Beginner Coming back to photography - help choosing a new camera please

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Rob
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Hi, I'm new here and my names Rob.

I was into photography quite a few years back. I had a 450D with a couple of lenses which I really enjoyed using. Unfortunately health problems forced me to give it up and I got rid of my camera.

I'm now fully recovered and looking to get back into the hobby. My photography will be fairly general, but in particular, I will be concentrating on shooting landscapes and seascapes around the southern UK coast. I keep reading that full frame is best, but they are prohibitively expensive cameras whereas the APS-C's are much more affordable. Bit stumped there.
So basically I'm asking for advice on what would be a good camera and lens combo for me to buy to get started again. Ideally I would want a camera and decent lens to start me off for around £800-£1000 if that's possible. :canon:, but I will consider others if they are recommended.

Thanks for your help :)
 
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For stuff like landscape and sea views you could think about a first generation Sony A7 and manual focus lenses. I get a lot of pleasure from using my A7 with cheap old lenses and manual focus can be very accurate when the subject isn't moving and you have the time to be accurate. Some manual lenses can be a little... characterful? Funky? wide open but stopped down a bit they're often just nice lenses.

I don't know what used Sony A7's go for but I'm pretty sure you could get a very nice A7 for your budget and certainly you could kit yourself out with something like Minolta, Olympus or Canon MF 28 and 35mm f2.8's and a 50mm f1.8 and maybe a 135mm f2.8 too for not a lot of money at all, all you need then is a cheap adapter and they start at under £10.
 
If you don't mind buying grey market then :

£919 NIKON D7500 Digital SLR Camera + AF-S DX 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Lens.

OR

CANON 6D MK 1 for £699 and get a 40mm pancake lens and a zoom with the change.

OR

Mirrorless Fuji x-t20 + lenses.

For landscape, seascape the 6d and a wide zoom like a used 17-40l would be good for £1000
 
Cheers for the suggestions guys. Thanks Woof, but I really want to stick with a DSLR.

I was also thinking maybe of looking on here for something from the classifieds when I have access to them.
 
For landscapes any Nikon, Pentax would be preferable to Canon. Their sensors tend to have better dynamic range compared to older Canon crop sensors. The quality of APS-C sensors is reaching that of Full Frame apart from high ISO performance. I would start with a base model (like a D3400)as AF isn't that important for for landscapes and spend on a better lens selection and filters.
 
I would be looking for a Canon 5d2 and maybe a 10-24L combination. I've used that setup extensively for Landscape. Cheaper than that would be a Canon 5d classic. Both are full frame and would give you great results.

A lot will depend on your budget, try if you can to stretch to full frame even if it's an older model.

I've gone completely over to Fuji XT-2's now but boy are they expensive.
 
are you anywhere near bexhill on sea Rob?
 
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For that budget I'd be looking at a Canon 70D with a Tamron 17-50 VC - about £800 new.

Personal preference over the 10-24 which is just a bit too wide for my taste.

Whatever enjoy - coming from Norfolk I envy you your locations.
 
Cheers for the suggestions guys. Thanks Woof, but I really want to stick with a DSLR.

I was also thinking maybe of looking on here for something from the classifieds when I have access to them.

Fair enough but they're all cameras.
 
Cheers for the suggestions guys. Thanks Woof, but I really want to stick with a DSLR.

I was also thinking maybe of looking on here for something from the classifieds when I have access to them.

The camera market has changed a lot since you got your 450d, from all directions.

  • The 450d was entry level but there are now 4 cameras beneath the 800d.
  • Full frame cameras were all ‘pro level’ but for your budget you can get a 1st gen enthusiast FF camera.
  • Mirrorless has literally exploded, with some great cameras available (many of which are much better than the 450d in every possible way)

I’d definitely agree that you should buy S/H but the classifieds here aren’t the greatest source, have a think about MPB or one of the other great dealers,
 
The camera market has changed a lot since you got your 450d, from all directions.

  • The 450d was entry level but there are now 4 cameras beneath the 800d.
  • Full frame cameras were all ‘pro level’ but for your budget you can get a 1st gen enthusiast FF camera.
  • Mirrorless has literally exploded, with some great cameras available (many of which are much better than the 450d in every possible way)

I’d definitely agree that you should buy S/H but the classifieds here aren’t the greatest source, have a think about MPB or one of the other great dealers,

Back when the 450D was new my then GF bought one and even at the time I was a little underwhelmed. Looking at mirrorless I'd say that anything from MFT and up would be better, maybe a 1" sensor camera would be better too.
 
It might help people if you explained what about a DSLR is important to you. As it stands, this statement just looks silly.

Much wider choice of lenses, many often at very good prices second hand. I like optical viewfinders and in general I like the feel of DSLR's in my hand. I also plan to do some horse and motor racing photography and have been told that DSLR's have better autofocus speed for fast sports. It should be noted I have absolutely zilch interest in video recording of any kind. My iphone 8 easily covers any general short videos I take.
 
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The choice of *autofocus* lenses is wider for some SLRs. If you don't mind manual focus and using an aperture ring, you will get much wider choice with a mirrorless.

I used to think I liked optical viewfinders until I tried a good electronic one. Now I wouldn't go back, but opinions differ, of course.

If you prefer larger, heavier cameras, that's entirely up to you. Not much to say there.

The AF difference between top-flight DSLR and mirrorless is real but rapidly disappearing. I know someone on the forums whose entire team uses Fuji for professional Formula 1 work, but YMMV, naturally. I wouldn't ignore all mirrorless cameras for that reason unless you absolutely must have the best AF and are prepared to purchase accordingly.
 
I used to think I liked optical viewfinders until I tried a good electronic one. Now I wouldn't go back, but opinions differ, of course.

Same. Seeing how something like exposure compensation affects the subject in real time is amazing.

@robfosters It's hard to buy a bad digital camera, even ones from 10 years ago are perfectly fine for displaying online and for A3 print sizes. Don't feel as though you need to blow £1k to get good image quality.
By all means do that though if you're a gear head and like shiny things.
My main digital camera is Panasonic G3 from seven years ago and I don't ever feel the camera is holding me back
 
There is nothing wrong whatsoever in wanting a DSLR; I also like the feel of a solid camera and their focus speed. Something like a 70D might suit? Well within budget plus a couple of lenses, and should be up to the sports photography you want to do, as well as coping with the landscapes.
 
Right guys, after much pondering, I have narrowed my choice down to 2 cameras, the Canon 77D or the Nikon D7200.

I know I said I prefer Canons, but I have no lenses so am starting from scratch and willing to change if it's worth it. In my OP, I stated that I have no interest in video and this is still the case. One of the reasons I am erring towards the Nikon is due to the lack of AA filter, and the fact is, to me, the sample images I have seen show a definite advantage in sharpness and overall PQ for the Nikon, and great images are my number one priority. It doesn't have the touchscreen and articulating LCD of the 77D, but I think I could probably live with that as I imagine articulating screens are mostly useful when you are vlogging or the like. Something I dont do as no-one wants to see my ugly mug plastered over Youtube :LOL:

The thing really holding me back is a nagging feeling that with the D7200, I'm buying old tech as the cameras already 3 years old. But does it really matter if it gives me all I need? I also am more familiar with the Canon lens line up, but it's probably nothing a few days research won't solve. One final plus for the Nikon is that being older, the second hand prices are a good deal lower than the Canon.

Are there any users of the cameras on here who give me pointers on what my choice should be?
 
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The thing really holding me back is a nagging feeling that with the D7200, I'm buying old tech as the cameras already 3 years old. But does it really matter if it gives me all I need?

What do you want to do with your photos ? What do you really want with your camera ? Be honest.
Three year old tech is absolutely fine. As is 10 year old tech, digital IQ matured for most uses a while ago
 
I have narrowed my choice down to 2 cameras, the Canon 77D or the Nikon D7200.
Personally I think you're wrong to think of it as a choice between two cameras. The camera you buy now is going to be your first one (for your return to the hobby), but it's unlikely to be your last. To my mind the choice is between systems, and which one is most likely to meet most of your needs (or least likely to drive you mad) over a period of a few years. Whether camera A has a higher resolution than camera B, or whether camera B performs better in low light than camera A, is going to be pretty irrelevant because in the not-too-distant future its quite likely that you won't be using camera A or camera B any more.
 
Been a long time since I replied to this, but I have my camera! :banana:

Today I took delivery of an excellent condition D7200 (shutter count just 2800) with a battery grip and the dummies book for £500. Quite pleased with that price. At present I only have the 18-55 VRII kit lens. I'll start off with that but I'm wondering whether or not to get a telephoto next or upgrade the kit lens to something better in that range, like the Sigma 17-70 f/2.8.
 
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First thing I did, was buy a Sigma 18-50mm 2.8 zoom for my first D-SLR. Never regretted it.
 
Personally I had a Nikon D300 and some decent-ish glass (70-200 2.8 10-20 etc) but I found I was only taking pictures for other people and not for the enjoyment of it. I ended up selling it all and getting a number of premium compact cameras for holidays; they never really gave me the results I wanted though.

Earlier this year I bought a second hand Nikon D600 for £500. It's FX which I've always wanted, has sensor that I believe is still currently used in their new line up, and some models were plagued with shutter problems. Nikon have issued a no questions ask replacement policy for the life of the camera if the fault ever develops. So, seems like a no brainer to me!
I paired this with a used 50mm 1.4 and walked out of the shop £700 lighter. I've since added a 24-120f4 and have all my travel needs covered.

I'm going to pick up something with a bit more reach for wildlife and some winter sports I want to photograph. Maybe the new 300mm f4.
 
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