Image quality at base ISO has not meaningfully improved since 2010-2013. DSLRs are still great at photography and many lenses can easily be adapted to mirrorless cameras.
Manufacturers have made large improvements in video features, resolution, and image quality. Around 2016 is when good quality 4k at 30fps became widely available on consumer cameras.
The shift from DSLRs to mirrorless has resulted in a selloff of Canon EOS EF and Nikon F cameras and lenses. It is possible to get absolutely obscene price to performance value on used gear.
Used Camera Gear Shopping
If you’re looking for your first dedicated camera, it rarely makes sense to buy new. Spening thousands of dollars on new gear doesn’t mean you’ll actually like using it. My two recommendations for camera shopping are:
Don’t discount the importance of size and weight. Smaller and lighter is better.
Think about the lenses you’ll want. Don’t spend your entire budget on a camera body to get stuck with a kit lens.
Just like all new tech, camera gear quickly depreciates. Last year’s best in class camera is often this year’s 50% off used deal. That doesn’t even mean it is worth buying because until you have experience, you don’t know what camera features are actually important to you.
The difficulty in finding deals is that there are hundreds of different camera models. Dozens of them might fit your needs. To make your life easier, I’ve been going through series of models to create used buying guides.
All lenses aren’t equal, especially when it comes to vintage and early digital camera lenses. Modern lenses will give you images that are razor sharp corner to corner. Vintage lenses can set themselves apart by how they render, the color you can get with them, interesting bokeh, or other characteristics not valued by current photographers.
On the other hand, many vintage lenses are not good. Their performance may not be good enough to set them apart from other lenses. Worse, as time has gone on some lenses have defects such as haze, fungus, balsam separation, or degraded grease, that will render them worthless because of the difficulty in repair.
I’m somewhat indiscriminate in my purchasing of gear, so I get a mix of good, bad, and average. The lens reviews will help you find a lens worth owning. These are popular film cameras that recieve frequent lens questions.
Have you ever been paranoid about the capacity of a battery? Especially if it was from a third party? I was.
I have figured out how ANYONE can inexpensively capacity test camera batteries. I have written a guide on how to capacity test camera batteries. It is a simple DIY project that only requires a screwdriver and pair of wire strippers.
Nothing Depreciates Faster Than A Camera.
Cameras are the fastest depreciating pieces of photography gear. That’s bad if you buy a new camera. If you buy used, you can get a high-end camera from 10+ years ago for pennies on the dollar.
Being able to use flagship cameras of years gone by is an interesting experience. Medium format in both film and digital become obtainable for non-professional uses. Or owning many cameras is remarkably affordable.
The camera reviews section showcases all of the cameras I have reviewed. You can also find information on camera manufacturers that are no longer in business.
Original Price& Current Used PriceThe D600’s original MSRP was Body: $2099/ £1955.99 With 24-85mm F3.5-5.6G ED VR: $2699/£2443.99
Used D600 cameras fall into a price range of $350 to $500. The difference will be due to condition and accessories included.
Nikon D600 Battery Type & ReplacementsThe Nikon D600 uses a Lithium-Ion EN-EL15 rechargeable battery & charger.
The battery can not be charged via USB. This means a battery charger will be necessary.
Nikon D70 Battery Type & ReplacementsThe Nikon D70 uses a Nikon EN-EL3 Lithium-Ion & charger included.
The battery can not be charged via USB. This means a battery charger will be necessary.
Third party battery chargers will be less expensive than OEM Nikon chargers. There will usually be an option to get one bundled with a third party battery purchase.
Memory Card Compatibility & RecommendationThe Nikon D70 is compatible with Compact Flash (Type I or II) memory cards.
Nikon cameras use a variety of different memory cards. The most common are SD cards and CompactFlash.
Cameras Compatible with SDXC Cards (64GB to 2TB)The cameras are compatible with SDXC memory cards. They are backwards compatible with SDHC and SD cards. Any card with UHS-I will have a fast enough continuous write speed to meet camera requirements.
Nikon AW110 Nikon W150 Nikon-1 AW1 Nikon-1 J1 Nikon-1 J2 Nikon-1 J3 Nikon-1 S1 Nikon-1 V1 Nikon-1 V2 Nikon Z50 Nikon Z fc Nikon D3500 Nikon D5500 Nikon D610 Nikon Df Dual Slots (SD/CF)
The switch to digital has caused an ongoing wave of emulsion discontinuations. The result is that there are few choices of film, it can be hard to find, and expensive.
Developing film yourself is one way to reduce costs. Bulk rolling 100’ rolls is another way.
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Pentax DSLRs use SD memory cards. There are 4 different versions, which are backwards compatible.
Some cameras are limited to using a SDHC card with a maximum capacity of 32GB.
Other models can use those and additionally SDXC cards, which have a maximum capacity of 2TB.
In terms of continuous transfer rates, getting a card with UHS-I will meet the needs of the camera.
Cameras Compatible with SDHC Cards (4GB - 32GB) Pentax *ist DS Pentax *ist DS2 Pentax *ist DL Pentax *ist DL2 Pentax K100DS Recommended SDHC CardsAffiliate Advertising Disclosure Outside the Shot is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.
Panasonic Micro Four Thirds cameras use SD memory cards. They are compatible with either SDHC or SDXC memory cards.
The SDHC standard has a maximum capacity of 32GB.
The SDXC standard has a maximum capacity of 2TB. Cameras that can use SDXC are backwards compatible with SDHC cards.
SD Card SpecsThis will be a quick breakdown of important specs to take into account when buying a card.
Multiple specs cover maximum sustained write speeds.
