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UER Forum > Rookie Forum > Camera Suggestions (Viewed 7163 times)
laurel 


Location: Arkansas
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Camera Suggestions
< on 7/23/2017 4:38 PM >
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Hello everyone,

I am still really new to urban exploration, and I would really like to get into the photography side of things. If anyone could give me suggestions on great beginner cameras that won't break the bank I would really appreciate it!


Thank you,

Laurel
@laurelexplores



[last edit 7/23/2017 4:43 PM by laurel - edited 1 times]

- Laurel
Twitter: @laurelexplores
DescentOnARope 


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Re: Camera Suggestions
< Reply # 1 on 7/23/2017 7:23 PM >
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More information would be helpful. What's your price range? Are you willing to learn manual control? Is shooting video important?




DarkAngel 


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Re: Camera Suggestions
< Reply # 2 on 7/23/2017 8:13 PM >
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Posted by DescentOnARope
More information would be helpful. What's your price range? Are you willing to learn manual control? Is shooting video important?


This.

Price point is a huge one as well. How much experience do you have with a camera? No point in mentioning to look at X or Y if they are outside your budget, skill set, or interest.

Btw, if you are doing video, you'll need to invest in good glass. That gets expensive fast on a DSLR.

Me personally, I use a Nikon D7200 but I'm upgrading to a full frame pro body here soon. Photography is a fun, but (if you get really into it) a super expensive hobby. Granted, glass is good practically forever if you get quality, but it's still spendy. I've dropped nearly $2500 on 2 lenses so far this month, and still have another ~$5-6k to go, plus ~$3-4k on the body upgrade. (I'm getting the 'holy trinity' lens set. 14-24mm, 24-70mm, and 70-200mm all f/2.8)

Mind you, 90% of people don't ever need to get that fancy. I sell a decent number of prints, so making sure I have good glass camera gear is important. (Yes, I know light and skill are moreso as well)



[last edit 7/23/2017 8:14 PM by DarkAngel - edited 1 times]

laurel 


Location: Arkansas
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Twitter: @laurshaye

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Re: Camera Suggestions
< Reply # 3 on 7/23/2017 9:43 PM >
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Posted by DescentOnARope
More information would be helpful. What's your price range? Are you willing to learn manual control? Is shooting video important?


Yes, shooting video is very important! I'm thinking of a price range of maybe $700? And I'm not sure about manual control. What would you suggest?




- Laurel
Twitter: @laurelexplores
laurel 


Location: Arkansas
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Twitter: @laurshaye

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Re: Camera Suggestions
< Reply # 4 on 7/23/2017 9:46 PM >
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Posted by DarkAngel


This.

Price point is a huge one as well. How much experience do you have with a camera? No point in mentioning to look at X or Y if they are outside your budget, skill set, or interest.

Btw, if you are doing video, you'll need to invest in good glass. That gets expensive fast on a DSLR.

Me personally, I use a Nikon D7200 but I'm upgrading to a full frame pro body here soon. Photography is a fun, but (if you get really into it) a super expensive hobby. Granted, glass is good practically forever if you get quality, but it's still spendy. I've dropped nearly $2500 on 2 lenses so far this month, and still have another ~$5-6k to go, plus ~$3-4k on the body upgrade. (I'm getting the 'holy trinity' lens set. 14-24mm, 24-70mm, and 70-200mm all f/2.8)

Mind you, 90% of people don't ever need to get that fancy. I sell a decent number of prints, so making sure I have good glass camera gear is important. (Yes, I know light and skill are moreso as well)



Thanks for the tips! I'm like suppppeeerrrrr beginner. I'm doing it for more of a hobby and experience, rather than for a job and so on. It will be mostly to shoot some good photos, but I would like something to shoot video, too, if that is an option.




- Laurel
Twitter: @laurelexplores
blackhawk 

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Re: Camera Suggestions
< Reply # 5 on 7/23/2017 10:28 PM >
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Once you go with a name brand, you're married to it; divorces are expensive.
Canon is a good choice especially for action shooting.
Lense choice depends on what you want to shoot and the cam's sensor size.
For Full Frame you'll want good glass.
Cropped sensors are more forgiving of cheap glass but the tradeoff is wide angle shots.

Used gear in good condition is another way to get more bang for your buck.
I never regretted buying and shooting with a pro body and L glass.
Don't go cheap on the glass; a good lense will last your lifetime and can capture images others can't.

Start reading, here are some of the best shooter sites:
http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/index.php
https://luminous-l...-astrophotography/
https://m.dpreview.com/

It's better to save and buy a more expensive system rather than buy it latter when you realize you really wanted better gear!
This is especially true with glass; cheap glass doesn't do any better on an expensive cam than a cheap one & on a FF it will have you cursing.
Best to buy fast (f/2.8 or faster) good glass.
Most times on fast glass you'll be dialing it down to f/5.6 or so to get in its sweet zone, but if you need to go wide open,it's there to use.

Some lens like the 70-200 f/2.8 ISL are sharpest wide open. This is one of the best zooms on the market and rivals many primes in capabilities however it is a long lense.
The 24-70L is a good zoom for FF and cropped frame cams, but on a cropped body it may not be wide enough. Used none IS versions are out there at a good price.




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DarkAngel 


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Re: Camera Suggestions
< Reply # 6 on 7/23/2017 10:49 PM >
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Posted by laurel



Thanks for the tips! I'm like suppppeeerrrrr beginner. I'm doing it for more of a hobby and experience, rather than for a job and so on. It will be mostly to shoot some good photos, but I would like something to shoot video, too, if that is an option.


Under $700 would be tough to be honest. It's doable, but tight. The big thing is that you are also going to be buying into the lens system. Camera bodies get outdated, but glass is good for a long time.

Personally, and this is just me talking here, I'd look at this.
-Refurbished Nikon D7100 $600
-Refurbished Nikon 35mm f/1.8G lens $145-160
-Samsung PRO+ 64gb SD card (1 or 2, as the camera has 2 slots) $25-40

If you want to learn how to run it in manual modes (how you'll get your best shots) I'd grab a copy of Understanding Exposure 4th Edition off Amazon for $14 as well.

The reasoning behind those is pretty simple.
-'prosumer' camera body that is weather sealed, has manual and auto modes, but most importantly has continuous focus for video. Durable as hell too.
-One of the most popular Nikon lenses. Inexpensive, great in low light, and the most common focal length that people like. (It's a 55mm equivalent)
-you need a fast SD card for video, and those are about as fast as it can handle.





DarkAngel 


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Re: Camera Suggestions
< Reply # 7 on 7/23/2017 10:51 PM >
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Best advice is to go to a store and play with one first. I know Walmart, Fred Meyer (Kroeger) Sams Club, and Costco all carry them. Some people think Canon cameras feel better in hand, others go for Nikon. In the sub $700 range, there really isn't much difference between them other than little performance differences. Starts to stack up once you get into the $1-2k range.


That said, if you aren't sure how much you'll use it, I'd consider something like a refurb D3400 kit. (Nikon is also having 10% off on refurbs until Tuesday)

$360 ish
https://www.nikonu...0-refurbished.html

$155
https://www.nikonu...g-refurbished.html

Comes with one lens, so you can pick up a 35mm f/1.8G for video or low light photos, plus everything and still come out ahead. But if you decide it isn't your thing, you aren't hit in the wallet too hard.

The D3400 is pretty much their beginner camera, so it's mostly auto modes and you have to go through menus to change some things. Kinda why I like the 'prosumer' and professional cameras, as there is a button for every major adjustment instead.




[last edit 7/23/2017 10:56 PM by DarkAngel - edited 3 times]

blackhawk 

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Re: Camera Suggestions
< Reply # 8 on 7/24/2017 12:16 AM >
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Unless you shoot in 'green mode' even the base models are complex.
Pro bodies have a green mode too. I never used it.
Pro cams tend to be easier to hold and shoot, more weather resistant, heavier ie a more stable shooting platform and more options plus faster everything including the menu short cuts.

I recommend shooting in manual mod to learn best how to shoot unless you need to shoot fast(use aperture priority mode)
Whatever you do get expect a steep learning curve especially at first.
Read the whole cam manual.
The more you know, the better your results will be.




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DarkAngel 


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Re: Camera Suggestions
< Reply # 9 on 7/24/2017 12:42 AM >
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Posted by blackhawk
Unless you shoot in 'green mode' even the base models are complex.
Pro bodies have a green mode too. I never used it.
Pro cams tend to be easier to hold and shoot, more weather resistant, heavier ie a more stable shooting platform and more options plus faster everything including the menu short cuts.

I recommend shooting in manual mod to learn best how to shoot unless you need to shoot fast(use aperture priority mode)
Whatever you do get expect a steep learning curve especially at first.
Read the whole cam manual.
The more you know, the better your results will be.



Nikon 'prosumer' ones do, but the pro levels are straight manual everything. Beyond that, you pretty much nailed it.




laurel 


Location: Arkansas
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Re: Camera Suggestions
< Reply # 10 on 7/24/2017 12:42 AM >
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Thank you both for your help! Could you guys maybe link me some different ones to check out? That you think would be a good option?




- Laurel
Twitter: @laurelexplores
laurel 


Location: Arkansas
Gender: Female
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Twitter: @laurshaye

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Re: Camera Suggestions
< Reply # 11 on 7/24/2017 12:46 AM >
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This is the one camera that I was looking at.

https://www.walmar...veh=sem#about-item




- Laurel
Twitter: @laurelexplores
DescentOnARope 


Location: Long Island, New York
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Re: Camera Suggestions
< Reply # 12 on 7/24/2017 1:00 AM >
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To give my two cents: If video is important, you may want to be wary of Nikon. They have seriously neglected video, with heavily compressed files and general quality issues that leave a lot to be desired. DSLRs and DSLMs in general have horrible autofocus, but the cheapest body to feature dual-pixel autofocus (which apparently works really well) is the Canon 80D. It's a bit out of your range (about $1,000), but something to consider.

Canon 80D:
https://www.newegg...tem=9SIABKX57T8051

For something cheaper, you could also try the Panasonic Lumix G7. It can be found in the $500-$700 range (get it cheaper than in the link below). My brother has it, and it is AWESOME. High dynamic range, incredibly high quality video up to 4k 30 FPS, or 60 FPS at 1080p. It also takes some very nice stills. However, it's not very good at autofocusing while shooting video. Though it performs well at high ISO settings, for some reason it seems to suffer slightly in long exposures, and I'm not really sure why.

Panasonic Lumix G7:
https://www.bhphot...rorless_micro.html




blackhawk 

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Re: Camera Suggestions
< Reply # 13 on 7/24/2017 1:07 AM >
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Posted by laurel
Thank you both for your help! Could you guys maybe link me some different ones to check out? That you think would be a good option?


Look up the reviews on SLR Gear and see for yourself how they stack up:

http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/index.php




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DarkAngel 


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Re: Camera Suggestions
< Reply # 14 on 7/24/2017 6:04 AM >
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Posted by DescentOnARope
To give my two cents: If video is important, you may want to be wary of Nikon. They have seriously neglected video, with heavily compressed files and general quality issues that leave a lot to be desired. DSLRs and DSLMs in general have horrible autofocus, but the cheapest body to feature dual-pixel autofocus (which apparently works really well) is the Canon 80D. It's a bit out of your range (about $1,000), but something to consider.

Canon 80D:
https://www.newegg...tem=9SIABKX57T8051

For something cheaper, you could also try the Panasonic Lumix G7. It can be found in the $500-$700 range (get it cheaper than in the link below). My brother has it, and it is AWESOME. High dynamic range, incredibly high quality video up to 4k 30 FPS, or 60 FPS at 1080p. It also takes some very nice stills. However, it's not very good at autofocusing while shooting video. Though it performs well at high ISO settings, for some reason it seems to suffer slightly in long exposures, and I'm not really sure why.

Panasonic Lumix G7:
https://www.bhphot...rorless_micro.html


The last ~4 years or so has had Nikon seriously stepping up their game. In terms of image sensors, they basically own the top 25 APS-C sensors out there (canon is #32 with Sony and Pentax filling in the remainder. On FF the Canon 5D MK IV is #16, again topped by Nikon, Sony, and Pentax. (Per DXOMark)

Hell, Canon just crashed and burned with the 6D MKII as it pretty much ties performance wise with a 3 year old Nikon that's about to get released. Almost worse than the current model.

That said, the 80D is a good camera for video as it was designed for it. For stills though, the D7100 (put out in 2013) still spanks the 80D in image quality. Better low light ISO performance, color depth, and dynamic range.

Despite being ~4.5 years old and half the price, outside a few things, it's not worth twice the price IMO. The liveview AF is better, slightly faster CF frame rate, and more AF cross points. Oh, and a touch screen, but I hate those up here, so I'm biased lol.




blackhawk 

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Re: Camera Suggestions
< Reply # 15 on 7/24/2017 3:42 PM >
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Canon makes their own sensors as well as processors I believe
 and has a lot more resources to draw from.
Canon has always been geared towards action shooting...

Which cam now has the best viewfinder
, a big deal for manual and low light shooting.
One reason more reason to buy a pro cam; bigger, brighter viewfinders.

Once you pick up a pro cam body you know why you want it.
Sorry but it's the wicked truth

In the end you'll need to read as many reviews as possible. Not my future cam so I'm not going to go through that hornet's nest of info.
It's the game that moves as you play it.
Do your homework...



[last edit 7/24/2017 3:45 PM by blackhawk - edited 1 times]

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DarkAngel 


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Re: Camera Suggestions
< Reply # 16 on 7/24/2017 11:04 PM >
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+1 on reading reviews and playing with them if possible. DPReview is a great resource for that as well. Snapsort is a basic comparison tool for the most part. You can put two camera next to each other and it'll break down the specs and say what is different.

Mind you, that's just a list of technical differences, so take that with a grain of salt.

https://www.dpreview.com/

http://snapsort.com/compare
http://snapsort.co...80D-vs-Nikon-D7100




Lachy 


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Re: Camera Suggestions
< Reply # 17 on 9/14/2017 4:49 PM >
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Posted by DarkAngel


Under $700 would be tough to be honest. It's doable, but tight. The big thing is that you are also going to be buying into the lens system. Camera bodies get outdated, but glass is good for a long time.

Personally, and this is just me talking here, I'd look at this.
-Refurbished Nikon D7100 $600
-Refurbished Nikon 35mm f/1.8G lens $145-160
-Samsung PRO+ 64gb SD card (1 or 2, as the camera has 2 slots) $25-40

If you want to learn how to run it in manual modes (how you'll get your best shots) I'd grab a copy of Understanding Exposure 4th Edition off Amazon for $14 as well.

The reasoning behind those is pretty simple.
-'prosumer' camera body that is weather sealed, has manual and auto modes, but most importantly has continuous focus for video. Durable as hell too.
-One of the most popular Nikon lenses. Inexpensive, great in low light, and the most common focal length that people like. (It's a 55mm equivalent)
-you need a fast SD card for video, and those are about as fast as it can handle.




THIS.

I have this exact same kit (bought d7100 for $450 used on ebay) and the 35mm 1.8 for $125 used and it functions perfectly.

I would definitely recommend the d7000 series cameras, but lean toward the d7100 or d7200 for the price right now. The only downfall for the pricerange that I can see is the video (you would probably be better off getting a canon rebel) but I think that for stills it is the best option.

35mm is a fairly good focal length and is nice and fast, but I am considering buying either a rokinon 14mm 2.8 or a tokina 11-16 2.8 for wider urban exploration shots.





ryan5685 


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"So what do you do for fun?" Oh I go in abandoned buildings and take pictures.

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Re: Camera Suggestions
< Reply # 18 on 9/15/2017 12:55 PM >
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Contrary to what everyone says, I use a Nikon D50, which is 11 years old. I bought it on eBay for 75 dollars, which included a bag, basic lens (probably the one it came with), remote, two batteries, a memory card, the camera body obviously, and some telescope attachment.

Now most photographers are probably looking at this post with a look of disgust on their face, but I am happy with my setup. A cheaper camera like this is no replacement for something new and great, but what I will tell you is that for getting into photography you may want to consider a cheap camera.

I think that older cameras can still take good pictures but they require a bit extra understanding and use of the camera. You'll have to put it more effort to get great shots but if you upgrade later you will have a better understanding of what you are doing.

It's a great pathway to getting into photography, and if you absolutely love photography you can sell the camera on eBay again for not too much less than what you paid and buy a better one. Why would you drop 800 dollars on something you are just getting into. My advice is buy a cheaper camera and give it some time. If you like it, by all means upgrade, and if not you didn't lose too much.

TL;DR buy a cheap camera and try it out; if you love it upgrade, if not, you didn't lose too much.




Are we living a life that is safe from harm? Of course not, we never are. But that's not the right question. The question is, are we living a life that is worth the harm?
4Valhal 


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Re: Camera Suggestions
< Reply # 19 on 9/15/2017 2:42 PM >
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Posted by ryan5685
TL;DR buy a cheap camera and try it out; if you love it upgrade, if not, you didn't lose too much.


You're exactly right.

I bought a Sony a5000 for $200 with lens and bag and such on eBay. It works great and takes good shots. Handles lowlight fairly well. Takes 1080p video.

Absolutely no need to spend lots of money to get into this hobby.

Not saying once you get into it that your wallet will stay closed.




Never climb after somebody with ulcerative colitis. -Steed
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