Camera Advice

TheNorthernTrain · February 2012

I know it's a frequently asked question, but rather than jump on another thread...

At present I am using just a standard point and shoot but I am looking for something more, originally I was wanting to make the switch to DSLR but having done a bit of research, I found these compact system cameras. These sound ideal to me, they offer the portability of a traditional compact but have the DSLR functionality that I think I'm after, e.g. changeable lenses, filters etc

I have a budget of around £400 but it could be quite flexible. So any help would be greatly appreciated. At the moment, the Panasonic Lumix series looks like a good option.

Currently got my eye on the GF3 or the G3 - But would like some advice from those who are more knowledgeable than me. Are they any good? What others should I look at? Are the lenses available for these cameras any good and are there many lens options?

Any help no matter how small is greatly appreciated.

Richie63 · February 2012

Have you googled anything on the cameras you've mentioned yet? 'cause that would answer many of your questions. Compare alongside the Sony NEX for example.

TheNorthernTrain · February 2012

Richie63 wrote:

Have you googled anything on the cameras you've mentioned yet? 'cause that would answer many of your questions. Compare alongside the Sony NEX for example.

I have googled them... that's how I found them. However not knowing much about the quality of lenses i.e. the Sony might be a great camera but the lenses might not be as good as those available for other cameras. I don't have much time to get to a shop to ask these questions hence asking here.

Google is all well and good but when I don't know what I am looking to compare in a camera and lenses it's kind of a little flawed. (EDIT: I haven't said this part very well, I can compare basic things such as shutter speed, fps... but getting more "personal" advice from someone who uses cameras and has much more experience of various cameras is far more important to me than trawling through hundreds of pages of google)

But thanks for the Sony suggestion... looks pretty good and if it's anything like other Sony stuff I've used it's good quality.

p.s. I know hands-on is the best way to make a decision but like I say limited time - so want to have a good idea of what I should look at so I can be in and out fairly quickly - I despise shopping and the less time I'm in a shop the better.

apreading · February 2012

I havent looked for the last couple of years as spending money on bikes & stuff has taken me away from spending money on cameras & stuff, but dpreview.com was always the most in depth for reviews and has great forums.

prawny · February 2012

Sony tend to use a lot of carl zeiss glass which is usually pretty good.

Whenever I buy any camera stuff I check the reviews at dpreview.com &/or kenrockwell.com usually pretty good info there.

I've got a DSLR (Nikon D80) did have a bridge camera for a few months but it was really frustrating compared to even a crappy film SLR so I sold it and bought the nikon. Budget grew from £300 to £700 in a few weeks :oops:

delcol · February 2012

you get more choices when it comes to lenses with nikon and canon..

have you considerd a preowned/secondhand camera.
i used these 2 shops in the past and can stongly recommend them...

missfunds
mpb

should get something semi decent preowned.. personally i would go for canon.. then nikon..

another pretty good site for info and reviews
click

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