‘better’ photographer, but learning to ‘see’ light definitely will.

edited - apologies @sk66 I was mid travel from a boozy break in Porto
 
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Phil V said:
I’m swapping choosing the aperture to choosing the shutter speed if I’m shooting action
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Craig1912 said:
That’s exactly how I see it. Aperture priority for much of the time (set min shutter speed and ISO range) auto WB,ISO and Shutter speed. Shutter priority for action stuff.
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Don't other cameras besides Nikon allow you to set the minimum shutter speed with auto ISO? When shooting action, as long as I have a fast enough SS I don't care... a bit faster isn't a problem (due to ISO being at minimum).

About the only time I set the SS manually is when I'm forcing it to be slow (e.g. panning); and then I typically use manual with auto ISO.

Phil V said:
we only needed to know that a wider aperture required a longer SS.
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:thinking:
 
Mirrorless cameras tend to be much more complex than conventional DSLRs; the hardware allows the software to do a lot more, so the engineers have implemented it :)

I'd suggest something more traditional. Maybe a Nikon D500.

On Fuji.. fwiw I tend to encounter a wide variety of camera makes. Fuji's menus and control systems seem to be the most confusing of all; I regularly have customers who get completely lost. Sony are notorious but nothing like as problem-prone.
 
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sk66 said:
Don't other cameras besides Nikon allow you to set the minimum shutter speed with auto ISO?
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My min SS is 1/250 which does ok for people, but if I'm shooting sports I'll want higher than 1/1000
 
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