How much should I spend?

danlightbulb

danlightbulb

danlightbulb

Soldato
Joined
14 Jul 2005
Posts
9,069
Location
Birmingham
Hi all

I am getting fed up of taking photos on my mobile phone. I don't have any photography knowhow other than point and shoot a phone camera or a small digital camera. But I do know that I can't take photos if the light is too bright, or too dim, or if things in the photo are moving.

I'm going on holiday with the missus in a few weeks and I would like to have something other than my phone to take pictures with. On the one hand, something portable that can go on the beach is desirable. But on the other hand I would like to be able to get some nice pictures too, of the family and scenery. So some wide angle? Some decent zoom for when boy playing in the sea? Decent in low light at the nighttime family meal in bar? Quickly snap the missus when she slips out of bikini. That kind of thing.

No idea where to start. Budget? Well the lower the better really but if it can be justified, could I get something good for £200 to £300?
 
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Ok so Ive been reading for the past hour (dangerous lol).

I am really liking the CSC cameras, but not sure I want to pay £300+. Well I don't want to pay it, unless it is justified? I am gravitating towards them because (and please correct me if I'm wrong here):
* I will be able to upgrade to alternative lenses in the future (but not sure if I ever would need to?)
* the bigger sensor makes it better in low light (?) and faster to shoot (?)
* on the whole better and more future proof (?)

I did look at the bridge cameras, but they seem bulky (?) and the lenses are not interchangable (is that good or bad for me?)

The small compacts seem inferior in almost every way. Although that of course doesn't mean that I should discount them, but when browsing I'm drawn to the CSCs.
 
Raymond Lin said:
That is like everything in a box, compromises need to be made somewhere because that is a lot of different focal lengths.

Probably best to get a Sony RX100 or something.
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At £350 the RX100 seems very expensive for a point and click digital. What am I getting for that amount of money? When compared to a CSC I seem to be getting much more for the money? I don't really want to spend that kind of money unless Im getting something special for it.

Is it not possible for a CSC camera to be used more general purpose? If Im on holiday, Im going to want to take some pictures of the scenery, some zoomed in picture of scenery, some pictures of the family on beach playing, some photos at night etc. I thought by getting the better spec camera this would all be better?


Ive been looking on MBP and have seen an Olympus OM-D E-M10 for £234. It seems to have very good reviews. It doesn't seem to come with a lens though - what would I need?

The cheapest Olympus lens on MBP seems to be £70? Seems to be pushing the price up quite a bit nearly to new prices when I add the lens on? It is a 14-42mm. Will that range deliver good all round performance?
 
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danlightbulb said:
At £350 the RX100 seems very expensive for a point and click digital. What am I getting for that amount of money? When compared to a CSC I seem to be getting much more for the money? I don't really want to spend that kind of money unless Im getting something special for it.

Is it not possible for a CSC camera to be used more general purpose? If Im on holiday, Im going to want to take some pictures of the scenery, some zoomed in picture of scenery, some pictures of the family on beach playing, some photos at night etc. I thought by getting the better spec camera this would all be better?


Ive been looking on MBP and have seen an Olympus OM-D E-M10 for £234. It seems to have very good reviews. It doesn't seem to come with a lens though - what would I need?

The cheapest Olympus lens on MBP seems to be £70? Seems to be pushing the price up quite a bit nearly to new prices when I add the lens on? It is a 14-42mm. Will that range deliver good all round performance?
Click to expand...

You would need a lens for your needs, a wide angle, a telephoto, a portrait fast lens for the wife.

Or you can compromise and get a Sony RX100.
 
I will do.

My logic though is saying that if I can get an rx100 for £350, which has a 1"sensor and 10-36mm lens. Then why is a csc with a bigger m43 sensor and a similar 14-42 lens, for £300 (albeit used) not better?

I am also wondering whether the zoom on the rx100 will be too small? Only 3.6x zoom doesn't seem to give much room for those scenery/kids at the beach photos. I could spend less than £100 and get something like the Sony Cybershot W830 with 8x zoom. It has a 1/2.3 type sensor, which I think is around the same, maybe a bit bigger, than what is in my Samsung a3 phone.
 
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Yeah I did do that. An Olympus EM10 plus lens was coming out at about £300. I'm now backtracking though because of concerns about portability.

I just find £350 for a compact to be too high. But I want to spend more than the basic £50 to £100 for a sensor the same as my phone. Is there anything in the middle, so around £150 to £200?
 
My advice would be to took at the exchange shops we have in the cities as they tend to underprice lots of their camera gear. I picked up a used Sony A6000 for £295 over a year ago. Look at the older models, I have a friend who paid around £100 for a Sony NEX5 with the kit lens. I have a Sony RX100 too and rarely use it as it's no issue carrying my A6000 around and the A6000 blows it out of the water imo.
 
Honestly judging by your posts OP it seems you have no real interest in photography as a hobby/art form/creative interest etc. Because of that I'd highly advise you steer away from any interchangeable lens camera as it simply will not suit your needs. You want a camera for holiday snaps, end of story. Lugging round even the smallest CSC plus two lenses in a hot climate is a lot different from having a decent point and shoot in your pocket or bag.

If you were on here talking about how you'd like to learn about photography, how cameras work etc - then it would be a different story perhaps. But for holiday snaps, no. You can bet most hobbyists like myself on here end up taking snaps on their phones on holiday when they can't be bothered to carry gear around, or the girlfriend starts complaining about you swapping lenses etc. Trust me ;)
 
Scam said:
If you were on here talking about how you'd like to learn about photography, how cameras work etc - then it would be a different story perhaps. But for holiday snaps, no. You can bet most hobbyists like myself on here end up taking snaps on their phones on holiday when they can't be bothered to carry gear around, or the girlfriend starts complaining about you swapping lenses etc. Trust me ;)
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Sure - I think you are right. But what I do want are very good holiday snaps. Holiday snaps at night that aren't grainy. My phone camera often won't even focus at night. If we are on the beach and there is a mountain backdrop, for example, then I want a good picture of it, and to be able to zoom in to items of interest.

So yes, I have no interesting in taking black and white photos or close ups of flowers, but I do want good quality, detailed holiday snaps.
 
The two I'm looking at now are both Sony. The W830 (£90) which is a 8x zoom and the WX350 (£160) which is a 20x zoom. I don't think I can justify £350 on the RX100 as if I was going to spend that much I'd want a proper CSC. I also don't think 3.6x zoom would be enough.

Any recommendations out of these two?
 
danlightbulb said:
The two I'm looking at now are both Sony. The W830 (£90) which is a 8x zoom and the WX350 (£160) which is a 20x zoom. I don't think I can justify £350 on the RX100 as if I was going to spend that much I'd want a proper CSC. I also don't think 3.6x zoom would be enough.

Any recommendations out of these two?
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FYI, a 1200mm lens is a 1x zoom.

a 24-70mm is a 3x zoom.

The former can see the across a football pitch and read what letters on the program some fan is reading, the latter would struggle to see what brand of boots the goalie on your side is wearing.

The magnitude of zoom is just the longest end divide by the short end, it is meaningless.
 
Raymond Lin said:
FYI, a 1200mm lens is a 1x zoom.

a 24-70mm is a 3x zoom.

The former can see the across a football pitch and read what letters on the program some fan is reading, the latter would struggle to see what brand of boots the goalie on your side is wearing.

The magnitude of zoom is just the longest end divide by the short end, it is meaningless.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. The W830 is 4.5-36mm and the WX350 is 4.3-86mm. I understand these have to be expressed in full frame equivelents to be comparable to your 1200mm lens example, but not sure on how to do that conversion.

Edit - ah I multiply it by the crop factor which I think is 6 for these cameras?

So the effective lens range would be 27-216mm for the W830 and 26-516mm for the WX350.


By comparison the RX100 is 10.4-37.1mm with a crop factor of 2.7 so 28-100mm effective lens range? Still a lot lower than both of the above.


So what does all of this mean that I need?
 
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danlightbulb said:
Fair enough. The W830 is 4.5-36mm and the WX350 is 4.3-86mm. I understand these have to be expressed in full frame equivelents to be comparable to your 1200mm lens example, but not sure on how to do that conversion.
Click to expand...

It depends on the sensor size in the camera.

If both sensor are the same seize then then latter can see further.

In the WX350, it's 35mm-equivalent focal lengths is 24-480mm.

http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/digital-cameras/compact-digital-cameras/1401132/sony-wx350-review

To be honest, this will do what you want.
 
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