Beginner Looking for some advice

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jimrobo

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jonathan heavyside
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Hi guys

Came as a bit of a lurker looking for general advice and it looked particularly friendly so thought I'd post direct.

My other half has always been particularly good at taking photos even though she uses nothing more than a camera phone. She was into photography when she was younger and always had the bug but hasnt had anything decent on the equipment front for a good few years. The past few years her hobbies have been firmly into the kids (6 months and 2 years). I want to get her something she can expand her skills with and enjoy the thing that makes her particularly happy so.... I was looking at an Eos 850d for her. I'm not sure whether or not at that level I should be looking at full size rather than crop from the limited research I've done. Or is the crop variant just as good to learn on?

Can someone possible advise and offer some viewpoints with experience?

Regards

Jr
 
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It isn’t the best idea to choose a camera for someone else. Things like ergonomics, weight etc play a major part. The other issue is that she may not want such a camera and be content with a more basic one.
 
She would love a decent camera when I asked her about it she got very excited. I am.very much the tech person in the house though so she'd rather I did the research for her. In terms of ergonomics smaller and lighter is always better for her but performance is also preferable. She did a photography course when she was younger so she has a knowledge of the basics.
 
Do some online research based on what type of photography appeals to her, budget - making allowance for lenses if necessary - and so on; then try to find a dealer where she can handle the cameras that she's interested in. This is important. It's easy to pick the 'ideal' camera from reviews, and then find that it's too big/small, heavy, uncomfortable to hold, you don't like the way the controls are laid out or find them hard to reach...whatever. This isn't really about 'tech stuff', it's far more subjective than that.
 
Don't forget that if you go down the interchangeble lens route you are buying into a system and if sometime in the future you decide to change it can be very expensive.
Try lots of cameras, there aren't any really bad ones these days and a lot depends on individual preference and ergonomics and don't rule out bridge cameras
 
Nikon D610 Full frame is a top quality camera and is still availble new at e-infinity at a great price. The lens you buy is more important as the body can only record what it receives through the lens. Sony and Panasonic have some of the best bridge cameras which will save money on glass, they tend to be a bit lighter and great for travel being all in one. The crop sensors give great quality and it is hard to see the difference to full frame at normal size prints. 2nd hand is a good place to start there are many excellent condition cameras on Ebay, MPB,Wex, Park Cameras etc.If you buy at a good price and don't get on with it you won't lose much if you sell it, unlike a new camera. A new camera can be returned for a refund and many dealers will take back a used camera so if you can't get to try them out before you buy it's not the end of the road. Good luck
 
OK, since no one else has asked, what does she photograph, is size/weight an issue and what's budget?

Everyone has their favourite brand and type, so read brand recommendation with that in mind. However cameras are having a bit of a revolution right now with mirrorless, and for some types of photography it's a game changer.
 
Ok...

Budget is wouldn't want to spend more than 1000 really.

In my head I thought canon were the best. Maybe I am totally wrong on this though. We've had 2 photo shoots with our kids with the same photographer and we absolutely love her style of photos. She uses a d5 mk 4 which is probably beyond the budget! Unless I can get 2nd hand for around there but realistically I was thinking the new 850d and she had the option to upgrade to full frame further down the line.

I just wasn't sure if it was worth really stretching to get full frame or not but I think that's fairly clear the crop sensor is more than good enough.
 
ancient_mariner said:
OK, since no one else has asked, what does she photograph, is size/weight an issue and what's budget?

Everyone has their favourite brand and type, so read brand recommendation with that in mind. However cameras are having a bit of a revolution right now with mirrorless, and for some types of photography it's a game changer.
Click to expand...

Would you recommend the m50 over something like the 850d?
 
For a comparative beginner I don't think full frame is necessary. A crop camera, whether Canon, Nikon or another brand will be fine, and should it progress further then she can look at upgrading lenses / camera at a later date as her skills and interests develop.

Ergonomics / user interface is important. Hand me a Nikon and I'm stuck. If possible handle some cameras and see which feels more natural to her.

Cameras are shifting from dSLRs to mirrorless, mirrorless tend to be smaller and lighter.
 
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jimrobo said:
Would you recommend the m50 over something like the 850d?
Click to expand...

OK, sweeping overviews & opinions coming up.

Mirrorless cameras are going to make DSLR systems mostly obsolete in the next few years. They have better AF, all the development for sensors will stop for consumer/enthusiast DSLRs and they're probably cheaper to manufacture in quantity (but not to buy). For photographing people, especially children, they can be MUCH better.

When you buy a camera, you also buy into a lens system, whether DSLR or mirrorless. all the major makers DSLR lenses will be obsolesced over the next few years, though still available to purchase. That can be good (obsolete lenses are often cheaper) and bad (older lenses may not have parts available for repair, especially consumer lenses). Newer lenses usually offer better optical and AF performance compared to older designs and are also often much more expensive.

Canon lenses tended to be among the best, although there are some really astonishingly good lenses now being produced by Sony and Sigma (but any of those lenses will blow your budget on its own).

Canon sensors have tended to be less well developed than Sony or Nikon (who also use Sony sensors) although that may not matter too much unless your other half will be doing a lot of low-light work.

Full frame is nice, but bulkier and more expensive new (but affordable used) and many better lenses are FF, but can be used on crop sensor cameras. Crop sensor DSLR is smaller & lighter (mostly - there are exceptions) usually with smaller, darker viewfinders.

There is also a smaller sensor size - micro four thirds or M4/3 (Olympus or Panasonic) - that is a smaller, lighter mirrorless design with decent image quality & more affordable lenses. There are disadvantages, like lower image quality in low light, less control over shallow depth of field than larger sensor cameras. They all have electronic viewfinders, meaning that what you see is pretty much what you get.

FWIW I shoot full frame because I like the kind of images it produces. My wife shoots M4/3 because she can generally get great images with an outfit that weighs about 30% of mine and can slip the camera + kit lens in her handbag.

What woud I suggest?

So, my personal set of biases is that I wouldn't recommend Canon in general at this stage in development and the crop M series cameras in particular because *in my opinion* the M system requires specific lenses and there is little system support (i.e. few lenses) that can fit directly - I think it's a consumer orphan range that only has a couple of years more life.

If you wanted to go DSLR I would probably suggest entry-level Nikon D3500 with a kit zoom and the 35mm f1.8 DX prime for low-light/shallow depth of field work as a starting point. It's also not a big investment if she should decide to change systems after a year or 2 as she becomes more aware of her needs.

If you wanted a DSLR above consumer level then I'd look for a used/grey import Nikon D750 - still used by wedding photographers everywhere that haven't yet moved to a Sony A7 - and a Nikon 50 f1.8 (either D or G versions). This will take most of your budget but it's a professional tool with excellent image quality and a big, bright viewfinder, while not too heavy.

If you wanted Mirrorless then probably an Olympus E-M5 II + 14-42 pancake and 25mm f1.8 or the Panasonic equivalent. It's also worth buying used from shop light London Camera Exchange who offer 12 months warranty on used kit (buy online & you get 30 days to return it if you're not happy too).

HTH
 
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Anvient_mariner/all

Thats some great advise and way more than I could have researched on my own. Thanks for taking the time to post. It's very much appreciated.....now for some research on the recommended models!

Jr
 
I agree that the Canon EF-M lens fitment will probably be short-lived, and its pretty clear that Canon think that their RF lens mount for the Canon R range of mirrrorless bodies is their future direction.

Saying that there is likely to be some / many years of life left in the dSLR segment - Cameras last a long time if looked after so they're not going to disappear overnight.
 
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