My first camera:
And my first camera bag:
So far I’ve only taken a couple of photos but … damn it, this whole camera thing is really good. 📷
@pratik It's the D3500. I went for The Wirecutter recommendation for beginners; starting (relatively) simple, then see how things go.
@simonwoods It’s a good move to start cheap to see if it’s something that you will continue doing. I did something similar 10-15 years ago when I bought my first DSLR (I had owned several cameras and 2-3 SLRs before) ... well, I stuck with it and bought new gear when I needed. Unsolicited advice: spend money on good lenses before buying a new camera.
@simonwoods Nice. D3500 is an excellent camera for beginners. Starting simple is the right way to go.
@bix that’s also a good camera from what I’ve understood. Personally I owned these DSLRs D80=>D700=>D4s (a lot of sports photography in bad lighting) but since it’s a pain to carry the D4s when traveling I also own a LUMIX GX80. Yeah, I know I’ve spent too much money on this ... but I’ve only bought the D80 and the GX80 new, the others are second hand gear.
@pratik I bought a D3500 for our trip to Africa in June and used the hell out of it. It's great for attaching a long lens. However, I've found if I just use a regular lens, my iPhone XS camera is about as good (and, as the photographers say, always with me).
@jemostrom @simonwoods That’s great advice until you find yourself with a bunch of really nice lenses that chain you to a system. :) Let me tell you a story...
Seriously though, good advice.
@tgray @simonwoods Yes, it’s also a matter of what system you plan to use in the long run - but to be able to determine that you need some experience. But I’m actually in that situation right now: I have two camera systems, Nikon F mount and m43 but I don’t know what I’ll do in the future. Sometime I’ll go mirrorless only and I don’t really want two systems.
To make a really long post shorter: I really like full-format but I hate carrying the body/lenses around, I like the size and mobility of m43 but I miss that full-frame. For full-frame mirror less should I go with Nikon Z, Sony or Canon - in all three cases it’s a major investment (I don’t want adaptors and for the stuff I tend to photograph I need f2.8 on 24-70 and 70-200).
So my current solution is to use what I have until stuff starts breaking and then I’ll take a look at the options again.
@jemostrom Oh thanks! I'm super lucky to have a camera shop within walking distance so I'm sure I'll get plenty of chances to plan additions.
@pratik Thanks! I held off for a while mostly because of a suspicion that I'd take one look at the detail in the build of even a model on the simple end and be swept away. Turns out, I know myself very well. 😬