overwhelmed about a new purchase

First, thanks in advance to anyone that replies to this or offers advice. I need it.

I have owned various point & shoot cameras for about 8 years. Four years ago, my first and only child was born and I wanted to get a dslr. For financial reasons, I could not. I am tired of losing photo chances with my point and shoot (HX9V) and want photos that are more sharp.

I would say photos are top priority and good casual videos are important (love the videos from my sony HX9V). I take mostly family vacation and holiday photos and video. Some inside, some outside. Daughters soccer games, at the pool, at the playground. Holiday get togethers, trips to different cities, the zoo, etc. I would eventually like to take some nice landscape photos and other things as I hopefully grow as a casual photographer. I would like to make large prints of some of my family photos. Mostly though, I love to look at super sharp photos on my monitor.

I think I can finally scrape up some money to get a camera, but have no idea what to get. I was thinking a t3i or the newer t4i or perhaps the pentax k-30. I have spent years looking at reviews and looking at 100% crops of all these cameras.

More recently I have read blogs about professional photographers selling their dslr equipment for the olympus om-d. I didnt consider micro four thirds an option until recently, but obviously they are good enough for me and more portable. I am not looking for super compact and would rather have something comfortable in my hands. I know I will have to invest in lenses, but that will be a slow process as I am unable to put lots of money into photography on a yearly basis. So this is a one time deal... followed by a 500ish budget for another lens two years down the road.

Whichever camera I buy, it will be the camera I have and use for the next 5-10 years. So I am not looking to buy inexpensive and upgrade.

My budget should be about 800, but I am going to try to free up about 1300 or maybe even 1500 so I can get good camera, with hopefully a nice zoom to cover casual shooting and one prime to play around with.

I am intrigued by the upcoming GH3 also, but dont know if that will be in my price range. I have a month or two to figure out my purchase (cause I need to get it right the first time).

So, with my budget, what would you recommend? Camera and lens(es)?

Which system of cameras have lenses that I could get good quality for reasonable prices?

Can I put lenses from canon full frame on a micro four thirds? Is that cost effective and does it yield quality results?

I am not set on anything and welcome all advice.

Thanks for taking the time to help.

Scott

I recommend an entry level DSLR. A mid level will leave little for a lens(es). I don't like micro 4/3 because they either don't have a viewfinder or they have an electronic viewfinder (EVF) which I don't like. But that's me, you may have no problem with an EVF or no viewfinder.

If you don't mind changing lenses, you could get an 18-55 and 55-300 (or similar). They are good lenses and fall within your budget. If you don't want to change lenses then consider a Sigma 18-200 II OS HSM or Tamron 18-270 VC PZD superzoom. With the superzoom you lose some sharpness at the long end, but it doesn't become apparent until you print larger than 8x10.

As for brand, it's best to handle the cameras you are considering. Ask yourself how you like the ergonomics, the controls, and the menus. Within a given price range, quality is more or less equal.

Hi Scott,

I'm a recent upgrader myself, and ultimately chose Sony NEX after my first baby was born in May Like you, I really wanted to good photos and memories which is why I opted to upgrade out of point-and-shoot. I've also been looking at lens options a lot lately and while I'm thoroughly satisfied with Sony, I can't say it's for everyone.

On Powerzooms: The Panasonic FZ200 looks like a real winner - it can do basically everything at the cost of IQ and a bit of bulk. Its weaknesses will be indoors and lowlight IQ, compared to the mirrorlesses

On Mirrorless: The m4/3 seems to be ideal for those who would be satisfied with slight tradeoff in IQ in exchange for cheaper or smaller lenses. The NEX system has larger and more expensive lenses because image stabilization doesn't exist in the body. I feel if I was intending to rapidly upgrade my lens selection, it would have been better to go to m4/3 than NEX. But if I was going through the system slowly and learning my lenses and photography along the way, I feel NEX gives better results and the cost is nicely inhibitive enough not to compel me to keep upgrading and experiment with manual legacy lenses. I do have a tiny bit of envy with the DSLR-form and wish the Samsung NX20 came in E-mount, but the 5N is actually very comfortable to use.

On DSLR: I haven't got one but both my brother and dad have several and I have to say, maybe they're just not that great at photography or maybe they just don't take their DSLRs out enough, but for day-to-day action, I consistently come back with the better results. The bulk prevents you from really wanting to bring it with you everywhere, and while you'll lose the superb IQ, it really doesn't matter if you don't know how to use it...

My dad mostly shoots auto/scene-select so he has a very bulky and expensive point-and-shoot, while my brother does all his settings manually but he gets like 1 in 20 really good shots. We're all really novices - before I upgraded in May, I was always envious of their photos. Now I am sitting happily where I am.

I think for a combination of priorities you allude to - budget, lens choice, and comfortable handling, go m4/3 and particularly the Panasonic G5 or Olympus OMD EM5. The kit lens should cover you nicely while you work your way to getting the Panasonic/Leica 25mm F1.4 for indoors and the Olympus 35-100 F2.0 for outdoors (if you can afford it!).

I just bought the NEX 5n looks like a great choice if you are used to using the LCD screen to set the picture I think it would be a good choice. A real plus is that the NEX 5R is coming out so there is sales on the nex 5n only dif I think is the R is wifi but the Ris 250.00 more. So go with NEX 5n with the 12-55 lens kit and you will have money for another lens of your choice,I paid 499.00 free shipping for mine this is the place I found it. And what I am going to do is get a 4gig eyefi SD card so no cables for downloading to the computer.

http://www.precision-camera.com/

quezra said:

Olympus 35-100 F2.0

Click to expand...

Brain fart... that's not a m4/3 zoom

Anyway, there's a bunch, check in forums on the best ones

Best advice so far is entry level dslr, & good lenses. You will find the better lenses will serve you when/if you upgrade the body, cheap or lower grade lenses will not do justice to a top line body. Just a suggestion; Canon 550D & 15-85 IS. Don't forget the importance of flash for indoor family pics.
--
lee uk.
There are old pilots, & there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots.

One of the problems with asking help on a beginner's forum is that you get a lot of beginners with anecdotal stories about their first and only choice. Another group are fans of just one brand and make that out to be the best and only choice. Those are what we call the Fanbois.

Let me say this. All entry level SLRs in your price range are going to be very similar. They area all capable of taking superb images if you do your part. Considering the lens, they are all quite small and lightweight plastic affairs.

My choice would be:
Nikon D5100 with 18-105 VR lens
Canon T3i with Sigma 17-70 OS HSM
Pentax K30 with Sigma 17-70 OS HSM
Sony a580 with Sigma 17-70 OS HSM (or A57 if you can't find the a580)

If you want a prime lens to go with it, my suggestion would be a 35mm fast prime lens. I say 35mm because that's the same field of view a 50mm on an old film camera gave, makig 35mm a "normal" lens on a modern digital crop camera. Nikon, Sony and Pentax all make an inexpensive 35mm. The Nikon and Sony are f/1.8 while I think the Pentax is slightly slower at f/2.5 or something like that. They are all around $200.

Canon only has the old 50 f/1.8 which was designed for 35mm film cameras. On a digital crop camera, it acts more like an 80mm lens. It costs slightly over $100 or so.

As you can see from my recommendtions, I do not suggest the kit lens except that upper tier kit lens on the Nikon. The upper tier kit lenses for Canon, Pentax and Sony don't have great reputationa so I chose a great upper tier 3rd party lens with good optics.

The Nikon, Pentax and Sony models I listed all share the exact same Sony Semiconductor Exmor sensor. I've read it and it's antialias filters are colaborative efforts between Sony, Pentax and Nikon with most of the fab work by Sony. This sensor is noted as being the best low light capable APS-C sensor in the world right now. What this means is that all the cameras using it should be essetially the same in image output. Any difference was the stars or luck the day they tested.

So, if you can, go to the store and try those four models and see which one fits your hand and your brain the best. Consider not buying junk from the camera store clerks in that they like to scare people into buying all kinds of protective things and cleaning stuff. Most if not all are expensive and useless. Make him give you a free microfiber cloth they have with advertizing on it.

Good luck and have fun. Welcome to our world.

--
Cheers, Craig

Follow me on Twitter @craighardingsr : Equipment in Profile

Guidenet said:

One of the problems with asking help on a beginner's forum is that you get a lot of beginners with anecdotal stories about their first and only choice. Another group are fans of just one brand and make that out to be the best and only choice. Those are what we call the Fanbois.

Click to expand...

And one of the problems with asking pros is they are out of touch with the capabilities and intended destination of beginners/upgraders. It's good to get lots of opinions and figure out what you want to start with before deciding where you want to end up. Not everyone intends to end up as a diehard enthusiast, we have families, social lives, work and other things that will put a hard cap on the amount of time and resources we invest in a camera system.

There is no such thing as a 12-55 lens and Precision Camera must be so new I couldn't find it at Resellerratings.com. That's a bit scarey.
--
Cheers, Craig

Follow me on Twitter @craighardingsr : Equipment in Profile

I assumed "karlwitt" was a robot when I read that post. What did you think?

I also have the Sony HX9V, which I find to be a very good point and shoot, when the light is right and the action isn’t too fast (great videos). I, too, agonized for months about what camera to buy and finally on the day I left on a 2-month trip in Europe I plopped down the cash for a Sony A57, mostly because I like to take videos and photos and had read good reviews about this camera. (I also shoot lots of kid photos.) Anyway, I couldn’t be happier. The learning curve is pretty steep, but most of the several thousand photos I shot in Europe with the A57 turned out very well. Yes, I even shot with the dreaded kit lens, which I also found adequate. I read complaints on the forums here about this camera. But it suits my needs. The menu system for the most part resembles the HX9V, which was helpful. If you like Sony, I’d check this camera out.

quezra said:

Guidenet said:

One of the problems with asking help on a beginner's forum is that you get a lot of beginners with anecdotal stories about their first and only choice. Another group are fans of just one brand and make that out to be the best and only choice. Those are what we call the Fanbois.

Click to expand...

And one of the problems with asking pros is they are out of touch with the capabilities and intended destination of beginners/upgraders. It's good to get lots of opinions and figure out what you want to start with before deciding where you want to end up. Not everyone intends to end up as a diehard enthusiast, we have families, social lives, work and other things that will put a hard cap on the amount of time and resources we invest in a camera system.

Click to expand...

Well said, my friend, but what did I say that might have come across as suggesting a camera that didn't fit what you're saying?

I understand what you're saying though. And yes lots of opinions come in handy, but when a person has only owned one good camera in their life and hasn't really learned how to use that yet, how can they give good advise other than just a casual statement of what their experience has been so far.

Also, did you notice I suggested four or five various cameras, not just one as well as several lenses. I was trying to answer the OP's question rather than touting what I owned and liked.

Oh, and I have a family with seven grandchildren. I was a single dad of four now grown kids, all of whom turned out wonderfully. I'm full time employed as a photographer by a large Fortune 500 Company. I teach beginner classes several time a year in entry level digital photography so am not so out of touch as you might think. I also teach both photography, internet, and computers every month in a couple of retirement centers at no charge.

The only reason I say this is that sometimes people judge others a bit too quickly as well as have other motives. I understand your feelings towards my initial warning to the OP. I just think it's a good warning to suggest he/she be careful to consider the source of the responses when general questions like this occur. Don't you?

Have fun.
--
Cheers, Craig

Follow me on Twitter @craighardingsr : Equipment in Profile

Maybe. I'm always concerned about online stores with no physical address and are not listed by Resellerratings.com. Bot it might be though. Nice heads up.
--
Cheers, Craig

Follow me on Twitter @craighardingsr : Equipment in Profile

Guidenet said:

Well said, my friend, but what did I say that might have come across as suggesting a camera that didn't fit what you're saying?

Click to expand...

Not much, but given what you've recommended and what I've recommended, it's clear we interpreted the OP's idea of "good casual photos" very differently, and that's telling about the difference in perspective between a pro and a novice. DSLR is overkill for what I'd consider "good casual" - to you it's the only worthwhile option (I guess the whole camera industry is going to be very disappointed when they hear that ). You dismissed advanced compacts, superzooms and MILCs - all of which I'd say can give "good casual photos" (superzooms the weakest until the FZ200 came along). Obviously the OP has to make the final call on that.

I've gone the same path as the OP - one longtime user of just point-and-shoots (I used a Samsung WB550 for years), before moving up. And I did plenty of research and trying out systems before making a choice. And funny enough, what I personally use is different from what I recommend in this thread... So anyway, given the OP's needs of good casual with some zoom and budget concerns, I think entry-level DSLR is certainly viable, but certainly not the only choice. M4/3, FZ200, Canon S100 are all possibilities, depending on how good a quality he wants.

I'll second this one. I went from an HX5V to an A65, and have been really happy with it. Photo and video quality are both much improved. The A65 and A57 are pretty similar, the step up to the A65 gets you a better viewfinder, GPS and a 24MP sensor instead of 16MP, which really doesn't make much difference. I actually use the GPS and like the viewfinder, but that's just a personal preference.

If you're happy with your Sony I'd look at getting either the A57 or A65. If video is important and you like to shoot using the rear LCD from time to time, they're by far the best cameras in their class.

But, it's also worth taking a look at the T3i (or T4i, but the T3i seems a better deal), the D5100 and the K30. Try them out and see if any of them feel better in your hands or if you like the optical viewfinder better. Best to be confident you've made the right choice in the end.

Timark said:

I also have the Sony HX9V, which I find to be a very good point and shoot, when the light is right and the action isn’t too fast (great videos). I, too, agonized for months about what camera to buy and finally on the day I left on a 2-month trip in Europe I plopped down the cash for a Sony A57, mostly because I like to take videos and photos and had read good reviews about this camera. (I also shoot lots of kid photos.) Anyway, I couldn’t be happier. The learning curve is pretty steep, but most of the several thousand photos I shot in Europe with the A57 turned out very well. Yes, I even shot with the dreaded kit lens, which I also found adequate. I read complaints on the forums here about this camera. But it suits my needs. The menu system for the most part resembles the HX9V, which was helpful. If you like Sony, I’d check this camera out.

Click to expand...

Yes, I know my budget doesnt allow a mid-ranged camera. I want to spend all the money on the camera and not the lenses, but know that is a bad idea.

--
Scott Blackburn

I agree with ya. If I could learn to shoot with a good micro 4/3, it will undoubtedly be more than good enough for my needs. And if I get anything and dont learn how to use it, i will not be happy with results.

Just wonder which system I would me most pleased with 5 years down the road. I keep going back and forth between the two systems.

--
Scott Blackburn

I got excited when I saw that lens. I think micro 4/3 users would die from excitement if there was a tele zoom like that with f/2 throughout the entire zoom!

--
Scott Blackburn

I have no problem buying a body only and an extra lens. No need to spend the extra 100 or whatever on a lens that I will replace down the road.

I like the pentax k-30. I dont think I would miss the microphone jack on it. Is the video quality on the k-30 fairly comparable to the t4i?

$690 for the k-30 on amazon. $815 for the t4i. The touch screen on the t4i sounds pretty neat, but the af when using the touch focus doesnt look impressive anyway.

Thank you for your lens recommendations.

--
Scott Blackburn

I was surprised by the some stories of pro photographers switching to the OM-D or considering making the switch.

When hardcore photographers are complaining about size and weight of the dslr systems and are happy with the output of the OM-D, it really makes be believe that the dslr is not a system that I NEED at all.

I wish I could have each system for a few months and evaluate, but its just not in the cards.

I also wish the OM-D or future GH3 were more in the price range of the t4i and k-30. Just doesnt feel right to invest more money in those cameras when the IQ is argueably better with the less expensive cameras.

--
Scott Blackburn