Wondering where to start - Kind of caught the photography bug

Hello,

Forgive me if I'm making little sense or missing information that would be beneficial but I'm happy to elaborate if needed.

I've got a Samsung galaxy S22 Ultra, I've also got a Sony DSC-H300 which I've since not used, as far as I can see there would be little benefit over my phone?

Now I've just been for a walk with my GF and her dad and he's got a Nikon Coolpix P1000, which is immense, the zoom and picture quality, however again it seems for the price it's probably not the best.

I love the zoom but at the same time I'm not looking at spending £900 on a camera, I don't know what sort of budget is reasonable, would £400 be a good start ?

I'd be taking an all round type of pictures from portrait, landscape, night time, night sky etc..

I'm getting to grips with lightroom and Photoshop too.

So yes, any advice on where to go?

Just has a look of the specs of your phone - very impressive so the question is: what would you want a camera to do that your phone can't do ?

Willhub said:

Hello,

Forgive me if I'm making little sense or missing information that would be beneficial but I'm happy to elaborate if needed.

I've got a Samsung galaxy S22 Ultra, I've also got a Sony DSC-H300 which I've since not used, as far as I can see there would be little benefit over my phone?

Now I've just been for a walk with my GF and her dad and he's got a Nikon Coolpix P1000, which is immense, the zoom and picture quality, however again it seems for the price it's probably not the best.

I love the zoom but at the same time I'm not looking at spending £900 on a camera, I don't know what sort of budget is reasonable, would £400 be a good start ?

I'd be taking an all round type of pictures from portrait, landscape, night time, night sky etc..

I'm getting to grips with lightroom and Photoshop too.

So yes, any advice on where to go?

Click to expand...

Mr. Dutton did ask a good question.

Smartphones do have a lot going for them and you already have a very nice one. This DPR article looks at smartphones from a photographer's perspective. There may be some things in there that make you look at your Samsung in a different way:

A photographer's guide to buying a smartphone

Coincidentally, all three cameras you mention have similar-sized sensors (Type 1/2.3, about 6.3 x 4.7mm). You've probably figured out that they take great pictures outdoors on a sunny day but the image quality quickly falls apart the instant you step indoors or the light gets dim.

The main way to get better photos indoors or outdoors is to use a camera with a larger sensor. It's almost as simple as that (newer sensor tech and the lens in front of the sensor also play a big role). The type of sensor in the cameras you're considering may have 4 to 30 times more surface area than the Type 1/2.3 sensor. More surface area means more light collection ability and better image quality indoors. A larger sensor can also capture a broader range of lightest to darkest tones for better image quality outdoors.

There's more info you should be aware of. This DPR article goes over the details a newbie to photography needs to know about advanced cameras:

What to know before buying your first interchangeable lens digital camera

And finally, DPR has its Buying Guides. There's a class of cameras that's in-between smartphones and ILCs. You could call them large-sensor compact cameras - sort of like your H300 but with a bigger sensor stuffed inside. DPR has a Buying Guide for them. Oh...this one too.

--
Lance H

Hi,

I'm looking for more details in the image especially when enlarging the photo, good night time performance and to get long exposure picks to pick up things such as the galaxy belt at night. Less noise too.

Willhub said:

Hi,

I'm looking for more details in the image especially when enlarging the photo, good night time performance and to get long exposure picks to pick up things such as the galaxy belt at night. Less noise too.

Click to expand...

Photography is an expensive hobby. If you want to see significant difference from your (expensive) phone, you will need:

1. invest a little bit, if we are speaking about new product, you will get above 1000,- very easily

2. knowledge - camera is not smartphone which make a lot of decisions instead of you

I would personally start with at least 1" sensor compact camera, Sony, Canon and Panasonic produce them. Can be found in price range $500-$1700. I would primarily choose based on required zoom range. Night time performance is debatable with such small sensor though.

Here's a possibility to consider, right now at a good sale price:

Panasonic Lumix G7 mirrorless camera with 14-42mm and 45-150mm Lenses, $697.99, $100 down from the $797.99 regular price at B&H Photo. This deal runs until Sep 02 at 7:15 PM (U.S.) EDT.

The only potential downside would be if you're put off by its 16 megapixel sensor and the fact it's been available for seven years. You can learn more about the G7 by reading Dpreview's review .

(Disclaimer: I have no connection with B&H except as an occasional customer, nor with Panasonic except that I own a G7 and have been very pleased with it.)

Thanks all for the replies.

I'll have to read the links to get more of an idea.

So yes the P1000 I was surprised inside the pictures when I got them on lightroom were not massively better than my phone maybe that is as mentioned due to sensor size.

Is there any point using the DSC H300 or no real advantages apart from it looks like a real camera?

Willhub said:

Thanks all for the replies.

I'll have to read the links to get more of an idea.

So yes the P1000 I was surprised inside the pictures when I got them on lightroom were not massively better than my phone maybe that is as mentioned due to sensor size.

Is there any point using the DSC H300 or no real advantages apart from it looks like a real camera?

Click to expand...

Zoom range, better ergonomics.

Willhub said:

Hi,

I'm looking for more details in the image especially when enlarging the photo, good night time performance and to get long exposure picks to pick up things such as the galaxy belt at night. Less noise too.

Click to expand...

Just a few points - there are a lot pf good links that people have posted from dpreview and so on.

I would think about buying used ( that is what I try and do for bodies and lenses ) and NOT from eBay but from a dealer.

Are you near a good camera shop ? like LCE ( London camera exchange - branches around England ), WEX, Wilinsons and many others. They are usually very helpful and willing to spend time with you to discuss options. They are more interested in getting a new customer and their repeat business than a quick profit.

Nightime performance: this covers a multitude of things e.g. shots of still subjects where you may be able to get away with body or lens image stabilisation ( or a tripod which you will need for astro almost certainly ) - Olympus has very good IBIS for example.

Nightime photography where IBIS or a tripod is not going to help like with moving subjects where you may need a higher shutter speed to "stop motion" a full frame sensor to reduce the noise threshold.

Don't assume a "bright lens" is the answer - you will usually need to control depth of field if you want fore and middle ground in focus and then there is little difference between m43 and FF sensors. Situations where you do need a fast lens and/ or a large sensor are eg taking pics of murals / exhiibits inside where you can get away with limited depth of field and so open the aperture up - and, of course Astro particularly wide field of the Milky Way although there are many many good photographers using m43 like this and this came up near the top of a quick google search.

How much detail ? do you need lots of mpx ? in which case, with very few exceptions, a full frame body like the Sony A7Rii ( 45 mpx ) or a similar dslr + very good lenses = very very expensive.

Usually, unless you want super large prints and look at them inches away, the 16-24 mpx is plenty IMO.

when i first started out i bought a used Sony a7m1 that after 2 years i sold it for maybe a $150 loss (including ebay fee). I still often buy used and sell if i dont feel like i use the gear enough. Its much cheaper than renting although time consuming..

Price stability of used lenses is even better which often means the ebay fee is the biggest cost.

So if you want to delve into astro photography i reccomend buying a used FF mirrorless and adapt a manual Samyang 24mm f/1.4 ED AS IF UMC or something similar.

some further reading:

https://phillipreeve.net/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-landscape-astro-photography/#Wide_super_fast

Especially Sony has really cheap Tamron standard zooms like the 28-75f2.8 or 28-200mm that offer great quality for the money, far better than any phone. Especially the Tamron 28-75mm "G1" should be easy to find used ($500) since theres a 2nd generation available and the G1 sold hotcakes (because its very good).

The Sony a7ii is probably the cheapes FF mirrorless right now starting around $600 used. Although if you need good AF the Nikon Z5 ($1000) or a7iii ($1300) might be a better choice.

I wouldnt recommend going for crop sensors if you expect to get seriously into astro. The FF lens choices are much better value for money and the bigger sensor has big enough benefits to justify the increased cost.

$1100 for a a7ii+28-75f2.8 is a great choice in terms of image quality, you could spend $3000 on a used flagship Sony a7riv and 24-70GM and only get slightly better image quality.

And definitley post process your RAW images in post. Essentially that is what phones do automatically (sometimes very well), so its not a good idea to skip that step.

Willhub said:

Thanks all for the replies.

I'll have to read the links to get more of an idea.

So yes the P1000 I was surprised inside the pictures when I got them on lightroom were not massively better than my phone maybe that is as mentioned due to sensor size.

Is there any point using the DSC H300 or no real advantages apart from it looks like a real camera?

Click to expand...

The Sony H300 has a 25-875mm (eqv) zoom lens. According to this, your Samsung goes to 230mm (eqv). So the Sony can zoom in about 4x more without using digital zoom.

A person who wants to take casual photos of perched birds just for ID purposes would find this camera pretty useful on a nice sunny walk in a park or preserve.

--
Lance H

Willhub said:

Hello,

Forgive me if I'm making little sense or missing information that would be beneficial but I'm happy to elaborate if needed.

I've got a Samsung galaxy S22 Ultra, I've also got a Sony DSC-H300 which I've since not used, as far as I can see there would be little benefit over my phone?

Now I've just been for a walk with my GF and her dad and he's got a Nikon Coolpix P1000, which is immense, the zoom and picture quality, however again it seems for the price it's probably not the best.

I love the zoom but at the same time I'm not looking at spending £900 on a camera, I don't know what sort of budget is reasonable, would £400 be a good start ?

I'd be taking an all round type of pictures from portrait, landscape, night time, night sky etc..

I'm getting to grips with lightroom and Photoshop too.

So yes, any advice on where to go?

Click to expand...

I'd mount the phone on a tripod and get familiar with the manual adjustments. The phone would be very similar to the PASM modes in a camera. To get good result with a camera, you'll have to make adjustments. The phone probably does better in full auto than a camera. For night photography, you'll be using a tripod anyway. You can learn a lot by taking full advantage of the phone.

If you don't go with at least a premium 1" sensor compact, you'll probably be disappointed with a camera compared to your phone.

Someone is selling this kit or going to:

"Sony a5100 black with 15-50mm & 55-210mm kit lens - Purchased 11/01/2016 - Shutter count 4831. Boxed with everything. I also have a dummy battery that lets you power the camera using a USB port.Sony 50mm SEL50F18 - Purchased 11/01/2016. Boxed.Sigma 33B965 30 mm F1.4 DC DC Sony E-Mount-Black - Purchased 8th June 2020 - never left the house.Elgato 10GAM9901 cam link 4K - Comes with usb cable + hdmi to mini hdmi cable - Purchased 01/08/2020"



the above is around £500 and to be honest that would be the most maximum budget I'd have.

Willhub said:

Someone is selling this kit or going to:

"Sony a5100 black with 15-50mm & 55-210mm kit lens - Purchased 11/01/2016 - Shutter count 4831. Boxed with everything. I also have a dummy battery that lets you power the camera using a USB port.Sony 50mm SEL50F18 - Purchased 11/01/2016. Boxed.Sigma 33B965 30 mm F1.4 DC DC Sony E-Mount-Black - Purchased 8th June 2020 - never left the house.Elgato 10GAM9901 cam link 4K - Comes with usb cable + hdmi to mini hdmi cable - Purchased 01/08/2020"

the above is around £500 and to be honest that would be the most maximum budget I'd have.

Click to expand...

Sony APSC bodies are generally pretty good but I don't know this one - no EVF if that matters.

Two good lenses there: the sigma 30/1.4 DC DN and the Sony SEL50F18. That gives you a "standard" angle of view lens and a short portrait lens.

I had the kit lenses bundled with a NEX 6 - mediocre especially the 55-210

My guess would be that your phone would do a far better job over the combined focal length range than these kit lenses.

Away from that offer:

If you can increase your budget, I can think of a couple of systems that would get you astro and the other stuff you mentioned.

One would be based on a used full frame DSLR like the Nikon D610 ( and a Samyang 14/2.8 for wide field astro )

The other would be based on an m43 such as an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark 2 but you would need an expensivish UWA lens for that ( see my post above for m43 for astro ).

If you just jump in without doing a lot of research you will waste money and be disappointed IMO.

you will have lots of options, and then can go from there, and you probably can find one somewhat cheap.

What bridge camera would be worth looking at?

Tough call based on your original post. I could list several choices, but not sure that they would be any better than the Sony you already have. Several Panasonic models are in the price range, but specs are very similar to your Sony. But I have no experience with the one you have so don't know how it compares.

Willhub said:

What bridge camera would be worth looking at?

Click to expand...

Are you in fact still interested in wide field astro?

You would need to check specific models for how they work for that - e.g. can you actually focus at infinity with a dim viewfinder ? See if you can find sample images is best

Also 1 inch are probably the minimum sensor size usable in which cases choices are limited to the Sont RX10 iv or the FZ1000 i think.

You will definitely need a good, stable tripod and head - even if you don't go for an equitorial mount / tracker. These don't come cheap.

Willhub said:

Someone is selling this kit or going to:

"Sony a5100 black with 15-50mm & 55-210mm kit lens - Purchased 11/01/2016 - Shutter count 4831. Boxed with everything. I also have a dummy battery that lets you power the camera using a USB port.Sony 50mm SEL50F18 - Purchased 11/01/2016. Boxed.Sigma 33B965 30 mm F1.4 DC DC Sony E-Mount-Black - Purchased 8th June 2020 - never left the house.Elgato 10GAM9901 cam link 4K - Comes with usb cable + hdmi to mini hdmi cable - Purchased 01/08/2020"

the above is around £500 and to be honest that would be the most maximum budget I'd have.

Click to expand...

for 500 pounds its a good offer, mostly because of the 30mm prime and also a little bit because of the 50mm prime. i dont think the kit lenses are very useful.

i also dont think the a5100 is a bad choice per se if you can live without EVF but a6000 is also very cheap with loads of offerings.

But its harder to find cheap well performing APSC glass for astro though...

I have mostly used panasonic ones, and

if you can get the higher quality ones

then a fz300 or fz1000 are good choices.