cheap noob here with the question asked millions of times, should I get a old flagship or get a new low end camera

[Berinejo]

I am looking for something under $400 that has a good price/perfomance ratio, and wanted to get some expert advice on what to get, thank you in advance

[BiotechBen]

Well, depends. Are you going for stills or video, is there a certain cor profile you like, what features are you looking for?

[Electronics Wizardy]

What other things do you care about in a camera? Weight? Size? Focal lengths? Autofocus? Video? 

 

Id probably get a few year old used camera. Maybe somthing like a m50, or g85.

[Berinejo]

I am looking for something that I can put in my bag and carry around not killing me, it will be used for still photograpy around town as I will ride my bike and take photos, but feature wise autofocus would be nice, most photos would be of water features and buildings

[Blue4130]

33 minutes ago, Berinejo said:

I am looking for something that I can put in my bag and carry around not killing me, it will be used for still photograpy around town as I will ride my bike and take photos, but feature wise autofocus would be nice, most photos would be of water features and buildings

What is the end goal? Online viewing or making prints?

[Berinejo]

12 minutes ago, Blue4130 said:

What is the end goal? Online viewing or making prints?

a little bit of both so I can post them online and print them out to display in my room

[Brian McKee]

I prefer an older flagship 9 time out of 10. The feel of a camera matters as much to me as the performance.

[bleedblue]

Since you'll be using it mostly for stills and will be carrying it during bike rides, an old flagship 100%. Canon 5D mkii and Canon 6d come in to mind. 

•  Full frame
• Weather sealed and built like a tank
• EF mount has one of if not the largest lens selections
• Cheap af
• Great images SOOC

I recently got a 5D classic for $200 and I've been using it for stills more than my Fuji XT3. 

Downside to those Canon DSLR's are they are quite chonky. An apsc alternative I would suggest is the Fuji XT2. I'd still be using mine today if I wasn't given an XT3 as a gift.

[Berinejo]

2 hours ago, bleedblue said:

Since you'll be using it mostly for stills and will be carrying it during bike rides, an old flagship 100%. Canon 5D mkii and Canon 6d come in to mind. 

•  Full frame
• Weather sealed and built like a tank
• EF mount has one of if not the largest lens selections
• Cheap af
• Great images SOOC

I recently got a 5D classic for $200 and I've been using it for stills more than my Fuji XT3. 

Downside to those Canon DSLR's are they are quite chonky. An apsc alternative I would suggest is the Fuji XT2. I'd still be using mine today if I wasn't given an XT3 as a gift.

Thanks for the recommendation, I have seen people recommend the Canon for newbies like me

[Blue4130]

11 minutes ago, Berinejo said:

Thanks for the recommendation, I have seen people recommend the Canon for newbies like me

Be warned, it's not exactly the best camera for tossing in a backpack/bag. It's big and heavy. For a bike around town camera, I'd go for something smaller myself. Some mirrorless like a eos M or along those lines.

[Brian McKee]

8 hours ago, Blue4130 said:

Be warned, it's not exactly the best camera for tossing in a backpack/bag. It's big and heavy. For a bike around town camera, I'd go for something smaller myself. Some mirrorless like a eos M or along those lines.

If OP is anything like me and doesn't care for mirrorless can always go for an APSC option for a light camera. I've been shooting a Pentax KP for years now and the image quality is superb.

[Imbadatnames]

13 hours ago, Brian McKee said:

If OP is anything like me and doesn't care for mirrorless can always go for an APSC option for a light camera. I've been shooting a Pentax KP for years now and the image quality is superb.

Mirrorless is the here and now old man! 

[TheStarkster90]

On 7/12/2022 at 2:54 AM, Imbadatnames said:

Mirrorless is the here and now old man! 

I don't know though. I have a Sony a7 IV, and one of my biggest gripes is that the screen will auto-adjust the exposure on both the EVF and display so you can see what you're shooting even in low light.

 

Doesn't sound like a problem ...until you're shooting with a VND and you fudge up the exposure...

[Blue4130]

1 hour ago, TheStarkster90 said:

I don't know though. I have a Sony a7 IV, and one of my biggest gripes is that the screen will auto-adjust the exposure on both the EVF and display so you can see what you're shooting even in low light.

 

Doesn't sound like a problem ...until you're shooting with a VND and you fudge up the exposure...

That's a problem with one camera though, not mirrorless in general. If you need more proof that mirrorless is the here and now, just look at nikons announcement that they are no longer producing dslr cameras in japan due to lack of sales. 

[Imbadatnames]

3 hours ago, TheStarkster90 said:

I don't know though. I have a Sony a7 IV, and one of my biggest gripes is that the screen will auto-adjust the exposure on both the EVF and display so you can see what you're shooting even in low light.

 

Doesn't sound like a problem ...until you're shooting with a VND and you fudge up the exposure...

All reasons not to be a Sony pony ;)

[TheStarkster90]

5 hours ago, Imbadatnames said:

All reasons not to be a Sony pony ;)

I mean, that's just me griping to be honest.  Other than that, I'm actually pretty satisfied with it. 

 

Also, I only went Sony because I was upset at Canon's fun artificial segmentation (namely that "feature" where they cut off video recording at 30 mins).

[TheStarkster90]

7 hours ago, Blue4130 said:

That's a problem with one camera though, not mirrorless in general. If you need more proof that mirrorless is the here and now, just look at nikons announcement that they are no longer producing dslr cameras in japan due to lack of sales. 

Yeah, that's true but I feel it's an easy fix in software (add a menu option where I can turn it off).

 

Fun fact: Sony makes Nikon's sensors, sooooooo.... 

[Blue4130]

2 hours ago, TheStarkster90 said:

Yeah, that's true but I feel it's an easy fix in software (add a menu option where I can turn it off).

 

Fun fact: Sony makes Nikon's sensors, sooooooo.... 

So what? There is so much more to a camera than a raw sensor. Sony doesn't do any of the processing algorithms, just the raw sensor chip. 

[Imbadatnames]

3 hours ago, TheStarkster90 said:

I mean, that's just me griping to be honest.  Other than that, I'm actually pretty satisfied with it. 

 

Also, I only went Sony because I was upset at Canon's fun artificial segmentation (namely that "feature" where they cut off video recording at 30 mins).

Generally the 30 min limit is for overheating reasons tbh. 
 

I have Fuji but that’s mainly for the colours 

[Brian McKee]

On 7/12/2022 at 3:54 AM, Imbadatnames said:

Mirrorless is the here and now old man! 

I own a couple mirrorless cameras, I don't use them because I prefer framing with OVF. I do mainly nature photography and I usually frame with my camera off as having my camera on for hours would be a huge drain on battery. For each their own.

[Brian McKee]

On 7/14/2022 at 11:46 AM, Imbadatnames said:

Generally the 30 min limit is for overheating reasons tbh. 
 

I have Fuji but that’s mainly for the colours 

Actually the limits are because of EU tax laws. Recording over a certain amount of time classifies them as video cameras and puts them in different brackets or so I've read.

[Imbadatnames]

1 hour ago, Brian McKee said:

Actually the limits are because of EU tax laws. Recording over a certain amount of time classifies them as video cameras and puts them in different brackets or so I've read.

That makes no sense as varying models have different record times on pretty every brand and price isn’t affected vs non EU markets

[tikker]

On 7/15/2022 at 9:03 PM, Brian McKee said:

Actually the limits are because of EU tax laws. Recording over a certain amount of time classifies them as video cameras and puts them in different brackets or so I've read.

On 7/15/2022 at 10:43 PM, Imbadatnames said:

That makes no sense as varying models have different record times on pretty every brand and price isn’t affected vs non EU markets

That rule was there in the past, but I recently found (when I had to record something over 30 min of course :P) out that since a few years it's not in effect anymore. In 2016 an agreement was made betwen WTO members to drop duties by july 2019 a the latest for a variety of IT products including "Television cameras, digital cameras and video camera recorders"

 

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/06/17/agreement-on-trade-in-it-products/

 

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-8-2016-001277-ASW_EN.html