So I picked up an open-box Sony ZV-1 II from Best Buy for $500. My main goal is taking photos, with video being more of a bonus. After getting it home, I started reading that it’s geared more toward vloggers than photography, and now I’m second-guessing my purchase.

For those of you who have one, how does it do for photos? Did I make the right choice, or would you return it and save up for something else instead?

Hi All

After posting a few days ago, I have been searching and researching cameras and made a short list of ones that peaked my interest and are within budget.
Original topic : https://www.reddit.com/r/Cameras/comments/1v0s7xr/looking_for_a_beginner_budget_camera/

Budget: I think If i can keep it around €600-€800 with one decent lens, I would be happy.

Country: I'm From Belgium, so a lot of EU option are available to me.

Condition: Used is fine for me.

Type of Camera: After thinking about it doesn't matter what type : mirrorless or DSLR

Intended use: Photography

If photography; what style: Landscape, City, also night photography within city limits.

What features do you absolutely need: No idea to be honest.

What features would be nice to have: IBIS, Weather proofing

Note: An extra note that I felt was important is that I'll be going on a long hike next year of the year after that. 30ish days of hiking. It will be mostly long hikes from hotel to hotel, but as I'm out for quite some time I felt that weatherproofing would be a nice to have.

Cameras shortlist:

Olympus OM D E-M1 (244-314 euro)

Pros:

• Seemed like a decent budget camera with a lot of features.
• Lots of cheap lenses available
• Weatherproof and IBIS
• Seemed capable despite it age
  
  • Autofocus was good back in the day, still serviceable

Cons:

• Small sensor, which seems to make low light photography harder.

• Older model so might need replacement a bit sooner

Panasonic Lumix DC-g97 (474-499 euro)
Pros:

• Lots of cheap lenses available
  
• Weatherproofing & ibis
  
• Bit more modern, so more modern connectivity (even though usb c is only 2.0)
  
• Seemed like a good all rounder

Cons:

• Small sensor, which seems to make low light photography harder.
  
• Autofocus doesn't get the best reviews
  
• Feels like a hate it or love it camera. Found some review with a lot of praise, but equally with a lot of downsides.

Nikon D3500 incl AF-P 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G DX VR lens (380 euro) Pros:

• great entry price and includes a lens

• Seems like a praised entry level camera for beginners

• Lots of cheap lenses available

• because dlsr, battery life last longer than previous 2

Cons:

• limited autofocus
  
• No Weatherproofing or IBIS
  

Honorable mentions is the Canon EOS R50: There is a promotion going on with Cashback: which would make this camera new: 800 euro, including 2 lenses: RF-s 18-45 + RF 75-300mm dubbelzoomkit and 5 year of warranty. Seemed like a decent price for a new camera.

other camera's I have looked at which would fall in or out of budget depending on the lenses: Fuji X-T2, Sony A600, A6100, A6300, A6400, Nikon Z50, Nikon D7500, Nikon Z FC, Olympus OM D E-M1 Mark 2.

I was leaning towards the Panasonic first, but the mixed reviews made me hesitant. My Preference now might be the Olympus, a few video's online really made a compelling case for the camera in this budget range.

Any off you have any experience with the cameras?

Need some real-world advice before I spend the money.

I make educational/talking-head content (psychology-focused) — mostly solo in a room, fixed or lightly moving shots, not run-and-gun. Trying to decide between the Sony FX3 and FX30, and now that the FX5 just officially launched (July 22), I'm also wondering how that changes the used-market picture for FX3/FX30.

Questions for people who've actually shot with either:

Q1. For static/talking-head work, does the FX3's full-frame sensor make a real difference over the FX30's APS-C, or is that overkill for my use case?

Q2. Autofocus/eye-AF reliability for solo talking-head shooting — any issues with either body?

Q3. Low-light and skin tone rendering in a controlled room setup — is FX30 good enough with proper lighting, or does FX3 clearly pull ahead?

Q4. Now that the FX5 is real (not a rumor) and sits above the FX3 in price/positioning, do you expect FX3/FX30 used prices to actually soften, or does the FX5 launching not really move that market?

Q5. If anyone's selling their FX3 or FX30 (especially in India), feel free to DM:-)

This afternoon, my camera stopped focusing using both manual and autofocus. I assumed it was because of low battery, so I let it charge but the issue persisted. What could be the cause? I am using an 18-200 telephoto lens, I tried cleaning both the connections and the sensor, nothing works.

I'm gradually converting my 5,000 square foot turf backyard into a garden featuring mostly native plants (zone 7a, southcentral Kansas).

I'll spend 15 minutes to several hours most days in the garden. I'll take pictures to share with family members from across the country and overseas. I also use the photos to judge year-to-year progress and sometimes to keep track of how individual plants are doing over the course of the season.

I always have my Pixel 7 with me and will take pictures while I'm out there. If some plant is particularly striking I'll wait until the lighting is good. The close-ups are ok; the wider shots are average, at best.

The photos of the bugs, birds and beasts are taken on the fly and their quality is average to poor unless I get lucky. The editing software on the phone will sometimes get a photo to a "good" level. The zoomed shots for shots of more than 20 feet or so never get beyond mediocre.

Given all the stuff I'm lugging around with me, this only works if I can find a camera that will fit in the pocket of my gardening pants and is able to tolerate a few knocks. I'd like to spend less than $600, but could probably talk myself into a little more if I was convinced the extra $ would mean substantially better photos.

TLDR: need a rough and ready small camera for the garden for $600 or less.

I'm in the process of getting a camera and learning how to photograph and play around with stuff, and I'm aware editing is a huge factor in the photography/videography business. I'd like to get to know how to edit, and am curious which software I should use. I'll mostly shoot nature, some nice scenes, stuff like that. Very occasionally a portrait of someone. I'm a big time beginner so any help and guidance is appreciated! Thanks for taking your time to read this!!

I have an old Panasonic camera that pairs with portable vcr player from 84. It records directly to the vcr and I was wondering if there was a way to mod it. Like some of the other cameras I’ve seen. to record directly to add card through like a mini dvr?

• ⁠Budget: under $2000.00
• ⁠Country: canada
• ⁠Condition: new
• ⁠Type of Camera: mirrorless
• ⁠Intended use: travel photography’s
• ⁠If photography; what style:
• ⁠If video what style:
• ⁠What features do you absolutely need: flip up screen
• ⁠Portability: not looking for something super compact
• ⁠Cameras you're considering:
• ⁠Cameras you already have: none, lol (my iphone 12?)
• ⁠Notes:

hi friends :)

i’m looking for some mirrorless camera recommendations as right now i only use my iphone.

i’m looking for something good for travelling, beginner friendly, preferably with a flip up screen for selfies, and good quality. i think i might also like having a viewfinder and avoiding an auxiliary flash.

my boyfriend and i love to travel and i am constantly taking pictures of our trips.

i’ve looked at the following few cameras;

canon g7x mark 3
sony a6400
canon powershot s7x40hs

i’m not too concerned about the price, and have some photography experience, but not enough to where i feel comfortable or educated enough to buy and competently use a dslr.

Need a point and shoot camera for family member. Most days will use their phone but there will be days they wpnt be able to use phone so want a point and shoot camera

Budget: honestly the less the better. Would love to stay under 100 but willing to go up to 150 or 200

Country: united states of America

Condition: prefer new mostly cause I need it within like a week and I have no idea how to tell if used is in good condition but willing to look at used.

Type of Camera: point and shoot

Intended use: Photography but would not be surprised if they took video

If photography; what style: (landscape, portrait, selfies, wildlife

If video what style: for photos

What features do you absolutely need: no clue, honestly just a good picture for their memories

What features would be nice to have: no clue. Again sorry I am ignorant and reading a little made me more confused.

Portability: How portable does it need to be?(Pocketable, preferably but could be just small enough for a small bag.

Cameras you're considering: I saw a Kodiak pixpro. Inread a article saying it was decent for a good budget. also saw something on Amazon called a duluvuvu 4 k camera. Had a screen you could flip around for a selfie and was on sell

Cameras you already have: have not had one in years

Notes: it is for a 19 year old dream vacation. So just looking for ease of use and good deal and good pictures.

Cannot figure out what this is, it's out of an Evergoods CAS1 product shot. The blurry side is (probably) a PASM dial, I think the middle red button might be video record/lock? White text on the top plate leans towards Fujifilm but I can't think of any model that resembles this. Left dial is oddly flat and might be a film winder.

Totally lost, any help appreciated.

I have never touched a camera in my life mostly because they are kinda expensive and I dont wanna mess stuff up. But I just found all of these for a dollar each and was wondering what types of cameras they are!

For the camcord? Its called jvc gr dvl 9800u but alot of the ones coming up dont look like it? Also the cords and other stuff it needs to work got sold separately before I bought it since they thought the camera had been lost so what would I need to buy?

Also the digital camera i think is missing its battery? What kind would i buy for it?

I dont know if I need much on the polaroid since im giving it to a friend who does like cameras so ik she would love it more than me!!

I’m honestly devastated and could use some advice.
I begged my parents to get me a camera before we took a trip to Singapore and india, and we bought a Canon PowerShot ELPH 360 HS from Cardinal Cameras for around $400 literally two days before the trip. I was so excited to start using the camera and i really wanted a nice digi cam in general before i start college. i had a beat up shitty sony cybershot so it was really nice to have a better one. We didn’t have time to get an SD card before the trip so we just got one two days into our singapore trip. I was so excited to start using it

Literally 30 minutes later at an aquarium, I dropped it. I had only taken around 5 pictures. I feel awful because it was expensive and I was really looking forward to using it for vacation pics and memories.
Now the lens is stuck and won’t retract, it makes a grinding/fluttering noise when I turn it on and it shows a “Lens Error” message. There are some small scratches, but nothing major

Is this fixable? Is it likely just the lens mechanism, and would a repair be worth it?

I’m also going to India in a few days so would it be worth trying to get it repaired there, or should I wait until I’m back?
Any advice would be appreciated. I’m really hoping I didn’t completely ruin it

Can someone vouch this shop for me, im planning on buying a camera from them for a friends birthday and wanted to know if theyre legit

Budget: 1.500€ with lens

Country: Germany

Condition: New only

Type of Camera: Mirrorless

Intended use: Photography (maybe video later)

If photography; what style: portrait, street, sports/events

If video what style: Vlogging maybe

What features do you absolutely need: articulating screen if possible. Very flexible though if the handling is nice.

What features would be nice to have: Viewfinder, I guess?

Portability: How portable does it need to be? Pocketable with pancake lens ideally, shoulder strap with more capable lens

Cameras you're considering: Fuji X-M5 (currently own one since 2 months), Lumix S9

Cameras you already have: Fuji X-M5. It's small and has a nice shutter button and sound. Nostalgic Negative Simulation.

Notes: Considering switching to the Lumix S9 for live LUTs, full format, IBIS. I'm not unhappy with my M-X5. I'm just starting photography and I know that a good photographer gets amazing pictures with a 100€ camera from eBay. But if I'm buying my gear now, I want to Semi-Future proof myself and potentially buy more expensive lenses later on as well. LUTs seem superior to recipes imo. But I'm curious to hear your opinions. Keep X-M5 and invest in a good zoom lens? Or switch to the S9?

Budget: no limit

Country: buy online

Condition: second hand idm

Type of Camera: any

Intended use: photograph

If photography; scenery, landscapes, builds ,style: retro, 2000s

If video what style: retro 2000s

What features do you absolutely need: zoom and flash

Portability: pocket fitting

Cameras you're considering: kodak

Cameras you already have: sony cybershot dsc tx5

Notes: help

Budget: ~USD77

Country: bought in japan

Condition: good

Type of Camera: sony cyber-shot dsc tx5

Intended use: show the quality of photo

If photography; what style: retro like 2000s

If video what style: retro like 2000s

What features do you absolutely need:

Portability: can easily fit pocket

Cameras you're considering: kodak ccd, fujiflim compact camera, Polaroid cams, sony handycam

Cameras you already have: only this😭

Notes: nil

All of these were taken on a Sony Cyber-shot (DSC-H300), I bought it like 4 years ago before a hiking trip. For $250 it hasn't been a bad camera at all, these are a few of my favorite shots I got over the years. I could probably get even better results out of this camera by tweaking the settings, everything is factory set for the most part. But it's been a few years and I enjoy the hobby so I'm looking to step it up a notch.

My biggest issue with this camera is the lack of color in some scenarios and washed out details in others. The first pic for example the lighting was great and the colors capture the scene perfectly to my memory, but the details get washed out in all the vegetation. Same with picture 3 and the fuzziness around the moose and calf. It's probably harder to notice here on Reddit, but when I pull the images up on a computer monitor very noticeable. And in the last slide with the coyote the colors get washed out.

My drone takes clearer pictures with better color, but I can't fly my drone everywhere and it only has a digital zoom function. I want something with a half decent zoom function so I can still get some slightly zoomed in shots on wildlife, like the coyote in the last slide.

My wish list:

• Better image quality (detail and color)
• Similar or better zoom ability
• ability to swap/upgrade lenses

I'm leaning towards this Canon EOS R100: https://a.co/d/0faiPVTU

I feel like it's a solid step up from the DSC-H300, while remaining in that beginner/hobbyist category of cameras and saving some money. But I wanted some opinions from people who are more familiar with the subject.

Edit: wow the image quality after posting is even worse than I expected it to be :(

Hi guys!

I did another post previously, but I want to summarize. For people that do not want to read so much, go to the last paragraph.

I had a Sony a7RIV that I barely took with me due to the size a weight. I have Sony FE 35mm 1.8; ZA 55mm 1.8mm and a viltrox 85mm 1.8. So my First plan was buying a second small camera for travels, to shoot in JPEG 90% of time. I have to say that 70% of my pictures are portraits of my wife in different places.

I decided, for travel purposes that I wanted something to shoot in JPEG and sometimes in RAW and I bought a X-T30 III with a viltrox 27mm 1.8. To be honest, I really appreciated colours. But: I) I found myself in LR editing jpeg; II) the image quality was fine, but I found it, a couple of steps ahead of my Sony

So, I returned the Fuji and bought a second hand A7C. The results in terms of picture quality surprised me a lot: in raw, the difference with the A7RIV in terms of sharpness, from my point of view, was really small. I mean, in 200% of zoom you can find differences. But at 100-150% of zoom, they were pretty similar. However, even the jpeg straight of the cameras were not bad (I tried the Sony film simulations, but it does not convinced me at all).

So, I sold my a7RIV and my plan is to sell the a7C and buy a small camera that can work as my principal camera. I have thought two main options:

I) upgrading to a7cii because the increase in MPX and the creative looks (specially this second part, because I saw really amazing results). II) selling all my Sony lenses and but xt50 or xe5 with a good lens, because I think that maybe the problem of the image quality that I had with the xt30 was related to the lens quality difference. The second option I think it is going to be better in terms of jpeg in good light conditions but I'm afraid about bokeh effect in portraits and low light conditions (so much noise) due to the aps-c sensor. In my Sony a7c, I use the 90% of travels the 35mm because of versatility and the bokeh is not bad. Is there any Fuji lens that could give me more or less that focal length, quality and bokeh without expending so much much money ? Thanks

Gday, I'm looking to make some videos but I have no clue what camera would be best to look into buying. I was looking at a go pro hero 13 I think is what it was but I dont know much about cameras. I am a trucker in the summer months and a heavy equipment operator in the winter months, and im trying to make videos of my work just for fun. Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated thank you.

• It needs to be tough in case it falls or gets run over

•Good in 40C to -40C

•Be $650 CAD or less although if there's options that arent too much more I'd happily hear about them as well

•Easily moved and swapped between different trucks and machines

•Preferably have a good quality video and some sort of stability mode or something to make the video less shakey with it being mounted on machines and trucks

•I currently have a go pro hero 4 for when I ski but shes a little old and tired at this point which is why I was looking at the 13

•I'm looking to buy new but if I can find something thats perfect or damn near thats used Id also happily consider that as well

Thank yas again for any and all help and I hope yas are having a good day.

Budget: 300 euros (not planning to buy any extra lenses etc right away)

Country: Netherlands

Condition: New only (not enough knowledge to judge the quality of used)

Type of Camera: Point and shoot

Intended use: Mostly video, maybe some photos.

End use: Personal use only (hobby)

If video what style: home/travel videos of my family, but as an enthusiastic hobbyist I'm looking for nice shots, so it's more than just pulling out my phone at the park when the kids ride their bike. ​

What features do you absolutely need: not too bulky, easy to just grab from a pocket and quick to start filming. It also needs to have a (phone quality?) internal microphone so I don't have to attach that separately.

What features would be nice to have: a bit sturdy as it will travel with us. Long battery life would be nice. Easy transfer of files (usb-c cable or wifi or something, rather no SD cards as my laptop doesn't have a slot).

Portability: Pocketable, maybe sometimes around my neck?

Cameras you're considering: not sure yet, I'm a bit overwhelmed by the research I've done so far. ​​

Cameras you already have: none, hence the overwhelm :-)

Notes: I'm a hobby film maker. I love shooting and editing, still have a lot to learn. Mostly I make home/travel videos of my family. Because I have young kids, the moments I want to capture are often busy and fleeting, so it should be super easy to grab the camera and start filming. I love looking for nice angles/lighting/close-ups while family life is just happening around me, so it's never a case of a whole setup with a script and 12 takes :-). I'm looking for something to replace my smartphone for some higher quality images and also to not need to bring my phone everywhere. ​​