500USD Camera for Starter (Mirrorless/DSLR)

[RyeIII]

Im in the market for a camera, will be used in photo/video.

Im thinking of getting Sony a5100 or Canon 800D or 77d.

 

I will always need to carry the camera for travel purposes.

which one should I get?budget is 500-800USD.

[RAM555789]

11 minutes ago, RyeIII said:

Im in the market for a camera, will be used in photo/video.

Im thinking of getting Sony a5100 or Canon 800D or 77d.

 

I will always need to carry the camera for travel purposes.

which one should I get?budget is 500-800USD.

Is this going to be for still shots, or more recording videos?

[RyeIII]

Just now, RAM555789 said:

Is this going to be for still shots, or more recording videos?

more like 70% for stills and 30% for videos.

[RAM555789]

GoPro Hero 5 is an option. Heres an article where a guy talks about his photography experience with it. https://photofocus.com/2016/10/10/is-the-gopro-hero5-black-any-good-for-photography/

 

The price range is $400 for the base model or $800 with the Karma Drone and backpack.

[another random person]

DSLR's like the 800d or 77d will become a tad bit tedious to carry around if you travel a lot, I own a T6 and a few lenses with it (Sigma lens) and even that becomes annoying to carry around. Depending on how much you travel I would be starting to lean towards a Mirrorless system. 

 

A light Mirrorless camera which allows for work primarily within photography world would have to be the Sony a6000. 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1029861-REG/sony_ilce6000_b_alpha_a6000_mirrorless_digital.html

The Sony features an APS-C sized CMOS sensor, of which is a similar size to the sensor in that of a Canon 77D. 

The ISO can reach up to 25600 but anything above 6400 typically isn't recommendable.

It also has pretty good video capabilities and can record at 1080P 60 at 50mbps data rate.

 

 

Another mirrorless camera more for the video work would be the Panasonic G7.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1148282-REG/panasonic_dmc_g7kk_lumix_dmc_g7_mirrorless_micro.html

The Panasonic is primarily recognised for use within video work and can record up to 4K 30 at 100mbps.

The Panasonic also works well as a stills camera outputting high quality images but the micro 4/3 sensor size does limit the ISO sensitivity maximums. 

 

If you are willing to lug the extra weight you really can't go past a Canon 77D due to the wide range of accessories that work with it as well as the lens that natively fit onto it. 

 

 

[RyeIII]

3 minutes ago, RAM555789 said:

GoPro Hero 5 is an option. Heres an article where a guy talks about his photography experience with it. https://photofocus.com/2016/10/10/is-the-gopro-hero5-black-any-good-for-photography/

 

The price range is $400 for the base model or $800 with the Karma Drone and backpack.

I will take a look at this, since I recently own a Hero 4 Silver.Thanks

[RAM555789]

Just now, RyeIII said:

I will take a look at this, since I recently own a Hero 4 Silver.Thanks

I've seen some really nice 4k footage shot with it, I'm not as sure about still shots but the article talks a good bit about it. 

[RyeIII]

3 minutes ago, another random person said:

DSLR's like the 800d or 77d will become a tad bit tedious to carry around if you travel a lot, I own a T6 and a few lenses with it (Sigma lens) and even that becomes annoying to carry around. Depending on how much you travel I would be starting to lean towards a Mirrorless system. 

 

A light Mirrorless camera which allows for work primarily within photography world would have to be the Sony a6000. 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1029861-REG/sony_ilce6000_b_alpha_a6000_mirrorless_digital.html

The Sony features an APS-C sized CMOS sensor, of which is a similar size to the sensor in that of a Canon 77D. 

The ISO can reach up to 25600 but anything above 6400 typically isn't recommendable.

It also has pretty good video capabilities and can record at 1080P 60 at 50mbps data rate.

 

 

Another mirrorless camera more for the video work would be the Panasonic G7.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1148282-REG/panasonic_dmc_g7kk_lumix_dmc_g7_mirrorless_micro.html

The Panasonic is primarily recognised for use within video work and can record up to 4K 30 at 100mbps.

The Panasonic also works well as a stills camera outputting high quality images but the micro 4/3 sensor size does limit the ISO sensitivity maximums. 

 

If you are willing to lug the extra weight you really can't go past a Canon 77D due to the wide range of accessories that work with it as well as the lens that natively fit onto it. 

 

 

Mirrorless is a lot more easy to carry than a DSLR's. Im just not sure about the battery life of a mirrorless.

[another random person]

1 minute ago, RAM555789 said:

GoPro Hero 5 is an option. Heres an article where a guy talks about his photography experience with it. https://photofocus.com/2016/10/10/is-the-gopro-hero5-black-any-good-for-photography/

 

The price range is $400 for the base model or $800 with the Karma Drone and backpack.

 

 

1 minute ago, RyeIII said:

I will take a look at this, since I recently own a Hero 4 Silver.Thanks

The hero 5 doesn't really give much flexibility with regards to zoom range and manual control settings and in order to shoot manual, you need to navigate through settings on a tiny 3-inch touch screen. It's okay for those just shooting primarily in auto mode but for those wanting creative flexibility, it's an absolute pain to work with. 

[another random person]

2 minutes ago, RyeIII said:

Mirrorless is a lot more easy to carry than a DSLR's. Im just not sure about the battery life of a mirrorless.

The battery life of a mirrorless is understandably significantly less due to the sensor constantly needing to be active when the camera is in use in order to provide an image on the back screen or EVF. When compared to a DSLR whose sensor is barely in use mirrorless camera systems drink battery. If you do choose mirrorless I would recommend picking up several batteries. The a6000 has a shot endurance of approximately 360 shots compared to the 600 of the 77D. 

[RyeIII]

5 minutes ago, another random person said:

The battery life of a mirrorless is understandably significantly less due to the sensor constantly needing to be active when the camera is in use in order to provide an image on the back screen or EVF. When compared to a DSLR whose sensor is barely in use mirrorless camera systems drink battery. If you do choose mirrorless I would recommend picking up several batteries. The a6000 has a shot endurance of approximately 360 shots compared to the 600 of the 77D. 

I might go with a mirrorless, I will visit a local store to test a unit. still need to decide from a6000 vs a5100.

I will do some research. thanks!

[another random person]

4 minutes ago, RyeIII said:

I might go with a mirrorless, I will visit a local store to test a unit. still need to decide from a6000 vs a5100.

I will do some research. thanks!

a6000 is pretty much a superior model to the a5100 so I would recommend the a6100. 

Good idea. You're welcome.

[xQubeZx]

The A5100 and the others are not really in the same catagory..if you are looking at mirrorless in that budget I'd look at the Sony A6000 instead. Maybe a used Fuji XT-1 if you can find one but the AF on that one will be worse, but probably not that noticable unless you compare them side by side. 

[RyeIII]

4 minutes ago, xQubeZx said:

The A5100 and the others are not really in the same catagory..if you are looking at mirrorless in that budget I'd look at the Sony A6000 instead. Maybe a used Fuji XT-1 if you can find one but the AF on that one will be worse, but probably not that noticable unless you compare them side by side. 

I've decided that I will go with a6000, too bad a6300 is out of my budget.

[xQubeZx]

5 minutes ago, RyeIII said:

I've decided that I will go with a6000, too bad a6300 is out of my budget.

Have you looked at used ones?