[N/A] Camera recommendations

[Matthew]

Looking into buying a new camera.

History - moved from an Olympus 1/2 frame back in the '60s to a Minolta rangefinder in the '70s to a Nikon SLR in the '80s - 'whenever. Finally got a Nikon PHD (push here dummy) compact digital, and it was a pretty decent, higher level model. It's starting to have problems with an intermittent power switch, and it might be time to move on to something else.

I'm looking at two options:

1) Rather than a basic compact digital and a DSLR, I'm leaning towards a "bridge"-type camera. Any recommendations in the $200-$300 range and the $300-$400 range? Is there even anything decent in the sub-$200 range? I know it's all about the glass. (prefer sticking with the Nikon/Canon/Olympus name)

2) Is there a really good option in the compact digital class?

Uses: that's the problem. Most of the time I toss it in my flight bag, or jacket pocket. That's something I can do with my compact camera but won't be able to do with anything larger. I know you get used to working with what you have, and I've gotten used to the compact type.

 

[Sac Arrow]

I still have my Canon AE1 SLR, and with a 28-70 mm compact zoom it's a pretty much take anywhere with one lens camera. Except, in the last fifteen years I've used it exactly....

Yeah. Depending on your needs, a full size DSLR is probably overkill. You can take some pretty nice pictures with sub $100 Nikon Coolpix compacts, with optical zooms. Honestly, I don't even take cameras with me anymore on jobsites or vacations, as the Iphone camera meets 95% of my needs.

 

[Matthew]

Yeah, something else to consider: using a phone for snapshots and a better camera for "photography". In my case, I still use a dumb flip phone so I don't have much of a camera with me.

 

[airdale]

I shoot in the Micro Four Thirds system due to its small size. There are some very small cameras in that system, like the new Oly Pen-F. Even with pancake lenses, though, it would be a stretch to call them "pocket" cameras. BDU leg pockets, maybe.

My wife wanted something smaller and the Panasonic ZS50 I bought her is quite amazing. Truly pocket size, it still has big camera capabilities including RAW files and a huge zoom range with excellent stabilization. With its small sensor, the place it will fall down compared to bigger cameras is in low light. There is also a new model (ZS100?) with a larger sensor but it's again bigger and will need a big pocket.

 

[Matthew]

One of my kids has an Olympus PEN micro 4/3. It's really (REALLY) nice, but more than I want/need.

 

[airdale]

Well, take a look at the ZS50 then. I think they can probably be had for under the $300 I paid for hers. One thing I forgot to mention: 24mm (35mm equivalent) is very nice on the wide end for shooting things like building (churches, caves, etc.) interiors when traveling. Most pocket cameras stop at 28mm. She actually had one of those and complained that the wide end was not wide enough for her. Hence the ZS50, which does get to 24mm.

 

[Matthew]

Well, take a look at the ZS50 then. I think they can probably be had for under the $300 I paid for hers. One thing I forgot to mention: 24mm (35mm equivalent) is very nice on the wide end for shooting things like building (churches, caves, etc.) interiors when traveling. Most pocket cameras stop at 28mm. She actually had one of those and complained that the wide end was not wide enough for her. Hence the ZS50, which does get to 24mm.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...aO8FsJvroaApbz8P8HAQ&_escaped_fragment_=/?m=Y

I don't have it with me right now, but I think this is what I currently have:
http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/coolpix/s/s8000/

It's got problems with the power switch. There's something inside that causes it to not want to turn on, or it will turn on and then right back off as soon as I release the switch. If I play with it enough, it eventually works properly, but then acts up again. I haven't checked with anyplace to see if it's repairable or not.

 

[airdale]

With the S8000, the wide end of only 30mm would be a show-stopper for us. Overall the zoom range is less, but at the long end there will always be something that is out of reach so I don't look as hard at that. If you want to go cheaper, the camera she had before this one was a ZS10. No RAW and no eye-level viewfinder, but the photos were pretty good.

 

[GlennAB1]

I've basically quit using my cameras, (Nixon PHD and Sony DSLR), because may Samsung S6 phone's camera is so good. The low light, no flash, capability is amazing.

 

[Matthew]

Looks like I might have gotten some more life out of my camera.

The symptoms were, difficulty in turning it on, and intermittently turning itself off.

What I *think* it was, the battery cover has a very small nib that pushes on an even smaller lever when it's in the closed position. That prevents the camera from being powered up with the battery cover open, and also turns off the camera if you open the battery cover when the camera is on. I think that micro-switch has some problems. I used canned air and blew out everything I could, then made sure to reseat the battery cover. It worked without a problem. I banged it around a little bit to simulate rough handling, and also opened/closed the battery cover a few times. It still works fine. I wonder if there was some dust, dirt, or lint that had collected inside that switch.

 

[Pilawt]

I appreciate good camera equipment, but while traveling I appreciate mobility more. Everything is a tradeoff. So my primary travel and flying camera is a pocket-sized Canon S120 point-and-shoot. It does some nice things, and most of its deficiencies can be remedied with a little Photoshop tweaking when I get home.

My last trip to Europe was interesting, though. Last May I took my 14-year-old grandson to Rome and Munich. The S120 was in my pocket, and in my bag was a backup, an older Samsung WB150 point-and-shoot, of negligible size and weight. I had packed the Samsung on previous trips, but had never needed to use it.

But this trip was different. While on the flight from Chicago to Rome, I was shooting some window views from the airplane and suddenly noticed a big, black dust spot in the middle of the Canon's frame. The camera was toast, so I stuffed it into the bag, and dug out the Samsung to put it into the game.

Ryan and I landed at FCO; we took the FM1 train to Ostiense, and started the two-mile walk to our lodging on Quirinal Hill, as planned. We were still at Porta San Paolo just a block from the station, and after less than a dozen photos, a dust spot appeared on the Samsung! This one, though, was just at the top edge of the frame, so I decided to go ahead with it, and compose photos with the intent of cropping out the spot later on.

That worked well for the next ten days. But on our last full day in Munich more spots appeared, making the camera unusable (I'd never had dust spot problems like this before, and this was really getting annoying!). So my last day's photos were taken with ... you guessed it ... my iPhone.

Photos here.

My grandson, meanwhile, had left his Nikon DSLR at home and brought *only* his iPhone -- and he took home some absolutely stunning images.

Go figure.

 

[flyingron]

I jumped from the Canon AE1 to a 20D. Operation was close enough that the major difference was how much LIGHTER the digital camera was over the film one. I've sold most of the film-era stuff though I have a few oddball old-style Canon lenses kicking around that my MIL (another AE1 owner) left me (don't know where her camera body went).

 

[Matthew]

My grandson, meanwhile, had left his Nikon DSLR at home and brought *only* his iPhone -- and he took home some absolutely stunning images.

Go figure.

It's not the wand, it's the magician.

I have a dumb flip phone, so having a real camera is kind of a big deal. But I can't take good photos anyway because I don't have an eye for it.

 

[HamishTHaggis]

A lot of camera choice is down to personal preference, and as said by others the photographer makes the bigger difference. That said I recommend looking at the Sony DSC-RXV100iii or RXV100iv. Also going to be a very nice set of similar camerad from Nikon hitting the market in April called the DL series which also look promising. I shoot professionally with DSLRs but have the Sony version iii as a camera for when I don't want to carry my big camera and gear. I've been very impressed with the capabilities in a relatively small package.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Matthew]

It's really obvious to see that prices climb pretty quickly when the lenses get faster.

Those do look like really nice cameras.

 

[wilkersk]

I've got a Nikon D40 with a couple of good quality lenses and a good flash unit for anything more serious than snapshots. But to be honest, I mostly just shoot with my iPhone.