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CRJockey
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Posts: 354
Joined: Mon Feb 10, 2020 11:54 am

New camera recommendation - please help

Mon Nov 30, 2020 11:10 am

Hi community,

I am about to invest in a new camera. My previous Canon a couple of years ago happened to stay with my former best half.

Admittely, I am not gonna use the equipment for aviation photography. Much rather for shooting holiday/vacation and my little child in the making and family.

I happen to like photos with fixed focal length (about 50mm) and, in stark contrast, to use a zoom objective to catch a city scene or a family member without him/her knowing to create "real" life photos. I don't care much for wide angle photos like wide angle landscapes, etc...

Not sure, if with this amount of info there is any reasonable advice possible, but I'd like to spend reasonable amount of money for reasonably good equipment.
And finally, I have decided I will go for an electronic finder, most probably.

Would highly appreciate your input, many thanks in advance!
 
JakTrax
Posts: 5267
Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2005 3:30 am

Re: New camera recommendation - please help

Mon Nov 30, 2020 10:09 pm

Presumably when you say 'electric finder' you mean viewfinder, in which case you're limited to mirrorless models. Sony and Canon are leading the pack at the moment but neither are cheap, although there are more budget lens options for Sony.

To be honest your requirements are a little broad/vague so it's hard to make any recommendations.
 
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exFWAOONW
Posts: 800
Joined: Wed Nov 25, 2009 10:32 pm

Re: New camera recommendation - please help

Sun Dec 06, 2020 5:53 pm

There are several slr cameras that feature electronic viewfinders and a large screen on the back, too, no looking through glass at all.
Price range would help. Everyone has a different idea of “reasonable.”
 
JakTrax
Posts: 5267
Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2005 3:30 am

Re: New camera recommendation - please help

Sun Dec 06, 2020 6:46 pm

By its nature an SLR camera must have an OVF. EVFs were developed to negate the need for a chunky body to house the mirror and prism, and to bring the rear lens element closer to the sensor. You can use a DSLR like a mirrorless camera if you use the rear screen but no SLR cameras have true EVFs. Sony's SLTs came close but why would you opt for a dated SLT when you could just go mirrorless?
 
hoons90
Posts: 3994
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2001 10:15 pm

Re: New camera recommendation - please help

Mon Dec 07, 2020 4:41 am

I would highly recommend Sony, especially the Alpha line of cameras.
Although the a6000 (crop sensor) has been out for several years now, it's still one of the best cameras you can get for under 500USD.
If you have the budget for full frame, the a7 series is amazing, too. Sony cameras produce very vivid images and have very impressive specs (my a7S can go up to ISO409600 for example.) They also shoot excellent video. The newer generation A7 series have in-body image stabilization, too.

Being mirrorless, these cameras have an EVF. A downside, however, is that native lenses are very expensive, especially for the full frame (FE) lineup. You can purchase a Metabones adapter to adapt any Canon EF lenses you may have, or get a LA-EA4 adapter and purchase cheap vintage Minolta lenses.

If you want to see some examples of photos taken with the Sony Alpha line of cameras, check out: http://reddit.com/r/sonyalpha
 
JakTrax
Posts: 5267
Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2005 3:30 am

Re: New camera recommendation - please help

Mon Dec 07, 2020 12:57 pm

I shoot both Sony and Canon mirrorless (as well as Canon DSLRs). I bought the Sony due to its small size and have a collection of primes for it. It does a good job but I've never been 100% satisfied with the images compared with those produced by the Canons. Canon's colour science is certainly better and I'm not too keen on the way the Sony handles high-contrast edges. But these are minor complaints and I can definitely recommend the Sony Alpha series.

That said, Sony's definitive lead has now been lost with the release of the Canon R5 and R6. Sony still has more glass due to the length of time it's been in the mirrorless market but Canon's legacy RF lenses are a force to be reckoned with. Sony's AF still has a slight edge overall but the latest Canon eye detect does a better job tracking subjects. If you're a stills shooter it's very hard to dismiss the R5/6, even in light of Sony's prowess. If, on the other hand, you're a video maker Sony easily maintains its crown.
 
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ftorre82
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2010 1:17 am

Re: New camera recommendation - please help

Sun Jan 10, 2021 10:04 pm

JakTrax wrote:
I shoot both Sony and Canon mirrorless (as well as Canon DSLRs). I bought the Sony due to its small size and have a collection of primes for it. It does a good job but I've never been 100% satisfied with the images compared with those produced by the Canons. Canon's colour science is certainly better and I'm not too keen on the way the Sony handles high-contrast edges. But these are minor complaints and I can definitely recommend the Sony Alpha series.

That said, Sony's definitive lead has now been lost with the release of the Canon R5 and R6. Sony still has more glass due to the length of time it's been in the mirrorless market but Canon's legacy RF lenses are a force to be reckoned with. Sony's AF still has a slight edge overall but the latest Canon eye detect does a better job tracking subjects. If you're a stills shooter it's very hard to dismiss the R5/6, even in light of Sony's prowess. If, on the other hand, you're a video maker Sony easily maintains its crown.


I'm 100 percent agreed with this comment. I've been using canon and nikon for 10+ years and last year in a trip I bought a sony a6400. I liked the portability and modern lenses sony developed (specially the 70-350 I also bought).
At first, it was ok and I felt the images were superior, but after 5000+ shots I realized the same as the user wrote before: very hard to sharpen, unnatural colors, lot of halos and hard to deal with exposure parameters. Related to focus and performance it is very responsive, even with tracking in hard situations.
I don't recommend the brand moving in these cases.

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