I'd like to introduce myself, I'm mid fifties and been 'keen' on photography for a few years now.
Started off with the usual average point and shoot systems, mainly taking photos on holidays and motorsport events such as Goodwood, rallies, GPs, touring cars etc but never had the kit or ability to take photography serious. It's always been something I wanted to do but found it quite daunting when I bought my 1st DSLR, a used Nikon D3500 with kit lens and a 70-300mm. There's a lot to learn and I think that carries on forever, never too old to learn. I ended up selling my kit as it just wasn't getting used as much as I would like due to other commitments and thought it was just a waste of money gathering dust.
That lasted about a year and I regretted selling so a few years ago I bought a D5600 kit, Nikkor 10-20 & Nikkor 18-200 which pretty much covered most bases for travel photography which was my main subject now, being married the wife doesn't want to be dragged around rally stages and race circuits so subjects and opportunities change.
The D5600 and lenses did me well, cracking little camera, took great photos and I suppose it's all I needed. But, as we all know, what we need and what we want are 2 different things, especially when you throw 'man maths' into the equation. Thought it was time to upgrade, brought about as we're off on a USA West Coast road trip next month so been looking around for the last few weeks for my next step. Not sure how we managed years ago without the internet, spent the last few weeks on Youtube, browsing forums, reviews upon reviews, changed my mind umpteen times on what the next camera would be. For some reason, every camera I looked at had some kind of compromise that made me change my mind and go on to the next when there again, doubt was put in my mind by other compromises. At this rate I'd be going off to USA with my D5600!!
The kit I was looking to buy would be used, the cameras I looked at were Canon EOS-R, EOS-RP, Sony A7III, A7R, Nikon Z50, Z5 & Z6. I decided I wanted to go full frame and obviously price is always a relative issue, I have to convince myself as much as the tutting other half. My plan is to buy just one "do it all" lens at the moment for the trip so the choice I kept coming back to was the Nikon Z5 and 24-200mm telephoto, an obvious progression as I'd previously had 2 Nikons but there was a part of me that wanted to try Canon. None of them are bad cameras and would all be an upgrade I presume on what I already had.
I finally decided on the Z5 and scoured Ebay and the trade in sites, wow, prices are keen and choice is scarce at the moment. The cheapest used body only was around the £1000 mark and body & lens around £1700. Could buy the kit new for £1900 with obvious warranties and no 'hidden' issues. Then yesterday, a search brought up Argos, body only in their 'clearance' sale was £900!!!! Mmmm, I'm quite impulsive, so after hovering over the 'confirm' button for a few seconds thinking should I shouldn't I, the usual happened, I did and the Z5 body was showing out of shock, so hopefully I got the last one. So, this morning, a freshly boxed brand new Nikon Z5 arrived at work. In the current climate I think it's a bargain, I just need to source myself a Z24-200mm lens now. I'm prepared to pick one up in San Fran when I arrive next month, they are retailing for around £640 ($800) at the likes of Walmart and Best Buy.
So that's my story and where I'm heading, hoping to learn more as I go along.
Started off with the usual average point and shoot systems, mainly taking photos on holidays and motorsport events such as Goodwood, rallies, GPs, touring cars etc but never had the kit or ability to take photography serious. It's always been something I wanted to do but found it quite daunting when I bought my 1st DSLR, a used Nikon D3500 with kit lens and a 70-300mm. There's a lot to learn and I think that carries on forever, never too old to learn. I ended up selling my kit as it just wasn't getting used as much as I would like due to other commitments and thought it was just a waste of money gathering dust.
That lasted about a year and I regretted selling so a few years ago I bought a D5600 kit, Nikkor 10-20 & Nikkor 18-200 which pretty much covered most bases for travel photography which was my main subject now, being married the wife doesn't want to be dragged around rally stages and race circuits so subjects and opportunities change.
The D5600 and lenses did me well, cracking little camera, took great photos and I suppose it's all I needed. But, as we all know, what we need and what we want are 2 different things, especially when you throw 'man maths' into the equation. Thought it was time to upgrade, brought about as we're off on a USA West Coast road trip next month so been looking around for the last few weeks for my next step. Not sure how we managed years ago without the internet, spent the last few weeks on Youtube, browsing forums, reviews upon reviews, changed my mind umpteen times on what the next camera would be. For some reason, every camera I looked at had some kind of compromise that made me change my mind and go on to the next when there again, doubt was put in my mind by other compromises. At this rate I'd be going off to USA with my D5600!!
The kit I was looking to buy would be used, the cameras I looked at were Canon EOS-R, EOS-RP, Sony A7III, A7R, Nikon Z50, Z5 & Z6. I decided I wanted to go full frame and obviously price is always a relative issue, I have to convince myself as much as the tutting other half. My plan is to buy just one "do it all" lens at the moment for the trip so the choice I kept coming back to was the Nikon Z5 and 24-200mm telephoto, an obvious progression as I'd previously had 2 Nikons but there was a part of me that wanted to try Canon. None of them are bad cameras and would all be an upgrade I presume on what I already had.
I finally decided on the Z5 and scoured Ebay and the trade in sites, wow, prices are keen and choice is scarce at the moment. The cheapest used body only was around the £1000 mark and body & lens around £1700. Could buy the kit new for £1900 with obvious warranties and no 'hidden' issues. Then yesterday, a search brought up Argos, body only in their 'clearance' sale was £900!!!! Mmmm, I'm quite impulsive, so after hovering over the 'confirm' button for a few seconds thinking should I shouldn't I, the usual happened, I did and the Z5 body was showing out of shock, so hopefully I got the last one. So, this morning, a freshly boxed brand new Nikon Z5 arrived at work. In the current climate I think it's a bargain, I just need to source myself a Z24-200mm lens now. I'm prepared to pick one up in San Fran when I arrive next month, they are retailing for around £640 ($800) at the likes of Walmart and Best Buy.
So that's my story and where I'm heading, hoping to learn more as I go along.
