Help me spend my money!

Associate
Joined
19 Nov 2011
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128
Location
Edinburgh
:)

Im looking for small and stylish camera. Budget: about £700 pounds. I need something capable of decent low light performance. Ability to shot decent videos would be great too.

So far I have those on me list:

fujifilm x100t
Fujifilm X-T10
Olympus OM-D E-M10

Do you have any other recommendations? Any help will be appriciated:)

Thanks
 
Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
32,615
:)

Im looking for small and stylish camera. Budget: about £700 pounds. I need something capable of decent low light performance. Ability to shot decent videos would be great too.

So far I have those on me list:

fujifilm x100t
Fujifilm X-T10
Olympus OM-D E-M10

Do you have any other recommendations? Any help will be appriciated:)

Thanks



When you say decent low light performance, what do you mean and how much do you understand about cameras?

I say this because often people think they can easily take a photo in the dark with a more expensive camera and get confused by some review sites that say things like "good low-light performance"


When shooting in the low light you need to consider the following:
  • If at all possible (static scene), use a tripod. Then you can shoot at base ISO. Too many people just want to handhold because they are lazy.
  • Glass has a bigger impact than the camera. A cheap f/5.6 kit lens lets in 1/4 of the light of a fast f/2.8 and 1/16thof a fast prime. Far bigger difference than between camera even with different sensor sizes.
  • Sensor size: APS-C/DX crop sensor let in twice the light of the m43 sensor, and Full frame sensor let in twice again.
  • Maximum usable ISo is a function of viewing size, because if the images a down-sampled to a smaller viewing size e.g. not viewed at 100%, noise is reduced in proportion.
  • Sometimes it is just too dark and you will have to use a flash.You can't always rely on natural light when hand holding, even with a big sensor and fast glass. Moreover, often time in low light situation the "natural" light is horrible and a properly used flash will give a better photo.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
19 Nov 2011
Posts
128
Location
Edinburgh
I was quite vague indeed. At the moment Im using my old Sony A200 with couple of sweet AF Minolta lenses. But the whole setup is too big.

Im waiting for proper reviews of Fuji X-T10. Im thinking this wee thing with something like FUJINON XF-35mm F1.4 R could be perfect.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
19 Nov 2011
Posts
128
Location
Edinburgh
Hmm Sony A6000 seems like a perfect camera. Body with nice primes like Sigma 60mm F2.8 is £534.
Oly E-M10 with M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8 is £464. Thsi would give me more spare cash for accessories.
 
Associate
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
393
Location
S/E Kent
I bought my a6000 via a Hong Kong company for £549 a few months back, and delivery took approx 8 days from time of ordering. For that price, I got the a6000 body, 16-50 kit lens, & 55-210 kit lens, so basically I got the 55-210 free compared to UK prices :)

I'd also suggest that if you get an a6000, look into getting a few spare batteries, of which I use a brand called ExPro which are at least as good as the Sony original, but only cost about £10 each. I also bought a dual charger (ExPro branded) as the a6k does not come with a charger, and being able to charge 2 batteries at the same time saves a lot of hassle. When using the a6k, unless you need to use WiFi etc., keep the camera in Airplane mode and you'll get at least 50% extra battery life.

Sony also updated the firmware to version 2.0 in the last few days, which added speed improvements, but also added a very welcome XAVC-S 50p/25p(PAL mode), 60p/30p/24p(NTSC mode) option for video.

With the improved video option as well, I highly recommend getting very fast SD cards too, I have a pair of 64GB Transcend Ultimate SDXC UHS3 cards which are rated for a minimum 60MB/sec write speed (actually write at 86MB/sec on my PC via USB3), and they are only £25 each.

There are plenty of cheap but excellent manual lenses to be used with the a6k as well, of which I have a few, and these are exceptionally good optics wise. To help with choosing old school glass, http://www.mflenses.com is of great help with plenty of advice and comparison images etc.

As for low light ability, I find the a6000 pretty good overall, I actually keep it on auto ISO with a 100-6400 range most of the time, and it does the job well.

I switched from my bulky Canon DSLR kit to this, and haven't looked back, it's a superb camera for my needs, and my back is very grateful for the much lighter weight etc. :)
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
16 Feb 2004
Posts
4,767
Location
London
yeah the Fuji's are great stills cameras with some of the best lens line up right now but they are pretty below par for video work.

A6000 is a great body just a shame the sony lens lineup isn't that great, good to see more options from sigma etc are showing up now.
 
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