camera for son - new v second hand / dslr v mirrorless

S

Soggy1975

Messages
5
Edit My Images
No
my oldest is wanting a camera for christmas
he's doing a degree in radio and television production and he wants his own camera to do stills and maybe a little videography(although for this he can use the universitys high end equipment)
he's also off travelling next summer so i'm sure he'll be taking it with
i'm budgeting £500 max inc a started/kit lens
do i go new and basic or good second hand and better
also do i stick to dslr or consider mirrorless
i'm a pentax user - currently KP and i've a few spare lenses that he could use but happy to consider alternatives
any product suggestions appreciated
 
Get him a Fuji X-T1 for £250 or so.

Then something like a 18mm/2.0 or may be the 18-55mm kit lens.

Although video features are limiting in this day and age with that.
 
Phil V said:
Ask him
He may have an idea already - and the last thing you want to do is buy him something he won't want to use.
Click to expand...

Phil V said:
or at the very least - involve him in the research
Click to expand...
These. Also course might be geared to on manufacturer/model over others... You know, any will work but all the instructions are aimed at using a particular model/combo
 
Soggy1975 said:
my oldest is wanting a camera for christmas
he's doing a degree in radio and television production and he wants his own camera to do stills and maybe a little videography(although for this he can use the universitys high end equipment)
he's also off travelling next summer so i'm sure he'll be taking it with
i'm budgeting £500 max inc a started/kit lens
do i go new and basic or good second hand and better
also do i stick to dslr or consider mirrorless
i'm a pentax user - currently KP and i've a few spare lenses that he could use but happy to consider alternatives
any product suggestions appreciated
Click to expand...

Stills and vid for someone just getting started surely means it has to be mirrorless doesn't it?

The budget may well rule out FF unless you find a cheap Sony A7II and are happy to use cheap and possibly manual lens so that leaves APS-C and MFT? I think maybe the bias should be towards vid for his uses? Panasonic MFT could be an option as they've (AFAIK) had more than a nod to vid built into some of their models for quite some time.
 
Phil’s advice is the best. 2nd hand is the obvious way to go as you’ll get more for your money. I’d normally recommend anyone starting out now to go mirrorless, but with a £500 you’re likely to get a much better camera if you go down the DSLR route imo. You could probably stretch to something as good as a Nikon D750 with 50mm f1.8, depending on whether he’d want a prime lens or zoom lens.
 
Thanks all
I've done a bit more research and discussed it with him
Think we're gravitating to mirror less
Q fancy the Sony a series
Few vgc used options;
Sony a6100 with 16-50 kit lens £573
Sony a6000 with Sony e 18-135 oss £528
Sony a6300 with 16-50 kit lens £508
Any thoughts?
 
My boy started out with an A6000 and Samyang 12/2 for Milky Way stuff. He then had my old A7 kit lens and 35/2.8 but when he started his A levels I swapped the A7 lens for the 16-50mm APSC kit lens. That focal length just suited him better for what his assignments are.
 
Soggy1975 said:
Thanks all
I've done a bit more research and discussed it with him
Think we're gravitating to mirror less
Q fancy the Sony a series
Few vgc used options;
Sony a6100 with 16-50 kit lens £573
Sony a6000 with Sony e 18-135 oss £528
Sony a6300 with 16-50 kit lens £508
Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Quite a tricky choice between the 3.
The 18-135 is a better lens than the 16-50, but bulkier (the 16-50 shrinks down when powered off, so my A6000+16-50 will fit in a coat pocket).
The A6100 is the best for stills as it has the newest AF system of the 3, but the A6300 has the best EVF and is better for video (from a quick comparison site I looked at, I don't do video myself).
Any of them will make a great starter camera - as I mentioned, I have an A6000 as my 'travel' camera, for when I'm out with family and want to get decent pictures, but don't want the bulk of my FF kit.
One thing I would say with all 3 is you should also pick up one of the several spare battery + charger bundles from Amazon to go with the camera - A single battery will often be insufficient for a single day out, and video (on the few occasions I've used it) is even more battery hungry.
An external battery charger is also much simpler (and faster) than using USB charging through the camera.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top