Thread: Time to update

Looking at a new camera which is long overdue. I'm rather out of touch with the current tech. Other than my phone camera (which isn't too bad for what it is) my old camera is an Olympus OM10 film camera I bought in '77. The old camera has been damned good and was quite advanced in it's day but that day is looong gone.

My dilemma is which direction to go. A must is a hotshoe for a decent flash. Other than that I'm tossing up between a DSLR and an ultra-zoom bridge camera. With a DSLR I could use a couple of my old camera lenses either directly or with an adapter. I do have a really nice Soligor zoom with a big objective that would be worth the effort. The advantage of the bridge camera is it's compact size and lower weight with everything there.

What are everyone's thoughts?

Get 2.
Dslr and a compact.
You cannot beat the photos of a dslr, but they are a bit of pain to carry if your out and about, hence compact.
I'm a nikon person ( was pentax with film, and first dlsr, but swapped as nikon overtook pentax in offerings), however i dont think that any decent dslr(3 to 5k$) is any better than others these days for prob most people

I'm in the DSLR camp - the main downside is the extra size and weight over a bridge camera, the upsides are many - image quality(especially in low light), battery life, autofocus speed/accuracy, responsiveness, adjustability & manual controls etc. Megapixel counts are only a small part of overall image quality, a lot of the big numbers these days are more for marketing than anything else. You don't need a full pro-level DSLR either, I'm using a 3 models old mid-range model (Nikon D7000) and it does the job fine.

The decision might come down to whether using the camera or carrying the camera is more important to you!

Some of the new mirrorless interchangable lens cameras are finding quite a good middle ground too - AF speed and battery life still not up with a DSLR, but everything else is about as good in a smaller package.

Yeah, there is nothing like big quality glass for low light conditions. I do like a lot of manual control too. One of the main criteria I suppose is portability as with my new hobby of carrying a rifle is already adding a bit of weight to this knackered frame. One thing I like about the interchangeable lens option is robustness. With a camera with a built in lens that lens getting knocked seems to be the most common cause of failure. With an interchangeable lens it is easy enough to replace the lens and carry on, and the lenses tend to be more solidly built too. Maybe a 4/3 option would give the best compromise of both worlds.

If you would like a low-range DSLR still with fantastic quality, the Canon Rebel 1200 is a good option. It's my go-to adventure DSLR. Otherwise a more compact one is the Sony Cybershot.

Think I'll scrub the 4/3 camera off the list. The camera is good value but the lenses are scarce and very expensive. A bridge camera is looking like a good compromise for what I want to do.

I went through the same process as you appear to be going through. Ended up with a fixed vari-power lens compact, a Canon G10. It can be used in manual mode or auto and the results are very satisfactory (if not as good as the medium format film cameras I had been using). It is light enough and compact enough for me to take it with me always and it is very easy to set up for use.

Really comes down to your uses for it.. Mine was pretty much solely to be a hunting camera, so zoom and weight with HD video ability were really what I was shopping for. Interchangeable lenses a la DSLR are good for getting optimum image quality.. but it's a pain to carry multiple lenses, and good luck changing them out with dirty/bloody hands or when something pops out of the scrub just in front of you after taking a shot of the opposite ridge.

My choices were also affected by the fact I just use auto mode 90% of the time, so a DSLR would be a little wasted on me.

In the end it wasn't a hard choice and I wound up with a Canon SX50HS. 50x zoom with optical stabilisation. 1080p recording. ~600 grams I believe. Paid $300.

Want me to put up a short clip of zooming in on some fallow at 1km, just to give you an idea what a bridge camera will do?

Originally Posted by StrikerNZ

Really comes down to your uses for it.. Mine was pretty much solely to be a hunting camera, so zoom and weight with HD video ability were really what I was shopping for. Interchangeable lenses a la DSLR are good for getting optimum image quality.. but it's a pain to carry multiple lenses, and good luck changing them out with dirty/bloody hands or when something pops out of the scrub just in front of you after taking a shot of the opposite ridge.

My choices were also affected by the fact I just use auto mode 90% of the time, so a DSLR would be a little wasted on me.

In the end it wasn't a hard choice and I wound up with a Canon SX50HS. 50x zoom with optical stabilisation. 1080p recording. ~600 grams I believe. Paid $300.

Want me to put up a short clip of zooming in on some fallow at 1km, just to give you an idea what a bridge camera will do?

That is pretty much my thinking. Also one of the four cameras I'm considering along with the Canon SX40 HS, Panasonic FZ70 and Panasonic FZ200. The Panasonics are winning marginally on performance but there it bugger all in it. Panasonic have faster continuous and video shooting.

I have the SX60HS and a couple of friends have the SX50HS.
I think either would be a great choice.

@gadgetman Have a look here for reviews Digital Photography Review: Digital Photography Review
Probably the best site on the earth for info.
Will not help with what type you go with perhaps.
I too have a camera of your vintage along with dedicated flash, extra lens etc - not even worth selling as a school camera. All stored away unloved now in a large camera bag.

The OM10 was a great camera.

I've checked out the reviews of the cameras I'm looking at on that site @zimmer along with a couple of others. Almost persuaded to go for a Canon DSLR with a couple of lenses for not much more than a bridge, but the bridge is winning on size.

Originally Posted by zimmer

I too have a camera of your vintage along with dedicated flash, extra lens etc - not even worth selling as a school camera. All stored away unloved now in a large camera bag.

The camera probably isn't worth selling but lenses, flashes etc can be as a lot of them are still compatible with newer DSLRs from the same brand. Whether they're worth enough money to bother depends on what they are though.

I would like to upgrade my SX260 - 20x zoom sometime soon - the SX50 looks like it would be great
I like to have a very compact camera in a pouch on my belt - saw a few birds this morning with the SX260
I had a Nikormat from about 1965 and carted it all round the hills for years - found it in the cupboard two years back - still mint - put it on Trademe and got $100 for it

I just got out of all my Nikon gear. Cost me a lot of money but cameras a worse than rifles.
I've gone for the FUJIFILM XT1 which is dslr mirror less and put a 18-140? in front of it.
Nice unit, user friendly and is a way ahead of Nikon-canon on some features. Features that I use like wireless hookup to the mobile giving a nice remote, can also download pics to the phone and share from there.

It's not prefect but nothing is and they have some extreme well rated lenses being released. Over all it ticks all the boxes for me and I would recommend it for you from what you've asked for.