Amateur Photographer Here, Advice Please!

Check out the Sony A7II. Small dslr camera and they have some nice smaller sized lenses for it.

there should be mirrorless set ups you can get. its difficult to get DSLR quality when its not one. it depends on the size. but there make these baseball sized cameras that have like a 60x zoom. but are a bit bulky to shove into a pocket. each company seems to have their own version.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Scott,

Save the money and get a new smart phone and then some of the third party gadgets, like lenses and filters,etc. OR, get the Sony:

Image Quality

"If you just want the 'executive summary': the RX100 III offers the best image quality of any pocketable camera we've ever seen. "

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sony-cybershot-dsc-rx100-m3/13

In reality, the only difference is the size of the prints that you'll be able to offer here and even that can be gotten around. I've seen 40x60" prints sold here from a smart phone!

Ideally, the physical size of the sensor is the biggest gain in digital cameras, generally speaking. But this Sony sounds like the best of all worlds for you and will produce better images than the current Canon Powershot.

If all the images were from your power shot on your site, then yes, the Sony will produce better images and with those better images, better files when you get ready to upload,after editing.............

Good Travels!

Rich

John,

Yes that's a sweet camera, a bit larger and more expensive, but quite a jump from the Canon Scott has now. My friend that shoots big yachts, his the same camera and loves it. Uses it on his drone stuff, for the stills mostly,

Rich

Just a thought: Has anyone experimented with individual image captures using the GoPro? Would be great to get stills and video from the same file.

Thanks for your replies guys. Good info, John and Mike. John, I will check out that Sony right after I finish this post.

Rich, thanks for all the info. I'm baffled how a smartphone camera could create such a larch image though. Don't smartphones have tiny sensors?

Not to hijack the thread, but these images Sarah were taken from a go pro using video and image shooting, 12mp. basically what the system does is snap a jpeg while it's filming it yields a higher quality image than grabbing a frame from the video in my opinion. The go pro has it's limits and down side but the software is pretty good at helping along the way.

Also to at-least contribute to the thread from what I know about phone cameras they can take really decent images. A dslr gives you lens options and such where as that's starting to change with phone cameras. (sorry)

phones are getting better, but while you'll get a larger image now, the clarity won't be there, certainly not in the range of an slr.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Wow, I'm shocked to see that you can buy all those peripherals for a smartphone camera nowadays. I guess pocket cameras really are a dying breed, but kept afloat by models like the Sony RX series. I don't see how you could pack that giant sensor into a phone though ;).

My travel camera is a Fujifilm x100t. Fixed 35mm equivalent lens and crop sensor. Classic Chrome setting gives a some very nice Kodachrome like Jpgs.

Mike, do you know of any good specific models that you described as mirrorless, baseball-sized with that awesome zoom?

Edward, great image with your Fujifilm. I like the classic style of the camera. I may end up with the RX100iii though, since it's just so feature-rich. But I may wait a couple months as its rumored that the RX100 mark IV will be announced this month.

off hand, no. i only shoot with the one camera.

http://shop.panasonic.com/cameras-and-camcorders/cameras/lumix-point-and-shoot-cameras/DMC-FZ70K.html i think this was one of the 60x models. though you'll have to do research.
http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-superzoom-camera/ here's one from oly

superzoom is your keyword.

i shoot with a canon 5dmk3, and may upgrade if the newer one in august is much better. but its hardly pocket worthy unless you use that 40mm pancake lens.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Scott,

No the phone sensors are tiny, but they have good software to enable the image to look better. I just suggested an upgraded phone, since you'll have one anyway and it might as well be a part time camera too, if you're concerned with having too much stuff to travel with. Also, thieves are less likely to grab your phone, vs a high end P&S, like the Sony,

Rich

Thanks Mike! That Lumix is definitely intriguing. I checked out your Canon too: I think that ones a bit advanced for me haha, but it looks top notch.

Rich,

Yes, that definitely makes sense. I wonder if the software types for the phones are also present in high-end P&S cams, coupled with the large sensors. I'd think that would then blow the phone cams out of the water.

Anyways, thanks everyone for the great advice. I've got some research to do and you've all helped me out big time.

Don't label yourself amateur. Let your work speak for you. No amateur or self taught and no "passion" for photography or art. To me, the less you describe your work, the better.

phones will have things that boost contrast while pushing back noise, but up close they may look blotchy. a real camera won't have that stuff, but then relies on a large cmos to gather the light. phones are useful though. you can get angles you couldn't get with a normal camera, and you can get shots without anyone knowing (unless you left the flash on or that noise on).

you may want a short zoom like 4x, but something that is more durable or waterproof. that would open your world to rain shots and if your always outside (wear sunscreen btw if your always out there), you won't have to worry about the camera. the more zoom a camera has, the higher the chance of it breaking. my camera keeps opening in the bag, it has a scratch on the lens because of that. i've been doing research on the small 30x cameras, that's why i kept bumping into the larger ones.

it really comes down to the types of shots you want. like if i were the daring type, i'd want to see things at night. so you would want a camera good for that. it really varies depending on the shots you want to take.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I agree with Mike phone cameras are a Bust! The advertising for them is over rated. I recently saw someone's expensive phone camera. It was the newest and best rated. A poor excuse for an image. Because the tiny sensor can't hold much data, the colors in the flower pic were garish and blotchy looking, the color shading was missing.

I'm also in agreement with if it's not a DSLR it won't perform the same or have all the color data in the sensor. What's the point if you are able to do all that traveling what a fantastic opportunity and end up with images that can't be enlarged like a DSLR and color isn't the best. I'm like Mike, if it isn't the best I don't want to fool with it. I would buy a used Pentax K-5 for $500 (waterproof) with a great sensor (about 1/3 less than Nikon) and get a used lens (most all Pentax DSLR lenses ever made fit newer cameras). Yes, it is heavier but that is the way it is. Have you ever held a professional full frame camera, it weighs about five lbs, but those photographers carry it everywhere they go! I carried my camera bag with me on foot for 6 days in Venice and I'm a girl! I went from my first and only point and shoot for a blog to six months later buying a DSLR and have had a fantastic time with the flexibility and quality. Forget that convenience thing that you have to carry it in your pocket!

I learned a lot just by looking at the perfect images on my camera forum, Pentaxforums.com. Their thing is to get sharp, good images right out of the camera with little editing, that was good exposure for me, it helped me understand what good photography is about. At FAA you see everything from bad to excellent. There I saw very little that was poor quality and with little editing.

Ed has excellent photography with his DSLR cameras but I can tell his Fuji is lacking in color shading because of the small sensor, like Mike said if you want to take images in less light you will need a DSLR or you will have to shoot in broad daylight.

This is mid day taken with my DSLR:

You all have gotten me very curious about people here who post photos not taken with DSLR. I think I'll start a thread about posting your best. Christopher and Edward already posted some good ones.

I'd say check out the high end mirror-less micro 4/3rds Olympus. They have weather sealed models.

http://www.getolympus.com/us/en/e-m1.html

Ah. I just read the rest of your post. So, maybe the olympus is too much. Panasonic FZ series is nice. I've used the FZ100, old now, and it's an excellent camera.

Oh yeah, I think another poster mentioned that series. I'm guessing the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000 is the latest. It looks to be good bang for your buck! That's definitely a good option, and the price is great. Thanks HW!

Scott, I think the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000 should be excellent as I have the older model FZ40 (14 MP, 24x zoom Leica lens) and it takes excellent animal (and other) images for me generally at maximum zoom.

Some time ago a lady asked me what make my camera was, and while no doubt they weren't profesional photographers, she said that on a recent trip in South America most people had a Panasonic Lumix!

Don't get the latest i6 from what my sis says the pics are grainy. Read on the net first before you buy anything.

Thanks Margaret and EricaMaxine! Do any of you go to Snapsort? I just checked out the Sony NEX-7 on Amazon and thought that'd be a great option too. It looks like it could fit into a jacket pocket. I did the comparison on Snapsort and got this: http://snapsort.com/compare/Sony-Cyber-shot-DSC-RX100-III-vs-Sony-NEX-7

I know the comparison tool is not accurate, but the NEX-7 seems to beat the RX in pretty much every area, AND it's about $250 cheaper. This just shows I have a ton of research to do regarding cameras.

As traveler, you always have to choose between convenience (small size and weight) and the best possible image quality.

When I started with "serious" photography some years ago, only a DSLR could give me the image quality I wanted. Today you have more options, but I think, in your price range, a DSLR with 18-200mm zoom lens plus a rather cheap 35 or 50mm 1.8 prime lens is still the best alternative.

You can buy a entry level DSLR with a zoom lens for far under $1000. If you want a more durable combination for almost the same price, I would go for the previous model of a midrange DSLR.

I can only talk about Nikon, because I shoot Nikon, but Iīm sure all other big brands have the same. Some weeks ago, Nikon introduced the D7200. Since the announcement, the previous models D7100 and D7000 saw a big price slump. Today, the quality jumps from the previous to the new models are rather small, but the price decline is rather big.

My conclusion: If you want to keep the costs under a grand, a entry or midrange level DSLR with a good zoom lens would be my choice.

Colin Utz
www.colinutzphotography.com

Canon EOS M are Mirrorless and are worth looking into.

your best bet is, if your going to travel the world and see it all, then it's worth carrying a little more weight on you. get a cheaper dslr, a cropped frame is fine. you'll get more zoom out of the lens anyway. its not that heavy, and if you get an all around zoom, they are usually plastic and not that heavy. a few batteries and you should be good go. while it sticks out more than a pocket camera, if you want to get good the slr is the way to go. if your traveling for fun, then it doesn't matter. if you plan to sell the images, then go with what you want, the slr is your best choice. that and a small tripod of some kind - a gorilla pod sounds like it will work best for you.

you really can't get into the world of slr's without an slr.

when you do your research, look for their sample images first, look up close - is it clear? does it have a strange noise pattern? what does the iso look like? some of them stop looking good at 400. you want it higher than that.

i'm still not sure why that sony is $800 though. that's twice as much as i would spend on a pocket camera. i have a sony now, and hate the picture quality and menu system.

anyway, if you choose slr, keep in mind that once you join the family, you can't really leave it, because the lenses, flash etc, will only be compatible to that one camera.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I had the rx100 m2 and LOVED IT...but it has to just be a secondary camera, It is great to throw in your pocket for closer up type shots and is unparalleled in its class. I switched to the sony a6000 and absolutely love the camera and have never looked back., It is mirrorless, small, lightweight but you can add lenses with it. I got the 55 210 lens ,,,It has many of the features of the rx100 but is expandable and does so much more.

Should you not go with a dslr I would check out the approved camera list on I-stock.com (Getty Images). In case you want to submit stock photos in the near future.

Thanks so much, everyone for the great advice. I will either go for a small SLR or a small mirrorless. It's funny you mention the Sony A6000, Judy, I have been doing a ton of research on that one lately. I'm really considering that or the new Samsung NX500, which is quite new, and many are saying it's an underrated, better version of the Sony A6000. Judy, do you have any samples you've taken with that A6000? How would you compare the quality to that of an SLR?

Oh, and one thing I hate about the Sony is that it lacks a digital level gauge. I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I've fallen in love with that feature! ;D I have no idea why Sony would suddenly pull that. And one setback with the Samsung is that it lacks a viewfinder, but that's something I can live without.

"Should you not go with a dslr I would check out the approved camera list on I-stock.com (Getty Images). In case you want to submit stock photos in the near future."

Thatīs a very good advice! Alamy has a approved camera list, too.

One of the reasons to buy my first DSLR, was to join Alamy, and the Ricoh I used was on the black list.