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.
This is a list of film camera brands and film camera companies. Many of these vintage camera brands have many models that can be found for sale online.
I will try to add information and links over time.
ALPAThey made and continue to make medium format cameras. ALPA is still in business.
Andor Technology Angenieux apertus° Argus Arnold & Richter (see Arri) Arri Asahi (Pentax) Bell & HowellRebranded Canon FL and FD mount cameras were sold under the Bell & Howell brand.
It is important to know how many mechanical shutter actuations a camera has been through. This is because the mechanical shutter actuation count can be helpful for judging the shutter life expectancy.
Depending on the camera model, mechanical shutters have life expectancies rated for 100,000+ or more actuations. Higher-end and professional-grade cameras will be have a shutter count raiting that is for 250,000+ actuations.
An electronic shutter count is not important as there are no mechanical parts involved.
Digital camera banding is caused by a combination of factors including pixel response non-uniformity (PRNU), algorithmic issues, and the interplay of light and shutter speed. PRNU refers to slight variations in color or brightness among pixels on the camera sensor, which can contribute to banding. Processing algorithms interpreting sensor data and limited data from high ISO or low-light images can also lead to banding. Additionally, when artificial light sources interact with specific shutter speeds, inconsistency in the light source can result in banding.
Many cameras no longer have OEM batteries available. Even when they are, the markups are outrageous. Third party batteries can be 1/4 the price, but there are no assurances about actual capacity or longevity.
For less than $30 you can capacity test camera batteries.
You check to see if a OEM battery is no longer holding a charge or a replacement is fake. You can see how third party brands are blatantly lying about the capacity of their batteries.
There have been a surprising amount of different memory card formats used in cameras. Card formats are often revised multiple times to increase speed and capacity. This can quickly become confusing.
The process doesn’t appear to be stopping either. High megapixel cameras and high frame rate 4k and 8k video recording, keep pushing the limit of transfer speeds.
Memory card types of been ordered by how common they are.
SD CardsCompatibility can be confusing because there are many types of sd cards.
The Canon RF mount is a lens mount developed by Canon for their full-frame mirrorless cameras, such as the Canon EOS R and RP. It was first introduced in 2018 and represents a departure from the traditional Canon EF mount used on their DSLRs. More information can be found on Canon’s website.
The RF mount has a larger diameter than the EF mount, allowing for wider and faster lenses. It also has a shorter flange distance, which means that lenses can be designed to sit closer to the sensor, resulting in improved image quality and faster autofocus.
