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.
There are so many compatible Pentax Spotmatic lenses that making a choice can be difficult. The Pentax Spotmatic was a popular camera that had many different versions and sold well during it’s production run.
The Pentax Spotmatic uses the M42 lens mount, of which there are an incredible number of M42 lenses made by Asahi Optical Co. Ltd (Pentax) and other manufacturers.
With some rare exceptions any M42 mount lens will be compatible with the Pentax Spotmatic.
The Flange Focal Distance is the space between a camera lens mount and the film plane or image sensor.
The short distance on mirrorless cameras is why it is easy to adapt film lenses to those mounts. Space taken up by the mirror is replaced with a lens adapter.
Flange distance is also referred to as:
flange focal depth flange back distance flange focal length back focus flange-to-film distance register Film Plane Indicator / Focal Plane Mark Film Plane Indicator on a Canon AE-1 Each manufacturer uses a different mark to show the film or sensor plane location.
Launched in 1964 by Asahi Optical Co. Ltd., the Pentax Spotmatic series sold well thanks to its innovative spot metering technology. The “spot” in Spotmatic is there because of the built in light meter.
This article has some background on the Ashashi Optical Company, that later changed it’s name to Pentax, the 10 major versions of the Pentax Spotmatic, why some are marked Honeywell Spotmatic, M42 lens compatibility, battery requirements and substitutions, where to find manuals, and problems to look out for.
The best camera under $200 is going to be a used camera. There is simply too much value to be had by choosing a used camera. Don’t worry though, you can find cameras in excellent condition, that look like they were never used.
eBay prices are going to be used as a reference point for a model to qualify as one of the best cameras under $200. You can also look at what is available on Amazon or other used camera stores.
The best camera under $100 is going to be the newest camera you can find that fits the budget. Taking that into account, you’re going to need to check around and potentially need to be patient to get the best value for your money.
There is no guarantee any of the models listed will be available for sale or will be under $100. There also are not any mirrorless cameras currently available under $100.
The Nikon D780 is a versatile DSLR camera designed for both professional photographers and videographers. It boasts a 24.5MP FX-Format BSI CMOS Sensor, a robust 51 AF system, and next-generation EXPEED 6 image processing.
The D780 supports up to 7 fps continuous shooting with the optical viewfinder or 12 fps in silent live view mode, and UHD 4K video recording up to 30 fps. However, to truly unlock the potential of this camera, one must pair it with the right lens.
