Equipment Cameras DSLR/Mirrorless - Recommendations/Where to start?

Thanks, I now have at least one of each and after years of searching, a decent Calypso camera that started it all.

I picked up a pair of Nikonos IIIs at a local auction last year and a set of 3 Nikonos IV-As on the ‘bay a few months back.

I bought my first Nikonos 40 years ago and added more when deals came my way at the camera shop.

I went to Ocean Optics in London as a teenager and was impressed by their Nikonos history shelf behind the counter. One of each model was displayed on a wooden stand, that idea has stayed with me since.

Canon A1? Yep, had one of those when they were current, after I lost my Konica Mermaid.

 

Nice!

I've always been tempted to dip my toe into the world of photography because 35mm film is so accessible. Problem is, the moment I start I'd never be able to really stop myself. I'd have all the gear but no idea. I've lost count of the amount of camera bodys I've seen come and go and thought "maybe I'll have a go"

I'm sure once I've accumulated a few M42 lenses it's only right I have the body to switch between....

 

I haven't used film for a while and gather it's pretty expensive there days as the economies of scale have gone for production and processing.

Then there's the digitising to be done. Digital is really convenient but some of the magic has been lost.
I have a couple of panoramic cameras which are unusual and can't be directly replicated digitally.

Direct panoramic composition is something special which makes cropping or stitching digital images to get a similar result a bit unsatisfy IMHO.

 

Get in touch mate, I am about to offload all my camera gear due to lack of use...there is a LOT of it. Probably about 2.5k worth if sold separately, you can have the lot if you so desire....use what you like and sell the rest to get your money back? Or if that's a bit of a ballache, I'll just sort you something very suitable and a damn sight cheaper than any shop.

 

I really should get back into it, really fancy doing some wildlife, landscape and astro.

I have a janky old 1100D that needs it's mirror cleaning that I've not gotten around to and the AF often debates with me as to what to focus on (although I think that's down to the cheapo zoom I bought - the lens that came with the body doesn't seem to complain).

I often look through so many things from second hand DSLR to mirror less but don't want to go crazy money.

Then I get so bogged down on what body and what lenses would be good for wildlife and astro I think just sod it and get a better camera phone.

And then I buy neither

Way back in the day I had a Zenit and darkroom, things seemed so much simpler back then. Yes, old fart.

Be interested to hear how you get on with the A6400 @DeadP1xels

 

I vacillate wildly between “yeah, I really should get back into photography & videography, and I’d really like to try astro photography” and “give it a rest, you know you’re not gonna stick with it”.

I got this camera - Sony ZV1 - a few years back and started building a rig after I’d made yet another ill-fated decision to get back into shooting video. Now it’s basically a glorified webcam that’s almost permanently mounted to my desk.



SmallRig cage, wooden side handle, and P96 video light, and a Rode VideoMicro. To be fair, despite the limited f-stop range of the built-in lens, it does a damn good job of shooting video. Though unless you can walk as smoothly as a steadicam rig, you really do need the enhanced image stabilisation enabled, and that crops the image a little.

 

Thanks for the offer , I’ve got something sorted now but would still be interested to hear what you have (as would others I imagine!)

In other news, my camera arrived today!

Accidentally bought the body with no battery charger, boo . Nevermind, the usb they provided charges it fine so will get one.

Was pleasantly surprised that it arrived in a small rig, I imagine the previous owner sold it to MPB with it on and MPB though “meh” and sent it on to me. I bought one from Amazon with the silicone grip (which this one doesn’t have) and I think I’d prefer the extra grip. Will probably fleabay the old one for a few quid to fund the battery charger.

Unfortunately, despite being “Excellent”, the Sigma has a lot of fungus on the front optics *sigh* pretty disappointing. Going to order another from MPB and return this one when I get in contact with them

 

I wouldn't class that as 'excellent' @DeadP1xels

Manky and a chipped ring. Not on. Strange, I'd only heard good things about mpb.

It actually looks like something's been nibbling on it.

 

Yep, pretty disappointed with it. Someone clocking off early on a Friday me thinks "Ehhh... looks fine to me!" I didn't notice the chew marks until the photo. Looks like its had a rough life

I've reordered a "Like new" variant and contacted them for a return. Hopefully should arrive prior to my holiday.

 

That's very poor from mpb, Surely that's been incorrectly graded. I hope you get it all rectified P1xels.

Sam

 

They got back to me, apologised and honoured a free return which is what I expected. They said they'd need to investigate what happened with this particular lens (I sent the photos above).

As a goodwill they're also going to provide me a £25 off my next order over £200 code valid for the next 6 months. Probably should have held off ordering the replacement lens but ahh well. I've got my eye on some TTartisan 7Artisans stuff on Aliexpress which has some solid reviews so strongly suspect I won't ever get around to using it.

Unless they do anything with applying the discount retrospectively (which I doubt) I'll offer it up here to anyone looking treat themselves!

 

Good news, as samkiller suggested I wonder if it's either been incorrectly graded (Friday afternoon job per your above) or even just mixed up with another one!