New Camera!

Matt77

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Hey!
Well, I've decided that I need to upgrade my camera for photography. I use a PowerShot Elph right now, and it's soon going to fall to pieces. I also have a 8 mp phone camera, that's crap :p

So I've been thinking: What kind of SLR/DSLR or MILC can I get for $300 or less NEW, including lens? I need the most affordable options. My friend gave me his Eos Mark III with a decent lens, but I gave it back to him, because he needed it more. I definitely liked that camera :p

I remember the days when 8MP made you the coolest guy around XD

Thanks,
Matthew
 
Can't edit.
I need it to be pretty good at action shots, because I'm going to be taking a lot of Lacrosse pictures. Also, a pop up flash is good too!

Matt
 
By mark III, do you mean the 5D Mark III? If so, that is an amazing[ly expensive] camera, lol.

For that price, you aren't getting a DSLR new, that's for sure. The cheapest right now would be the Nikon D5100 for $450, and that's just the body with no lens packaged in. So your best bet is going to be getting a sort of "in-betweener" if you will, sometimes referred to as a bridge or superzoom camera. MILC is much the same.

After looking at all the options in your price range, I would recommend this:

Fujifilm FinePix HS25EXR Digital Camera (Black) 16243252 B&H

It has some really nice features for being so inexpensive. The 30x zoom is pretty nice, has a really fast AF, nice ISO range and 1080p video recording. The higher ISO will help on action shots.

If you HAVE to get MILC, this is your only bet in your price range:

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3 Digital Camera Kit (Black) DMC-G3KK B&H

Comes with a 14-42mm lens though, you'll need to get something better eventually. I seriously recommend the first one over this second option though.
 
Yes, the 5D. His dad is in the film business. I couldn't accept such a nice gift.

EEW inbetweeners. What's the best point-and-shoot on the market right now? The Elph is pretty good...
 
What's your problem with in-betweeners? Can't be the size, since you were fine with cameras with attachable lenses.

I don't bother with point and shoots, there's too many of them and they are almost all exactly the same it feels. I wouldn't recommend any of them over bridge/superzoom cameras if DSLR is out of budget, the price to performance ratio is much better compared to a lot of point and shoots.
 
Although not one of the big name camera brands, remember that Sony make decent DSLRs too, quite often for less than Nikon or Cannon.
I have a Sony A230 (yes, not new now) and found it to be very good value for money for a starter SLR. bought originally at about £400.
 
Sony is decent :p
I've had a couple of Sony cameras and a really nice video camera from Sony, I still have a working tape Sony Camcorder XD
 
I want the ability to change lenses :\

If you want the ability to change lenses, then save up more money. MILC is nice but so far it seems really proprietary. I'd say save up your money until you can afford a DSLR with a kit lens and start there. Otherwise, you can get that MILC I linked too up there, it comes with a lens and fits your budget (at least while it's discounted, I saw the body without a lens was almost $100 more), but I don't know how good it is...looking at the specs it does have a few advantages over the FujiFilm, so I'll at least compare those.


Exposure Control: The FujiFilm trumps the Panasonic in ISO sensitivity (160-6400 for Panasonic, 100-12800 for Fujifilm), however the Panasonic does have a better shutterspeed range (60 - 1/4000 sec vs. 30 - 1/4000 seconds). The shutterspeed thing isn't that bad considering my DSLR has a 30 second limit (which works for most things), and I'm unsure if the FujiFilm has a "shutter" mode where you hold the shutter release down for as long as you want. I've confirmed the Panasonic does have this option, but for only up to about 2 minutes. A good "bulb" mode would be as long as you want it to be for, so that's not really a plus.

The EV compensation range is MUCH higher on the Panasonic (-5 to +5 vs -2 to +2 in 1/3 increments), but again, my DSLR has a smaller range and I normally keep it on a set setting. Don't have to change it too often. Still, nice thing to have.


Lens: Before I start with this analysis, I'm only basing the specs of the kit lens for the Panasonic. Of course you can get different lenses, but you're working with a budget and I want to fully compare what you're getting in each package.

The Panasonic has a range of 14-42mm (which should be comparable to 28-84mm on a standard 4/3 lens mount if I'm reading correctly, it has a micro 4/3 mount). This is not too bad for an included lens, most DSLR kit lenses are 18-55mm. Still, in terms of actual usability out of the box, the FujiFilm is going to trump it. The EFL of the FujiFilm is 4.2-126 mm (24-720 mm for a 35mm equivalent), due to it's huge 30x optical zoom. Since it's optical, there wouldn't be any distortion like there is with digital zoom, so that's important to have out of the box. You can buy more lenses for the Panasonic, but that's still going to be expensive and out of reach right away. Here's a list of available lenses for that model specifically to give yourself an idea of specs and cost:

Digital Interchangeable Lenses and Conversion Lenses | PRODUCTS | LUMIX | Digital Camera | Panasonic Global

The aperture is what caught my eye the most. While the FujiFilm has a wider aperture setting (f/2.8 vs f/3.5 max), the low end is where it gets crushed (f/11 vs f/22). For me personally, that may not be a make or break but it's important when you're dealing with longer exposures with certain light sources (say, car headlights). To be fair, f/11 is still decently small for the aperture, but when I shoot those types of shots, I prefer f/16-18 myself.


File Handling: This is where we enter into my make-or-break territory, file handling. I prefer shooting in RAW with my DSLR because it's completely uncompressed and makes it much easier to edit without distortions. The Panasonic does support RAW (I would hope it would considering not many photographers using a DSLR would buy it at an MSRP of $399 without RAW), the FujiFilm does not, only JPEG. Not sure if that's a big deal to you or not.


Bottom Line: The Panasonic is the better camera overall due to it having a larger CMOS, and image quality from what I've shown is close to entry level DSLRs (again, expected to be better than the FujiFilm since it's normally $400). If you must get a MILC then that would be your best option. But make sure you take into account the downside of having a smaller body with interchangeable lenses: with larger lenses it will be awkward to hold.

Personally I would take the Panasonic over the FujiFilm if I didn't already have a DSLR, but if I wanted a supplemental camera for quick shots or fast jobs that don't require the DSLR, I'd get the FujiFilm. I still highly recommend saving money to buy an entry level DSLR instead over either of these cameras however.
 
What's a good entry-level DSLR? I want one for myself, and one for my friend to get too.

I have a friend who's really into hunting and stuffing animals, and he even kills animals out of season, so I'm trying to show him how a photo can be as good (or nicer) than a stuffed carcass. That way, other people get the chance to take a photo of that animal too :p

Imagine you're a deer running in the forest, and suddenly- BANG. You're dead on the floor. Now imagine you're a deer running in the forest and suddenly- click and flash. You keep on running :p
 
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