I’m totally new to photography and want to get my first camera. I’ll mainly be using it for nature photography while hiking and traveling.
My only focus is on photos of the highest possible quality.
My budget is around $600, and I’ll also need essential accessories, but don’t know what I’d need, like a lens?
Not open to refurbished, as I’m buying in Vietnam.
Start out using your phone. Get enough experience taking pictures that you have a better sense of what you might want in a camera that your phone doesn’t already do. Take at least a few hundred careful, thoughtful shots that way to see what it is that you can and can’t do with the phone. Then come back and discuss your findings in detail and we can make more suggestions.
^ This - Plus “nature photography” is a WIDE category. You need a totally different setup for landscape photography than you do for close up macro photography.
This:
vs. This:
Are both “nature photography” but need different gear and settings.
Figure out what you want to do, then figure out where your current technology limits you.
I actually would really love to do close-up macro photography. What camera would you recommend in a 600-700usd range for that? Can Canon EOS R50 do that?
Like the above user says, start with the macro settings on your phone, take a BUNCH of pictures, then figure out what the limits are and invest in the gear that gets you over those particular humps.
It’s hard for anyone else to guess at what makes you satisfied or not, but if you’re happy with the macro settings on your phone, you can invest in data storage, tripods, bi-pods, etc. for the camera you already have.
https://amateurphotographer.com/buying-advice/best-smartphones-for-macro/
Here’s the thing that stores won’t tell you. It’s not the camera, it’s the cameraman.
Sure, a $100,000 camera is going to have better internals than a $20 disposable camera. But that doesn’t mean you can’t take that disposable camera and get super creative with it.
Take a shitty camera, and just learn. Take 1000 pictures a day. Just take a picture. Study the result. Learn from it. Then ask “Now what could I have done better?”
Study technique. Study framing. Study perspective. Study lighting. Study color balance. A better piece of equipment will make your photo better, but it only goes so far. There’s a platou when it comes to how much equipment performance can compensate for skill.
Once you know what you’re doing, and more importantly WHY you’re doing it, then you can play around in buying equipment for the worlds most expensive hobby. I mean, it’s probably not the MOST expensive hobby, but it’ll damn sure feel like it if you go off buying all these fancy bells and whistles and lenses and filters, but don’t know shit about WHY you would want them.
Play around on the cheap side, hone your craft, and THEN worry about $600 cameras.
Some will say to use your cell phone, and yeah, that’ll do some good. There’s merrit to that for sure. But I suggest buying a basic used body and lense for $50 and not complaining about how much shit its performance is. Adapt to it. Learn from it.
Can you recommend a few specific camera models?
I feel like you aren’t reading anything anyone is saying here. Go with canon, nikon, sony, or panasonic. Best of luck.
I am, and I understand I have to learn with the tools I have: my smartphone. I’ve tried doing that but I’m mostly dissatisfied with how blurry the pictures are. I love being able to zoom in and see the little details - can’t do that with my Redmi phone.
Get a Sony a6000 and use full manual mode. Crazy to me how many new photographers don’t use full manual controls and don’t understand them.
How much would the most necessary lens for it cost? And what lens would that be?
Yeah. You can also get the cheap 16-50 and 55-210 lenses to give a decent range on what to take photos of.
When you say nature photography are you thinking of landscapes or wildlife or both?
Both. What do you think of the Canon EOS R50?
Any RF mount camera will give you great results but you will be locked into a relatively new and expensive lens system with fewer options for third party lenses. A cropped sensor can be good for wildlife but will also restrict what lenses you can use. I’d recommend something like a 6D which gives you the benefits of full frame sensor and can use EF mount glass without an adaptor.
If 6D is better and is also cheaper, why isn’t it on this list? https://www.rtings.com/camera/reviews/best/camera
Because its an older body and the article authors wouldnt make affiliate income from the links.
Thanks! That’s exactly why I came here asking. So in your view it’s superior pretty much in every way?
Any modern mirrorless will have better autofocus, but that shouldn’t be a concern as a beginner. The main reason I’d go with an older body is to allocate more budget to lenses. You’ll see a far bigger impact from investing in decent glass vs a modern camera body.
