Black Friday - recommended cameras

[brick60000]

Hi all,

I have been recently thinking about upgrading to a DSLR from my Fujifilm Finepix S6800 for quite some time now. I tend to find the focus isn't great, and noise can be an issue.

I have been looking so far at the Canon EOS 70D and 700D. I wondered if anyone had any comments about these, or if there are any other cameras in the Black Friday sales that are recommended for railway photography?

Thanks in advance!

Brick60000

 

[ac6000cw]

It's not actually a DSLR - it's a mirror-less interchangeable lens camera, but the Panasonic Lumix G7 is a a very, very good deal at the moment (with £200 cash back until 6th December) -http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/...nasonic-Lumix-DMC-G7-Camera-with-14-42mm-Lens and http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/...asonic-Lumix-DMC-G7-Camera-with-14-140mm-Lens

I use it's predecessor (the G6) and it's an excellent hybrid stills and video camera - the G7 adds 4k (ultra high definition) video capability and a '4k photo' mode which essentially captures short 4k movies which you can then (in camera) extract 8 megapixel stills from. Review - http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Panasonic_Lumix_G7/

 

[PaxVobiscum]

http://www.canon.co.uk/for_home/product_finder/cameras/digital_camera/powershot/powershot_g3_x/

Not a DSLR either, but worth a look at the reviews.

The thing I've found about the cheaper Canon DSLRs is that the plastic bodied kit lenses tend to lose focus and let in dust over the years. You can buy pro lenses but that is serious money.

 

[Haydn1971]

I have been looking so far at the Canon EOS 70D and 700D. I wondered if anyone had any comments about these, or if there are any other cameras in the Black Friday sales that are recommended for railway photography?

Both are great cameras - the 70D being more focused on a photographer who's prepared to play with the settings more, shooting with shutter or aperture priority .

Either will serve you fine. Personally I'd not get the standard 18-55mm lens, it's not a bad lens, but, go for deal that gives you the 18-135mm, it will give you more reach on the tele end, otherwise you'll end up having to also buy a 55-250 or 70-300 tele zoom.

 

[AM9]

Hi all,

I have been recently thinking about upgrading to a DSLR from my Fujifilm Finepix S6800 for quite some time now. I tend to find the focus isn't great, and noise can be an issue.

I have been looking so far at the Canon EOS 70D and 700D. I wondered if anyone had any comments about these, or if there are any other cameras in the Black Friday sales that are recommended for railway photography?

Thanks in advance!

Brick60000

I have a 70D and a 550D (a predecessor of the 700D. Both are sound SLRs with a full range of manual facilities as well as a full auto mode. Most of the development in cameras surrounds sensors and image processing. Lens designs are relatively mature and most on sale today have (or will have) a long product life. The 50mmf1.8 lens form Canon which was only superceded this year, has been on the market since 1991. Its replacement released this year tested about the same in terms of quality, just with faster focusing.
The advantage of established SLR ranges is that the lens interchangeability lasts for decades. If you are serious about photography, you will, over time amass a collection of lens and accessories. If looked after, these lens will be used on later bodies so you will not have to start again. The Canon EOS range is not the only leading SLR range, (Nikon and Sony have good ranges as well) and they are all good examples of the most flexible of camera types.

 

[ac6000cw]

Personally I'd not get the standard 18-55mm lens, it's not a bad lens, but, go for deal that gives you the 18-135mm, it will give you more reach on the tele end, otherwise you'll end up having to also buy a 55-250 or 70-300 tele zoom.

I'd agree with that - I use a 14-140 mm image-stabilised zoom as the 'do almost anything' lens on my G6. The other lens that can be useful is a large aperture 'prime' (non-zoom) lens for low-light/night photography - there is no substitute for getting as much light as possible to the image sensor when it's dark...

As the OP mentioned noise as a problem, compared to a small sensor camera like the Finepix S6800, any modern large sensor camera should be a big improvement, especially at low light levels. A few hand-held shots at dusk from my G6 - https://www.dropbox.com/s/p8lx4hciz8lgssn/P1260008.JPG?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/1n8g6oo8sge52gs/P1250994.JPG?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/rkfisofejl1m2i5/P1260003.JPG?dl=0 (these are JPEGs straight out of the camera)

 

[brick60000]

Thanks everyone for all the replies!! Much appreciated

 

[ac6000cw]

So have you decided what to buy ?

 

[Donald82]

Hi all,

I have been recently thinking about upgrading to a DSLR from my Fujifilm Finepix S6800 for quite some time now. I tend to find the focus isn't great, and noise can be an issue.

I have been looking so far at the Canon EOS 70D and 700D. I wondered if anyone had any comments about these, or if there are any other cameras in the Black Friday sales that are recommended for railway photography?

Thanks in advance!

Brick60000

No! Don't do it! Stick with Fujifilm and upgrade to their mirrorless X-Range. The X-T2 or X-T10 would be nice upgrade choices. Awesome cameras!

http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital_cameras/x/